“A question of identity”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, August 2, 2022
John 1:19-28 (Forward, p. 4) CEV p. 1100
In a world and time when identity theft is rife, people occasionally pose as someone else and take on their name and identity in order to get a job, and others claim to be something that they aren’t, it is refreshing to have the example of John the Baptist. When confronted by the investigative party seen by the Jerusalem religious authorities to ‘check him out’, he could have easily fed into their promptings and questions and they would have been none the wiser. The Messiah? Elijah? The Prophet? He could have been deliberately vague on all these counts but chose not to. Instead, he merely quoted the words of the prophet Isaiah, “I am only someone shouting in the desert, ‘Get the road ready for the Lord.’” This left everything up in the air and left his questioners wondering.
But there was one thing in which John was not vague, and that is, to say that the coming One would be greater than himself. His purpose was only to prepare the way for this person.
As I suggested earlier, I find John to be rather refreshing, and at the same time, challenging. He had a strong sense of purpose and never even once deviated from it. He was to prepare the way, presumably for the Messiah, and he never once tried to take on any other task. He wasn’t deflected from his task and was single-minded in his pursuit of it. And, not only that, he was willing to take second place, to ‘play second fiddle’ to someone else, and let someone else get the attention and the glory. Not very people are willing, or able, to do that.
That said, it leaves us with two questions. Firstly, what is God’s purpose for you and I? I suspect that it is individually crafted, particular to each person, but what is it? Do we know what it is and do we pursue it? And, while we’re at it, do we give it ‘our all’, all our time and energy?
And then, secondly, are we willing to play ‘second fiddle’ to other people, or to the Lord, and let those others get the attention and glory instead of getting them for ourselves? Here are a couple of very searching and useful questions for all of us. Amen.
Forward notes: “This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’” (verse 19)
“’Who am I?’ I ask myself as I sign into a website. Too often, I have to rummage through my list of identifications and passwords so that I can order groceries, read an online book, or board an airplane. Sometimes my ID has expired, and I’m not sure who I really am!
“That’s very different from John the Baptist, who, confronted by priests and Levites, confidently proclaims who he is not. He is not the Messiah, not Elijah, not the prophet. He gives no name, identifying himself only as a voice ‘crying out in the wilderness,’ crying for all to hear, crying for us to hear.
“What counts is not who John is, but who Christ is. ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ John proclaims as he leads us through the wilderness onto the path of new life, where, with Christ’s help, we realize who we really are. Our identity has little to do with power or popularity. What matters is that we become so open to God’s spirit that we, like John, learn to walk the path and show others the way.”
Moving Forward: “Who are you, in Christ?”
