Where is God
There were two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were always getting into trouble. Their parents knew that if any mischief occurred in their town their sons were probably involved.
Their mother heard that a local pastor had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys. The clergyman agreed, but asked to see them individually. So the mother sent her 8-year-old in first.
The clergyman, with a booming voice, sat the boy down in front of him and asked him sternly, "Where is God?" the boy’s mouth dropped open, his eyes grew wide, but he made no response.
So the clergyman repeated the question in an even sterner tone, "Where is God!!?" The boy started to shiver but made no attempt to answer. So the pastor raised his voice even more, shook his finger in the boy's face and bellowed, "WHERE IS GOD!?"
The boy screamed and bolted from the room, ran directly home and dove into his closet. When his older brother found him, he asked, "What happened?" The younger brother, gasping for breath, replied, "We are in BIG trouble this time, dude. God is missing - and they think WE did it!"
Much of what we do in church is about communication. Humor. Pastoral visits. Council meetings. Testimony. Witness. Evangelism. Today's Gospel reading tells us that when Jesus asks the two seekers what they're looking for, they ask him where he lives. And they follow him.
The disciples were a little clueless. They had never been in the presence of such a person as this. I can imagine that they sat quietly and thought about what was required of their agreement to follow this person who was given celebrity status by John and what it would mean. We could ask ourselves the same question. What is our deepest longing? What gift can we give to creation? We might ask ourselves what, and whom, are we really seeking, what are we really hoping for? And that would lead to the question: Where is God in my life? How do I know that God is helping me?
The answer Jesus gives is no long-winded sermon full of confusing theological truths, but just three simple words that could provide a theme for our best evangelism efforts: "Come and see."
Jesus calls the men to join him. They don’t need to have it all together first. They just follow him home. They are turned on by the one with whom the Holy spirit is working, Jesus. Jesus, who was just baptized by John, invites these seekers to come closer to him in relationship, to come to "where he lives.” Jesus knows that being in that relationship will transform their lives. He calls disciples before we are fully healed -- “come and see.”
But people want to have their faith in order before they come to church. Saves a lot of grief, I guess. I spoke to a gentleman named Anthony on Friday about attending worship service, and he told me he was thinking about coming to St. Paul’s, but wanted to put his “own house in order first, before coming to the Lord’s house.” Supposedly, Anthony is entering a treatment program on Monday. So, he is about to have a rebirth, born into a life without alcohol and drugs. That is really a clean start, and will open up so many opportunities for him.
Well, here it is, people -- come and see. Are you curious, but afraid to be seen in a broken state? Are you ready to hear about God’s healing other people’s sins but unable to talk about your own? Do you feel uncomfortable communicating faith, or lack of it, in public? Are tough questions threatening, maybe having the conversation about needing God is embarrassing? Well this is the place: come and see the church in action, we are part of the UCC and have a motto, as former Council President Bob Watson pointed out to me: NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE OR WHERE YOU ARE ON LIFE’S JOURNEY, YOU ARE WELCOME HERE.
We can say, “Come and see,” but when we invite people to ‘come', will they be able to 'see' Jesus in the midst of our congregation?" When new people come into our place will they be turned on by our gathering? Are we walking the walk not just talking the talk?
John the Baptist is a model for preachers and witnesses today. In this reading from the Gospel of John, he points toward the One who is salvation rather than drawing attention to himself. He even watches two of his own disciples leave him and follow Jesus. Wow. That is servant leadership. The higher cause was to serve God, baptize Jesus and make way for the Messiah to take over. John figured it out, humbly did his job and then died to make room for Jesus to take the lead.
I think John was not afraid to get out of Jesus’ way, even if he looked like a failure. He failed so that others followed Jesus. Too many churches, too many pastors, too many people are so competitive they are afraid to fail. We want the pews to be full so we can balance the budget. We want to be beloved leaders; we want people to see us as competent and trustworthy. We want to be wanted. And nobody likes a failure.
How could a failure be in the leadership of a church, how could they bring anyone to God, how could their story matter? The answer to these questions is what Jesus said to the disciples: “come and see.” All we can do is offer stories of what Jesus has done for us. It is usually, regularly and undeniably marked by failure, disaster, pain and loss. But here is the connection with all humanity. That we experience the failure, disaster, pain and loss that everyone else on the planet experiences.
