Pointing To The Light Series

Some of us waste our energies trying to be what we are not. We work at building up our resumes and burnishing our images. Some of us have not learned that joy lies in living with integrity and in fulfilling faithfully the tasks that are truly ours. I know of people who are always angling for the next job, with a higher salary and a more titillating title at a more prestigious place. They will not do the work they are supposed to do now because they are forever scoping out some advancement. They think there is more space than there really is.

John the Baptist did not look for more space; he chose to be who he was, he elected to do what God intended him to do, and to do it well. Happy are those who do what they are called to do and who do not pretend to be something else.

When I was pastor at Takoma Park, I took great pride in seeing folks join our church. I was glad to have you come no matter who you were, even if you were a ditch-digger; but I was really glad to have you if you were somebody as the world defines somebodies. One Saturday night I went to visit a couple who had attended our worship and had expressed interest – and you know if I am visiting you on Saturday night, you are really somebody, because that is normally sermon time on which none dare encroach. Just a quick hint: if you are going to die, do not die on Saturday night! I’m busy! But this was a young cardiologist and his wife – charming people, capable people, and making professions of faith. I started to fantasize about the baptism, “I now baptize you, DOCTOR …” And when the couple came forward the next morning, I gleefully announced them as new members and said something about his being a cardiologist. Well, the next Sunday they didn’t show up. And when a deacon was assigned to visit them, she said, “I think you need to talk with these folks again.” I called; his wife said, “He was really upset that you identified what he does. It’s not only that he doesn’t want people asking for free medical advice. It’s also that he just doesn’t want to be put on a pedestal.” The end of the story is that this couple ended up joining another church, where they still give significant leadership, and so it was not a loss to the Kingdom. But did I ever learn something at the expense of my church! I learned from someone who was just beginning his Christian walk that my job was not to point to me or to my supposed achievements or to my church. My job is just to point to the light and let it shine.

The first mistake the mind makes when one heads for the mirror in the corridor is to imagine that there is more space than there really is. The first mistake the human heart makes is to imagine that we have accomplished more than we really have, that our achievements measure our worth, when all along we should be watching the light, pointing to the light.

John the Baptist, you had it right; you are not the light, you are not the Christ, you are not the promised one. And neither are we. Whatever degrees we have, whatever accomplishments, whatever credentials, they came from God, and are intended for us to use to point to the light.