Then Who Are You?

Psalm 126
John 1:6-8, 19-28

I’ve always felt a little sorry for John the Baptist. In Luke we read about how his father did not believe he could truly have a child, the father resisted God’s efforts to set him straight and it wasn’t until John was born that finally Zechariah could admit that John was his son and he had been sent by God. Then John’s whole life must have been lived knowing he had one purpose to fill, to proclaim the Messiah. He must do whatever was necessary to make sure as many people heard his message as possible. It did not matter if he went without clothing or food or sleep. It didn’t matter if he had a roof over his head or friends to talk things over with. John’s one purpose, his one mission in the world was to be the voice crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord!”

That’s a lonely life. That’s a life completely devoted to God and leaving nothing left over for oneself. Then we have this passage in the Book of John where the author tells us even more than Matthew, Mark, and Luke did about John the Baptist’s character.

We have Jewish leaders from Jerusalem making the journey to Bethany to discuss what John has been up to. This loud man was making a racket that reached deep into the city and made the religious leaders nervous. He was causing people to question, to think outside the box of accepted theological beliefs about who and what the Messiah will be. If the one that prepares the way for the Messiah is such a different sort of person, what then will the Messiah be like? Will the Messiah be a king coming on a white horse, brandishing a sword that will cut off the head of the Roman Empire like they had all dreamed? Or will the Messiah be something and someone like this radical man who is in the wilderness and baptizing people like he has been given the authority to do so?

So with nervous trepidation and probably a lot of righteous indignation, the Pharisees journey to Bethany to confront this man causing all these questions among the people. Before they can even speak a word, John emphatically denies that he is the Messiah. Perhaps John knew this was the secret question in everyone’s mind and so he decided to confront this falsehood first. Or perhaps John was just totally sure of what he was not, and so he shared it with them without provocation.

My favorite line in this whole passage is what they say in response to his emphatic denial to being the Messiah, “Then who are you?” There is such bewilderment and confusion in those four words. There is a wealth of meaning behind them as well. If you are not the Messiah, then why are you baptizing people? If you’re not the Messiah, then you must surely be someone else important to get the people talking like this. And that’s why they begin with their questions of, “Are you Elijah?” “Are you the Prophet?”

But John replies no to each of their inquiries. He is not any of those things they are wondering or hoping he might be. John refuses to allow them to label him. When in exasperation they finally say, “Give us some answer to take back with us? What do YOU say about yourself?” The Pharisees had finally run out of labels for John. “What do you say about yourself? Who do you consider yourself to be?”

This is an interesting question and one often asked of all of us. When we first meet people we often ask them what their name is, and usually the question that follows is “Who are you? What do you do?” If I went around the congregation and asked all of you that question, what would your response be?

What is the first thing that comes to mind when someone asks you who you are? What labels do you put upon yourself? What boxes do you check when the Census Bureau asks you to define yourself? Do you identify yourself as a man or woman or perhaps as a husband or a wife first? Do you think of your job and say, “I’m a lawyer, I’m a truck driver, I’m a teacher?” Is your first thought “I’m a mother, father or grandparent”? Or perhaps you think of yourself as an American first or as a white American. Perhaps you consider yourself by your age or your favorite hobby. “I’m a stamp collector, I’m a Harley Davidson fan, I’m a music lover.”

“Who are you?” they asked John. He refused to give them a name. He did not give them an occupation. He did not mention his parents or children or wife. He did not mention his hobbies or his interest in star alignment. John did not even respond using his own words to define himself. John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’

John has given his identity to Christ. His Messiah comes first. Who John is, well that is not nearly as important as who is the Messiah. John wants to get past these unimportant issues of who is he to discuss the most relevant one to all humanity, “Who is the Christ?” But the Pharisees are still wrapped up in John’s identity. They are still struggling to understand this simple human man, and will not allow themselves to move forward to weightier, more important issues. So they begin again with the questions.

“Why do you baptize people if you are not the Messiah, the Prophet or Elijah?” But John refuses to answer that with a question that satisfied their human curiosity. John once again points his answer back to the one that is most important by replying dismissively that he merely baptizes with water and then he says, “but among you stands one you do not know.  He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

John is trying to tell them about Jesus Christ. He is trying to convey to them that John is merely a witness to the glory of Christ. There is something so much more important in this world, happening right NOW than who one man is and why he baptizes with water.

John reminds all of us that there is something more important going on in the world than what we often consider to be important. John challenges all of us who proclaim ourselves to be Christians to also be witnesses. We are to witness to the work and word of Jesus Christ. We are called to not show off who we are and what we can do, but tell the world who Christ is and what Christ has done and is doing for us all. John refused to put a label on himself other than a voice, a witness who professes the work of the Lord. He gave himself completely to God and during the Advent season we are reminded that this is our task as well.

We do not just put up decorations and admire how cute our children look in their Christmas clothes, we are to remind the world that God loved us ALL enough to give His Son, so that we might live with Him and have eternal life. That is our mission, and that is our witness. Let us be reminded and let us go out joyfully, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. “Christ lived and died for YOU. Christ rose again so that we might defeat death and live by his side in heaven!”

Amen.