The following is from a sermon presented in December 2001 by Harry Heintz at his home church in Troy, NY. Isaiah 40:6-9 and John 1:19-34 are the Scriputreal references for this advent message held over two Sundays.

In a nation in which television has homogenized everything, so that we all laugh when the laugh track tells us to laugh, there is a need for an original now and then.  In a world in which a McDonalds is found in just about every city, town, and hamlet, there is a need for an original now and then.  In a country in which every mall has in it just about the same stores as are in every other mall in the country, there is a need for an original now and then.  In churches where it can look like everybody looks just about the same, there is a need for an original now and then.

John the Baptist was an original.  Each one of us is an original, but, paraphrasing Orwell, some are more original.  John was more so.  He dressed differently than most everyone else.  He ate differently than most anyone else.  He spoke differently than most anyone else.  And when he preached, well, watch out, because he didn't learn his preaching style at any seminary I know of.

Clarence Jordan was a John the Baptist type.  In the middle of the twentieth century he founded the Koinonia Farms in Americus, Georgia.  Koinonia Farms is an interracial Christian community, started at a time when racial tensions ran high across this country, especially in rural Georgia.  Jordan was so moved by the barrier-breaking ministry of Jesus that he started writing the Gospel into the life of rural Georgia.  That became known as "The Cotton Patch Gospel."  He let Jesus walk the dusty backroads of Georgia just as he once walked the dusty roads of Israel.  And he gave fresh perspective to the vivid preaching of John the Baptist as this excerpt from Matthew 3 shows:  "When John saw a lot of Protestants and Catholics showing up his dipping, he said to them, 'You sons of snakes, who put the heat on you to run from the fury about to break over your heads?  You must give some proof that you've had a change of heart.  And you don't think you can feed yourselves with that 'we good church fold' stuff, because I'm telling you that if God wants to he can make good church folk out of this pile of rocks.'"

Who are you?  It was no wonder that people asked John that question.  In the movie "Being There" Peter Sellers plays a man called Chance the gardener, who kept the gardens for a rich man.  When the rich man died, Chance didn't know who he was.  He kept getting into fascinating situations, including meeting the president of the United States, but no one knew who he was and he didn't either.  He went through life not knowing who he was.

Do you know who you are?  Many people start answering by naming their work.  Others start by placing themselves in relationship.  Those are not bad ways to begin answering.  Our work is important to God and to others.  It is good to have a sense of identity related to one's work.  Our relationships are important to God and to others.  It is good to have a sense of identity based in relationships.  But there is more.

John began answering the question "who are you?" with negatives.  Listen to it in The Message:  "When a group of priests and officials asked John who he was, he was completely honest. He didn't evade the question. He told the plain truth: 'I am not the Messiah.' They pressed him, 'Who, then? Elijah?'  'I am not.' 'The Prophet?'  'No.'"

Some people go through life living under false identity.  It may be that our parents put expectations on us that were unfair to who we are by God's creation and gifting.  I'm all for high expectations, as long as they are right for the person.  What a gift it is when parents say to their child:  "We want you to be the very best you can be at being who you are, and who God calls you to be."  One of the champions of this is Mr. Rogers, who retired earlier this year.  While he couldn't compete against the action shows for children in some ways, he communicated through a television screen with every child as an individual and affirmed each child's uniqueness.  Children need perspective on their identity.  They get permission from John to find their calling.

Not only do children need permission to say who they are not, so do preachers and pastors.  People sometimes put unreasonable expectations on those in my field of work.  They expect pastors to be a little holier, a little closer to God, and a little more likely to part the Red Sea on command or if that doesn't work to walk on water and get across the sea with dry clothes.  John the Baptist is our patron saint.  The summary statement of John's message helps me:  "He must increase, but I must decrease."  (John 3:30)  I am encouraged by what was said about John after his death.  Jesus went to a place where John had baptized people.  Many of them came around Jesus and said, "'John performed no sign, but everything that John said about Jesus was true.'  And many believed in him there."   (John 10:40-42)   Just in case you are new here and may have some illusions about people like me, let me tell you that pastors and preachers are made of the same clay as you are.  Our calling is not better than anyone else's, just a little different.  We are not holier or closer to God because of our work, and we have no control over the weather or who wins the World Series.  At best, we are fellow sinners, fellow strugglers, and fellow believers with you, players in the same game who sometimes coach others effectively.

