Out of a Mountain of Despair, A Stone of Hope

John 1:35-42; Psalm 40:1-4, 10-11

Blessed are you who bear the light
in unbearable times,
who testify to its endurance
amid the unendurable,
[Blessed are you who bear the light,]
who bear witness to its persistence
when everything seems in shadow and grief. 

This is how Jan Richardson begins her blessing for those who “bear the light” of God in times like the Psalmist described
Times that feel like the pits,
Times when you feel stuck,
Times when the mud and muck is weighing you down.
And then the psalmist bears witness to the persistence of the Light of God that lifts a body out of that pit, sets their feet on a rock, steadies their legs.

When I first read the Psalm for today, it reminded me of one of America’s light-bearers whose contributions to our country in a very dark time are remembered this weekend.  If you’ve visited the memorial monument to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Washington D.C. then you’ve seen the “broken, boulder-like mass that rises out of the ground.” It is a sculpture that represents the struggle for equality. It portrays Dr. King’s words from his “I Have a Dream” speech, “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” As you approach the monument, you can only see the massive boulder, a mountain of rock. But as you make your way around it, then, you can see on its other side the “stone of hope” pulled forward out of the mountain of rock. An astounding 28-foot tall likeness of King, larger than life, emerges from the rock edifice. He stands firm. His gaze looking out over the national mall – just a few steps away is where he delivered those memorable lines, embodied hope, equality for all, and a dream that freedom would ring from every mountainside in America.

Indeed King’s feet were set on a rock, even when it was a mountain of despair, he stood firm as a stone of hope who fought for justice in the face of injustice and equality in the face of inequality. 

With the struggle for justice ongoing all around us, it seems we could bear to be reminded of those who have gone before us, who fought the good fight and carried the light through unbearable times. And that those would remind us that God was speaking then, God was speaking through them, and God is still speaking today.

With that, let’s turn to the gospel lesson. John the Baptizer, light-bearer, truth-teller, good news broadcaster is telling exactly who Jesus is. In the handful of verses that preceded those we heard a moment ago, John is proclaiming Jesus to be the “Lamb of God” who takes away the sin of the world. Bear in mind that John the Baptist had his own disciples and it is to them that he is speaking. He is redirecting their attention, their follow-ship to Jesus saying that he saw the spirit of God come down from the heavens like a dove and rest upon him. “This is the one I’ve been telling you about!” He essentially says to them. John is the one who bears witness to Jesus’ identity.  John shines a spotlight on Jesus so bright that you can’t focus on anything else. All you can see is him. John’s calling is to point all his followers in the way of Jesus.

“Look, the Lamb of God.” John uses this phrase with layered meaning to identify Jesus.[1] This lamb of God became a scapegoat. He received the blame for things he didn’t do.  The harm we cause to “the little lambs of this world only deepens our alienation,” our separation from God. Our sinful ways: judgmental words, indifference toward, hurtful policies, unjust laws still hurt people – as Jesus said - whatever we do to the least of these, we have done to him. But when the lamb of God takes away the sin of the world, he doesn’t remove our capacity to sin, nor does he provide a trick door into cheap grace (Bonhoeffer). The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world has removed the barriers that separate us from God, no matter what we have done. That’s costly grace. That’s his forgiveness. He becomes our passage TO God. And we have no reason to distance ourselves from God any longer. [2]

Some have called Dr. King a scapegoat, a lamb of God, even. Not that he was equal to Jesus, but he and all people of color are scapegoats.[3]  They suffer for our sins – our prejudice, our aloofness, our complicity. Dr. King received a lot of hatred and much violence and absolutely didn’t return it. He was unconditionally committed to non-violent resistance. And he would have readily forgiven his perpetrators with the possibility of making amends to anyone willing to confront their sin, admit their racism. “Is that what it means to be a lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?” He is most certainly a model for what it means to follow Jesus, to bear the light.

Jesus comes out to find John and some of John’s disciples again the next day and that’s when this next interesting conversation unfolds.  Sensing their interest in him, Jesus asked them, “What are you looking for?” A loaded question. What are you looking for?  How would you answer Jesus if he asked you the same today?
Would you name something you personally need – like forgiveness, or hope, or healing? Or more money? Or a better job?
Would you say you’re looking for Someone, a higher power, to intervene in the atrocities in Minneapolis? Or in the migrant towns of Florida? To hold leaders accountable there and elsewhere? To feed hungry children in Huntsville or Haiti? To bring peace to Ukraine, or Iran? To compel government leaders to unite in purpose for the common good?
Might you simply seek to be one with God, to be free of anxiety, to have the wisdom of discernment without other trappings?

The disciples didn’t go off on a tangent like I just did. When Jesus asked, "What are you looking for?”, they responded, “Rabbi, Where are you staying?” Perhaps they wondered where they could have a longer conversation… Now, these two brothers - James and John - are tradesmen. This means they had not been taken under the tutelage of another Rabbi.  Once they passed the age of 15, they had not been invited to continue studying with the rabbis at their local synagogue. They’re not the most qualified or educated, but they are available. Tells us something about the kind of followers Jesus is finding.  When they ask him, “Where are you staying?,” is it curiosity about his lodging? Or do they mean something more like, “What do you stand for? What principles do you stand on? Or Where you at?!?  Jesus answers them not with a location but with an invitation, “Come and see.”  This isn’t an invitation to Go and do likewise as Jesus says elsewhere. It’s not an invitation to get to work, and get busy. Not yet. Not here in John’s gospel. Go and do is absent from this call to discipleship. Surprisingly, this first call, is very different, it is to  Come and see.[4]

The Light of the world, himself, beckons them, lures them, invites them to see what he is all about, what he stands for, who he’s calling them to be. They’ll be his closest companions, his partners in ministry. They’ll argue and question him. They’ll be moved to tears and astounded by what he will tell them. But there won’t ever be an answer to their question: Where are you staying?

Kendall Rae Rothaus wrote, “Of course, Jesus never stayed at the same place for long, so when he says, ‘Come and see,’ he is inviting them to a journey not a destination.”[5] In fact, he’s inviting them to simply abide with him wherever he goes.

I wonder if we could have the same courage as those first disciples? “Knowing that we may never ‘arrive,’ will we follow anyway?”[6] Follow anyway trusting that God will lift us up out of the mire when we get stuck; follow anyway knowing that God will set our feet on a rock when we think we can’t stand anymore. As Dr. King said, “Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.”  We are called to be a part of something that is bigger than we can see. It is nothing less than the reconciliation of the whole world to God. It is the bringing of the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven – the stone of hope. If we catch that vision, then we can carry a light that shines beyond us and from within us. We become a part of the light we proclaim.

Blessed are you in whom the light lives,
in whom the brightness blazes—
your heart a chapel,
an altar where in the deepest night can be seen
the fire that shines forth in you
in unaccountable faith
in stubborn hope
in love that illumines every broken thing it finds.

[1] Sanders, Cody, Working Preacher commentary John 1:29-42, January 2026

[2] Garnaas-Holmes, Steve, Unfolding Light Worship resources

[3] Ibid.

[4] Bass, Diana Butler, A Beautiful Year, Come and See 2025

[5] Rothaus, Kendall Rae, Sojourners, Living the Word, January 2026

[6] ibid.