John 1:6 - 8; 19 - 28
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
"Who are you?"
It's a huge question for John . . . and for us. It may be the single question we spend a lifetime answering.
You'll notice in today's text that John spends a lot more time answering who he was not than he did making a statement about who he was. The Gospels witness that right up to his death, John had some uncertainty about who he was and who Jesus was. For all of his bluster and fiery talk, John had his doubts.
"Who are you?" And, "What do you say about yourself?" They are not necessarily the same question. If "who are you" has to do with my core identity, with the real me that lives at my center, then "what do you say about yourself" deals with my self-perception and my self-understanding.
In most of us, this self-perception can be a little blurry -- we don't always see ourselves clearly.
Our self-understanding can be very limited -- how is it that sometimes I can see others so clearly, I can see the life-giving and life-stopping paths in their lives, but not see them in my own life?
"Who are you?" Each of us has a unique, God-given, God-created, God-blessed identity that lives at the core of us. It lives within us, sometimes hidden, and it awaits expression. It is the purpose for which we live. Living into that identity is what animates our days and gives us energy. It gives us a reason to get up every morning.
Mostly, it has little to do with what you do day-to-day for a paycheck . . . though what lives at the core of you will animate all that you do, including what you do for a paycheck. It has everything to do with the image of God within you, your soul, your interior landscape.
Who are you? And, what do you say about yourself?
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