Steve-o's Devos: Who Are You?

Last week, I mentioned how John was out in the desert doing a little dunking in the Jordan River and calling people to wash themselves anew and to prepare for something really important. It turns out that as he did this, some people still wanted to know what he was really up to and who he was, really (see the passage by clicking the title of the devo today).

Isn't it good to know that skepticism has always been around. It must just be a bit of human nature to always want to suspect the reasons behind why something is happening. It can be a good thing too as we learn to ask questions and figure out how our world is put together and how we are connected to one another in some way. Inquiring minds always want to know, right?

Without figuring out what someone is up to on our own, we often need to ask questions. It is a bit odd that people might have come to find out what John was up to out there in the desert, even be baptized, and then to pause afterwards and say, "Wait a minute, now who did you say you were?"

John has a pretty simple answer, he is the "voice in the wilderness." John states simply that he is the one who calls people into the new day that is dawning. He does not expect more or less of how the message is received and he will take you to the river and guide you to be ready, but that is about as far as his ministry can take you.

It perhaps is no wonder then that sometimes we here at BTW find ourselves in a similar situation. "Who Are You?" is a common question of us when we first meet with someone new, or someone in the community asks about what we hope to do here in Nashua. In a lot of ways, we are truly preparing the "way" for something that God is calling us to do together, form a safe community where all are welcome, where we can ask questions openly and without fear, where we can heal from past hurts of all kinds, where we can hear some truly good news in the midst of our daily lives.

In many exchanges of conversation there are often two questions that will arise. The first often is "Who Are You." It is a get-to-know-you sort of question as we figure out how or why we came together to talk in the first place. But then a deeper question comes next, "What are you looking for?". This is the question that John knows the people are wanting an answer to as they wish to figure out who he is and what he is doing.

"Who are you?" the people ask. They want to live differently. They know things must change. they know that the old traditions spoke of a new way of living but they have not seen it. And now they are out in the middle of nowhere, wandering in search of a savior. If not John, then who?

Therein lies the very cornerstone of what the preparations for Christmas are all about. "Who are we really celebrating?" is a question worth reflecting on in these few weeks before December 25th. The television ads want us to think the question is an answer to what we want, but God calls us to reflect on a deeper question, what are we really desiring, hoping, and dreaming for in our lives. God's answer leaves all material things in the dust as a hope for a new dawning day bursts into the world in the form of a little child.

What an interesting place for new hope to start, in the birth of something new. As we consider what our hopes are in these weeks, I encourage you to reflect on who you are and in what new ways you are growing into the person God hoped and knows you can be. If you discover that peace which passes your own understanding and expectations, perhaps you will see that grace-filled break that opens the door into what your heart has longed for all along. Amen