As we go through the Scripture readings the Church sets for Advent, we read from and about three main characters. We read from the prophecies of Isaiah who’s regarded as the prophet of the Advent. We read about the Blessed Virgin Mary who, of course, was chosen by God to be the mother of Christ. And we read about John the Baptist who was the forerunner, the one sent by God to prepare the way for Christ. Today, in fact, we hear from or about all three of them, but in particular today we hear about John the Baptist.
There’s no doubt that John is a very important figure in the Advent story, and in the story of our salvation, generally. But, having said that, he’s very much overshadowed by other people we read about in the Scriptures, isn’t he? If we think about the names we give to churches when they’re dedicated for worship, for example, we can probably think of lots that are dedicated to the evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We can probably think of lots dedicated to Saints Peter or Paul. We can probably think too of lots that are dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In fact, we can probably think of lots of churches that are dedicated to lots of different saints, many of whom we don’t even read about in the Scriptures. But how many can we think of that are dedicated to John the Baptist? Probably not very many, if any at all, and I think that’s a great shame.
One of the things we often say about the saints is that they’re examples to us of how to live good, Christian lives, and probably the greatest example of that, is the Blessed Virgin Mary. She’s often held up as an example to Christians of obedience and faithfulness to God and Christ. There’s no doubt that Mary is an example of those things, but so is John the Baptist and yet he’s hardly ever, if ever, spoken of as someone who’s example we should follow. But actually, John is a great example to us. He’s someone whose story we should study and think about more than we perhaps do. He’s someone whose life and example we should take far more seriously that we perhaps do. And he’s someone whom I think, the Church should make a lot more fuss about than they usually do. So, this morning, as we read about John in the Gospel, let’s do just that, and think about John’s life and the example he’s set for us.
John’s father was Zechariah and Zechariah, was a priest. So John was born into a priestly family, and that means he was born into a relatively well-to-do family. He might not have been born into the ruling elite of Jewish society, but he was born into a family that would have had quite a high standard of living, much higher than most people could have hoped for. But John chose to give up his nice, comfortable life of relative luxury, his fine clothes, good food and nice house, to go and live in the wilderness, to wear animal skins and eat locusts and honey, and all so that he could preach and baptise in readiness for the coming of Christ. And, in a society, and a Church, in which wealth and possessions and status are often regarded as so important, if not the be-all-and-end-all, isn’t that’s an example to us today? John’s example to us is that, like him, we should care more about doing what God wants us to do than we do about wealth, possessions, status and the creature comforts we all surround ourselves with.
The life John chose, eventually led him to a prison cell and an early death. But then, in those days, and many other days too, openly criticising a king was quite likely to turn out badly for the one doing the criticising. But that didn’t stop John from speaking out against the king’s wrongdoing. And isn’t that an example to us too? There are a lot of things that go on in the world today that aren’t in keeping with God’s law and Jesus’ teaching, but that’s always been the case in every age. But rather than speaking out against it, aren’t we often more likely to see, even the Church of today modifying its teachings to suit the world’s values and standards rather than calling the world to change and adopt God’s values and standards, as it’s called to do and should do? And how much more likely are we to see wrongdoing excused or extenuating circumstances pleaded, or simply a blind eye turned to it when it’s the rich and famous and powerful who are doing the wrong? John’s example is that we should have the courage to speak out against wrongdoing when we see it, regardless of who the wrongdoer is.
The life John chose also gained him great fame and popularity and it would have been quite understandable if John had allowed that to go to his head. It would have been understandable if the adulation of the crowds had made John think that he was a bit more important than he really was.
It would have been understandable if John had started to think that perhaps he was the Messiah, or to take advantage of his popularity by at least claiming that he was and acting as though he was, even if he didn’t really believe it. That’s something we see all too often in the world, and in the Church too, sadly, isn’t it? A bit of fame or popularity, and perhaps particularly a little power or authority, going to someone’s head and leading someone to think that they’re far more important than they really are. But, despite his popularity, and power too, of a sort, over people, John didn’t allow himself to become pumped-up and have an over-inflated opinion of himself. This morning’s Gospel tells us that he denied every title people tried to thrust on him. No, he was not the Christ, he was not Elijah and he was not the Prophet. He was simply a messenger, preparing the way for someone far greater, whose sandal straps he wasn’t even worthy to undo, who was going to come after him. And so John is an example of humility to us. And he’s an example of the purpose of our humility as Christians too.
One of the ways the Blessed Virgin Mary is said to be an example to us, is that her obedience and faithfulness points our attention, not to Mary herself, but to her son, to Christ. And, in fact, if you look at images, paintings, icons or statues of Mary and the Christ-child, she’s very often portrayed pointing to Christ. And we can say the same thing about John too. As we read in the Gospel this morning, John’s humility in refusing honour and titles points us to the one who comes after him, John directs our attention away from himself, towards Christ. So, just like Mary, John points us to Christ. And that is an example that we should always follow as Christians. Whatever we do as Christians, whatever we do in the Church, no matter how popular what we do might make us, no matter how much authority were granted, none of that should ever be about us. None of it should ever be done to draw attention to ourselves. It should only ever be done to point beyond us to the one in whose name we do it. Whatever we do should point other people to Christ.
So John is an example to us, and his example is one we should follow. And John’s example is one we need to follow too. We need to follow John’s example because, in a sense, we share his ministry.
We’re not called to prepare people for Christ’s earthly ministry, of course, but we are called to prepare people to meet Christ. We’re called to prepare people to meet him in the Scriptures and the sacraments of the Church. We’re called to prepare people to meet him in prayer. We’re called to prepare people to meet him in other people. We’re called to prepare people to meet him in the power of the Holy Spirit in their daily lives. And we’re called to prepare people to meet him at the end of their earthly lives when they, and we, all will meet him as our judge. But we’ll only be able to do those things if we’ve followed something of John’s example.
We won’t prepare people to meet Christ if we put earthly things before spiritual things because then people will think that’s what God wants us to do. We won’t prepare people to meet Christ if we excuse or turn a blind eye to wrongdoing because then people will think it doesn’t really matter what we do in our lives. And we won’t prepare people to meet Christ if we’re full of our own importance because then people will be looking at us and not for Christ, or at Christ.
So let’s try to give John a little more thought than perhaps we do now and think a bit more about just what a fine example he set for us. And let’s try to make our lives and examples, a bit more like his.
Amen.
You will find the Propers for Advent 3 here.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 