Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text is the Gospel lesson, John 1:29-42.
This morning, I want to give you an image to keep in mind as we consider the Gospel reading. I want you to have in mind donimoes. No, not the pizza. Dominoes – you know, bones, tiles, dominoes – the kind you use to play Mexican train, 42, or straight dominoes, made from wood, plastic, or even pressed cardboard. Dominoes. The little tiles with dots. But now, I want you to have a specific image - not just any dominoes…dominoes standing up at attention, on their short end, in a long row, precisely spaced about an inch apart, winding their way across the floor, around furniture, stretching way out for a long time.
Now you’ve probably done that before. You stand them up and wind them around, maybe even getting fancy, doing tricks, having lines split into two or even three branches, all the while being oh-so-careful to not bump one and undo all your hard work. Finally, with the last domino in place, you then go back to the beginning and push the first over and you watch and listen. Click, click, click – you know the sound – click, click, click, picking up the pace as they soon become a steady clickclickclick as domino after domino tips into another and falls. If you’ve done it right, the entire train of dominos tips and clicks and falls into place – an impressive sight, an impressive feat. Each single domino is important in this process. One out of place, one not spaced correctly, and the pattern comes to a stop. But, while each domino is important, each domino is just a small part of something that is much larger than the one, individual domino.
Now, there’s a thought: being a small part of something very large, that moves from beginning to end. That’s not a bad way, a bad textual way to think of this morning’s reading and, by God’s unexpected mercy and grace, that we may also think that way of ourselves as we, too, have a very small part of something very large.
That’s the way John’s Gospel is. It starts so big – the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, He was in the beginning with God… - the scope eternal, constant, complete. Then, it gets even bigger. The greatest, biggest event since the world began: the Word became flesh. Not only was the Word there in the beginning, but the Word became a man. He who was in the beginning began anew.
That’s what the first 18 verses are all about, something very, very, very large. Then in v. 19, the process begins. It’s made of very small, seemingly insignificant pieces. John the Baptizer – not the Christ, not the Messiah, not Elijah, just a voice, just the voice crying in the wilderness, but he’s nothing, really…just a voice. And, then, v. 19, the next day, John calls out Behold – God’s Lamb who is taking away the sin of the world. Click.
Then v. 35, the next day, John bumps into two small pieces, two of his own disciples - one who is named Andrew – “Look, God’s Lamb!” Click. Click. They go to where Jesus is staying, and they stay with Him, and they become part of something that is growing larger. In v. 41, Andrew bumps into someone he knows, his brother Peter, “We have found the Messiah.” Click. In v. 43, right after our text, “And the next day, Jesus finds and calls Philip. Click. And then there is Nathanael. Click. And then on the third day, there is a wedding in Cana where Jesus does His first sign, demonstrating His Messianic power, and then there’s another sign, and another sign, all pointing ahead to the greatest sign of all: the sign of the cross where God’s Lamb dies for the sins of the world, as it is written. God’s Lamb takes up His life again. Even though there are many other signs, which are not recorded, the Holy Spirit saw fit that these signs were recorded so that the sound would continue: Click, click, click.
As these pieces bump into each other, what are they actually doing? Simple – each one, in turn, believes that the event has happened. And they simply say what it means. They explain the meaning of Jesus. The one who was with God in the beginning has come to make a new beginning. He became flesh; He is here; this is what it means for you: He is God’s Lamb. God chose Him – Messiahed Him, Christed Him, Anointed Him – to be the Lamb. Now, yes, today we have to explain what that means. We aren’t a lamb-and-sheep based culture. For sophisticated urbanite Gentiles like ourselves, our idea is that lambs and sheep are cute, cuddly fuzzy critters to have as pets. Ask any 4-H kid, they will tell you: lambs are there to bleed, to surrender life, to die. The Lamb is there to bleed, surrender, and die.
Why do lambs have to die? Because the world is a place filled with darkness. And people are born into that darkness. People don’t know where to go. They can’t find their way back to God. Sin, sin – of course – is the problem. It separates people from God and – look around! - us from one another. For all that sin someone must die to make it right. Someone must die to take the punishment. Someone must be sacrificed. That’s how it is with God. He hates sin. He cares about right and wrong.
But there is such good news in John’s words. Jesus is God’s Lamb for you. You and I do not have to die as sacrifice for our own sins - not at all. God made a new beginning. He sends the world His Son, His Lamb, who loved us enough to be that for us, instead of us, in place of us. Because that’s how it is with God who loves the whole world.
There is such good news in John’s words. It’s good because it’s real! The event is real, and the meaning is real. The Word became flesh! Not an idea, not whim, not a concept, not a proposal. He became a Man. That morning, He walked by John the Baptizer, and John pointed to that Man walking. The event was real. Nothing can change it. That’s why it is such good news. And He really hanged there. And that was real. And He died a real death – our death! - and nothing can change that. And, on the third day, there He wasn’t: the tomb was empty. He was raised to resurrection life and He offers that life to all who believe. This is good news because it is real. Good enough to bring cleansing and forgiveness to any sin. Even for those times when we believe we are big and not small; those times when we refused to tell the story and the meaning when we had the chance. Even for that, Jesus is God’s Lamb.
You know, the longer that line of dominoes is, the more impressive it is. Click, click, click, bumping into each other, passing the momentum from one to the next to the next. It starts in the beginning. It started with Andrew. The sound has been echoing for about 2000 years. You can hear it in your life. Your parents, your pastor, your friend, your spouse, your child told you about Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away your sins. And so here you are, dearly loved, but a very small parts of something very large.
I was thinking about it… Here’s a great name for an outreach program: Be a domino for Christ. Or, perhaps a little more aggressive and provocative: Knock someone down for Jesus. Or, maybe not. I toyed with the idea of, at this point, having everyone stand up and get in a line that winds around the room and out the door. The question would be who would be our Andrew – who would start it? Perhaps Judy, after all she is our Outreach Committee chair. Or, Mai or Clara Bell, two of our most senior members. But, then, who would be the last one, leading out the door? Maybe Homer or me, so we can’t squash anyone. No…
Well, we won’t do that. But today, we can believe and rejoice that God has taught us the meaning of Jesus, God’s Lamb. We can rejoice that our Lord has placed us into community, into congregation, where we can bump into one another and remind one another that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away your sins. And, we will not take ourselves too seriously, because in this world, it is too easy to think ourselves greater than we ought. Instead, we will see ourselves as very small parts of the very big story of Christ and His bride, the church.
To help you both remember this, and to encourage you to be bold and risk bumping into someone – click – with the story – click – of Christ – click – the Lamb of God – click – who takes away the sins of the world – click – today, take a domino. On one side is a cross, to remind you what the Lamb has done for you. On the other side it simply reads “John 1:34”. I thought about writing the word “Click,” but decided this works better. Keep it for encouragement; use it to share the story. Oh - John 1:34 reads, “I have seen and have born witness that this is the Son of God.” May it be so. Click. Amen.
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