A Sermon About Heroes, Witnesses, and Bearers of Light” John 1:19-29, 34 December 31, 2017
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“A Sermon about Heroes, Witnesses, and Bearers of Light” John 1:19-29, 34 December 31, 2017 She was born in 1951 in the country of Wales and given the name of Gaynor Hopkins. Her two biggest influences were Janis Joplin and Tina Turner. It was in the 1970s that she underwent an operation on her vocal nodules that would leave her with a gritty and husky trademark voice that caused her to sometimes be referenced as “the female Rod Stewart.” If you haven’t guessed who I’m talking about yet, it’s Bonnie Tyler, whose hits, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "It's a Heartache" have estimated sales of over 6 million units each, and are among the best-selling singles of all time. But it was the 1984 hit, “Holding Out for a Hero,” that became a torch song around the world. Do you remember it? Tyler wails, “I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night. He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight. He's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon, and he's gotta be larger than life!” Our Gospel reading opens up with people who are looking for just that sort of hero. They were desperate for someone who was strong, and sure, and larger than life. And they thought that just maybe this John character, reportedly hanging out in the desert, dressed in camel skin, and living off a diet of bugs and honey – this man who preached hellfire and damnation to both the poor and the powerful, to priests and peasants alike – maybe this man was that hero for whom they had been holding out. And so they ask him, “Who are you? Are you the Messiah, the Promised One who will ride in and save the day and overthrow their hated enemies? Or are you Elijah, the great prophet of old who could cause fire to rain down from heaven, part the waters of the Jordan River, and resurrect the dead? Or maybe he was some other great and mighty prophet? The people in our reading were looking for a hero to save the day. And the idea of a hero would have been especially appealing to the audience of John’s gospel. Bible scholar Karoline Lewis, whose particular interest is in the Gospel of John reminds us that “there were Jews who came to believe in Jesus who were then in conflict with those who did not.” (Commentary on John, p. 5) These were the people for whom this Gospel was written. They were a people “separated from their God by being put out of the synagogue.” (Ibid., p. 29) Because they believed differently than their Jewish brothers and sisters, they were cut off from fellowship with them, and they needed a hero just like those who questioned John the Baptizer in our Gospel reading. There are people in our own day who are also looking for a hero, people who long for a relationship with a God who loves them, but who might be described as displaced or former Christians. The LGBTQ community is just such a people. Some churches have excommunicated us because of how we live and love. Other churches allow us to participate in worship in limited ways as long we don’t make anyone uncomfortable by living authentically. And some lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people are so desperate for affirmation, that they agree to the rules and censor their lives. Others simply leave the church. There are those who are living with the stigma of HIV prevalent throughout society even 35 years since the disease has come to our attention. And the so-called Christian church is responsible for a major part of that stigma. Many HIV+ people have learned to keep their secrets hidden or leave the church. Most simply leave. As have those with a prison background, who feel as if they wear their past tattooed on their foreheads for all to see…and judge. Self-righteous Christians treat them with a suspicion that never quite seems to go away, until they also leave the church. As do the hungry and homeless. If they dare to walk into the church with their neediness, they are quickly put into their place and looked down upon. Soon enough, they realize they aren’t welcome and they, too, leave, which suits the good Christian members just fine. According to a Gallup poll, almost one quarter of the U.S. population are self-imposed exiles .Page 1 from the Church: people who fall into the categories of the “Nones” and the “Dones.” “Nones” are those with no religious affiliation. When surveyed or asked about their religion, they answer, “None.” Dones are people who used to go to church or some other house of worship. Maybe they were even leaders in a congregation, and never imagined life on the “outside” of institutional faith. But now they have checked out and gone home. They are “done.” All these people, like the audience of John’s Gospel, are people who find themselves on the outside of the church looking in. People who live their lives as spiritual exiles. People who are looking for a hero to restore their faith and their relationship with God. The people in this morning’s text look to John, hoping that he is that hero. But he quickly puts an end to any thoughts that he might be anyone other than a witness of the hero who was already standing among them. Someone who did not appear to be sure or strong, and was definitely not larger than life. Rather than a roaring lion that would rush onto the scene to set things right, this hero was more of a lamb. A sacrificial lamb, according to John’s witness. A lamb that takes away the sin of the world. Karoline Lewis helps us with the language of the gospel writer by pointing out that, in this context, sin has nothing to do with morality. It’s not about breaking the commandments or cheating on the test. Sin, in this context, she says, “functions as a synonym for not being in relationship with God.” (Ibid., p. 28) And belief, for the gospel writer is not holding to certain faith claims, nor is it an intellectual decision, but rather, “belief in God means being in a relationship with God.” (Ibid., p. 28) And so, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” was the One who takes away any separation from God and makes it possible for all to be in the same kind of relationship with God that Jesus was. This, Lewis points out, “would have been an extraordinary promise for the audience of this Gospel, who were indeed separated from their God by being put out of the synagogue.” (Ibid., p. 29) An extraordinary promise that is no less extraordinary for you and me and anyone else who feels disconnected from a Church that they love. The hero that our modern-day exiles from the church are looking for is still found in Jesus Christ. And just as John was the one who pointed to that Jesus, we are called to do the same. One of the major themes of John’s Gospel is that of witness. Discipleship, according to John, demands that we be a witness of and for Jesus. Being a witness of Jesus means always pointing to the One who restores us to a relationship with God. It’s time for the Church to return to its roots of being a witness of Jesus Christ. Roots which proclaim in word and in deed the good news of a God who loves everyone unconditionally. Each congregation will do it differently. The question for you and me as we are poised on the eve of this New Year is how will we do it right here at Central Texas MCC? What will it look like for us? What ministries restore people to a God who loves them, and how will they reflect the One who takes away anything that separates people from a relationship with God? It’s an exciting thing to think about and explore. It’s exciting to think about how God might use us to point to Jesus Christ. I’m hoping that 2018 is going to be a good year for MCC. I’m hoping it will be the year that people in our church, in realizing their potential, become a voice for the voiceless, an instrument of peace, and a witness of God’s love to those who are standing on the margins. I’m hoping that we are galvanized into becoming bearers of light. And so I want to close with a blessing in the form of a poem by Jan Richardson, called “Blessed Are You Who Bear the Light:” Blessed are you who bear the light in unbearable times, who testify to its endurance amid the unendurable, who bear witness to its persistence when everything seems in shadow and grief. Blessed are you in whom the light lives, in whom the brightness blazes—your heart a chapel, an altar where in the deepest night can be seen the fire that shines forth in you, in unaccountable faith, in stubborn hope, in love that illumines every broken thing it finds. May you bless the lives of everyone you encounter. And may our church do the same. Amen.