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First United Methodist Church
Plymouth, Indiana

Who are you?

Plymouth First United Methodist Church Rev. Dr. Byron W. Kaiser
January 2, 2022
“Who are you?”
John 1:6-8,19-28

This morning I am thinking about music other than the sweet cords and melodies of Christmas. Think back to 1978 when the British Rock Band the Who

sang a song that echoes the words of the story from the Gospel of John, “Who are you?”

chorus:

Well, who are you?

(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

I really wanna know

(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Tell me, who are you?

(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) 'Cause I really wanna know

(Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

Not unlike the gospel story, the song was born out of anger. In the Gospel story, the authorities express anger toward the Baptist demanding answers. In the song, Pete Townsend wrote about his anger toward recording executives.

Both had unintended consequences.

Townsend explains the unintended consequence of the song. According to the 1985 Pete Townshend "My Generation" radio special, the song came out different than intended when Roger Daltrey sang it. Townshend said the song became a prayer from a destitute man. The man is on the street, looking up to the sky and asking God, "Who are you?"

In the Gospel story, the question sets up the markers by which we may know God through Jesus.

Let us pray.

Emily Dickinson wrote,

I'm Nobody! Who are you? Are you -- Nobody -- Too? Then there's a pair of us!

Don't tell! they'd advertise -- you know!

How dreary -- to be -- Somebody! How public -- like a Frog --

To tell one's name -- the livelong June -- To an admiring Bog!

As John’s identity comes into question, Jesus’ identity hangs in the shadows. Authorities confront John with the question “who are you?”

John answers the question with an Emily Dickinson response, “I’m Nobody.” John gives us a sense of who he is by identifying his relationship to the unnamed Lord.

By answering the question “who are you”, we articulate something about our identity. We articulate something about our relationship to Jesus. Today I invite you to contemplate the mystery of Jesus’ identity known to us through the testimony of both John the Witness and John the Author.

Learning someone’s identity is a problem. Thomas J. Parenty writing about the post-modern business environment states, “IMAGINE HOW IMPOSSIBLE it would be to conduct business safely if you didn't know the other party in the deal. You could do simple things like fork over a few quarters for a newspaper on a street corner, but that's about it. Fortunately, you can get ample evidence, such as an introduction by a mutual colleague, to assure yourself that the person you are talking to is actually the person you think he is. In the digital world, however, much of this evidence is not available, and businesspeople are left with the difficult decision of whether they should conduct business with a name displayed on their computer monitor.”

How do I know your identity? How do I know you are who you say you are?

Put on your sleuth hat to find out.

According to Barney Stahl, retired Chicago Police Detective, Himalayan backpacker, mission worker and master grill chef, when you know nothing about a person, and they have no source of identification, you simply talk to them. You ask them with whom they are associated and where they live. You listen for any fact that you may verify by another source.

Picture with me the scene from the Gospel of John…

Who are you - Not the Messiah Who are you - Not Elijah

Who are you - Not the Prophet

Who are you - quoting Isaiah, “A Voice”

Why baptize - I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know.

What are the facts that we know from this interchange?

  1. John is not the Messiah, Elijah or Moses.
  2. John knows scripture, at least the scroll of Isaiah.
  3. John points to a greater one “among you.”

Conclusions:

  1. John claims no identity for himself.
  2. We still do not know who John is.
  3. John acts as a signpost for a greater one.
  4. Now they really have something to be concerned about.

John has turned the tables on the inquisitors. Now they have to reflect upon who they are for one of them is “great.” But which one?

Think of this event as a fingerprint with ridges and valleys, that bifurcate and trifurcate having dots, whorls and loops. According to our resident professional sleuth, if you can find seven markers, you have a match of identity.

Using the text read for us today, we find that there are only perhaps six markers possible. There are the three questions and answers referring to Messiah, Elijah and the Prophet. There is the question whose repose is a quote of scripture. There is the question, which elicits two answers. One answer is “I baptize with water.” The other answer is that there is a greater one who is known by the inquisitors.

John the Author does not give us enough markers in this first story to make identification. John the Author leaves us in a mystery. Leaves us to search our thoughts and to search our hearts for the identity of the one to whom the Witness points.

Here is the secret that you already may know. John the Author has set us up. The Author has set us up to search for the markers of the Lord that is among us. By the end of chapter eleven in the Gospel of John, the author has shown us seven markers that positively authenticates the fingerprint of God and the Lord that is among us.

Two markers demonstrate the satisfaction of human need for nourishment (water into wine and the feeding of 5000).

Three markers demonstrate power to end human suffering (healing of the official’s son, healing of the lame and healing of the man born blind). One marker demonstrates power over nature, walking on water.

The last marker demonstrates the power over death, raising of Lazarus.

John the Author uses John the Witness’ testimony to point us to the markers that we may see the fingerprints of God in our own lives. Upon experiencing John’s testimony, we too become witnesses to the markers of God.

We match our experiences of God meeting the need of nourishment, not just spiritually, to the markers for the Lord. I think of Friday night community meals and Wednesday night carry-in dinners. I think of food pantries and backpack programs.

We match our experiences of God reducing human suffering to the markers in the Gospel of John. I think of the hospitals around the world set up to bring hope and healing to millions in the name of Jesus. The research and development teams who create cures for the diseases of the world and vaccines that help to curb the spread of viruses.

We match our experiences of God power in nature to the marker of Jesus walking on water when we sit in awe of the beauty of creation.

We match our experience of God in the peace that passes understanding when we experience the passing of generations as we live in the hope of resurrection.

As we match our experiences to the markers John the Author gives to us, we become witnesses to the one who is among us. The one God has sent.

Unwittingly, Pete Townsend wrote words that reflect our relationship to the Lord that walks among us. In the last verse of the song, Roger Daltrey sings these words,

I know there's a place you walked Where love falls from the trees My heart is like a broken cup

I only feel right on my knees

I spit out like a sewer hole Yet still receive your kiss

How can I measure up to anyone now After such a love as this?

Transformation in my life comes when the “who are you” said in anger becomes the “who are you” said in awe. So, who are you? This is “who we are.” I invite you to remember “who you are” using the Covenant Prayer that John Wesley wrote so long ago to remind himself of his identity in Jesus Christ. Let us pray together:

I am no longer my own, but yours.

Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will. Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, Praised for you or criticized for you.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service. And now, O wonderful and holy God,

Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, you are mine, and I am yours.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth, Let it also be made in heaven.

Amen.