The Star Man Searching
Albert Bogle
January 12, 2016
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John 1: 19-39
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders[a] in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 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.’”[b]
24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 “I baptize with[c] water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know.27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John Testifies About Jesus
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God,who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”[d]
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
Yesterday we were all awakened to the sad news that David Bowie had died. Over four million tweets flooded into Twitter acknowledging his contribution to music and art. His life and work had touched the lives of many including even the Archbishop of Canterbury.
I mention his name because at the heart of a great deal of his work was a spirit of searching, a longing to find another world to which to belong. In a number of interviews Bowie acknowledged his search to know God and indeed to find himself. It is surely this honesty that made him an engaging figure with many people. Are we not all searching and it is this common search that makes us vulnerable and human. While Jesus wasn’t the man who fell to earth he was God come to earth engaging with our search and inviting us to look for his Kingdom.
Lord,
You made us inquisitive people
Free to think
Free to choose
Free to live
Free to ask questions
Free to dress as we like
Free to sing and dance
To wear camel skins or space suits
Free to make decisions
To search for a better way
To be Major Tom
Lord,
Somewhere along the line
Our freedom has become our prison
We’ve got tangled up
In ourselves
In our space
In our own importance
In our own publicity
Hiding behind our masks
Covering our shame
Wearing fig leaves
We pretend to be free
Forgive us,
Lord
We’ve lost the mystery
The beauty
The Eden
The plot
But we’ve discovered the way back
Thank you for the new Adam
The new man - Jesus
The light of the world
The bright and morning Star
Lord
You’ve made us inquisitive people
You’ve made us to be more than a dark star.
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