The Importance of No!

People of God, it’s time for some truth. Truth with a capital T! 

• God loves us. God always has and always will.

• Through ongoing and everlasting forgiveness given to us in and through Jesus Christ, God accepts us and keeps us in a close and intimate relationship with God (and with others!). (And if you want to enact that with your hands Lika ‘dis, go ahead. You may; I won’t!)

As a result of these truths—and as we’ll see demonstrated by John the Baptist in today’s reading—we are set us free to be who and what we truly are! 

But—again as we’ll see demonstrated by John the Baptist today—even more importantly, these truths teach us the importance of being able to say No! …

The importance of being able to say No! Holly and I have seen it in each of our three kids. And now we’re seeing it in our three grandkids. A very important part of their—and everyone’s—development is in learning the power and importance of saying No!

I mean it! When a toddler or child learns to say No! they begin to learn that they have some power and control over who they are and what they want. “Do you want juice?” “No!” “Are you ready for your nap?” “No!” “Hold my hand!” “No!”

Now, admittedly, it can be frustrating for the parent or grandparent who is trying to help or guide the  child! But it really is key for each of us to learn that, yes, we have some power or control over who we are and over what we want. 

And, ironically, that power and control begins with learning the importance of No!

What amazes me is that this lesson—learned when we are young—is often forgotten or abandoned as we grow older! Many of us forget the crucial importance of No!—a polite No!—and, as a result, instead of being true to who and what we are, we let others guide, govern, and control us. We forget the crucial importance of No!

Now, all of this is true. And all of this is important. But, you may be wondering, why bring it up now? 

What does the importance of No! have to do with John the Baptist and the Third Sunday of Advent?

The Gospel of John is not poorly or sloppily written! A lifetime of study continues to yield new insights, new understandings, and new challenges.

At first glance, however, today’s selection from the Gospel of John might indeed seem poorly or sloppily written! The passage begins as priests and Levites are sent from Jerusalem to ask about this wild man in the desert who proclaims—and administers—a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. They ask him, “Who are you?”

The question of identity—first, here, with the identity of John; but then, for the remainder of the gospel, with the identity of Jesus—figures prominently in the Gospel of John. So, it’s no surprise that when Jerusalem learns about the one crying out in the wilderness, they ask him about his identity.

They ask him, “Who are you?”

If we didn’t know better we’d think that the answer that John gives is either poorly or sloppily written! Instead of answering, it seems as if John evades or misunderstands! “Who are you?” they ask. And here’s how the writer describes John’s answer!

“He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed—as if we needed to hear that word confessed a second time—‘I am not the Messiah.’”

Do you know what my first reaction to that is? “No one asked you that, John! They didn’t ask if you were the Messiah! They asked who you were!”

So is John being sloppy? Or is this passage poorly written? “He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’” 

No! As we’ll see in a moment, John is actually teaching us the importance of No! But, for now, let’s keep going!

John’s interrogators must have been as confused as me! Accepting John’s weird answer, they ask, “What then?” Meaning, “OK, so you’re not the Messiah (even though we weren’t asking you that)!” 

“Are you Elijah?” they ask. John says, “I am not.”

“Are you the prophet?”  Again, John answers, “No.”

What’s that game where you think of something and others have to ask you questions that can only be answered with a yes or a no until they figure out what’s on your mind? 20 Questions?

That’s sort of what John is now doing with the priests and Levites! They want to know who he is and he keeps answering them with a simple yes or a no. (Although, in this case, all of John’s answers are No!)

Finally they’ve had enough! “Who are you?” they repeat. “Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 

“I,” John slyly answers, “am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’”

So, what is John doing? Why so many “No’s” and “I’m not this or that”?

In a word, John is teaching us the importance of No!

This week, someone I read said about John and about this passage, “John stands as a model and example of what life lived in response to God’s call looks like.” 

By continually saying No! John was rejecting both his own fantasies about himself (“I am not the Messiah.”) as well as rejecting others’ views of him (“Are you Elijah?” “Are you the prophet?”). Saying No! gave John the power to be able to say Yes! to who and what God made him to be! “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord!’”

In the long history of the Church, the third Sunday of Advent is marked by the sole pink candle! And the meaning of that is meant to be conveyed by what we heard as today’s first reading: “Rejoice always,” Paul commands, “pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

We rejoice because God has empowered us to say No! to all the false versions of ourselves! The ones we invent and the ones others impose on us. And we can Yes! to who and what God made us to be!

We are the Light of the World! Because Christ lives in us we are lights that no darkness can overcome! 

Like John and like Jesus we can pour our lives out in humble service toward others and thus fulfill our true and full identity! 

Saying No! to falsehood about ourselves and others enables us to say Yes! to truth. And the most important truth of all is:

• God loves us.

• And, through ongoing and everlasting forgiveness given to us in and through Jesus Christ, God accepts us and keeps us in a close and intimate relationship with God (and with others!)

In Jesus’ name. Amen!