Brief synopsis of the readings: We begin in Isaiah where the writer proclaims that God has chosen Isaiah “as his servant from the womb.” But Isaiah also claims that he is more than God’s servant, that God will make him “a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” John’s Gospel recounts the moment when John the Baptist saw Jesus and proclaimed Jesus as the Lamb of God. John saw the Spirit “come down as a dove from heaven and remain upon him.” John then testifies that Jesus is the Son of God.

I was recently in Los Angeles and saw a billboard that states that Jesus is not God and did not pre-exist in heaven. It is sponsored by the Jehovah’s Witnesses and is an outgrowth of their disbelief of the Holy Trinity. I thought of this billboard as I read today’s Gospel. At first glance today’s Gospel may appear to be John’s version of the baptism of Jesus that we read about from Matthew last week. But interestingly, here Jesus wasn’t baptized; instead, John proclaimed him as the Son of God.

Roles and relationships can sometimes blur in our understanding and Jesus’ relationship with God the Father may not seem that important but it really is. John’s Gospel was written decades after the previous (synoptic) Gospels and in many ways was written to expand and explain of Jesus in our lives. John is clear that Jesus pre-existed this life before his birth and his role is much greater than a mere human chosen by God.

The idea that God’s plans for us are greater than we imagine should become clearer as we grow and our faith deepens. It was certainly true with Isaiah. We are used to reading about the prophets, people chosen by God to proclaim God’s will. Prophets encouraged people who were feeling discouraged and challenged people whose lives did not live up to God’s desire. But here Isaiah tells us that God has plans for him that go beyond his role as servant. Instead God “will make [him] a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Obviously this reading foreshadows Jesus but I think it also foreshadows us. Last week I spoke about how baptism binds us together and fulfills all righteousness. And we are an evangelical faith that wishes all people to be baptized; Jesus’ last instruction at the end of Matthew’s Gospel is that we should make disciples of all nations and we should baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

While we should never lose sight of the aspiration that all people be baptized we find ourselves in a world that is far from that. We stand shoulder to shoulder with Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists and countless others with countless beliefs. And we are called to be light for the nations, even for those who do not share our faith.

Because, we believe that our quest to be light will heal our world. This is an invitation from God but it’s also a command. As I’ve spoken about previously, discouragement comes easy and darkness can feel insurmountable. But God has promised to make us the light of the world and we do not have the option of giving up. Our baptism isn’t only about belonging, it’s also about vocation. Surrender, no matter how fashionable, is not our way.

And yes, I’m aware that we face national leaders who believe that might makes right, that natural resources belong to the greedy and that refugees and the poor are obstacles to our gaining obscene amounts of wealth. Worse still, many of these merchants of darkness claim our values to justify their actions. And they seem to have accumulated enough power to make this permanent.

But if we believe what we say we believe about God, it isn’t. This isn’t a call to arms to foment rebellion. Instead I think we need to face our own discouragement and find a way through. Recently I’ve found I’ve been listening to the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King and that seems to help me. Everyone has his own path but I like the idea that Dr. King prophesied during an era where the path forward also didn’t look promising. Organizations like the Ku Klux Klan terrorized the black population and voter suppression virtually guaranteed the permanence of segregationist politicians. Smart money proclaimed that things would never change.

But faithful money held out hope. Dr. King spoke of Exodus where the Israelites who were trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s troops and nobody saw God giving Moses the power to split the sea. Our history, our salvation history, brims with events that still amaze us and they all happened because somebody refused to succumb to the darkness. Somebody who continued to reach down and pull up determination they didn’t know they had.

Not everyone will find this strength and hope through the preaching of a 20th Century prophet, but we all have places of hope if we look hard enough. If not preaching, then perhaps art. Or joining groups of like minded hopeful people. But that light is there.

Finally, let us acknowledge that God has given us a great gift in believing that we can be light bearers. God has never walked away from us, but God has also never decided the job was to great and went it alone. I once knew a children’s choir director who would get frustrated during rehearsals and end up telling the children to never mind, she would sing the piece herself. Not only did this show her own limitations as a teacher, it told the children that they weren’t good enough.

We are good enough, not because of our own talents, but because God has made us good enough. Let us listen anew to Isaiah, to John the Baptist, to Jesus. Next week we’ll read about when Jesus invited his first disciples to follow him. Let’s join him.

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