Walter Brueggemann, one of my favorite theologians, when reflecting on this time in the church year, writes the following, “Advent does not begin in buoyancy or celebration or in a shopping spree. The natural habitat of Advent is a community of hurt. It is the voice of those who know profound grief, who articulate it and do not cover it over.”
Yes, that is our habitat as we experience Advent, especially this year, and I have been deeply feeling the hurt, the pain, and the grief. Ours are voices of those who know profound grief. We are in a very dark place at the present time and it is imperative that we articulate the pain and grief and not cover it over. It is also imperative that we listen to those who speak truth as we experience this grief. We are living in a culture in which “truth decay” (a term recently coined by President Obama) seems to permeate every facet of our life, and it is critical in this dark time that we listen to those who witness to the truth, not those who spew forth toxic conspiracy theories, lies and misinformation. Right now, in the depth of our pain, it is vital that we listen to the scientists and medical professionals because they are the ones who point to the truth and point us to what we need to do to eventually reach the light at the end of this very dark tunnel. They are the ones who testify to the truth, a truth to which we must listen because that truth to which they testify is ultimately life-giving during this dark time.
I say this because, when looking at today’s gospel reading, at the time when John appeared on the scene, the people were hurting and facing much suffering. And, this character, John, enters the scene as one who comes bearing witness to the truth. In today’s reading, we meet John, the first human mentioned in the Gospel of John. This lone character, John, is the star of today’s show and he is a man sent from God. It is important to note that he is not identified as John the Baptist as we find in Matthew’s gospel. He is not identified as John the baptizer as in Mark. And, he is not identified as John the son of Zechariah as in Luke. He is simply identified as John. He is John the Witness. While he is described as doing some general baptizing here and there, a careful read of this gospel writer’s story of Jesus' baptism reveals that John does not even baptize Jesus. His primary role is not as one who baptizes but one who testifies to the light coming into the world. In John’s gospel, this John character is a very human witness to a cosmic event. You see, God is about the business of ordering a new creation, a new presence of light in the world, but this effort necessitates a fellow human to point to the presence of this light. Otherwise, human as we are, we might not see it. So, that human is John.
Smack dab in the middle of the out of this world, beyond time and space beginnings of this fourth gospel, interrupting the unfolding of a truly cosmic birth story, John appears, testifying to the light. Well, his testimony brings on all kinds of questions. So down from the capital come the interrogators, and the result is a fierce press conference. “Who do you think you are?” “Do you think you’re the messiah?” “Are you representing yourself as Elijah?” “Why are you baptizing like this?” “What do you say about yourself?” The questions ricochet like rifle shots bouncing off walls. The aim of these questioners is to reveal some damaging information, some falsehood, to show that this threatening figure of John is just a cracked and broken cistern like the rest of humanity. After all, just maybe he does think he is Elijah incarnate, or worse, fancies himself the actual messiah and comes seeking fame and glory. If so, you can be certain John’s message will be tried, twisted, and tested like the message of a politician on the campaign trail. He will likely be dubbed a damaged and flawed human being, full of worldly ambition and self-delusion.
But John’s answer is quite surprising. “It’s not about me,” he replies. “I’m pointing beyond myself to one who comes after me, to the Lamb of God. My whole life has now become a gesture to what God is doing to shake the foundations of the status quo and re-create the world.” You see, because John has a holy vocation, not merely a human ambition, the fear of exposure before the glare of interrogation simply vanishes. He does not fear! He seems to say, “Find all the flaws you want and smoke out all the vanities you can find. The meaning of my life is not in what you think about me, but how you respond to the one to whom my life points.”
John identifies himself in, with, and by his relationship to the light, to the One who is coming, to the One known as Jesus, to the One who is shaking the status quo and recreating the world. And, whereas the One who is coming, this One who is recreating the world, defines himself as "I AM," John is clear to say, "I am not." He is not the Messiah, Elijah, or the Prophet. He is not the light that shines in the darkness. Yet, even in his resolute claims about who he is not, who he is and why he is here is defined by and inseparable from the presence of the Word made flesh in his midst. He knows nothing but to articulate his identity and live out that identity in connection to Jesus' identity. John’s sole vocation in this fourth gospel is to bear witness to the Word made flesh, to bear witness to the light. In fact, in this gospel, John is the lead witness on Jesus’ behalf.
It is fascinating to note that the verb “witness” is used thirty-three times in the gospel of John but only twice in the entirety of the other three gospels. John’s role in this gospel is to recognize the true light when it appears and to testify to that light. John does not fear as he stakes his very life on his call to testify to the light so that others may recognize it and believe – that is, recognize, trust in, and commit themselves to the light. John truly understands his role and who he is. He is not the Messiah. That job has already been filled. He simply lives his life pointing to the Messiah.
Like the man whose name was John, the church, and that means each one of us, is sent into today's world as a witness. And, when we look at today’s reading and John’s witness, we find we may characterize this witness as public, certain, and humble. These qualities are most certainly in tension with the spirit of our age. Most people today regard religion as a private matter. Most people want to keep their personal beliefs quiet, staying safe and cocooned in their comfortable and all too often misinformed bubble, not getting their hands dirty because any other way of living is too risky. Furthermore, certainty and truth are also shunned in these postmodern times. Yes, “truth decay” permeates our culture and we are all victims of our own perspectives and the bubbles in which we live. Truth has become so relative – who can ever know for sure whether anything is true or not? In fact, a focus on truth is something that seems harder and harder to find. Still, we who claim to follow Jesus are audacious enough to believe that the gospel is true, and that it must be lived out in our daily lives and proclaimed boldly – publicly and confidently, without fear. The trick is to bear witness to this truth with humility. For John, and for each of us, that means directing people away from self and toward Jesus.
In this Advent season, our reading on this Sunday calls us to trust God’s living Word to us in the person of Jesus Christ, and to live out our faith by trusting in and pointing to the One who is greater than ourselves. As we do that in this present time, we acknowledge our pain and the fact that we presently live in a world where, as Walter Brueggemann says, “the kingdom of death is surging – in the virus, in the failed economy that breeds starvation for many, in our ready embrace of brutality, [in the hatred and racism that plagues our culture], and in the surge of anti-neighborly, fearful greed. This is the truth that is right in front of us. It is not however, the whole truth. It is not the truth entrusted to us. The truth entrusted to us is that there is a ‘coming one,’ [the One to whom we point] who in actual bodily ways rescues from the power of death.” Come, Lord Jesus, come!
