John’s Gospel begins,
“In the beginning was the Word . . .” When we read that beautiful
poetry we can see what John is doing. He is claiming that when Christ came into
the world, it was like the creation of a whole new world. The first chapter of John is meant to be
an echo of the first chapter of Genesis.
Now, if you know the story of creation,
as it is told in Genesis 1, then you know that no sooner has God begun creating
the world than God creates humanity. And no sooner has God created humanity
than God gives humanity something to do. Our story begins in Genesis, the first
Book of the Bible, with God saying, “Let us make man in our own image,
and let us give him dominion over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the
air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over
every thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created humankind in his
image. In the image of God he created them, male and female, he created them.
God blessed them and God said, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds
of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
God is here portrayed as the divine,
all-powerful king. God speaks and new worlds come into being. And yet, in a
most surprising move, God enlists the help of some of the subjects in ruling
over the earth, “in having dominion.” We sometimes speak of human
beings created “in the image of God.” This great affirmation
certainly contributed to a deep sense of undeniable human worth. We are created
in the image of God.
But we also ought to be reminded of
perhaps an even more radical assertion of this story. Human beings are created
to be about the business of God. We don’t only share God’s image,
but God has given us a share in God’s work. God is a great delegator.
I have heard that one of the greatest
needs of any leader is to be able to trust his or her followers and delegate
some of the work to them. Well, God must trust us a great deal because God
gives, from the very beginning, great work for us to do. God is a great delegator.
It’s interesting to note that the
Hebrew words here for “image,” or “likeness,” are the same
words that were used in the ancient world for a statue of a king or emperor
that was set up in the center of the town square. The king could not be
everywhere, so he sent his images to the far-flung reaches of his Empire. Thus,
the king was present through this image or likeness.
The astounding affirmation here is not
only that we are the representative of God, but that we are given
responsibility for the work of God. God is a great delegator.
This thought is continued in 2
Corinthians, chapter 5, where Paul says, “If anyone is in Christ, there
is a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come.”
Then he says, “God has given us
the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ God was reconciling the
world to himself . . . entrusting to us the message of reconciliation to us. So
we are ambassadors for Christ. Since God is making his appeal through us, we
entreat you, therefore, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
God has not only created us, but also
given us godly work to do. We are ambassadors for Christ, carrying on the work
of God. When you are out there saying to someone, “I forgive you,”
or “I am determined to love you,” you are there as an ambassador
for God, according to
What I’m saying here is that the
same echoes from Genesis 1 that we hear in John 1, “In the beginning was
the Word” continue as today we move deeper into the first chapter of John
in today’s assigned Gospel. Jesus begins his work in the world by calling
disciples.
That’s rather amazing when you
think about it. We were just introduced to Jesus just a few verses before.
Jesus has not done any preaching or teaching, no miraculous work. Before any of
that, he calls everyday, ordinary people like us to work with him. There is
something about Jesus that makes him reach into ordinary folks’ lives and
call them to do his work. I’ll tell you what that “something”
is – this is his divinity, his closeness to God. Because
God is a great delegator.
So many Sundays we come to church in
order to celebrate our faith in God, in order to deepen our faith in Christ and
his kingdom. This Sunday, let us celebrate … let us truly marvel …
at Christ’s faith in us. In your
bulletin you have each been given another opportunity to accept the gift to do
God’s work. As you will hear next
week at our annual meeting, our church is doing well financially. But we are doing well because we make a
concerted effort to keep our expenses low, and one of the ways that we do that
is through our volunteers. The same is
true for most other churches…volunteers are the backbone of
ministry. And, like most other churches,
10% of the people do 90% of the work. We
are running the risk of breaking the backbones of our volunteers. So I ask you to prayerfully consider where
you might serve our church in the future.
If you can think of something that needs doing … that you might
like to do … but it’s not on that list just jot it down. Please return the forms in our offertory
plates this morning. We need each and
every one of you!
All that Jesus wants for the world, all
that he expects from his life and death, is that we honor God by serving each
other. And the reward for doing that is
realized “on earth as it is in heaven.”
Perhaps that’s part of what Jesus
means when, in today’s Gospel, he promises Philip and Nathanael that they
will be privileged to see “greater things than these.” It’s
an allusion to the story of their great-great grandfather in the faith, Jacob.
Jacob was called to be a progenitor of the people of
Well, Jacob is our ancestor as well.
And we, like Jacob may not be the best people in the world, and we like Philip and Nathanael may not be the most
insightful people. But we are the people whom Jesus has called to follow him
and to be part of his revolution. And that means that we’ll see some
amazing things. We just need to show up.
Now that the Word Made Flesh has come
and moved in with us, amazing things are happening,
amazing things right here in this congregation. Today, let’s just say
that one of the most amazing things is that Jesus has given his work to people
like you and to people like me. Amen.
May we pray?
Lamb of God,
Open our eyes to the sight of you in
the places and faces of our lives. Open our ears to the word of you in the
voices of those proclaiming good news or crying for help. Open our hearts to
the love of you poured out among us in our own flesh and blood. And let us come
and see you for who you are. Let us come and see you in each other. Let us come
and see you in ourselves. Let us come to
do your work in the world. Blessed and beloved of God just as we are, in all
our ordinary humanity, Lamb of God, let us behold you!
Amen.
Mary Anne Biggs, Pastor
Nekoosa United
Nekoosa