June 20^th. 2010 St. John the Baptizer

Deacon Carl Knapp

Shakespeare wrote: “What is so rare as a day in June? Then – if ever- come perfect days.” Midsummer Day is a festive day in many parts of the world such as Mexico; Quebec and Sweden.

In the Church Year, Midsummer Day, June 24 – Thursday is the Festival of the Birth – the Nativity of John the Baptizer. It was St. Augustine who pointed out that John the Baptist’s life motto was: He must increase and I must decrease. The days are longest this week. Actually because of Leap year adjustments, the longest day of this year is June 21 - tomorrow. Thus, we have the Festival of the Birth of John – born six months before Jesus. Even though the oppressive heat of summer is ahead of us, yet slowly each week the days will grow shorter until Christmas - the Festival of the Nativity of Jesus – whereupon daylight again increases and darkness decreases.

John is a fascinating, mysterious figure. He is alone in the semi desert. He eats locusts and wild honey. His clothing is rough skins and a belt. He lives in a cave and his message is that of impending judgment.

John the Baptizer is the last of the Hebraic prophets and the first of the New Testament evangelists. He is mentioned 100 times in the Christians writings. This is more than anyone else except Jesus, Peter, and Paul. Matthew introduces John in the third chapter. Mark, Luke and John have him at beginning of their writing.

John is like the morning star – brilliant, beautiful – and then blotted out by the rising sun. After Jesus and Mary there is more artwork of John than anyone else in Christianity. In the Orthodox Church he is usually painted on one side of Jesus with Mary on the other side. However he is usually shown as a sad figure – austere, stern, even emaciated. That has to be wrong, after all honey is sugar and locusts are almost pure fiber and protein. When you come forward for Communion, look at his depiction on the left side of the mosaic. But in so many ways his life is that of bringing joy – midsummer joy, if you will.

Luke speaks of the joy in anticipation of his birth: “Your heart will thrill with joy and many will be glad that he was born…” Joy in having a child in later life and joy to relatives, family and ultimately the People of God. Luke goes further about Elizabeth – the Patron Saint of expectant women: “When her neighbors and relatives heard what great favor the Lord had shown her, they were as delighted as she was.” On the eighth day when at the circumcision the father writes: “He is to be called John.” Zechariah’s tongue was freed and he praises God in that beautiful hymn the Benedictus which is a remarkable telling of the whole life and ministry of John. It can be found on page 50 and page 92 in the Prayer Book.

Praise to the God of Israel! For he has turned to his people, saved them and set them free, and has raised up a deliverer of victorious power from the house of his servant David.

So he promised: age after age he proclaimed by the lips of his holy prophets, that he would deliver us from our enemies out of the hands of all who hate us; that he would deal mercifully with our fathers, calling to mind his solemn covenant.

Such was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, to rescue us from enemy hands, and grant us, free from fear, to worship him with a holy worship, with uprightness of heart, in his presence, our whole life long.

And you, my child, you shall be called Prophet of the Highest, for you will be the Lord’s forerunner, to prepare his way and lead his people to salvation through knowledge of him, by the forgiveness of their sins: for in the tender compassion of our God the morning sun from heaven will rise upon us, to shine on those who live in darkness, under the cloud of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

When Mary obeys the angel’s command and travels to visit Elizabeth, her cousin, the child John stirred in her womb. Elizabeth says: “…Who am I, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? I tell you, when your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby in my womb leapt for joy…”

Years later, along the Jordan River John is asked if he is the Messiah. He replied: I am the voice crying aloud in the wilderness, ‘Make the Lord’s highway straight.’” The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said: “Look there is the Lamb of God; it is he who takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I spoke when I said, ‘After me a man is coming who takes rank before me’; for before I was born, he already was. I myself did not know who he was; but the very reason why I came, baptizing in water, was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

John the Baptizer knew who he was and what his mission was, and what his destiny was. He was filled with joy in knowing that the Messiah had come and he had helped to prepare the way. He also knows that his time is coming to an end. We learn in the third chapter of John’s Gospel that some of John’s disciples were arguing and asked him a question: ‘Rabbi, there was a man with on the other side of the Jordan, to whom you bore your witness. Here he is, baptizing, and crowds are flocking to him.’ John’s answer sums up his self knowledge of his own place in Salvation History. ‘A man can have only what God gives him. You yourselves can testify that I said, “I am not the Messiah; I have been sent as his forerunner.” It is the bridegroom to whom the bride belongs. The bridegrooms’s friend, who stands by and listens to him, is overjoyed at hearing the bridegroom’s voice. This joy, this perfect joy, is now mine. As he grows greater, I must grow less.’ John moves from this time of perfect joy to his execution. Yet he has known fulfillment in the seeing of his life’s purpose completed in Jesus the Christ.

We have an abundance of things. We seem to spend a lot of time searching for the latest of things: the newest I Pod – the latest and biggest LCD television. But there was a man dressed in camel’s hair with a leather belt; he came with a message. He found perfect joy in the fulfillment of that message. Can we do less?

Do we have joy in the world around us? The sunrise – a sunset – a hummingbird – a flower – a child’s smile? Can we have the joy of a happy home life? Can we have the joy of improving it? Do we share in the joy of daily fellowship with God through Jesus? Do we have the joy of fellowship with the People of God.

Do we have the joy of a commitment to a great purpose – living to build God’s eternal kingdom? Do we rejoice in the joy of an assured and glorious future?

May we – all of us - join with John the Baptizer in the lasting Midsummer joys!