Anthony is taking a big step tomorrow. He is giving up. He is giving in to what he believes will be a new life. God is giving him a new chance. But he has to make the leap of faith and enter detox. He has to join a program. He has to stop before he starts to recover. Same as inviting people to church leadership.
The invitation would be: “come and see.” Listen, watch while we tell our story. What is our story of "meeting Jesus?" Who is Jesus for you? What kind of God does your Jesus reveal? How "accessible" is our God?
Our God is greater than all idols. Our God is greater than all human institutions, all powers and principalities. Our God is more merciful that any charity on earth, and richer than any foundation. Our God is more powerful than any government. Our God is pleased when human beings get together to end suffering. Our God is pleased when we work to end racism, sexism, ageism, homophobism, and all the isms. God wants to embrace all of humanity. And when we do it, we do it in God’s name, and our God is pleased.
Coincidentally, Congressman Kucinich recently made a statement about this very topic on the floor of the House of Representatives:
We are one as we pay tribute to Congresswoman Giffords and all of the other victims of violence in
Tucson. Our gathering reflects the truth of America's first motto, which is above this chamber, E Pluribus Unum: out of many, we are one.
It is vital that we acknowledge our oneness, not just as a Congress, but as a nation and as a world. In that appreciation for oneness we find human sympathy, compassion and love.
It is an awareness of the imperative of human unity which can bring us to the threshold of understanding our power to bring an end to the violence which is consuming our loved ones.
It is an awareness of the imperative of human unity which can help us to create a new America, where the omnipresence of violence is understood as a challenge to be met, not as an unyielding truth of the human condition to be accepted.
Our hearts are open now as we recognize the victims. So let us be open to a new direction where we in this nation can take an organized approach to deal with the causes of violence, not just the effects.
We are one with our sister Congresswoman Giffords and all the other victims. Let us continue to be one with each other as we struggle to bring light to this moment of darkness.
My God has brought me peace and understanding of people wherever and however they are. My God has healed and continues to heal my tired and wounded spirit. My God has been with me through really complicated and life threatening situations. My God has allowed me to make it this far in life – 50 years. What has God done for you lately? My God puts me into situations where I can tell people how much I love God, how much I love life, how much I enjoy meeting other people and telling them about Jesus. That is my job, yes, but it is also my passion. Saturday, I must have talked to 30 people who come into St. Paul’s . . . and what did we talk about? How good it is to be a disciple. How much I appreciate people helping us with little work projects. That kind of stuff. People came up to me and hugged me and said “Happy New Year, I hope this is a good year for you.” I worked with some youth who are very eager to make their lives better.
In a study reference book that I use called: The Texts for Preaching Year A, Charles Cousar speaks of God’s enlarged vision for humanity that we find in today’s reading from Isaiah. Cousar sayss: "This is one of the most crucial texts in showing how the Old Testament breaks ethnic limitations and witnesses to the largeness of God's rescue." He then compares Isaiah, the prophet/servant, to the modern-day prophet: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose vision of justice for people of color in the United States expanded dramatically to include issues of peace and economic justice.
MLK, Jr. knew that the question of rights for all God’s children was and still is a humanity-embracing question. Listen as MLK tells a story of God speaking to him over a cup of coffee at midnight . . .
If we are following Jesus, we cannot wait for perfection of our own faith, nor can we wait for the perfect community to join. It was while we are sinners that Christ’s body is broken for us. Jesus lays the foundation for community life in the midst of betrayal: "The Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread... gave thanks, broke it and gave it to them. Our commitment to one another in community can be no less than his: "This is my body broken for you."
One of the great trusting relationships is with the person who allows us to fail. When we can make mistakes, to live with humility, and to find grace in forgiveness that is where we are allowed to grow. We are allowed to put our pride, our ego, our self-serving ways aside for the higher calling of God’s grace. Jesus was crucified to show us. Come and see . . . Without the crucifixion of our pride, we will always consider ourselves too inadequate to feed our brothers and sisters in community. Without humility, we will never want to run the risk of trying to evangelize, testify, witness or join church leadership. But fail, and we will be given wings. Suffer defeat, and we will learn how to win. Experience loss and we will gain new insight into our life and the existence of our neighbor.
At midnight MLK could not sleep so he made some coffee and sat down to think. He thought about the 40 threatening phone calls that disturbed his world. He thought about the bomb that had ripped through his home. He thought about quitting. Or should he continue the struggle for justice in the face of threats, in the face of violence from police and in the face of unjust and white racist power.
We shall overcome.
