You Light Up My Life!

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published by Kim.Bergstrand on December 12, 2011 - 10:43pm

John the Witness

⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

¹⁹This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” ²¹And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” ²²Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. ²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, ²⁷the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” ²⁸This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
John 1:6-8, 19-28

Question: Who are you?
Take a minute, fill in the blank- “I am not_____”
It can be something concrete or abstract, emotional, spiritual, or physical. Just think of as many ways as you can in one minute to fill in the blank for:
“I am not_____.”
Same drill, this time think of as many ways as you can to fill in blank, for the statement “I am _____.”

John the witness begins his testimony with these words… “I am not…”
I am not.
John knows who he is.
He is “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness
‘make straight the way of the Lord’”.
John tells the priests and Levites, the people gathered by the Jordan, “I am not.”
Why?
Because the One who is- is among them.
John points to the “I am” in their midst
and decreases himself to a mere voice-
a voice that echoes the word given to Isaiah centuries earlier.

John wasn’t about to succumb to a label, he wasn’t going to buy into what other people expected or assumed or wanted him to be;
Be it good or bad or ugly, or clean or unclean, or crazy.
He was sure of who he was. He was “not”.

John’s insistence of his not-ness contrasts with the seven “I am” statements of Jesus.
“I am the good shepherd,
I am the light of the world,
I am the bread of life,
I am the resurrection and the life,
I am the gate, I am the vine..
I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

John got out of the way, so much so, that he was “not”-
He got out of the way so we could see straight through to the light.

I think John might have been onto something.
When we fill in the blanks for “I am not___” and “I am___”
many times those labels get in the way of who we truly are.
Everyone here may have all filled in the blanks differently today, but there are a few ways to fill in the blanks that hold true for all of us.

I am not forsaken.
I am not alone.
I am not unloved.
I am not- God.

I am loved.
I am redeemed.
I am justified.
I am a child of God.
I am- in Christ…

I am- in Christ.
Imagine if that was the only thing you saw, heard or felt.

What if we dropped all the labels, the assumptions, and the expectations that we put on ourselves and others-
what if we pushed them out of the way and looked at that stranger, neighbor, loved one , enemy, friend or ourselves,
and only saw Jesus shining through-
The divine light of “I am” in Christ.
We don’t have to imagine, we just have to look to God for help… because the Way is here and now.
Sometimes it’s just really hard for us to get out of the way, so we can clearly see who everyone truly is;
God’s beloved, bathed in the light.

Lord God,
May your love guide us. Christ Jesus, help us to see your face always and everywhere.
In your name we pray. Amen

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