“So Where Is He?”

John 1:6-8, 19-28

St. Paul United Methodist Church

December 15, 2002

Rev. John Fleming

I like the story that I am sure preachers have been telling a version of for some time. I have told my version of it before, but not here, not from this great pulpit. It is the one about the mother and her four year old son who were in the middle of their nightly bedtime ritual. The four year old had taken a last sip of a small glass of water. His parents, like most parents, had learned not to give their child a big glass of water at bedtime. The four year old had his pajamas on. His teeth were brushed and his breath had been checked for the distinctive smell of Colgate toothpaste. The two of them were in the process of saying their prayers. The son was about to be tucked in for the night. He was about to receive his goodnight kiss. Just as his mother was pulling the covers up to her son’s chin and just as she was about to kiss him good night, her son looked up at his mother and said, “You know, Mom, there are a lot of things that I’m scared of!”

She looked down at her youngest and tried to be as motherly as she could be when she asked, “What kind of things, Son?” He said, “Well, I’m pretty sure that there is a monster that lives in my closet over there and my sister told me that there’s probably one living under this bed, too. You know, Mom, there are a lot of things that come out when it’s dark!” And then he confessed, “Mom, most nights, I pull these covers over my head and hope for the best!”

This young mother wanted to reassure her son. She wanted him to know that he could be safe in his own bedroom. She did not want him to sleep in her bed. So the two of them walked hand in hand to the closet. They opened the doors to it, pulled the cord that flooded it with light, pushed back the clothes and the stuff that was in there. You probably know that four year olds have a lot of stuff in their closets. The two of them looked in every nook and cranny for a monster, but they did not find one there. Hand in hand, the two of them walked back over to the bed, got on their hands and knees and looked under it. But they did not see a monster there, either.

So the mother helped her son climb back into his bed. She pulled the covers up to his chin and she tried to think of something, anything, that she could say that would help her son get through the night. She said, “We didn’t see any monsters.” Her son answered, “It’s not dark yet. Monsters can’t come out until it’s dark!” She said, “Son, you don’t have anything to worry about. Your dad and I are just down the hall and besides that, remember that God is always right here with you.” The four year old thought about what his mom had just said. In his mind, he knew that by the time his parents heard his screams, he could very well be in the middle of a monster’s stomach. Though, so far, they had left him alone. He did love God. Certainly he trusted God. He had learned to do that in Sunday School. Then he said this to his mother, “Mom, I think that tonight, I need a God with a little skin on Him.” “Mom, tonight I think that I need a God with a little skin on Him.”

I am not the four year old in this story, though I will admit that I have checked in a closet or two and under several beds for monsters. But certainly I have felt like this four year old. We all have. There have been times when what we needed the most was to see God face to face, standing right beside us. Now I know what the scriptures say about this sort of thing. Since my early days in Sunday School, I have been taught that no one has ever seen God and lived. I know that in I John 4:12, the author writes this: “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is perfected in us.” Try and tell that to the four year old who pulled the covers over his face and who hoped for the best. For him, and I suspect for us, some times we need more than love. Some times, we just need to see God. Maybe God realized that now some two thousand years ago. Near where our lesson for this morning is, we find these words: “No one has ever seen God. It is God, the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart and who has made Him known.” Beloved, when we see Jesus, we see God, “But have you seen Jesus?”

That, I think, is one of the big concerns of our scripture lesson from the gospel of John. Now I think that if you are going to understand the gospels, then you will need to remember that all four of them were written after the resurrection of Jesus. All four of them tried to answer the big questions that their generations were asking about Jesus. Mark’s gospel was written first and John’s was written last. In fact, John’s gospel was written three or four generations after Jesus’ resurrection. And their big question was, “Okay, so where is He? If Jesus has been resurrected, then where is He?” The other gospels had written that Jesus had ascended to be with God, that He was sitting at God’s right hand judging the living and the dead. But that was three or four generations ago. So now where is He? You will remember, of course, that the apostle, Paul, had written in his letters and preached in his churches that Jesus was coming back soon. The apostle believed that it would happen before his life ended. Paul said that Jesus would come back on a cloud, with trumpets blaring. But it had not happened, so where is He? I think that John is trying to answer that question in our gospel lesson for this morning.

To be quite honest with you, I thought that we were through with the baptizer this year. As different as the four gospels are, they all include John the Baptist. The picture that we have of him comes from Matthew and Mark, a wild-eyed prophet in camel’s hair and leather with locusts and wild honey on his breath. John’s version, though, is a little different, as is most of this gospel. In other three gospels, John is there to preach repentance and to baptize those who came out to hear him. But in this gospel, John is there more like an expert witness.

I think that it must have been hard to be John. There he was, set apart by God for one purpose. To do one thing. To proclaim the coming one and to preach repentance. I had forgotten this until an author pointed it out to me. John did not know who he was waiting for or when the Messiah was coming. He did not have a name to shout out loud. He was not sure if he should watch the heavens or the ground. It was possible that the Messiah would come so powerfully that no one could miss it. But then again, the Messiah could have come quietly and unless you were looking for Him, you might miss it.

The net effect of all this unknowingness was that John was not sure who he was, either. He knew what his job was. There was no doubt about that. He knew what he was to preach, but he had no name for the one coming after him. Knowing that, maybe you can appreciate the conversation when the powers that be from Jerusalem sent a delegation to John, down at the river Jordan, to find out who he was. It seems that the powers in Jerusalem had gotten wind that there was a lot of people who believed that the Messiah had come. John, after all, had to be the logical candidate. He is enormously popular and obviously he is righteous. He is a natural leader. Perhaps he is the most respected man in his country. If God was going to use anyone, John appeared to be the front runner as a choice. People were coming out in the droves to hear him preach.

