Can I get a witness?

John 1:(1-9), 10-18

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things came into being through him,

and without him not one thing came into being.

What has come into being in him was life,

and the life was the light of all people.

The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. [John] himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

[the Word] 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. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of humanity, but of God. [power to be born of God].Can

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, "He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he [existed] before me.' "From his fullness [from Jesus’ fulness] we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God.

It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made [God] known. 

The very first church that I ever pastored was this tiny congregation in a little village called la Cañada. It was about 30 kilometers outside of the city of Tegucigalpa.  I wasn’t yet ordained, but there was a serious dearth of ordained pastors, so I got this special dispensation from the bishop to do communion and lead church.  To say I had no idea what I was doing is an understatement.  I was 23 years old, fearless and embarrassingly earnest.  (You think I’m earnest now, you have no idea…). Mostly I played a lot of guitar with don Mauricio and drank a lot of coffee at people’s houses.  There wasn’t electricity in the community and there were those problems that come along with acute poverty: hunger and a lack of health care and formal education.  My uppity liberal arts education didn’t do me many favors and preaching in that community was a bit beyond me.  Usually, what ended up happening instead of a sermon was that I would suggest a question or ideas to the congregation and folks would comment and reflect.

There was a woman in the congregation who was a teacher at the local elementary school and she was called la “Profe” (for professora). It probably took me a solid year in the community to realize that the profe’s name was actually Blanca.  On Sundays at church, as folks shared stories of where they had seen God in their lives, (or where they felt a decided lack of God), Blanca would listen and nod her head and energetically and say, “asi es, hermana, asi es” which means something like “that’s right. That’s right, my sister” or “that’s right my brother.” Occasionally when she felt really emphatic, she would start adding some “amens” in there.  Asi es, hermana, amen! Amen, hermano! 

Sometimes she had her own stories too—and one couldn’t help but nod along and yeah, even I learned to say a few Amens.  Blanca was quick to see and notice Jesus in people’s stories as they shared.  In the way she responded, It was almost like she was pointing right at Jesus and saying, “Did you see Jesus?! Did you see that?” “asi es! amen hermano” just to make sure that everyone else saw that Jesus had showed up in that person’s life.

Noticing when Jesus shows up is easier sometimes than others.  This last week, we’ve seen our fair share of difficult moments on the big national and world stage and I could use a little Jesus showing up.  In fact, I would define some of these moments as particularly shadowy: escalating unease in the middle east, a shooting in a church in Texas, brutal violence in a New York rabbi’s house, devastating fires in Australia. This is to say nothing of some of the anxiety and sadness that some people in our communities feel as we come off of holidays or grieve for those who are no longer with us. The shadow is unsettling.  Maybe I’m actually a little glad that we’re still in the Christmas season today and focusing on Jesus Emmanuel, God with us.  Because we could really use a little light in the darkness right now.  

In these beautiful verses that I read a minute ago from the beginning of the gospel of John, there’s this light that shines in the darkness.  But there is also a world (our world) that doesn’t know that Light or accept it.  What is needed, scripture says, is a witness: someone who will say, “yeah, I see God here. Yeah, I see what God has done.”  Someone who will give a testimony.

In today’s scripture, it’s John.  Some call him John the Baptist, some call him John the Testifier.  But it’s John who shows up to testify to the truth of Jesus, son of God the Word made flesh.  In retrospect, I see Blanca walking in those footsteps of John the Baptist because no matter the circumstances, she would witness to the presence of Jesus our light in the shadow. 

Asi es, hermana.  That’s right my sister.  God is here.  Dios esta aqui. I see Jesus in that story. 

As followers or disciples of Jesus, we’re called to bear witness to God’s presence in our lives and the world.  To be a witness is to say, “Behold.” Behold! the hand of God in my life. Behold! I see God’s presence in your life.   

…But actually…I don’t really use the word “Behold” very often.  I’m guessing you don’t either? I mean, I’m a pastor so arguably, I use the word more than you do.  Honestly, I don’t use the word testify so much either. Especially when we’re talking religious testifying or witnessing.  In fact, there are moments when “witnessing or testifying” seems like it might be an activity that is better suited to John the Baptist or my friend Blanca.

I will confess to you that the last couple of Ash Wednesdays, I have taken Ashes to the Western EL stop, And--I admit it--my nerve falters for a moment to stand with the masses in my pastor collar and rainbow stole and smear ashes on 1 out of 30 people’s foreheads and tell them they are dust.  A lot of folks don’t make eye contact as they walk past me or they pull out their phones.  I kinda want to make a sign and tape it myself that says, “I promise, I’m kind.”

We live in times where witnessing or wearing our faith on our sleeve isn’t our M.O. Maybe we equate “witnessing” with pushing our beliefs down someone’s throat. Or we think it has to do with talking about some kind of hellfire or condemnation or judgement.  Maybe we think will offend people if we talk about church or God.  Maybe we ourselves have been offended?  Maybe we don’t know what on earth we’d say. 

I hear it and I get it.

But I’d say that we witness all the time about things that are important to us. We witness and tell the truth about how much we love the TV show “This is us” or about the delicious-ness of a new restaurant we’ve tried. We bear witness to the things going on in our family or at work. We witness to the wins and accomplishments (or failures) of our sports teams.  We tell people about the things that matter to us all the time.

Witnessing about God isn’t so different.  It’s not about sounding some kind of judgement alarm or assuming you have some superior understanding of THE HOLY than the person you’re talking to.  It’s about talking about where we see God alive and moving: maybe at home, maybe in someone’s kindness, maybe at work.

I’m not just talking about an extraordinary or miraculous experience of God (although those are certainly important) but more: How has God opened your heart? Torn down your walls, convicted you in your impatience or selfishness or self-righteousness? How has God ignited a passion for justice in you? Softened your edges? Made you more humble? Led you to think twice? How has God led you to use your financial resources differently?   Where is God Immanuel, God with us, alive in the world? Where has God built bridges in your life? where is God coaxing you across some bridges? How has God calmed your spirit? Stuck with you in your sadness? Ignited a sense of Holy urgency in your life? changed you?  Where do you sense God working in the midst of so many challenges in the world right now? 

And then tell someone. Tell a friend, your kid, your spouse.

Ask someone. Ask your sibling, someone at coffee hour, your neighbor.

When we talk about what God has done and what God is doing in our midst, we actually sharpen the focus on how God is alive around us. Even though there’s a lot of shadow out there, knowing in our bones, that the Light is alive and vibrant makes the shadow more bearable.

We take these 12 short days of Christmas to celebrate the Truth that God became human in Jesus and sent him to dwell among us. And that message, that Jesus dwells among us, is a message worth sharing.

The light shines in the darkness

and the darkness cannot over come it.

Now go, and tell your story.