John 1:29-34; Mathew 28:16-20
As we begin reflecting on these passages and their relationship with the symbols on our banners, I’d like you to indulge me in a little game we play at camp. I’m going to send Zoe out of the Sanctuary for a minute, and when she comes back she is going to show you how close we are in the Spirit by reading my mind. [Zoe leaves] In order to assure you that I have not told her about this beforehand, I want someone to point to something in the sanctuary that she can discover through the Spirit. [Item is selected, and Zoe is called for. I point to various items until I get to the one selected and she chooses it.] Thank you, Zoe! Now, normally we would keep playing until everyone figured out that I pointed to something black before the selected item. I know, it’s a bit of a spoiler, but the point of telling you how it works is that it changes the game. Now that you know the game, you can play it and you can include others in it!
I wanted to start with the idea of a game changer because that’s what we have in the two symbols of faith before you today. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and God is the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of all that is, was and shall be. In some ways, these symbols are so old that they have become the game that they set out to change. The church, as an institution, can be inflexible, yet the church, as the Body of Christ, hopes all things, endures all things, and offers faith, hope, and love in a way that transforms our understanding of the world.
Game Changers – that’s who we are when we are at our best, and these banners and their symbols are here to remind us of that. Before I get too far ahead of myself, I do want to tell you a little more about how they came to be. Sunne Brandmyer is a member of our congregation who lives part of the year in Montana and all of the year with her husband Gerry. She’s a quilter, and she offered to make us some new banners for the sanctuary during what we call “ordinary time.”
Ordinary time sounds kind of plain and boring, but the name comes from the word ordinal which essentially means “numbered.” If anyone asks, you can tell them that yes, our days are numbered in the PC(USA). Really though, it was a way to mark time while we move through the year from season to season (Epiphany, Lent, etc.). The worship committee was overjoyed at the offer – because she had already made some for us for Lent – and we had a great discussion about symbols and images for our faith. I was excited about it because I believe that any time that we can interpret and inspire one another through a creative display we are reflecting the joy of God the Creator. In the end, we decided to give Sunne some options and see where the Spirit of God would take her.
Over the next few weeks we’ll look at all of these, but today we’re talking about the Lamb of God and the Trinity. As beautiful as these are, I can’t help but wonder. Why do they matter outside of church? Some will undoubtedly say that they don’t. Faith is a private matter, right?
Well, that may be, but if that is all that faith is – a personal belief that others can take or leave – then our days as a church truly are numbered. The reality is that regardless of personal convictions, our faith informs our actions and our relationships. Faith is deeply personal, but it is never private. That’s why we need a deeper understanding of God than a remote clockmaker who winds up the universe and lets it go. Add to that the fact that no matter how we conceive of God, the reality of God is always going to be greater and we end up in a place of need that only God can meet.
That’s why we say that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In John 1 we hear about the presence of Jesus in creation. Why? So we will know that Jesus was not some kind of afterthought like when you build that bookshelf from that store and you have those extra parts leftover. No. Jesus was the word of God spoken in creation and made flesh.
That may be a little too mystical for some and a little overly convenient for others, but it matters in the Biblical story because John the Baptizer was calling the people to repent and God answered! God did what we could not do. God changed the game by taking the condition of sin away.
Right about now I would guess some of you are thinking, “I’m pretty sure people are still sinning. In fact, I’m pretty sure that I’ve sinned.” In fact, one of my favorite prayers is, “Lord, I’ve done pretty well today. I haven’t cheated anyone or lied. I haven’t caused any harm either intentionally or unintentionally, but in just a minute I’m going to get out of bed and I’m going to need some help with the rest of the day.”
Saying that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world doesn’t mean we aren’t capable of sinning. It means that our sins don’t make us incapable of loving, and they don’t keep God from loving us. It means that we are not defined by what we’ve done or what’s been done to us. We are only defined by what’s been done for us.
That doesn’t mean that we can do whatever we want whenever we want and just assume God will forgive us. It means that we are free from the idea that what we do doesn’t matter because everything we do is in response to what God has done.
God, in the person of Jesus, did what we cannot do for ourselves, that’s why understanding God as Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer matters so much! It’s only because Jesus was of God that he was able to take away the sins of the world.
I think that is why Jesus was so clear in the great commission in Matthew’s Gospel to say, “Baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” There really was not a formal understanding of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit before then. The Spirit of God was a way to describe the gift of life and the active presence of God. God was certainly known as the Creator of all things, and so it made sense for the One who came to demonstrate God’s love might be understood as the Son of God the Father – but really, that can get confusing super quick.
Likewise, it gets confusing to talk about a God that needs a blood sacrifice in exchange for being able to love us, and a lot of that is caught up in regional and cultural histories of other Gods that demanded first-born children. We can get into some historical weeds real quick with all of that, which is why you’ll often hear me talk about God the Creator who creates all that is, seen and unseen, out of love; God the Redeemer who removes the barriers between us, and between us and God; and God the Sustainer who provides and encourages life in all of its fullness.
None of these are fully God, and yet God is fully present in all of these – and this is the place that we celebrate what God has done in all of them. This is the place where we recognize God’s ongoing activity in creation and our calling to care for what God has created out of love! This is the place to revel in the fact that God has taken all of our loose starts and dead ends and breathed new life into us because of them. This is the place where we realize that even if it is only our daily bread, we have been provided for; and this is the place where we realize that because of what God has done and continues to do, we can be a part of it too!
Friends, when you look upon these symbols, I want you to remember that they aren’t just illustrations of concepts that need to be locked up and protected. These are expressions of faith that help us remember who we are. Today, our faith leads us to the table that has been provided by the very lamb of God who takes away the barriers that we set up again and again and again.
As we prepare ourselves for this new reality that is already opening in our midst, I invite you to pray with me.
Lord, we give you thanks for these symbols of faith that have reminded generations of believers of your love for them and for the world. May they become more than concepts to us. May they become more than insider knowledge to a game for us. May they become a constant reminder of who you are and who we are because of what you have done for us. We pray these things in your holy name. Amen.
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