Dec 14, 2014
Scripture: John 1: 6-8, 19-28
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.
What are you waiting for on this third Sunday of Advent? And why do we pay attention to the lectionary cycle of scriptures when the world seems so fractured, so evil, and so discouraging? What are we doing here when we could be at home, reading the newspaper or watching the news on TV?
I know that one of the things you are waiting for is a return to worship at the Potter’s House, in a clean new space. Maybe there are other things waiting to be birthed there as well.
Let’s look at the gospel lesson assigned for today. In it, we catch sight of a wild man – John the Baptist. We know from the other gospels that John is the cousin of Jesus, the son of Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth. But in the Gospel of John, John the Baptist takes on a cosmic role. He is introduced to us as “a man sent from God …as a witness to the light.”
There is something about his preaching that reminds people of the prophets Isaiah and Elijah. It’s enough to make us look back at those prophets, to see what they were preaching. Listen to the Hebrew Testament reading for today: (Isa 61)
The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor….
That’s a vision of radical fairness, radical inclusiveness. Everyone matters in this prophecy. And those who listened to John the Baptist recognized that he was talking about the same thing. And furthermore, John is saying that this “light” is coming into this world, here and now. It’s not some sweet afterlife, when there will be no more strife and tears. John came to prepare the way for Jesus, and for the realm of right relationships, there and then --- here and now.
The reason John the Baptist was living in the wilderness, outside of Jerusalem and even outside of Bethany, was that he objected to the social constructs of his society, both Jewish and Roman. If he was preaching Isaiah’s vision of a just society, you know that’s not what he was seeing.
John the Baptist would have been right at home in Ferguson Missouri, or New York City, or Washington, DC, raising his voice against injustice being practiced in the name of security.
No wonder people flocked to hear him. He gave them hope. He gave them an alternative reality.
Although we don’t know much about how John began teaching his disciples, we do know that he had them – because later they came to Jesus, asking “Are you the Messiah? The one we’ve been waiting for?” We know that John preached a kind of narrow orthodoxy, an ascetic way of life – and that Jesus didn’t fit his image of the future Messiah. Jesus welcomed all sorts of people, even healing on the Sabbath. He broke rules in the name of love and justice. That’s the light John was pointing to – the realm of God as Jesus lived it, here and now.
In the early days of Church of the Saviour, we too sought ways to bear witness to the light of Christ. Not to change the world, or even the US government, but to set up different models that would serve vulnerable populations better than they were being served.
You already know that the first mission of C of S, in 1960, was the Potter’s House, right here on Columbia Road. But before that, there was preparation of those service teams for each night. During the 1950s, the School of Christian Living was the place where countless people prepared themselves for real discipleship – knowing the whole sweep of the biblical story, developing disciplines for the inward and outward journey, and discerning their specific call. The School of Christian Living was the place where people heard and told their stories of faith. Gordon knew that ministry could not be sustained in hard times without inner preparation – and that’s what the School was for.
In 1968, when the race riots tore through Washington DC following the Rev. Martin Luther King’s death, the Potter’s House chose to stay open right where it was. C of S put down roots in this neighborhood in the face of threat and danger. FLOC formed then, to close Junior Village – a dumping ground for children. Soon, other missions spun off for housing and healthcare, childcare and literacy.
By 1976, when the church got too big (at 120 committed members), Gordon invited a new generation of leaders to step forward. Six small churches formed then, including Seekers and 8th Day. We worshiped at the headquarters building on Mass Avenue, and you worshiped at the Potter’s House from the beginning. At that time, the School of Christian Living stayed under the umbrella of Church of the Saviour, so the new churches would not have to set up their own schools. The C of S School met on Tuesday and Thursday nights.
By about 1979, the Tuesday night school was staffed entirely by Seekers, and so it became the Seekers School of Christian Living. I must confess that I do not know what happened to the Thursday night school, but I suspect it was absorbed by the Servant Leadership School in the mid-80s, and the SLS was not concerned with making a clear path into membership for people who might have been interested. As I prepared my sermon for today, I found myself wondering if a new call for 8th Day might be to provide a single School of Christian Living for the Columbia Road churches.
I know that, for Seekers, our School has been an essential part of inviting new people from the Takoma neighborhood into our committed core of Stewards. None of our founding members remain in that sacred circle, but we have found that new members benefit from taking classes along with more experienced members of the community, so our culture of generosity and commitment can be caught more than taught directly. Adjustments can be made in that intimate setting for people who are not so intellectual or academic, but learn in different ways. Our School of Christian Living has kept our community alive and growing. There we can share our human stories of struggle and questioning. There we learn to see our lives in the light of Christ.
“If you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or Isaiah,” John’s critics asked, “then who are you? And why are you baptizing people?”
John answered, “I am a voice, crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’” One way that you could help to strengthen the core of your church, would be establish a School that is free and open to anyone who wants to explore the biblical story or their call more deeply.
As we wait for new birth in this season of Advent, that is one sure way to bear witness to the light of Christ in our midst.
May God bless the seeds of call planted here, in this time and place.
Amen.