Isaiah 49:1-7 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 John 1:29-42
While I’ve appreciated the comments over my quarterly hair cut, there is a more subtlechange that I made to my appearance this past Fall that many of you have not noticed. It
was my glasses. I really did not expect anyone to notice because they are almost the
exact same style as my old ones. They are, I confess, trifocals. My old ones were, too,
but they were just a hair off and I always felt like I had to move my head in a certain way
to see things.
Maybe that’s just how it is with trifocals. Maybe I’m just now getting used to it. They
are, of course, progressive lenses so that no one knows they are trifocals unless I tell
them, because I am just that vain. That term – progressive lenses – has me thinking,
though.
It makes me wonder about the idea of progressive looking and progressive seeing. Does
it matter if we are seen as “progressive”? For that matter, are we even able to see the
world through the right part of the right lenses? What happens when our vision
changes? Do we seek lenses that truly clarify? What happens when we realize that
there are things we would rather not see?
I’ll leave those questions up to you and God to sort out, or maybe we can sort them out
together in another discussion, but right now I want to hear your thoughts on the word
progress. Tell me, what is progress? [responses are encouraged] How do you make it,
and how do you measure it? [responses are encouraged] Ok, but what about the word
“Progressive”? What does that word mean to you? [responses are encouraged]
Thanks! Regardless of how you feel about the word or the context in which it might be
used, progress means to move forward. Progressive means to move forward in
stages, and it is also a word that many people associate with social change that
addresses our social norms and civil liberties.
As people of faith, we tend to resist change, but I’m not sure that’s what scripture
teaches us to do and to be. I’m not saying that scripture calls us to be radical zealots,
and there are certainly some things that we need to hold onto and clarify. When we see
the KKK seeking protected status as a Christian organization, for example, we need to be
able to say that they are in fact not followers of the way of Jesus. When we see a rise in
attacks on our Jewish brothers and sisters and we do not claim it as a threat to our
shared heritage, then we need to consider whether or not we have left the path
ourselves.
Yes, there are definitely things that should not change about life and faith and our
identities as followers of Jesus, but there are definitely things that should change about
the way we see the world and how we respond as faithful followers of Jesus.
This is nothing new, and it was even foretold to be this way by the Prophet Isaiah! I
doubt it’s really playing out the way that Isaiah had in mind. He was expecting the
nation of Israel to be restored and that it would be the compassion and the might of the
Lord Most High that would bring all the others to their knees, yet God had something
else in mind.
The simple answer to “What did God have in mind?” is Jesus, but the deeper answer is
you and me. Of course, what Isaiah is literally saying that God had in mind is the
restoration of the people of Israel. God speaks tenderly and calls them Jacob because it
was Jacob that became Israel. God says, “I know you are beaten down and despised –
even by yourself – but that’s what will help people understand that this is what I have
done. It is my character to redeem, and it is yours to welcome others into the light!”
It seems to me that the first task, then, is to know that we are going to be ok. That’s why
Paul begins his assurance by telling the church that they already have all they need in
order to be good and kind and decent to one another. They already have all they need in
order to be blameless before God, which begs the question, why aren’t they?
That is, of course, an easy stone to throw, but I think it comes back to vision. As we read
through the letter, what we find is that their vision did not really change. Their social
pecking order had not really changed. The way they valued one another and the way
they lived out their beliefs never really changed. History is unclear about how long they
lasted, and if they ever got it right.
One thing we know, though, is that all our questions about the things that need to
change and the things that must remain are answered in just a few words by Jesus.
When John’s disciples come to him and ask him where he is staying he says, “Come and
see.” Of course, if he were a Cajun he would have just said, “Come see.”
Even before that, though, they would never have come unless John had called him out
as “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” That’s why you are here
today. Whether you know it or not, and hopefully you do, at some point somebody told
you that this church is a place where you will experience love and forgiveness and hope.
I have to say, whoever they are, they’re not wrong. I don’t mean to be boastful except
for where it benefits God, but this church is amazing when it comes to taking care of
others. We may have our rough edges – and there are things we just can’t do – but we
are known in this community for being an open and loving congregation. What we
aren’t known for is all the quiet and simple acts of generosity that we perform through
the year. In fact, last year, in addition to our special offerings and peanut butter
collections and other ministry partnerships, we partnered with others to put in a clean
water system in Cuba (which needs a maintenance visit) and then ended the year with
35 bags of non-perishable food for the UCO food pantry! Then we started the year off
hosting a Presbyterian Disaster Assistance group from Missouri for ongoing flood
recovery and storm damage!
None of this has happened by keeping things the same. None of this can happen
without a vision for progress that we can come together and share. If we look and we
listen, we will still hear Jesus call, “Come see.” If we look and we listen, we can still hear
Paul telling the church, “You have all that you need in order to proclaim grace and
mercy”. If we listen, we can even hear the voice of God saying to us, “O, my little
struggling church, I want you to be my flashlight, for people are stumbling in the dark.”
All it takes is for us to see the face of God in those around us – be they rich or poor,
black, white, old, or young – perhaps even in those we only see as eyes behind the fabric. All
it takes is really seeing them, making eye contact, and seeing the smallest act of
kindness that either might do for the other as truly revolutionary. Then go do more.
Then go do more. Then just never stop doing more.
That, my friends, is how we will gain a more progressive vision. That is how we will
progress into the kingdom that has come and is yet to be revealed!
Amen.
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