John 1:23 John the Baptist said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.

Transcription

1 SERMON FOR 24 JUNE 2018 NATIVITY OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST Fr Dirk van Dissell Jhn 1:23 Jhn the Baptist said, I am the vice f ne crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way f the Lrd. Jhn 1:29 The next day, Jhn the Baptist saw Jesus cming twards him and said, Behld the Lamb f Gd wh takes away the sin f the wrld. Mark 6: Immediately King Herd sent a sldier f the guard and gave rders t bring Jhn the Baptist s head. He went and beheaded him in the prisn and brught his head n a platter and gave it t the girl; and the girl gave it t her mther. I expect many f yu will be familiar with the travel bks f H.V. Mrtn. He wrte almst 50, beginning with The Heart f Lndn written in 1925 and cncluding with In Search f the Hly Land in There was a whle series beginning with In Search.., In Search f England, In Search f Sctland. One f the best knwn and my favurite is In the Steps f the Master, written in 1934, which describes the Hly Land when it was knwn as Palestine and was administered by Great Britain under a mandate frm the League f Natins. It is a fascinating bk. In it Mrtn describes a visit t the ruins f the crusader frtress Krak-des-Chevaliers, in Syria, then administered by France, near the brder f what is nw Lebann. It was built in 12 th Century at the time f the Crusades by the Knights f St Jhn f Jerusalem. The Knights f Jerusalem were a religius rder which cared fr the sick and lked after pilgrims. In 1271, the Knights surrendered t Baibars, the Mambuk Sultan. After the fall f Jerusalem t the Turks in 1187, they mved t Acre in Palestine, then t Rhdes, and finally t Malta. They were frced frm Malta by Naplen in The Mst Venerable Order f the Hspital f St Jhn f Jerusalem f which the Svereign Head is ur wn Queen Elizabeth 2, and the Svereign Order f St Jhn f Jerusalem (Knights f Hspitalier) trace their rigin t the medieval Knights f St Jhn f Jerusalem, s d the Dutch and the Swedish Orders, as well as St Jhn s Ambulance and the Eye Hspital f St Jhn f Jerusalem whse priry is in Clerkenwell in Lndn. All f these are named fr St Jhn the Baptist whse nativity the Church celebrates tday. In the Church s calendar there are nly tw saints whse birthday and day f death are cmmemrated. Our Lrd s Mther, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St Jhn the Baptist whse birthday is tday n 24 June and whse beheading is n 29 August. The date f his birth is placed exactly 6 mnths befre Christmas. It is Mid-Summers Day. Frm nw n in the Nrthern

2 Hemisphere, the days are getting shrter. This symblically illustrates Jhn s wrds frm Jhn 3:30, He must increase, but I must decrease. We knw mre abut St Jhn the Baptist than we d abut mst ther figures f the New Testament. St Luke describes hw the Angel Gabriel annunced t Zechariah, the aged father f Jhn, that his wife Elizabeth wh was well past child bearing age wuld cnceive and bear a sn. That sn wuld play a unique rle in Gd s plan f salvatin. He wuld prepare the way fr the Messiah. Because Zechariah questined the angel he was struck dumb. It was nt until 9 mnths later that Zechariah received back his vice. He thereupn sang that wnderful sng, the Benedictus, r Sng f Zechariah, used daily in the Church s ffice f Mrning Prayer. Blessed be the Lrd Gd f Israel, fr he has visited and redeemed his peple. This mrning I want us t fcus n three incidents in St Jhn the Baptist s life. They illustrate his rle in salvatin histry. I have taken a text frm the gspels t fcus n each f these incidents. Jhn 1:23 Jhn the Baptist said, I am the vice f ne crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way f the Lrd. We nw mve frward abut 30 years frm the events recrded in this mrning s gspel. Jhn has spent time in the desert trying t discern Gd s will. Then he starts preaching n the banks f the Jrdn River. Crwds cme t listen t his message, amng them tax cllectrs and sldiers. Jhn tells them wh he is. He is nt the Messiah. He is the messenger sent t prepare the way fr the Messiah. He is the Frerunner f the Christ. Fr that reasn he features prminently in the Church s Advent liturgy. His message t the crwds is: Repent Turn yur lives arund Prepare Get ready fr the Messiah And as a sign f their repentance, he baptised them in the River Jrdan. Jhn s message f repentance was nt just fr the crwds wh gathered at the banks f the Jrdan. As the Cllect fr tday reminds us, it is intended fr us t. Yu and I are called t repent.

