Calvary Presbyterian Church
The Rev. Debra May Cerra
January 20, 2008

1 Corinthians 1:1-9 (NRSV)
Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5 for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind-- 6 just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you-- 7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

John 1:29-42 (NRSV)
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' 31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." 32 And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God." 35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39 He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointed). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).

The Lamb of God!

You may have heard this story before but it’s worth repeating. A young fellow recounts the incident: My mother had packed my favorite lunch for me – a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, chocolate milk, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. Off I went to Public School 129 but a block from home I came face to face with Junebug, the school bully. “Gimmie that lunch, punk!” he said. “But Junebug, that’s my lunch.” “You better gimmie that lunch!” “But it’s mine. My mom made it for me. And she made my favorite…”
            Junebug’s shove sent me and the lunch to the ground. He picked up the lunch and said, “That’s what happens when you don’t listen to me!” and went off to school. I also went off to school with no lunch and lots of anger.
            At home that afternoon I was very quiet. Mom, knowing something was wrong, asked, “What happened at school today?” “I’m gonna kill him!”
            “What?”
            “I’m gonna kill him!” “And who do you plan to kill?”
“Junebug. He knocked me down and stole my lunch and I’m gonna kill him!”
            Mom was quiet for a bit and then said, “Here, have a snack. Don’t start your homework right away. There’s something we need to do – together.”
            The next morning I saw Junebug in front of the school. Pointing towards me, he said, “There’s that punk who I stole cookies from yesterday.”
            I walked up to him, handed him a bag and said, “Junebug, here are some more cookies. My mom and I made them for you.”
            “Whadda ya mean, Punk? Giving me cookies? I can take them from you any time I want.”
            “But we made these for you. Take them.”
            “Are they poison?” “No, they’re okay. Take them.” He took the bag from me and handed it to one of his buddies. “Hey, Bootsie, you try them.”
            “But they just might be poison,” Bootsie whined.
            “Try them anyway, already! They just might be good!” After one bite and Bootsie still standing, Junebug passed out the cookies to his buddies saying, “This punk brought Junebug some cookies. Isn’t that great!”
            The next day, at recess, I again approached Junebug with a  bag of cookies: “Junebug, here’s some more cookies. Take them; they’re free.”
            “Are you messin’ with me, man? Are you messin’ with me? These are the ones that are poison! Yesterday was just a set up!”
            “Don’t worry, Junebug, they’re fine.” He took the bag and backed away from me with a terrified look on his face.
            The following day I saw Junebug in the cafeteria. “Junebug, here are some more cookies. Enjoy them!”
            “How can I enjoy cookies if you keep givin’ them to me? Cut it out man! I didn’t even finish yesterday’s cookies! No more cookies,” he snarled even as he took the bag from me.
            On the next day, I saw Junebug after school. I walked up to him and said, “Junebug, here are…” Before I could finish, Junebug took one look at the bag of cookies and turned running and screaming all the way down the street.
            Mom was right – freely giving people what they want may not be what they really want. Kindness does go a long way in overcomes meanness! And, I haven’t even had the notion of killing someone ever since.
            Could it be that we see ourselves in the character of Junebug…wanting what we want but becoming cynical, hostile and even fearful when someone freely gives us just that?
             Think back to our Gospel reading for this morning. “[John] saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’” (29, 30)
            John called Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” By the time John bestowed this title, Jesus’ baptism and time of temptation were past and he was about to move into ministry. John called Jesus by that tremendous title which now has a powerful spot in devotion language – the Lamb of God. There may be several possibilities of John’s intention when he gave Jesus this title.
            John may have been thinking of the Passover Lamb. The story of Passover was that it was the blood of the slain lamb which protected the houses of the Israelites on the night when they left Egypt. That night the Angel of Death walked about and killed the first-born sons of the Egyptians. The Israelites were to smear the blood of the slain lamb on their doorposts. When the angel saw the blood, the house was passed over, sparing the lives of the first born Israelites.
The blood of the lamb delivered the Israelites from death and destruction. In Jesus, John saw the same. John’s message to the Israelites – and to us – is that Jesus is the Lamb of God who spares from the Angel of Death. Later in John’s Gospel, he recorded this message from Jesus: "You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live.  And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all." This is a deliverance that only Jesus Christ can win for us.
            And, as the son of a priest, John knew about the Temple rituals and sacrifices. Every morning and evening a lamb was sacrificed in the Temple for the sins of the people (Ex 29:38-42). Even in times of war and famine, the sacrifice happened. John may have understood that, though the sin sacrifice in the temple was ongoing, in Jesus the once and for all sacrifice that would deliver humankind from sin would be found.
            Furthermore, John knew the words of the prophets. Jeremiah wrote:
“But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter.” And Isaiah spoke of one who was like a lamb: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” Maybe John was telling the people that the one who was dreamed of by the prophets, the one who would love and suffer and die for the people, had come. John believed that, in Jesus Christ, the forecasts of the prophets were revealed.
            Think about the impact of John’s message. John testified: “‘I watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him. I repeat, I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, 'The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' That's exactly what I saw happen, and I'm telling you, there's no question about it: This is the Son of God.’” (32-34) Beyond all doubt, John believed Jesus to be God’s Son.
Friends, we want to know Jesus or we wouldn’t be here this morning. But do we believe that Jesus gave his life for us – with no conditions and no strings attached? Do we comprehend the full impact of God’s love? Or are we like that bully, Junebug – demanding things on our terms but, when the tables are turned and the gift is are freely offered, we cower, we doubt, and we run away?
A tourist visited a church in Germany and was surprised to see the carved figure of a lamb near the top of the church’s tower. He asked why it was there and was told that when the church was being built, a workman fell from a high scaffold. His co-workers rushed down, expecting to find him dead. But to their surprise and joy, he was alive and only slightly injured.
How did he survive? A flock of sheep was passing beneath the tower at the time, and he landed on top of a lamb. The lamb broke his fall and was crushed to death, but the man was saved. To commemorate that miraculous escape, someone carved a lamb on the tower at the exact height from which the workman fell.
Sisters and brothers, over 2000 years ago our fall as humans was broken by a lamb. That lamb was put to death but we were saved. Let the cynical, hostile, and fearful thoughts go. Instead, let your miraculous escape be carved on your heart. Receive this free gift. Jesus Christ died for you and for me. Yes, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Alleluia! Amen and amen!