Sermon Briefs: John 1:6-8, 19-28
Augustine focuses an Advent sermon1 on the humility of John
the Baptist. He uses John's "light" metaphor in a creative way, saying
that Christ lighted a lamp for himself so that he might be seen. John was that
lamp. Augustine contrasts John's statement that he is not worthy to unloose the
latchet of Jesus' shoe with the church's statements that
"we" baptize. What we give is ours, and holy. John said, "Not
I, but He."
Another Advent sermon found in the same source2 was preached
by John Keble. Keble pictures the crowd standing around John when he announced
that the Christ stands among them. Few in the crowd that day could discern God
standing among them. Some looked to the religious leaders in search of the Christ.
Others thought the Christ must be someone rich or great. The poor, humble, quiet
carpenter's son from Nazareth was likely the last person standing in the crowd
to be considered as the Christ. That continued throughout Jesus' life. He stood
among folks who did not know him.
" He was `a God who hideth himself.'"
Now Jesus Christ stands among us, and we do not know him any better than
those who stood in the crowd that day. Keble illustrates the ways his listeners
may recognize him: in the faces of the worshipping congregation; during the Sacrament
of Holy Communion; standing among the gatherings of family and friends; present
in the places of the workaday world.
Karl Rahner invites his listeners to become, with John, a voice crying
in the wilderness.3 Rahner's sermon is a skillful weaving of images
of the wilderness.
John's cry was swallowed up by the wind in the wilderness, as ours will
be. We are to cry to God continually, even though our cry seems to be swallowed
by the silence, even when there seems to be no answer. Then we shall hear the
answer, and it will not just be an echo. It will be the Word of God filling the
emptiness. This passage during Advent presents a harsh Gospel, says Rahner. He
encourages us to stay a while and hold out in the wilderness. Then we will be
able to say, "You are here....You are the Christmas in the Advent of my
existence."
An inspirational sermon by James Harnish is entitled Imagine That!4 It
is an example of a sermon which is crafted very cleverly and which moves in a
calculated manner from the beginning to the conclusion.
Harnish begins by quoting Einstein, "Imagination is more important
than knowledge." He proceeds to a litany calling listeners to imagine people
and events and promises of the Advent-Christmas season: everything from the Grinch
to the One "who will baptize you, soak you, saturate your life and your
world with the Holy Spirit of God."
Using Walter Brueggemann's concept of the prophetic imagination, Harnish
asserts that our task during Advent is to allow the prophetic imagination of
Isaiah and John to cut through the numbness of our lives.
We all experience spiritual numbness at times, says Harnish. Then one day
we run into someone who is a John the Baptist. Someone who witnesses to the possibility
of an new light shining in the darkness. Someone whose gift of imagination cuts
through the numbness. Then we are able to envision new possibilities both for
our lives and for the world.
Harnish illustrates from his personal life. He speaks about the Salvation
Army bells which ring during the Christmas season. Harnish admits ignoring them
and avoiding eye contact with the bell ringer. Then one day he heard the bells
for the first time. That day the bells penetrated his numbness. He imagined the
people who were not worrying about trees and gifts, but rather, were worried
about what they would eat or where they would get a diaper for the baby. Harnish
vowed that day never to pass a Salvation Army kettle without emptying his pocket
change into it. A token gift, Harnish remarks, when measured by the size of his
check to the church. Such a small gift helps little. It is what the gift symbolizes
to Harnish that counts. When he empties his pockets into the kettle, he is allowing
the sound of the bell to penetrate his spiritual numbness and to call forth a
Christ like compassion.
Janice W. Hearn
NOTES
1. George W. Forell, Ed. The Christian Year: Sermons of the Fathers,
vol. 1 (New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1964), pp. 51-55. 2. Ibid., pp.63-66.
3. Karl Rahner, "A Voice in the Wilderness." Biblical Homilies (New
York: Herder and Herder, 1966), pp. 65-67. 4. James A. Harnish, "Imagine
That!" Abingdon Preacher's Annual: 1993, John K. Bergland, ed. (Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 1992), pp. 385-387.