3 We are called t turn ur lives arund 180. It is as if we were ging t Melburne and when we get t Brdertwn, we turn arund and g back t Adelaide. Repentance is t turn ur life arund frm being cncerned with I, me, and N.1, t fcussing n Gd and ur neighbur. This is what we are called t d. It is nt easy, it never was. But that is what we need t d t prepare urselves t meet Christ - In this Sacrament, when He cmes t us under the frms f Bread and Wine - At the end f ur lives when we shall see Him face t face - At the end f the wrld, when he brings histry t a clse Jhn 1:29 The next day, Jhn the Baptist saw Jesus cming twards him and said, Behld the Lamb f Gd wh takes away the sin f the wrld. We nw mve n a cuple f days. Jhn has very reluctantly acquiesced in baptising Jesus. Then he directs his wn fllwers t Jesus; in ther wrds, Jhn the Baptist pinted away frm himself t Jesus. I was delighted t see in yur vestry a reprductin f the Isenheim altar piece, at present in Clmar in France. It is a representatin f the crucifixin by 16 th century German artist, Grunewald. It is nt an actual representatin f the Crucifixin. It is a symblic ne. In the centre, it prtrays Jesus n the crss. On the left side f the crss are ur Lrd s mther and St Jhn, the belved disciple and St Mary Magdalene. On the right stands St Jhn the Baptist pinting a bny finger at Jesus. Jhn Baptist was nt alive at the time f ur Lrd s crucifixin as he had been executed several years earlier in 29 AD, but he is there t illustrate vividly wrds he spke n first meeting Jesus, Behld the Lamb f Gd, wh takes away the sin f the wrld. (Jhn 3:29) As the cllect fr Advent 3 reminds us, St Jhn Baptist is the mdel fr Church s ministers. Ministers f the Church are called t prepare the way fr the Lrd and they care called t pint their peple t Christ. The Church s ministers are nt like the tele-evangelists. They are nt celebrities drawing attentin t themselves. They are t pint away frm themselves t Jesus n the crss like Jhn the Baptist in the Isenheim altar piece. It is nt nly the Church s ministers wh are called t pint thers t Christ. That is the calling f all Christians. Yu and I are called t pint thers t Christ. Hw d we d that? First, by ur wrds. Hw ften d we talk abut ur faith t ur nn-believing r half-believing friends?

4 Hw ften d we ask them t cme t church with us? Baptists and Pentecstals d s regularly. Anglicans d s perhaps nce in a lifetime. What is just as imprtant is that we pint thers t Christ by ur lives. S we shuld ask urselves: Are ur lives marked by inward peace trust in Gd curage in adversity? Are they marked by faithfulness in difficult circumstances? Are they marked by kindness, and all the ther fruits f the Hly Spirit lve, jy, patience, gentleness? D thers see Jesus in us? Mk 6:27-28 The king sent a sldier f the guard and gave rders t bring Jhn the Baptist s head. He went and beheaded him in the prisn, and brught his head n a platter, and gave it t the girl; and the girl gave it t her mther. We mve frward again, t the year 29AD. Jesus has begun his ministry f teaching, preaching and healing. Althugh there is n recrd f it in the gspels, Jhn must have cntinued t preach. Like the Old Testament prphets befre him, such as Ams, Jeremiah, Isaiah and the rest, he fiercely denunced the evil in the sciety f his day, nt sparing even the king and queen. He denunced the incestuus marriage f Herd and Herdias. Herdias was Herd s brther Philip s wife. He paid the supreme price fr this. The stry f Jhn Baptist s end is familiar t all f us. Salme, Herdias daughter pleased the king with her dancing at ne f his banquets. As a reward, and spurred n by her mther, she asked fr the head f Jhn the Baptist n a platter. Reluctantly the king granted her request. S what d we learn frm this? Jhn the Baptist was quite direct, quite specific in denuncing sin and challenging his cntempraries t mend their ways. There is an imprtant lessn in that fr us. We cannt impse Christian standards n ur cmmunity, but we ignre at ur peril the imprtance f uphlding thse standards. SO ften we give the impressin that it des really nt really much. What is a little sin between friends? St Jhn the Baptist s Day reminds us that ur faith des include mral standards. The New Testament is quite specific abut it. The Christian life is nt ne in which anything ges. The Cllect fr this day

5 brings hme t us the same truth. It prays that yu and I may cnstantly speak the truth, bldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer fr the truth s sake. Yes there is a sting in the tail. As the Old Testament prphets befre him discvered, as Jhn the Baptist discvered, as cuntless Christian martyrs since have discvered, speaking the truth and rebuking vice will cme at a cst, and fr sme that cst may be very high. It may cme at the cst f their lives. S is my message t yu this mrning: Wake up Shape up Pull yurself up? That wuldn t be the gspel. That is nt gd news. In fact, it is bad news. That srt f message may very well weigh us dwn with feelings f inadequacies, f failure, r shame. But the Feast f the Nativity f St Jhn the Baptist des prclaim fd news. S what is that gd news fr us this mrning? It is this. We are baptised int Christ. We are therefre part f Christ s mystical Bdy n earth. We are fed by his Bdy and Bld under frms f bread and wine in Hly Cmmunin. What is mre; we d nt have t d it n ur wn. Jesus lives within us. Jesus is with us, at ur side. Gd des nt abandn us and leave us n ur wn. In His strength and with His help, Yu and I can prepare urselves and thers t meet Christ Yu and I can pint thers t Christ Yu and I can with curage defend the truth As we bserve the Feast f the Nativity f St Jhn the Baptist, we pray that we may be inspired and encuraged by his example and we pray that the prayers he ffers in the Church triumphant in heaven, may benefit that part f it militant n earth.