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In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Our oldest child, Anna, was born in 1976 at a time when fathers were permitted in both labor and delivery rooms and when gender was rarely known until birth. I was in my second year at the seminary and a number of my friends and classmates were in the waiting room at Lutheran Hospital in St. Louis. I remember a fast walk down the halls wearing my scrubs, still wearing hat and booties. I entered the waiting room and announced “it’s a girl!” After the high fives and congratulatory hugs I turned to leave and go back to Peggy and our infant daughter. As I turned there was a woman patient, wearing a hospital gown, standing in the doorway. She had a big smile on her face and said, “When I saw you coming down the hall, I could see in your face that it was good news, so I followed you because I needed to hear good news.” I learned an important lesson that day about what kind of message is conveyed to others just by the look on your face and personal bearing.
I cannot imagine anyone not ever having a “I-can’t-wait-to-tell-them” circumstance … times when we have experienced some blessing and have good news to share. Epiphany means “manifestation” or “revelation”. An Epiphany is a manifestation of the divine or a sudden perception of the essential meaning or nature of something. Wouldn’t the Epiphany message revealing Jesus as the Christ, the Savior of the World, prompt an “I-can’t-wait-to-tell-them” mindset?
Yet, evangelism is not a popular word. It makes us feel guilty for not talking about Christ. It carries images of knocking on doors, annoying people, and personal rejection. It reminds us that most of us are slow to talk about our faith. Some say it’s because they don’t know how. Some say it’s because they defer to others; like pastors. At a deeper level, it may signal that they’ve have lost the wonder and joy that accompanies knowing who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.
If we feel no desire to introduce others to Christ, perhaps we are far from our first passion as Christians and as a Church to reach out offering the only solution to the desperate need of a world in sin. Perhaps our own faith or our own discipleship is in question. Isn’t there a disconnect when we know the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” yet fail to point others to Him?
The divinely inspired St. Paul writes “…I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16 ESV). And again, he writes, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…” (Romans 10:9 ESV). Likewise, the divinely inspired St. Peter writes, “Always be prepared to give and answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15 NIV). Certainly, saving faith is personal but it is NOT private.
The devil, the world, and our sinful nature are all behind the sin of holding our tongues with regard to our Christian witness. How will we escape temporal and eternal punishment from God for such sin? The place to begin? Repentance! Confession and forgiveness!
Because God does not want to condemn us, He calls and enables us to repent. The Holy Spirit leads us to have sorrow for our rebellion against the Lord of Heaven and earth … and to believe “that sin has been forgiven and grace has been obtained through Christ” (AC XII.3-6) … and with that faith we desire to do better than to keep on sinning. When we repent then God forgives us of our sinful nature and all our actual sins. He forgives us for Jesus’ sake.
In today’s Gospel we hear the all important message conveyed by John the Baptizer: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (v 29). The phrase “Lamb of God” has a beautifully rich Old Testament background that would have been familiar to John’s hearers. Old Testament imagery that may come to mind include the ram that was substituted for Abraham’s offering of Isaac, or the lamb of the Passover and the blood that averted the destroying angel in Egypt, or the imagery of the sin offering of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Which image is correct? It appears to me that John is making a general allusion to sacrifice in the Old Testament for all of these images point to the fulfillment of Christ’s sacrifice for us. It is significant to note that John not only calls Jesus the “Lamb of God” but adds “who takes away the sin of the world.”
“Sin” in the Greek is a singular noun and so focuses our attention not on individual sins (which people attempt to play down) BUT to the repulsive condition of humanity in its state of rebellion, separation from God, and spiritual death. This is what the Lamb of God takes away by His sacrificial death and victorious resurrection.
The Greek word for “world,” is kosmos. This may be the Holy Spirit’s way of emphasizing the significance of Christ’s work of redemption. First, Christ’s redeeming work is not limited to a particular place or people. Second, not just sin, with its guilt and shame, but also the results of sin in causing all of creation to be removed from a right relationship with God. Christ redeems not just the sin of humankind, but the effect of sin in the world.
Christ carried all of your sin and the sin of all humankind in His body at the cross. He is your substitute … the innocent for the guilty. There He suffered and died in your place to satisfy God’s wrath for your sins. And that, together with His resurrection from the dead not only insures victory over sin, Satan and death, but forgiveness, life and salvation are now available through faith in Him.
The task and purpose of John the Baptizer was to point people to Jesus so they would look to the Lamb. He proclaimed the Lamb of God as the Son of God. John also revealed Him as the Messiah to the people of Israel. And John proclaimed that Jesus is the One chosen by the Spirit. His statement “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain teaches…” (v 33) shows us that the Holy Spirit leads people to Jesus as it did John. Those whom the Spirit brings to faith then follow Jesus by witnessing to Christ. Though this witnessing the Holy Spirit leads others to Christ. As the Lord declared through Isaiah in today’s the Old Testament reading: “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
John pointed two of his own disciples to Christ and they followed Him. Jesus asked them “What are you seeking?” (v. 38). Their answer, “where are you staying?” (v. 38) seems a bit odd, yet Jesus takes them where they we are as He does with us. No reprimand. No belittling their lack of deep theological understanding. No, Christ drew them to Himself and they receive His grace in His invitation: “Come, and you will see” (v. 39). And Jesus offers the same invitation to us.
In doing so Jesus brings us into fellowship with Himself, the Father and the Spirit. And so we experience more than an answer to their strange question concerning Jesus’ lodging. We have the reality of His presence in our lives. We experience His forgiveness. Christ comes to us in His Word in all it’s forms and invites us to look to Him as the “Lamb.” He comes to us in His Word in the Holy Scriptures – read, spoken, and expounded, here among us. He comes to us in His Word connected to water in Holy Baptism which brings us into the kingdom of God and creates faith. He comes to us in His Word of Holy Absolution which comforts us and releases us from despair. He comes to us in His Word which make the elements of bread and wine the sacrament of the Holy Supper which nourishes us with His true body and His true blood given and shed for us. Jesus invites and promises, “Come, and you will see.” And so we look to the Lamb.
Consider what looking to the Lamb does. Looking to Jesus transforms us and the evidence of faith is seen in the change that takes place in our lives. The Word of God uses words like “born again” … “rebirth” … “regeneration” … “renewal” … “transformation.” When we look to the Lamb, we are never the same. We are not only free from sin and the effects of sin, but we are free from the power of sin. We are also free to serve Him … free to do good works … and free to witness … free to bring others to the Lamb, as Andrew did with Peter, his brother. In today’s Epistle St. Paul declares that we have “the testimony about Christ … confirmed among” us (v 6).
This is what our world needs—the good news of “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” … not only manifested to us, but also manifested through us … evident in our lives for people to notice … their eyes seeing something in us that causes them to seek good news. God will bless the opportunities we have to share Jesus’ invitation: “Come, and you will see.”
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.