"A Prophet's Plea"

1          AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN

1.1       Sisyphus of Corinth

There is an ancient Corinthian myth that its first king, Sisyphus,

was punished by the gods by having to roll a massive boulder up a steep hill.

Just before he reached the top, this boulder slipped from his grasp

and bounced all the way down to the bottom

forcing Sisyphus to scamper down the hill to begin all over

again and again and again.

Thus the gods consigned Sisyphus to an eternity

of useless efforts and unending frustration.

1.2       Déjà vu?

Every new year we hope will be different to the last

but it is about this time of January that we begin to feel a bit like Sisyphus

that it’s all going to be the same again and again and again.

We have times during the year when the futility of our best efforts

can seem to overwhelm us.

2          HAS ALL OUR EFFORTS BEEN IN VAIN?

2.1       Preaching for 50 years (Isa 49:3a)

We are pleased to notice that at least one prophet in the Hebrew scriptures, called by God into ministry, felt like this.

We read his words, “But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain,

I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.’” (Isa 49:3a)

This is my 1070^th sermon and I have now been preaching for over 50 years.

(I know what you are thinking.

You are thinking that I should have got to the point by now.)

Over this time

a lot of water has flown under the bridge.

2.2       After the two Johns

When I began two men called John were then influential.

The first was the good Pope John XXIII

who opened the stuffy windows of the Vatican

so that Christians might embrace each other.

The second was John Kennedy who became President during the Cold War

and who over Berlin, Cuba, and Vietnam,

3 times pulled us back from world war.

By the end of 1963 these 2 Johns were gone.

The Vietnam War had begun, dividing the nations, the communities,

the churches, and even families.

Church and Sunday School attendance showed signs of decline.

More and more we seemed to become voices in the wilderness.

And we can’t blame the Beatles for this.

2.3       The call for mercy (Ps 40:11)

Among my generation of those who have ministered through these times

has sometimes come the feeling that the boulders we have heaved to the top have not stayed there.

Like the psalmist in Psalm 40:11, we have cried,

“Do not withhold your mercy from me.

Let your steadfast love and your faithfulness ever preserve me!”

2.4       Reassurance (Isa 49:4b)

The answer comes from the prophet’s cry as he continues,

“Yet surely my right is with the Lord,

and my recompense with my God.” (Isa 49:4b)

3          A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS

3.1       The Spirit at Jesus’ baptism (Jn 1:32f)

This is where the Gospel comes in for us.

Last week, we reflected upon a previous passage of Isaiah

and upon Jesus’ baptism.

Here within this passage from John 1:29-42,

we have John’s particular take on the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist

and what happened afterwards.

JB was himself inspired by witnessing the Spirit descending like a dove

on Jesus and remaining with him. (Jn 1:32)

Even more important, and this is linked only in John’s Gospel,

this event announced that Jesus, himself baptised by the Spirit

would baptise others with that same Spirit. (Jn 1:33)

3.2       The source of our spirit

That’s it!

Immediately afterwards, John’s Gospel tells us

that Jesus becomes a magnet for disciples.

That’s how the spirit worked then and works now.

All of us here can recall how we came to be here in worship.

We each have stories of how we have been inspired by people in our lives, parents, teachers, and other people who have been touched

by the same Spirit that hovered over Jesus

and spread to his first disciples.

In short, we have been and continue to be inspired.

That word “inspired” comes from “spirit” or “breath”.

Thus the disciples followed and were in their turn sent.

If we could trace back to how the people inspired us received their inspiration and if they could, in turn trace their inspiration back,

we would arrive at this very event we commemorated last week.

3.3       Passing on the Spirit (Isa 49:7)

What really matters now

is not so much to focus on the spirit

hovering over Jesus

but on that same spirit that now takes up residence in us.

Recently, we have been experiencing the loss from our midst

those who have inspired us over the years.

Inevitably this leads us to reflect upon the hope that when our own times come we will have passed on the spirit to those who remain.

This, in itself, should give hope as we become part of this relay of the spirit from those who have gone before us to those who come after us.

Then we can take in those words which complete the reading from Isa 49:1-7,

“I will give you as a light to the nations,

that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.”