Reflection – Who are you and what are you doing here?

By Steve Leininger

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010221.cfm
1 John 2:22-28
John 1:19-28

It seemed like a good idea at the time. The fraternity that I belonged to was dutifully following the rules which prohibited alcohol in the frat house. The rules didn’t specifically forbid alcohol off-campus, so when one of the brothers suggested that we could have our “kegger” at some remote location, we were all in. The corner of a farm field a few miles from campus was selected as the ideal spot for our end of week celebration. A couple of the brothers picked up the keg of beer from the local distributer, while I helped set up and light a nice campfire to add to the ambiance. Our several cars were carefully parked off the gravel road. Nicely planned and executed, I thought to myself.

We were maybe an hour into our party when a pair of headlights could be seen coming down the road from direction opposite the way we drove in. The pickup truck skidded a bit in the gravel as it came to a stop near our makeshift parking lot.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” The farmer didn’t look any too happy.

We explained our that we were one of the fraternities from the university, and that this was our idea to accommodate the restrictions on campus.

“That’s nice,” said the farmer as he confiscated our beer keg and tapper. “People around here don’t usually take kindly to folks partying on their land without permission.”

We went back to fraternity row, our Friday night cut short. The keg and accessories remained with the farmer. The guys who picked up the keg earlier reminded us that there was a hefty deposit on the keg that would be forfeited if we were unable to return things to the beer distributer. We pondered what to do next.

Luckily, we got a phone call the next morning. It was the farmer.

“I was young once and made my share of bad decisions. I’m impressed with your honesty, not so much with your judgement to have your shindig on my back 40 without asking. You can come and pick up your beer keg.”

The two questions, “Who are you?” and “What are you doing here?” are often offered up together. 

When the farmer asked, it was his response to a perceived (and in fact actual) trespass on his farm. Not unlike a sentry demanding “Who goes there?” We told him who we were (fraternity brothers from the local university) and why we were there. Looking back, if we had not identified ourselves, then that beer keg would still be in a barn somewhere.

The nice lady at the DMV asks the same questions, so that you can be directed to the proper line to get your driver’s license. Oh yeah, did you bring a utility bill as proof of your address and an unlaminated Social Security Card? You’ll thank her later that you didn’t wait in a 75-minute line to be asked those additional questions.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” is often asked to college freshmen in their first class, often in the form of a writing assignment. This is a call for introspection, self-evaluation, and action. What do you want to be? What are your current skills, talents, and knowledge? What personal and academic challenges concern you? What are your expectations, dreams, and goals? Are you prepared to take on the next big unknown in your life?

The first question, “who are you,” is a request for identity. Who you are is based on your past, your life experiences, your accomplishments, your position within family, community, and membership in organizations. It is the sum total of everything that has gone before, molding your attitudes, opinions, and view of the world around you.

The second question in the pair, “what are you doing here,” is a demand for you to reveal your intent. Are you here by accident, or did you come here with an agenda? Are you here as a guest or disruptor? Do you share my goals, or are you here to upset mine? 

Much of what we know about John the Baptist comes from the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). From chapter 1 of the Gospel of Mark:

“And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” [Mark 1:4-8]

Each of the synoptic gospels goes on to describe John’s baptism of Jesus. In the Gospel of John, Jesus's baptism is implied but not depicted. 

Our gospel reading today is very much a “who are you and what are you doing here” moment. While some commentaries on the readings portray the events described as a hostile confrontation of the Jewish hierarchy with the beginnings of the Christianity, I see it as a possible hope that John the Baptist is the one they are waiting for.

Priests and Levites had been sent from Jerusalem on a fact-finding mission. 

They start by asking the first half of our question pair. “Who are you?” The priests lead the conversation, and it is notable that John the Baptist’s answers tell who he is not:

He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,
“I am not the Christ.” 
So they asked him,
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?” 
And he said, “I am not.” 
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”  
[John 1:20-21]

At that, the priests and Levites may have felt let down a bit. Because of John’s following, it would have been a bit of a trophy to come back with the assertion that indeed they had found the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet (probably referring to Moses). You can sense their frustration as the questions continue.

So they said to him,
“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? 
What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’
as Isaiah the prophet said.” 
[John 1:22-23]

The verse from Isaiah would have been familiar to his Jewish inquisitors. It was from Isaiah 40:3 and would have been part of their scripture. John the Baptist has finally identified himself as the messenger, not the message.

There were some Pharisees in the group that had travelled from Jerusalem. They then asked the “what are you doing here” question, seeking clarification of what John’s authority and purpose was for performing baptisms.

They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” 
John answered them,
“I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” 
[John 1:25-27]

John shows humility and sense of place in his “what are you doing here” intentions. He is here to baptize with water, a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, to “make straight the way of the Lord.”

It is not until the next day that John the Baptist testifies to seeing "the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and rest on him". John explicitly announces that Jesus is the one "who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" and professes "now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God."

As we approach the new year and leave 2020 behind, it might be a good time the do a prayerful self-assessment. Where are we in our lives? How did we get here? Who are we RIGHT NOW? Then we need to look to the future, and contemplate what the future holds, and what role we can play in it. What’s on our new year’s resolution list? Can we make it more meaningful? What would Jesus want us to do?

Who are you and why are you here?