Living faithfully in a time of change
Epiphany 2A | John 1:29-42
John the Baptist is out by the Jordan River. Telling people about the glory of God. Inviting them to repent—turn from their old ways and toward grace. And baptizing them in the river.
He’s inviting them to join in this divine project with him.
And the architect of that project—the one he is proclaiming—shows up. To be baptized, too.
We heard about this last week. How he protested. Then consented. It has to be this way.
Now we’re hearing it again. But after. In the telling. Reporting. To his people. The ones who trust him.
This is what happened! I have seen him!
Like when we meet our heroes. Or a chance encounter nets an autograph. Can you believe it?
Preparing for the Messiah
John tells his followers about this encounter because this is what they’ve been hoping for. This is what they planned for.
The question, then, is how do we receive that good news? That God is doing something in this moment and it is time to spring into action?
Most of us think we’re ready. Like, this is good news, right? Of course we’ll have this all wrapped up.
Well…perhaps we shouldn’t be so confident.
The Case of the Preppers
Back in 2021, I heard an interview with an academic whose primary research was in the doomsday prepping community. People who actively prepare for nightmare scenarios for civilization.
Preppers study and prepare for living off the grid, without electricity, having both sufficient food and the means of replenishing their supply without grocery stores.
And in March 2020, when stay-at-home orders spread, he was particularly interested in how that community would respond. He saw lots of social media posts saying:
We were made for this!
Precisely because they had supplies of toilet paper when the rest of us didn’t.
So what did he find?
They behaved just like everyone else. They panic-bought and hoarded toilet paper.
And over the course of that first year, a pretty simple explanation became more obvious. Preppers defined themselves by preparing for the apocalypse. They didn’t have spiritual and emotional tools for experiencing it.
It isn’t a question of whether they were ready. But if they could adjust to a different reality.
Adaptation
When John’s reality changes, and the Messiah he was preparing the world for does arrive, how does he take it? With joy! And a lot of grace.
He’s happy that his job has changed. Indeed, this is what they were preparing for.
But instead of behaving the same way in a new environment, John adapts.
He taught his disciples about the Messiah. And when the Messiah comes, he points him out, and lets them go.
John doesn’t cling to his disciples. Or preach the same message as if things hadn’t changed. His message was for a Messiah that will come, but it is now time to adapt the message to the moment. The Messiah is now here. And I have seen him. I have baptized him. The Spirit is upon him.
And then Andrew carries it forward.
The disciple who prepared with John, followed him, listened to him. Then adapted with him.
The Messiah they prepared for is here. It is time to go to him.
Now, Jesus isn’t “better”. John didn’t do anything wrong. It was simply time. This is what they prepared for.
But Andrew adapts and, like John, goes to his brother and tells him about Jesus. He is the Messiah. I’ve seen him. And I’m following him.
And soon, Simon is, too.
Evangelism
This is evangelism. And it is also why we mistake evangelism for simple sheep stealing or membership boosting. And why people talk about “being saved” or “receiving the gospel”.
Because we often make evangelism into a process. Or recruitment. Which is also a lot like how we treat baptism, actually. A hoop. Membership. A process.
And we often have the heart of it right, even if we get that process wrong. We want to share something good…often by suggesting that we’d be condemned without it.
But what we see from John and Andrew is something full of such generosity and grace, we might miss it.
Sharing when there’s nothing to be gained. In fact, when there is plenty to be lost. Important stuff like identity, wealth, status, way of life.
John gained much be serving God.
And when God invited him to adapt, he did. Losing followers and importance. And he could have chosen to quit. Seeing this as a total loss. A loss that also included purpose and meaning.
But it didn’t. And he didn’t quit. Or fight it. He doesn’t prevent his people from following Jesus. Instead, he adapts to the moment he is in.
We adapt.
Of course, we have the same opportunity in our moment.
Whether we like it or not, many of us have gotten a lot older than we think we should be. When we think of 30 years ago, we think the 1960s, not the 1990s.
But we do adapt. To a different age, circumstance, ability.
And our church is the same.
We are adapting to a world that is half a century removed from the Baby Boom. That is not a majority practicing Christian country. And we can’t take our tradition for granted.
In the 1950s, we were all swimming downstream. Today, we’re all swimming upstream. It is a fundamentally different world. And all of our preparation for a world like this is coming due.
Every Sunday we’ve spent here in this school of love, learning to love, to be disciples, apostles, and saints of Jesus Christ, every minute of K*I*D*S Worship or Sunday School, every sermon and liturgy, every Bible or book study has been in preparation for a time like this one. When our love of Jesus is tested.
Are we adapting to the moment?
We are. And better than most.
But it isn’t easy. It feels like loss. And confusion. Our certainty and clarity have disappeared, and we’re left with only faith and hope.
Which, conveniently, are what the Messiah promises are ours. The only things we can actually rely on. Hope and faith in Christ.
To hear this testimony of John the Baptist, of Andrew, of Simon Peter, of Jesus, of the Evangelist and pair it with our own. Stories of miracle roofs, of generous gifts, and life-saving interventions. People sharing the love of Christ and of Christ’s love breaking through in our midst.
We know about love here, don’t we? How to love and be loved. How to live by faith and hope alone. I think each of us can share in some part of that.
Now is our moment to live in this changed world. And living into it with faith and hope. Trusting that God is doing something here. With us. In us. That we are being changed to meet the needs of this changed world.
Because we have seen love. We know what it looks like and feels like.
And we know grace. How God can transform our lives.
May we be like a sacrament to one another, our neighborhood, and the wider community. Not as the grace, but as the means by which grace may be known.
May we know that grace here in all that we do.
And may God’s grace flow from us and from this church to bring new faith and hope into this tired community.