06/23/2026
Filling out forms is probably one of the most widely disliked things we have to do. When we go to the doctor, we fill out forms telling the doctor about ourselves. When we evaluate an event we have attended, we are asked to fill out an evaluation form that often asks questions about who we are: our age, race, s*x, etc. While some forms are not as lengthy or involved as others, we would probably not choose to spend our time filling them out.
But in most settings, the important thing about people is who they are. One of the things I find remarkable about the story of John the Baptist is that most of the time is spent telling us who John is not. He was not the Light, he was not the Christ, he was not Elijah, or one of the prophets. By the end of the story, we know quite a bit about who John was not!
There is a lesson here. Most people are preoccupied with questions of identity. But Christian people must know who we are not. Then we can truly know who we are.
Like John, we are not the Light of the world. When we believe we have the answers to life’s problems, when we think we know it all, when we are not open to the possibility that we may be wrong about some things, faith can become divisive not liberating. We must reflect God’s Light; not claim we are that Light.
We are not holier or better than others. Through the centuries, Christians have been loving, kind, gracious, and merciful. But there have been times when we have also been stubborn, rebellious, and just plan mean-spirited. We are a mixture of grace and hardness, faith and faithlessness.
So, then, who are we? There is a story of a boy who was given a compass as a gift. The father of the boy said the compass was often seen just laying around the house. When he asked his son why he didn’t use the compass, the boy replied that it must be broken because it was always pointing in the same direction
That’s the impressive thing about the Christian person: we are compasses, pointing to someone greater than ourselves. We are mirrors that reflect a light not out own. “There was a man sent from God whose name was John... He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.”
-- Rev. Dyton Owen, Iola Wesley UMC
We're praying today for Angela Hall (Horton-Netawaka-Powhattan-Whiting), Jeff Moszeter (Hoyt-Marietta), ShaneToni Britt (Lebo) and Abraham Mutai (Lecompton-Big Springs).
