Lectionary Readings for Sunday, January 20, 2008

Lectionary Readings for Sunday, January 20, 2008
Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 40:1-11
I Corinthians 1:1-9
John 1:29-42

Life has a language.
And scripture has a word for us.

In this week's reflection I'd like to begin with a life experience that has been part of church life since the church began.

There are few gatherings as full of life as Bible studies.

That is not to say every session is memorable, or that every session is full of loving memory, hope, and divine intuition, or that we don't sometimes leave them feeling that the gathering fell flat. Nevertheless, no matter how well the session goes, or how much we believe it failed, by their very nature bible studies are full of life.

In them a small group of people take time to connect with each other, with scripture, and with the notion that God wants to connect with us. We can't help but connect with our experiences, our hopes, our fears, our belief that one way or another life is a gift from God.

We would like the sessions to reveal something about the nature of life, to renew our sense of direction, to quiet the nagging sense of chaos that either nips at our heels or sometimes stalks us. In bible study we find verses of scripture that seem to have been written just for us. In the text, and as we hear our friends grappling with the text, we both search for and find a sense of coherence.

We study with care both what people once did when they discerned the voice of God, and what God did in the course of their lives to change the course of their lives. There is nothing static about bible study . . . even the pillar of salt that ended the life of Lot's wife gives life three thousand years later when nostalgia for what was tries to claim our lives as well. Life happens and we gather around coffee tables with the text in our hand to see how it happened, how it is happening, and to prepare ourselves for tomorrow's happenings. In our Leading Causes of Life lexicon we call this agency.

We cannot study the text without a sense of hope. The story is one of promise, not slavery; one of life, not death, one of hope, not despair, one that urges us to trust a dove is on its way and that a slender twig from an olive tree is all we need to overcome despair. We go into the sessions thinking, "I wonder what God is going to say today" knowing that something will be said that encourages our own journeys.

And, we can scarcely meet for the bible study without finding it to be a blessing. And what is a blessing? It is the gift of perception that changes our lives. It is a gift we can give or receive, but we cannot give it to ourselves. Around that small circle before the Sunday service, or on Wednesday evenings, or in a Sunday School class, in those places we give and receive blessings that confirm our deepest beliefs or ask us to re-examine those very same beliefs.

Whatever the text may be, life speaks to us in Bible studies. It is crucial for us to remember that life is the teacher. I recall leading a bible study in a nursing home some years ago. There were perhaps 15 people present and I, in my mid 40s, suddenly had a palpable sense that those gathered around the table knew more about life and faith than I did. Just for fun we started adding up the age of everyone around the table. Before long the sum revealed more than 1,000 years of life experience sitting around that table so many years ago. Not surprisingly I remember the text we studied that day--it was the ten commandments that received our attention. When we were finished, having given credence to a thousand years of shared faith, we went about our separate ways with a deeper sense of connection, of the faith we shared, and the power of our shared blessings.

And now to today's text who's Gospel lesson asks us to connect with Jesus not just as a man but as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In him chaos meets its match. As usual, this revelation takes place not as an isolated event but in the context of a community. And who was at the living "bible study?"

John saw Jesus coming towards him and stated Jesus' true identity in a most public way. It is interesting that the text does not say, "declared to Jesus." Instead, the declaration is for the public. He was speaking to those around him . . . and we know that he is speaking to us as well. Then the movement towards plurality gathers still more momentum. Having started with John, we move to Jesus, then on to the Spirit, and then to God. Along the way we connect with the Passover lambs whose blood brought life to those in bondage. We then move towards two disciples one of whom, Andrew, quickly fetches his brother to share the story that now has six actors: John, Jesus, the Spirit, God, Andrew, a fellow disciple and Andrew's brother Simon Peter. Two times in the short text names are given to establish an enduring sense of coherence: Jesus--the Lamb of God, and Simon Peter--who will be named Peter.

For all of them life will change.

With this in mind . . . notice how each sentence virtually overflows with both action and expectation:


The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, 'Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, "After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me." I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.' And John testified, 'I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit." And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.'

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, 'Look, here is the Lamb of God!' The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, 'What are you looking for?' They said to him, 'Rabbi' (which translated means Teacher), 'where are you staying?' He said to them, 'Come and see.' They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, 'You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas' (which is translated Peter).

We will have a bible study. It will invariably be followed by "the next day" when we may be standing with friends as John was so many years ago, or walking along as Jesus did all those years ago. We may wonder, "What is our God given name?" We may wonder with whom we may share our testimony. We may be like John and say that we too "did not know him," or we may be like Peter who years later would deny our life-changing knowledge, or we maybe like Andrew and invite someone to next week's bible study.

Blessings to you and your group as you put on the coffee, open the book, and find yourself in the midst of life this week.

Larry

I welcome your response to these columns. I may be reached at:
larry@leadingcausesoflife.org
Or
larrypray@gmail.com