January
15th Homily given at St. Stephen's, New Harmony, Indiana
(click here for video)
2nd
Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah
49:1-7, Psalm 40, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John 1:29-42
This
gospel reading from John
I
have to say it has an almost physical effect on me
Perhaps
you felt it too
There
is a lot of movement going on
…a
lot of feet are moving around
‘from
here to there’
And
Its not only movement in the Gospel
But
in the other readings too
In
Isaiah
I
hear God ‘coming towards’
Before
I was even born
God
came close enough to call me
Close enough to my ear for me to
hear.
While
I was still in the womb
God
named me
He
gave me a specific identity…gave me a destiny
In
the Psalm
Again
we hear God
Moving towards
‘he
stooped to me and heard my cry’
the
psalmist sings
he
came
towards me
lifting
me and setting my feet…planting them
coming
towards
me so that I might be pointed in the right direction
coming
towards
me to put a song in my mouth
what
a beautiful image
giving
me a song
that
my speaking…my singing
like
my feet
might
also be set and grounded
And
in the letter to the Corinthians
“…Grace
to you and Peace…from God”
God
again, comes towards
But
now this ‘coming towards’
Has
become the vocation of all Christians
Through
the Body of Christ…through us
God continues to come towards
In
the Gospel
this
sense of movement
This
‘coming towards’ starts right away
-John
the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards
him
-then
JTB’s juggling around of
who comes before
and who comes after…again
movement
-then
the movement of the Spirit descending
-Then
Jesus walks by…John witnesses,
and the two disciples follow…
presumably they are now
walking
with Jesus
-then
a quick question and answer
they are on the move to ‘come and
see’
-
Andrew finds Peter…
he didn’t stand around and wait for Peter to come by
…Andrew
is on the move
-and
he physically ‘brought’ Simon Peter
to Jesus
Trying
to picture this
How
might I I act this out?
…to
stage it…put little marks on the floor indicating
the progression of my steps
In
the midst of all this dizzying movement
John…The
Gospel writer John
With
careful deliberateness
Uses
the word MENO
Over
and over again
MENO
5
times in 4 verses
It
is a favorite word throughout John’s Gospel
It
has layers of meaning
To
remain, stay, rest or my favorite…abide
I
feel a bit like a yo-yo
You
know that yo-yo trick
‘walking
the dog’?
you
go up and down a few times
and
then you make the yo-yo stay down
spinning
all the while
Until…with
a slight move of the wrist
It
comes zipping back up
On
the move
AND
staying at the same time
So
what is it Jesus?
Being
on the move
Or
Remaining,
abiding, resting?
And
if it’s both
How
does that work?
I
certainly feel that same tension in the world around us
BONO,
the lead singer for U2
Has
a famous refrain
“and I still haven’t
found what I’m looking for”
He
gets at a pretty universal angst
But
how do we find it?
In
the music video everyone is
Dancing around…constantly on the move
Looking…can
be exhausting
That’s
when the ideal of the contemplative life
Seduces
me
That’s
what I need
I
need to learn how to sit still
Sit
still and listen
I
want to find all the answers
Before
I can move out and invite someone into my world
My
guess is we can all get stuck
…
in the preparation
Decisions
to Marry
To
begin a family
To
switch jobs
To
retire
Will
I ever get on with it???
And
getting stuck
staying-remaining
in that place
not moving
is
weirdly exhausting too
So
what is it?
Do
I stay
Do
I move on
Do
I do both
The
Gospel offers something to us about living
Both ‘on the move’
And all the while…’abiding’
God
is always coming towards
Our
Christmas season is
The
celebration of God With Us
…Immanuel
A
celebration of God relentless ‘coming
towards’
In
human flesh
In
time
In
history
In
particularity
In
Jesus of Nazareth
And
this season of Epiphany
Continues
to celebrate
God
coming towards
Bursting
in on us
…into
on our world
In
this first chapter of the Gospel of John
Jesus
comes towards
We
catch a glimpse…physically and spiritually
There
is something magnetic going on
Jesus
comes towards
The
disciples have just a morsel of knowledge
Most
likely they are more bewildered than anything else
But
they follow
Even
as they follow
I
get the sense that Jesus is always facing them
Like
a tour guide
He
turns around and walks backwards
We
always get to see his face
Okay gang
Glad you are
following
Checking to make
sure you are on the right tour
What is it you’re
looking for?
Oh
That will cost you;)
Come and See
And
the disciples begin their trek with Jesus
They
begin their move by abiding with him
They
begin their trek
Their
search to ‘find what they are looking for’
By
being BOTH ‘On the Move’
AND abiding
And
we…those who are reading the Gospel of John
From
this side of the cross
Who
have been hearing the gospel for years
We
know
We
know where Jesus abides
He
abides in the Father
He
and the Father are one
We
abide in Christ
And
to the extent that that is true
We
can move and abide at the same
time
I
like the way St. Paul says it in Galatians (2:20)
I
live now
No
longer I
But
Christ lives in me
How
liberating that must be
It
is what JTB is doing today…isn’t it?
He’s
always pointing to Jesus
NO…don’t
look at me…at least don’t stop there…
See
my finger…follow my finger
Look
through me…See Jesus…he’s the ONE
A
little over a year ago
I
came here…I was invited here…to St Stephen’s
I
came to see
And
what I saw
And
what I continue to see
Is
a small and alive community of people
Who
abide
It
is an authentic abiding
One
that gets and keeps moving
To
the Kuntzfest
to
the food pantry
to
Jacobs village
to
the soup kitchen
I
can’t possibly remember all
the
moving done around here
It
is evidenced in the weekly announcements…
They
are your story
My
observation
Is
that your abiding
And
your moving
points
beyond yourselves
And
is grounded in the Body of Christ
At
work in the world
But
I wonder if we too polite?
Do
we find it hard to invite others into our communities of faith?
I
know that I am
I
want others to just come
And
then, oh then…for sure…
I
will be so so welcoming
Today,
I sense in the Gospel
a
renewed call to take on
A
bit more of that movement ‘towards’
I
feel a bit of a push to turn around
And
act a bit more the tour guide
And
Walk backwards…facing people
Saying…‘Come
and See’
The
Collect prayer has us pray:
Grant to us your
people
Who have been
illumined by your Word
Grant that we may
shine with radiance
YOU
Fine
people of St. Stephen’s
You
can say
…Shout
even
‘Come
and See’
because
you shine
…there
is plenty to see
…plenty
to come to know
from
abiding here
with
all of you
here…at
512 Granary Street
Thanks
be to God!
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