We Are All Witnesses

In Julie Andrews iconic portrayal of Frauline Maria in “The Sound of Music” she teaches the Von Trapp family how to sing. And she teaches the song “do-re-mi.” I was reminded of the first lines from that song while listening to John’s words this week.

Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.

We come into a scene at the beginning of the gospel of John, where the prologue has already been established, and we enter into the story from the viewpoint of John the Baptizer. Who argues with the temple authorities about why he is yelling these words of repentance. And then he sees Jesus, and tells everyone, this is the Lamb of God. The one we have been waiting for.

Davis Guggenheim has directed a film called “Waiting for Superman.” It is about the state of the public education system in America, the crisis that is there, the labels that are placed on kids at an early age due mainly to their socio-economic background, and how we need Superman to come in and fix it. To flip the script on all the kids who fall through the cracks.

Because we put our trust in people that can “fix” things. They show up, and make it all better. And that is who all of Israel, and all of history was waiting for. They also were waiting for Superman.

But we didn’t get superman.

They tried to make John the Baptizer Superman. He had droves of disciples and people coming from all over to be baptized in the waters of Jordan. Many thought, maybe this guy can fix everything!

He was charismatic enough. Eloquent enough. He had that rare ability to look into your eyes and see way down deep into your soul. But there was also a quiet grace to John. He had high demands that he asked us to fulfill, but there was always forgiveness in those wild eyes. He was so different than the rest of us, yet so approachable. Maybe he was Superman! He had the temple authorities shaking in their boots, and was beginning to be noticed by the Roman authorities. Maybe…

But today, John points out Jesus and says…here is the lamb of God!

That guy? From Nazareth? Joseph’s boy?

First of all, he doesn’t seem like the type that is going to come in and fix everything. He’s barely educated, doesn’t have any credentials…and how in the world is this guy going to stand up to the entire Roman army. He doesn’t have leadership skills…John does.

And secondly…we don’t want a lamb to sacrifice. We’ve been sacrificing lambs for years and we’ve been told that as long as we continue to sacrifice it will be for the greater good. No, we don’t want more sacrifice, we just want it to be fixed. You can keep your lamb, we want Superman.

And on this first Sunday of Lent, we hear the words, we want Superman, echo back in our ears as, “release Barabbas!”

But John sets us straight. He tells us, you don’t need Superman. Because superman can come in and fix things, sure, but the root of our problem will not be solved by fixing things. Unless you pull the root up when you dig out a weed, it will come back. We don’t need Superman, we don’t need someone to fix our problems, we need a lamb, who will pull the weed of our sin out of our hearts, so that we might have life, and have life abundantly. Maybe Mary wasn’t so off base when she mistook the Resurrected Christ for a gardener.

And the way that John convinced us is that he gave a testimony. He is an eye-witness to the light that Jesus brings. John saw Jesus and saw who he really was…and told us about it.

While I was in high school, I think I’ve told you this before, but my summer job was that I was a bailiff for the state court of Clarke County. And so I ran papers back and forth, observed the trials, looked up case law, that kind of thing. But every time a witness was called to the stand, Judge Kent Lawrence would ask them, “Do you solemnly swear you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

Those are familiar words. And words that need to be asked of all witnesses. Because witnesses testify to what they have seen, heard, and felt. And the world needs more witnesses for Christ.

This doesn’t mean go out on the street corner and yell at people and call it witnessing. It doesn’t mean handing out tracts that you put on people’s cars. It means telling people what you have seen.

And so this pulpit this morning has turned into a witness stand.

I’ve seen Jesus. He is alive. He has placed a call upon my life to preach, and to teach, and to care for the spiritual lives of God’s church. I am to care about the poor, I am supposed to enter into the dark places of life to help shine God’s light. I am called to give.

And this call wasn’t in a moment. It happened over the course of my life. I felt a strong call from God when I was in school. I was always in church whenever the doors were open pretty much because that’s where my dad was. And I sang in the children’s choir. Took confirmation. I was an acolyte. Asked my dad what my baptism was like, and began to understand what that meant. My baptism had set me apart in this world. It had placed a call on my life. Because Superman is not what we need. We were given what we need, and I was called to be his disciple.

And while in college the call upon my life grew. I didn’t know that it meant I would eventually become a United Methodist Minister, but I began to see Jesus even more. I saw him while I helped a family search for food in a garbage dump in Tijuana, Mexico. I saw Jesus there. I saw Jesus in the love and support of my family. I met Jesus in church where I witnessed dedicated men and women do incredible things, and gave me opportunities to see Jesus even more. By teaching my Sunday School classes. Encouraging my spiritual questions. Being interested in my life, and who I was turning out to be. Taking me to places where I could meet Jesus again and again and again.

I have seen Jesus here. I have seen Jesus in Scott Cole, in how loving and open and honest he is with everybody. I have seen Jesus in all of the children, and their families. Where we all think we are getting together just to have fun, but we are being a community together in love and support. Where adults are interested in the lives of children. Their hopes and dreams, and giving them the all important gift of teaching them about Jesus. And putting them in places where they will see him, and can become witnesses themselves.

I have seen Jesus in your care for the sick, and in your loving embrace of the community. In your desire to know more about him. Coming to the Bible study tonight. Asking good questions, and listening to one another. Being a neighbor.

Because that is the beauty of the lamb of God. And it is beautiful! I have seen Jesus in all kinds of grandeur in the world, and in nature, but the true beauty I think is that when Jesus tore the sin from its grip on our soul and healed us…now we can thrive. We can be the hands and feet of Christ. We can be the body of Christ!

Superman won’t change us. Superman will come and fix things, but we are given license to completely rely on him to fix the problems.

And yet we still wait for Superman. A political policy, a school board, a coaching staff; someone else who will fix the things that we are worried about.

But we are given a gift that is so much greater than that. We are given a life. A life to follow Christ.

At the end of Guggenheim’s film, we realize that we are the ones we are waiting for. That we are all called. We are all witnesses. And so I leave you with a question this morning…Do you solemnly swear to tell the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth, so help you God?