St. John 1:29-34
"The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel."
And John testified, "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.' And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God." (St. John 1:29-34 NRSV)
I have made the comment to many that my recent stay in the hospital could not have come at a more opportune time - the week of final exams at school! For the first time in my life I had a "legal" excuse not to take my exams. Being aware of my physical condition the school has actually said to me: "Take them whenever you are ready." I have often thought since that day that "I’ll be ready when I have all the answers to the questions firmly established in the corridors of my mind!"
Wouldn’t it be nice to have all the answers to all the questions of life? All around the world computer experts are meeting and trying to solve a problem known as the Y2K problem. I’m not certain that I completely understand it but I think I am close when I say that most computers are not programmed to go past December 31st, 1999. Meaning that at midnight on the 31st they will crash or simply shut down. "Well," we say "that’s no big deal." Until we realize that our money is in banks that are totally run by computers. That all the traffic lights in down town Charlotte operate by computers. That all the hospitals and doctor offices throughout the world maintain our health records and research courses of treatment through computers. That the power to our homes are turned off and on by computers. And if you own a business - all your accounts receivable are on a computer. So the question these brilliant minds are facing is "what do we do to rid ourselves of the Y2K problem?" Quite frankly the Y2K problem is one I am going to leave to the experts. Life is filled with far too many other questions.
One thing I am certain of is that neither John nor any of the people gathered at the Jordan that day were concerned with the "Y2K" problem. The day before was filled with the glorious sight of numerous lives being baptized in the Jordan River. Today was just as promising in John's eyes.
I remember days when I use to baptize in the New River - one of the oldest if not the oldest river in the United States. We didn’t have the comfort of an indoor baptistery in those days. All kinds of great and wonderful stories emerge from those baptizings.
I will never forget the story my Uncle Worth tells of his witness to a baptism in the mountains of North Carolina. Seems that he attended a Church of the Brethren baptism one Sunday afternoon. Now the Brethren church baptized a little differently from us Baptists in that they put the candidate under the water three times - once in the name of the Father, again in the name of the Son, and a third time in the name of the Holy Spirit.
Seems that this young man that my Uncle Worth knew was a bit like I use to be - wanting to eat all the time. So as he headed out the door for church he eyed some of momma’s home made biscuits left on the kitchen table. He walked by and began to stuff his pockets with the biscuits to snack on if the preacher spoke too long. After church, when they had all gathered at the river and the young man waded on down into the river beside the preacher.
The preacher placed one hand on the back of the young man while he raised the other into the air: "I baptize you in the name of the Father," under the man went and as he came up a biscuit went floating down the river! "In the name of the Son," under he went and as he came up another biscuit went floating down the river. "And in the name of the Holy Spirit." As the man came up a third time yet another biscuit went floating down the river. One little ole lady on the bank of the river said in a voice loud enough for all to hear: "Pastor! You best dunk him again! The devil’s coming out in lumps!"
What about those two days at the Jordan? What was going on there? Great things were taking place but what were they? There would be many Baptists who disagree with me on this point, especially those in power right now, but there was something happening there that was far greater than even Baptism!
A life transformation was taking place in the lives of many who stood around and in that river. John had been delivering a message those two days. He had been delivering the Gospel message. Listen to John’s words:
the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal."
(St. John 1:26-27 NRSV)
The Gospel of Mark gives an even more detailed explanation:
of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole
Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him,
and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins."
(St. Mark 1:4-5 NRSV)
Can we begin to imagine what kind of people were there that day? I imagine there were those whose lives had been lives of drunkeness. Those whose lives had been filled with an evilness beyond man’s comprehension. But there were others there that day too. There was the Hungry - Those who had no earthly idea where their next bite of food would come from. The Sick - Those whose bodies were crippled or maimed with disease. The Abused -Those whose husbands had abused them-those who had been abused by parents. The Brokenhearted - Those who had a spouse to walk away from a commitment. The Devistated - Those in financial ruin. Those who were of substance and wealth. The Unlovable - Those whom society had cast aside who had no idea what it was like to feel loved or to be accepted for who they were.
Every last one of them having their lives transformed through the preaching of one man - John. One at a time they came saying: "Yes I want to receive this forgiveness of sin." "Yes I want this message to live within my heart!"
But that’s not all! That’s not the best part! Once I was speaking in a very large church which had a balcony. I had been in that church many times and knew its layout well. I had arranged with a young man who played the trumpet to bring his trumpet with him. On that day I told him: "Frank, you sit up in the balcony and when you see me close my Bible stand up and blow as loud as you can!" I was speaking to the congregation on what would happen it Jesus came back and found us unprepared. I said these words: "At anytime Gabrial’s trumpet might blow to signal the end of time. It might be tonight, today, or before this sermon is over." Then I closed my Bible! And BLOW he did! When I gave the invitation the alter was full! Aren’t you glad we don’t have a balcony?
I can only dream about how John must have felt that day. As he stood and proclaimed the Gospel about God’s unfailing grace and unbiased forgiveness a figure of a man came walking up the banks of the river toward John and the crowd. A dark skinned man wearing a white robe and sandals. With each and every step the man took one could notice his gracefulness, his majesty. Closer and closer he came. Don’t you know that John’s heart was thumping out his chest?! Could it be? Is it really Him? YES! YES! "BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHICH HAS COME TO TAKE AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD!"
On that day those people gathered together and were introduced to the Lamb of God. To the very one who would transform their very lives. To the answer for all the problems in their lives. Life is filled with multitudinous questions. And the answer for all of them is found in God through Christ. Some of you may be sitting there thinking: "So if I give my life to Jesus the problem will go away?" Perhaps - perhaps not.
The Old Testament tells us of three young men who got into a lot of trouble with a king and their punishment was to be thrown into a firey furnace. Think about that story for a minute? Remember? The King had made a golden statue and demanded all to bow down and worship it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to abandon or compromise their faith in Almighty God by worshipping an idol. They trusted in God but did they still have to go through the firey furnace? You bet they did. But here’s the difference. Listen to what the King said:
"Did I not have three men bound and thrown into the furnace? But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of the Son of God."
You see ladies and gentlemen, while all the problems of our life may not immediately disappear and are a certain for the future - when we have Jesus we have the means of not only facing those troublesome situations, but of surviving them! It is the love of God which has provided us the answer to all our troubles. That answer came to us in the form of His Son. The one who would ultimately destroy all the evils and injustices in the world. The source of all hope. Jesus is the Answer!
Amen.
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