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January 16, 2005
Lamb's Kin
John 1:29-42
Listen to what John the gospel-writer tells us John the Baptist said: "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." How could the Baptizer have known that? Whatever made him say it? Remember Mark Twain saying, it's better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you're a fool, than to open you mouth and remove all doubt. If the Baptizer's a fool, just what kind? A fool plain and simple? Or a fool for Christ? Did he think what he said was true? If not, how dare he spread such a slander and add to our disillusion. If it is true, how could he not say it? How could anyone keep from saying to everyone: Let me tell you about "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."?
Some would say the Baptizer claims way too much. Couldn't he have been more modest? Couldn't he have said no more than that Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away my sin, or mine and that of all those who believe as I do? Somehow believing that seems easier, not so arrogant, more tolerant and a good deal more humble.
A person-on-the-street interviewer set out at the beginning of the new year to discover what people thought was the greatest development in human history. Answers were what you might expect—the Bible, the printing press, penicillin, radio and TV—until one of the interviewees said: the thermos. The interviewer, taken aback, asked, "do you mean thermonuclear devices?" No, replied the interviewee, the thermos. You mean, queried the incredulous interviewer the container that keeps things hot and cold. "Yes," said the interviewee, "but how does it know?" The greatest thing came to John the Baptist: "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." How does he know?
I suspect this is something more than a few of us run hot and cold on."Seeing is believing." We want to see the goods. Evidence. Give us evidence. The gospel writers tell story after story. Teachings. Healings. Miracles. Resurrection. The Baptizer thought he had evidence, enough to say: "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'" (1:32f). Would you have seen it? Would you have shared the Baptizer's thoughts?
What about the evidence on the main test: taking away the sin of the world? How do you estimate that evidence? Me, too. If I look at my own life, I can only conclude that I must have been out of the room when sin was taken away. If I look at the world, neither the evidence nor my heart lead me to believe that sin has been taken away. And that's the Baptizer's point: we're not supposed to be looking at ourselves, or at the world for our take on God's power at work among us. When the Baptizer looked at his own life, he saw himself fading to make way for one greater. When the gospel writer looked at the world what did he see? "He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him" (John 1:10f). We're not supposed to be looking to ourselves, nor to the world outside us for confirmation of what God's up to. "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."
The Lord's not finished with our redemption yet. You know how people have been all caught up in the controversy about teaching evolution and creationism, or intelligent design, in science in public schools? I guess I've never thought of it as much of a problem, really. They address different questions. Creation is about WHO, evolution is about HOW. People have known for a long time that the heavens tell God's glory, and the earth bears God's fingerprints. We keep on poking around and find more and more riches, more and more surprises. We also discover that along with every rose are thorns. Thing is: God's isn't finished with creating things. Glimpsing HOW God goes about it all is a source of our abiding and fearful wonder. Redeeming people is on the way to bringing things to completion. Some have said that if we want proof that redeeming people is harder than creating the world, we should compare how well the universe seems to work with how screwed up we are.
The country will be celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. tomorrow. The civil rights movement of which he was a primary leader was a hallmark of national redemption from sin that marked our country from the beginning. We've still a long ways to go before that sin is blotted out among us. The point of the gospel is that just as nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ, neither can anything finally stand in the way of God bringing to completion the good work begun among us.
Year's ago Blaise Pascal, a remarkable mathematician, philosopher and devoted Christian, opined that "the heart has reasons that reason does not know." Ralph Waldo Emerson put out a version of that sentiment in our bailiwick. A lot of us like to go to our hearts when things get unsettled, mixed up and confused, as things very often seem to be. It's our refuge and great escape. But you know what, hearts are tricky. Whenever we think the world is a messed up affair and hard to get a grip on, our hearts are even more tangled and elusive. No matter what or how much we believe in our hearts doesn't make any of it true—not even for us. Who knows how many people, believing the next spin of the wheel or the next card off the deck will make them winners, have left the table broke? Iowa farmers and the bankers who finance them make Las Vegas gamblers look like pikers.
Today, my heart assures me of God's forgiveness and all is well with my soul. Tomorrow, my heart condemns me and I am devastated. Whether our hearts tell us good or ill, what stands is this word: whenever our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts. God knows everything (Cf. 1 John 3:20). God knows the lamb who takes away the sin of the world.
Is that what's left when evidence is shakey and our hearts don't know for sure? That word which came to John the Baptist? That word which finds us? I think you all have a lot of experience wrestling with such things. And because you do, you have something to tell and teach others. Over the past several years you've prayed and studied, talked and had long silences, agreed and disagreed, raised money, watched as the old passed away, glimpse the new, and still wait for its completion. And here you are. You're here where Christ called those who went before you. You're here in the midst of a much changed downtown a much changed Cedar Rapids, a much changed Iowa, a much changed world. The world's shaking around us, in upheaval. And yet, here we are. You're not just determined to stay a downtown congregation. You're determined to bear witness to Christ with all the excellence you can muster. You're making a building that honors the past and looks to a future that seeks to embrace all Cedar Rapids. You believe that's what Christ has called you to. In the face of shaky evidence and whatever uncertainty was companion to your decision, something else was going on.
The Baptizer saw, despite any evidence to the contrary, despite whatever doubts may have plagued his heart, that there was one among us who was doing what no one else could do: take away the sin of the world. John knew what we can know: the power of God does not depend upon us to weigh evidences of God's work and render a verdict; the power of God does not depend upon the certainty of our hearts. Could it be that God has been at work among you? Could God have been at work transforming you to dare a great dare? It's the kind of thing that happened to John the Baptist, and to those who went looking for Jesus because of what he said, who get made the lamb's kin. The power of God comes to us full-blown in the one who is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
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First Presbyterian
Church of Cedar Rapids
310 Fifth Street SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
Phone: 319-364-6148
E-mail: church@fpccr.org
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