The delegation arrives where John is. They walk right up to him and they ask him outright, “Who are you?” John did not give them his formal name. He did not say, “I am Elizabeth’s son” or “I am Zechariah’s boy.” He did not even say that his name was John. I get the impression that John knew who these people were and why they were there. Perhaps he knew what their real question was. So he answered, “I am not the Messiah.” The delegation had their instructions and directions. They were to find out who John was and so they asked him the next logical question, “Then are you Elijah?” You might remember that it was believed that before the Messiah could come, Elijah would appear. John answered, “No, I am not Elijah.” One from the delegation said, “Then you must be the prophet?” By the prophet, they meant Moses. It, too, was believed that before the Kingdom was ushered in, Moses would appear. John answers, “No, I am not the prophet.” I get the sense that the delegation is getting tired of the cat and mouse, question and answer game that they have been playing with John. All that John could tell him about himself was that he was the voice sent to clear the way, to erase the board and to wash it down, so that the unnamed, unknown, un-imagined one who was coming after him would have room to work. That was not good enough for the delegation. The gospel tells us that they were sent from the Pharisees. That, I suppose, is intended to scare John. It is supposed to impress him so much that he will answer their questions. You could compare that to our District Superintendent coming into my office, closing the door, me giving him the run around, and then him saying, “John, Bishop Huie sent me here to ask you this!” I would sing like a canary. John does not know what to sing! The delegation asks him, “If you are not the Messiah and if you are not Elijah and if you are not the prophet, “Then why are you baptizing?” John says that he baptizes with water and then he says a word that has taken up residence in my heart. I am hoping that it will do the same for you. John says, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know.” And with that, the delegation goes back to Jerusalem with their answer. But more importantly than that, the people of this gospel writer’s day get the answer to their question. They had asked, “So where is He? If Jesus has been resurrected, then where is He? The answer is, “He is here among you, standing in your midst, as one that you have not recognized. Jesus, the God with a little skin on Him.

Let me bring this a little closer to home for us and let me give all of us something that we can take home with us today. I think that every United Methodist pastor should have the chance to have someone like Bryan Gray on his staff. I believe that, but I am not willing to share Bryan with my fellow clergy members. Bryan has been a pastor. Now he pastors the choir members. And he pastors this pastor. I am so grateful for that. As you might know, when we have staff meetings, we begin by reading Sunday’s scripture lesson. A staff meeting ago, when we were talking about the birth of Jesus, Bryan said this, “Jesus is the only one in the history of the world who, on His birthday, we think only about His birth. When I have a birthday, I don’t celebrate the day that I was, but that I am a year older.” Beloved, we sometimes forget that Jesus is alive and well, not just as a baby, born in a manger. John said, “But among you stands one whom you do not know. Have you seen Jesus? Have you noticed him lately? Have you seen Him in your brother? Have you noticed Him in your sister? Have you seen Him in hospital rooms or in funeral homes? Turn to the person sitting next to you this morning. Do you see Jesus in the person to your left or to your right? Have you seen Jesus? He stands among you as one you do not know. Somewhere I read this, “Once Jesus has shown up in a manger in Bethlehem, there is no telling where He will show up next.” Beloved, I really believe that Jesus stands among us now, as one that we have not recognized.

When I used to be a camp dean at Camp Tanako, we sang a song written by a youth minister. The song’s title is “Have You Seen Jesus My Lord?” Some of it’s words go like this: Have you ever looked at the sunset. With the sky mellowing red. And the clouds suspended like feathers. Then I say...you’ve seen Jesus my Lord. Have you seen Jesus my Lord. He’s here in plain view. Take a look open your eyes. He’ll show it to you. Have you seen Jesus? Have you noticed Him lately?

I heard about a woman whose life was not going very well. She was battling depression and was in and out of hospitals and therapist sessions. She said, “I want it to end. I am tired of feeling this way.” She said, “I hoped for more.” Then one day she decided that she was going to get out of her house. She drove to the closest United Methodist Church and looked for the pastor. This church was small, an out of the way place. It was kind of like Nazareth or Bethlehem. It was the kind of church that when pastors got together at Annual Conference and joked with one another, one inevitably would say, “Hey, I hear that they sent you to...” and then they would name the church. The pastor who was there was not all that remarkable. But this woman, sophisticated and talented came to him. They talked on a front pew for a few minutes. She told him about her needs and she asked for communion. He administered it, clumsily I would imagine. She took the bread and dipped it in the chalice, closed her eyes and she prayed. Something happened at that altar. She talked about being able to feel Jesus as she swallowed. Something happened. She got better and she stayed better. She said that it was a miracle. She said that it happened because a humble man opened his heart to her and then served her symbols of the presence of Jesus with her, and then they prayed.

Who would have imagined it? But, He stands among you as one you do not know. Where have you seen Jesus? That is my question for you. Look for Him and you will see Him. Let us pray.

(Special thanks to the famous story of the boy and the monster who lived in his room. The source of it can never be known. Special thanks to my mother, Mary Fleming, who looked in many closets and under several beds with me. Special thanks to the writer of the song quoted from in this sermon and the preacher who shared the closing story).