Sermons

Who Are We?

BY THERESA MCCONNELL | JANUARY 20 , 2008 (Epiphany)
1 Corinthians 1:1-9 and John 1:29-42

1 Corinthians 1:1-9
1Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— 7so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

John 1:29-42
29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I 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.’ 34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” 35The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o”clock in the afternoon. 40One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

“Obama for Change”, “Clinton - Change We Can Believe In,” “Governor Mitt Romney Calls For Change, “ “McCain also calls himself an Agent of Change”… people are wondering what is going to happen next. What about the economy? Will we skid past a recession or are we already there? We wonder if we can make a difference in our own vote. Who do we listen to? What’s really true? Is there a way out? And who will lead us?

We know something about how the people of Jesus’ day felt after the temple had been destroyed and the question was looming: Who or what was to become Israel’s center for identification? We understand the anxiety. We understand the need for clarity and certainly.

John clarified: I am not he… I did not even know who he was … but had been told that the spirit would come upon and REMAIN upon the one. Then Jesus came and “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.” John describes Jesus as “Lamb of God,” “Son of God.”

Lamb of God -Passover lamb (Exodus)
Aries - constellation “Lamb/ram”

“…we look to the constellation we (following the Romans) call Aries, which Jews of the Second Temple period (i.e., of Jesus' time) as well as Greeks saw as a male lamb…Ancient descriptions of Aries mirror that of the first-century astronomer Nigidius Figulus, who called Aries "the leader and prince of the constellations" (Malina and Rohrbaugh, pg. 51). Aries the divine Lamb was the ruler of the other constellations, and the starting point from which all other constellations were mapped.” (DYLAN quoting Bruce Malina's and Richard Rohrbaugh's Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John).

In identifying Jesus as “lamb of God” and “Son of God” John has proclaimed that the one who will bring ultimate change is present. He has articulated a hope that many cultures in the ancient world would recognize…”in Jesus there was power, power that would rise above all other powers in the sky, power present in the beginning, power to make all things new” (Dylan). In Jesus this power comes together and is redefined “in his humble service to others, and in his willing submission for the sake of others to death on a cross.”

It is this one to whom we come and discover who we are. Surely, some of you had Fathers who said, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Although this aphorism was not always said as positively as those “sticking with Jesus,” the dynamic of group shaping the individual is the same.

People who seek him and remain with him- power of association. Christians are empowered to go and tell the Good News. People who stick with Jesus are empowered to overcome self-centeredness because they are focusing on Jesus and not on self.

Being empowered to go and tell means bringing others to Christ as Andrew did. Telling the empowerment of life with Jesus Christ is not optional for Christians. It is what we are about. Sharing the Good News. People who stick with Jesus are empowered to serve. We are given the courage to reach out to the unchurched, to our friends and family, to share what has given us strength and hope in the midst of trying times. We are witnesses!

People who stick with Jesus are empowered to live. Remaining in Touch and Becoming Empowered is the essence of life with Christ.

Empowered to Share (in ways that matter)
Empowered to Serve (you have gifts to offer)

When touched by the power of Christ we are not the same. We are changed. The definition of WHO WE ARE changes. We are no longer our own, but his. That’s the Good News. Thanks be to God.

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