Change is in the air

Last week we briefly talked about the Baptism of Jesus, when John baptized Jesus in the Jordan and the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus, and all gathered heard God speak.  John had baptized people before, and nothing like this had ever happened.  Up to this point, no one really knew who Jesus was.  This was truly something special!

John was someone who was established in ministry; everyone knew who he was, what he was about, what he was doing, and in that tradition, he had disciples that followed him.  So the next day, John and his disciples see Jesus and John starts proclaiming Christ’s identity…because remember, through our baptism we are named, and claimed (as Jesus was when God spoke, and this is from where our theology comes).  Then, as they are talking, Jesus offers them an invitation to come and see…see what he is doing. 

So here was a group of men, who were already engaged and on a course with John the Baptist, who were given an invitation to step out of their comfort zone…out of the known, and follow this stranger into something unknown, something potentially uncomfortable, and most importantly, something different.  Change.

Who’s blood pressure went up just by hearing that word?  I’d say several of us.  Change is something none of us are really good with.  I’m not especially, and I know I’ve talked with several of you here about how really frightening change can be.  Even small changes can shake us to our core.  My mother jokes about how every apartment and house I’ve ever lived in, my bedroom is always set up in the same way.  Always.  I just remind her of the anxiety she gets when her phone does an update and she stops talking.  I’ve dealt with a lot of change in my life in the past few years:  change in lifestyle when I had my chest surgery, change in career when I could no longer ignore the call to ministry, changing family dynamics, and through our appointment system as United Methodists, this is the time of year I start getting a little nervous, because the prospect of me being itinerated out of here to new people (change) becomes very real.  Every single person here today has been faced with change, and the worst part of change is usually the unknown. 

No one likes the unknown.  I have a science background; if someone has a sinus infection, I know they can take the appropriate antibiotics and they’ll get better, if someone is in fluid overload you give them Lasix and they can breathe again.  These are constants…these are things we know.  I like things I know.  I function well in the known.  The unknown, though, is not my happy place.  And that’s exactly what these disciples were faced with today.

We see that they did, for whatever reason, they did make that choice to move toward change and the unknown.  It is implied by John’s proclamation that these disciples probably didn’t witness the events of Christ’s baptism; so being totally blind, they left what they knew.  They left what they had always done.  They took that step, not knowing how things would work out…but they did it anyway.  I don’t know what made them do it either.  I’m sure they were feeling all the things you would be feeling in this moment; but something made them go.

We know the name of one of the disciples that went, and that’s Andrew.  Last year on this Sunday we talked a good bit about Andrew, his life before encountering Christ, and his ministry and martyrdom after the Ascension.  And we see here that Andrew was the first to follow Christ, and the first to share this discovery with someone else, his brother Simon (who we will know later as Peter). 

Last week we had a meeting and several of you came.  This meeting was about changes going on within the church.  The thing is, change is coming.  There’s nothing any of us can do to prevent that.  But, we have, just as Andrew and the other disciple had that day, the ability to see opportunity through change, and the opportunity to move forward through change.  This change doesn’t have to be the end of us, this change doesn’t have to fracture this church, and this change doesn’t mean we can’t love our neighbor.  This change means that, things will be different.  And as scary as change can be, maybe not all change is bad.  The first time they used antibiotics instead of leaches, it was probably terrifying; but they moved forward through this change.  The first time someone flew over the Atlantic, that was change (since they could only go by boat up to that point).  I’m sure that was terrifying, but they moved forward through that change.  The other side of that coin is sometimes change doesn’t work out…like when Garth Brooks tried to pull of his Chris Gaines persona.  Epic fail. 

And after these disciples made this change, I won’t say that they didn’t ever rethink their choice, or they didn’t ever vent their frustrations on each other, or it wasn’t difficult.  I’d say all three of those assumptions are probably true.  What you and I need to remember, is change, especially this change within the church, impacts every single one of us in here.  There is not a one of us who is spared.  The anxiety, and pain, and rollercoaster of emotions you are feeling; the passion you have about your perspective…your neighbor has the same.  I firmly believe that we are all connected people; and we are even connected through this liminal space of change.  Let’s remember that.  Let’s remember when emotions are running high and discussions are becoming heated, that our neighbor is feeling those same things.  Let’s remember that while you may not agree with how the person sitting next to you feels, that they are experiencing the same feelings around change you are.  As I look out I see pews that are divided on this issue, friends that are divided on this issue, and families that are divided on this issue.  But, also, what I see when I look out is an undivided body of Christ.  A group of people so tightly bound together in love that can’t be shaken or broken or divided.  I see opportunity and potential through change.  I see us coming out of the other side of this on May 15 and REMAINING the undivided, unbroken, unshaken body of Christ.  That’s who we are and that’s who we will be. 

So remember that the unknown is scary…but the person sitting beside you today, the family member you break bread with at lunch today, and the person who’s hand you shake as you walk out the door…they are not your enemy.  They are the same as you; they are someone who bears Imago Dei, or the image of God.  They are just as scared and hurting and anxious as you are.  Remember that.

And remember one more thing:  it’s going to be ok.  God will see to that.