Not only do children and preachers need permission to say who they are not, so do adults.  We all may be in situations at times, whether at home, in school, or in the marketplace where unfair and unreasonable expectations are placed in us.  We need the gracious boldness of John to say clearly who we are not.

If John knew who he was not, did he know who he was? A resounding Yes.  "Exasperated, they said, 'Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something-anything!-about yourself.'  'I'm thunder in the desert: Make the road straight for God!':  Do you know who you are?  Can you answer:  I am a unique child of God, a follower of Jesus, and light bearer for him?

John did what God had called him to do.  There is nothing higher in this life than to do what God has called us to do.  It matters little whether it is cleaning streets or cleaning wounds, preparing meals or preaching sermons, studying the stars or installing appliances.  We can all be preaching the Good News of Jesus by how we do our work for him and with him.  We can all be pointing others to Jesus by our deeds and with our words.  This is a season in which people who aren't yet believers are more likely to think about these things.  Even the carols they hear in the malls and on the radio will create openings to think about God, to ponder the possibilities of the Christmas story.  Be alert:  this is a prime season to be doing John the Baptist ministry, pointing people to Jesus.

John pointed people to Jesus.  Who are the people that pointed you to Jesus?

During World War 2 about 500 American soldiers attended a performance of "Rigoletto" in a great Italian opera house.  In the middle of a scene an air raid caused a power failure, leaving the opera house in darkness.  One soldier pulled out his flashlight and pointed it toward the conductor.  That wasn't much light, but it helped.  Within seconds 500 soldiers had their flashlights out and pointed toward the conductor.  The whole stage was illumined.  The conductor turned, bowed to the audience, and the opera began right where it has stopped.

John was the not the light, but the witness to the light.  His role was simple and clear: to point others to the Jesus, the true light.  Like that first soldier, he let his light pierce the darkness and point to the conductor.  For those of us who are followers of Jesus, I expect that we can name several people who pointed us to Jesus before we fully caught on.  For me, four come to light.  The first is my mother.  From my earliest memories she was pointing me to Jesus.  She was the first one to show me glimpses of Jesus.  Then as a young teenager, with young teenager rebellious instincts, there was a youth pastor named Harold Calkins.  What I remember most is that he believed in me.  He prayed for me and let know it.  He showed me glimpses of Jesus.  Still in my teenage years a couple named Gordon and Maudine Fee came into my life and gave me permission to think about faith and ask the hardest questions.  They showed me glimpses of Jesus.  In the early stages of my life, those four at different times and in different ways got out their flashlights and pointed them toward Jesus.  In the years since there have been so many others.

This Advent I have been reading a book called Preparing for Jesus, by Walter Wangerin, Jr.  His opening words speak for me:

Throughout my life it has been my good fortune to experience the story of Jesus with every turning of the year. . . . And because the story has been more than told to me; because it has surrounded me like a weather; because it comprehends me as a house does its inhabitants or a mother does her child, the life of Christ has shaped mine.  My very being has been molded in him.  And . . .because I have experienced the life of Christ . . . the Gospel story now interprets for me the world's story.  It is through the Gospel narrative, as through a window or a template, that I see all things, that I relate to them and come to know them.  In every sense of the phrase: I find myself in Jesus.  As I enter his story, I enter him.  As his life embraces mine, he embraces me, and I am his.

Who are the people that you will be seeking to point to Jesus this season? There is a hard card in your worship packet-take it out.  Today, tonight, tomorrow-write some names on it.  People who don't know the Lord.  People who have fallen away from the Church.  New neighbors.  Co-workers.  Classmates.  Relatives.  Begin praying specifically for them, by name.  Begin praying for opportunities to turn on that flashlight and point them to Jesus. "John pointed him out and called, 'This is the One!'"  Advent calls us to share in John's ministry of pointing others to Jesus.

Harry Heintz is pastor of Brunswick Presbyterian in Troy, NY.