Fourth Sunday in Advent 2010

Fourth Sunday in Advent
12/19/10
John 1:19-28
Bror Erickson


[19] And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" [20] He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." [21] And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." [22] So they said to him, "Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" [23] He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."
[24] (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) [25] They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" [26] John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, [27] even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." [28] These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. John 1:19-28 (ESV)


And this is the testimony of John, when the Jew sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
You confess the truth, or you deny it and tell a lie. In denying that he was the Christ, John did more than confess that he was not the Christ. He confessed that he believed in the Christ. He confessed that the Christ was to come. He confessed that he needed the Christ. He confessed Christ.
Confessing Christ, It is what we Christians are called to do more than anything. As Christ says. “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, [33] but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33 (ESV) As a kid I memorized that verse as confesses me before men, and indeed the Greek word is the same one that is translated confess in our text.
John Confessed Christ before men, He confessed him by denying that he was the Christ, and he confessed him by pointing and saying “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” And he confessed Christ just at that most opportune time when the Jews from Jerusalem had sent the officials to question him.
Confessing Christ, it is what we are called to do, and it is what we do. Perhaps we are not always aware of what we are doing, and how it is that we confess Christ. Perhaps most of us have not had a conversation all week with a non Christian about Christ. Perhaps opportunity showed itself and we failed to take notice of it, or we were scared to. Or perhaps it just hadn’t showed itself. In large part Evangelism, confessing Christ before men, is about speaking when opportunity arises. It works much better that way, than with the typical making a nuisance of yourself approaches often advocated. In college I took an evangelism course that required us to go knocking on doors in the evening, cold calling. Let me just say after a few evenings of that, I understand why the Swiss are taking measures to kick Mormon missionaries out. My experience is techniques like that probably lock more doors shut than they open. Or there is the Bible thumper that is constantly butting in and giving Biblical advice about what to do when it is neither needed nor wanted. Being obnoxious about Christ isn’t exactly confessing Christ.
But when people ask, well then there is opportunity. And people will ask, opportunities will present themselves at opportune times. And then again this church, this congregation is evidence that you confess Christ. People take notice. Your attendance here alone confesses Christ. Just your cars parked in the parking lot serve as a confession of Christ as people drive by on their way to Jana’s Java for their Sunday morning coffee. (And the fuller the parking lot, the more positive the confession.) Just the building and the cross towering from the sanctuary confess Christ to passerbys all week long that here are people who care enough about Christ to maintain a building where the community can hear about him. And then when this community calls a pastor and frees him up to do nothing but proclaim Christ and the forgiveness of sins to you and the rest of Tooele, then there is confession of Christ, that is heard. People take notice. Yes, even your offerings that you think go unnoticed by all but God and the church treasurer, testify to Christ. Because they function to keep this congregation functional.
People take notice of even the more subtle things in life. They notice you leaving your neighborhood dressed to go to church, and passing by the local synagogue of Satan. They notice your life. And that more often than not scares me, because if they noticed in my life what I most often see in my life, I’m not thinking that would be a good thing. But it dumbfounds me how often they see past sin, and on to Christ in the lives of Christians. How often they see the love of Christ working through us and upon us. So that even when we confess so easily that we are sinners, and so calmly go about life knowing that we are forgiven, confessing sin and moving on. They see that. They do. Because thereby we confess that we are not the Christ, but we believe in the Christ and he forgives our sins.
See so often Christianity is confused with unforgiving moralism, that can’t handle a lapse in judgment, can’t handle the weakness of the flesh, can’t tolerate sin. And it is true it can’t. It can’t tolerate sin, it must obliterate it. It can handle a lapse in judgment so to speak. Christians are sinners, and we sin. Christians are those like the rest of the world weak in the flesh who need to be forgiven. Yes it is Christians so often given to grudges. Christians are guilty of the same sins as the rest of the world, divorce, adultery, drunkenness, revelry, fornication, being judgmental, gossip, idolatry, murder, theft and covetousness misogyny, and it’s counterpart the hating of men. Which ones are you guilty of? And yet Christianity cannot tolerate any of these sins, it must obliterate them. And so it does day in and day out, Because Christ does not condone sin, does not tolerate sin, but forgives sins. And when he forgives, the sin is gone, it no longer exists, it is obliterated. And this is why we confess Christ, because he forgives our sin. Every last bit of it.
Now the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.