We are the JB's of the 21stC ... the moon! John 1:6-8 and 19-28

John 1:6-8 and 19-28 Gospel reading for the third Sunday in Advent

One of the dangers of a lectionary system where we recycle readings according to a strict rotation system in parallel with the 'church year' that we have constructed, is that we can become very ho-hum about the readings as they come around again and again. This is especially so at festival times of the year, when each of the A B and C readings at these critical times are quite similar.

So as we come to yet another John the Baptist / Advent / prepare the way reading ... what can we possibly get out of this by hearing this yet again?

John's Gospel takes quite a different approach to John the Baptist compared to the introduction that Mark gave us last week. It is interesting to note that nowhere in John's Gospel is the term John the Baptist used! (except in the headings that have been added in many translations).

Properly understood, there are very good historical and contextual reasons why the dialogue unfolds as it does. Central to the 4th Gospel account of JB is the need to confirm identity. JB responds in terms of who he is NOT. All that aside, I want to focus on what all this means for us as leaders in Lutheran Schools in Australia in the 21st Century.

The reality is that today in Lutheran Schools we are all JB's. John was focused on declaring to the people that there is one among us who is far greater. He was also fixed on deflecting attention and emphasis away from himself to Jesus.

Folks ... that is now (still) our calling -  to point the way to those around us to the great one who is actually amongst us right here and now ... and Lord protect us from falling into the trap of attaching too much honour, glory and importance to ourselves, or our achievements, or the successes of our school year, or putting it another way of living just in OUR own light.

We are not the light, but we point towards the light that enlightens us. As St. Francis put it so well, “We are the moon reflecting the rays of the sun from our surface.” The light that shines from us may be great as we allow more of ourselves to be open to the true light of Christ, but the source of light is still Christ.         Rev. Todd Weir, bloomingcactus


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