Isaiah
61: 1–4, 8–11; Psalm 126; I Thessalonians 5: 16–24; John 1: 6–8, 19–28
This is the homily offered
by Fr. Gene Tucker at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, December 17,
2017.
“STIR UP
SUNDAY”
(Homily text: John 1: 6–8, 18-29)
Welcome,
on this Third Sunday of Advent, to “Stir Up Sunday”. No, not “stirrup” Sunday,
as in the device that the rider of a horse puts his/her foot into, but – as our
Collect for this day states so well, “Stir up thy power, O God, and with great
might come among us.”
Our
Gospel text for this morning places before us John’s account of John the
Baptist’s ministry, as he prepared the way of the Lord, making straight in the
desert a highway for our God.
(Recall
with me that we heard Mark’s account of the Baptist’s ministry in our appointed
Gospel text last Sunday.)
Here
we are confronted with the nature of John’s ministry, for he was “stirring
things up” out there in the desert, baptizing people for the forgiveness of
their sins. And, most likely for the purpose of checking him out, a delegation
of priests and Levites are sent to ascertain the nature of what John is doing.
But their questions, posed to him: “Who are you? What do you say about yourself?”
have to do with the authority for
what John is doing. After all, these emissaries who had been sent by the
Pharisees were all into authority, or
– more specifically – their own authority
as the spiritual leaders of the people. (At this point in the development of
John’s and Jesus’ ministries, the priests, Levites and Pharisees seem to be
merely curious about these goings-on. In due course, their curiosity will turn
to rejection and opposition.)
In
what way, then, was John “stirring things up” out there in the desert as he
heard people (orally and out loud) confess their sins? How did John’s work
differ from the established ways of doing things that the Law of Moses – as it
was practiced in those days – prescribed?
The
overall picture that the Gospels provide us might provide a clue.
Apparently,
God’s people in that day and time were focused on the outward expression of
their relationship to God. To some extent, it seems fair to characterize their
religious observances as a process of “going through the motions”. But the
hearts of many – and particularly of the religious leaders of that time – were
far from God. (We see this, in the case of the religious leaders, quite clearly
as they will eventually plot to kill Jesus.)
Part
of this outward religious practice involved the taking of a ritual bath prior
to going to worship in the Temple. Called the mikvah in Hebrew, it involved a washing of the body. But John’s
washing was anything but an outward “going through the motions.” We can easily
imagine hearing John ask those who had entered the waters of the Jordan River
just what it was that they had done. We can imagine him saying, “Be specific.”
And perhaps we can also imagine John asking those who were making their
confessions to speak up so God (and everyone else) could hear what they said.
In this aural confession, we see sacramental living at its best: The
confessions that reached John’s ears, the ears of those gathered around, and
God, involved the union of the inner disposition of the heart with the outward
actions
Here
we see the difference between John’s washing and the ritual washings that took
place prior to entering the Temple. There was no “going through the motions” as
John demanded an outward accounting for the wrongdoings that brought people out
into the desert.
But
John was stirring things up in other ways, as well.
As
John is asked, “Are you the Messiah?” “I am not” was John’s answer. “Are you
Elijah?” “I am not” John said. “Are you the prophet?” “I am not” was the answer
yet again.
It’s
worthy of our notice to see what John says about himself: He points away from
himself and toward Jesus (though he does not name Jesus at this point). He
says, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the
way of the Lord.’”
In
essence, what John is saying is that he is a nobody. He is simply God’s
messenger, pointing away from himself personally and toward God and toward
God’s purposes.
In
this way, John stands in sharp contrast to the ways of the priests, the Levites
and the Pharisees, who seemed to glory in their own importance and place in the
religious scheme of things that were in place in those days.
How
about you and I? What and who are we?
We
are – like John the Baptist – called to point toward God and toward God’s
purposes, made known in Jesus Christ. We are called to stir things up by
calling people to the living of an integrated life, one in which the inner
disposition of the heart is matched by the outward living of life.
In
every age and in every place and in every time, God’s call to the living of a
truly integrated life stands as God’s desire and God’s command. To this desire
and this command, you and I are called by virtue of our Baptisms.
AMEN.
