Rev. Brandon DeToma -Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist June 23-24, 2018
Imagine for a moment you were casually walking down the street and you randomly heard these phrases: "king of the world," heart of the ocean" or "Rose" and "Jack." Chances are the movie Titanic would come to mind. While many of us here today know the story of that ship headed from England to America, there is a good chance that we do not know the story of a man by the name of John Harper. Like any story, there are many layers and there are often stories within stories and such is the case with John Harper. In 1912 Harper was traveling to Chicago to take up his appointment as pastor of a local church in the city. He had his daughter Emily on board with him. His wife had died a few years earlier and he was a single father. When the Titanic struck the iceberg and began to sink he put Emily into a lifeboat and then ran throughout the ship yelling “Women, children, and unsaved into the lifeboats!” When the ship finally went down he had already given his lifejacket to another passenger. Survivors report that to the very end Harper was witnessing to anyone who would listen. One survivor recalls clinging to one of the ship's rafts when Harper floated near him.
“Man, are you saved?” cried Harper. “No, I’m not” replied the man. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved” pleaded Harper. The waves carried Harper away and brought him back a little later. “Are you saved now?” asks Harper. “No, I cannot honestly say that I am,” says the man. Again Harper pleads with him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shalt be saved”. Shortly afterward Harper went down with the rest of the ship. The man who survived was one of only six people rescued, but in a public meeting four years later, recounting this episode he said “There, alone in the night, and with two miles of water under me, I believed. I am John Harper’s last convert.”We can say that John Harper was a great witness to God.
Today the Church celebrates another witness in the person of John the Baptist, that cousin of Jesus. This solemnity is not a new one. St. Augustine, that esteemed theologian from the Early Church, rightly noted that usually, the Church celebrates feast days of saints on the day of their death so as to recognize their entry into heaven. But this feast day, this solemnity is celebrated on the day of John's birth. And this is an exception because Scripture tells us that John the Baptist was sanctified in his mother's womb and when born, was invested with sanctifying grace that would have been imparted by the presence of Jesus.
This week I was thinking about the Gospel reading and what John's first days would have been like. What was his birth like? Was it easy (as easy as they could be in those days) or were there complications? What kind of baby was John? Who held him when he cried? Was it just Elizabeth and Zacharias or perhaps Mary also held John when she was there? Scripture informs us that the Angel Gabriel tells Mary that her cousin Elizabeth is expecting, that Mary goes to visit her, that she stays for three months so it is very likely that Mary may have stayed until John was born and that she would have held him as a tiny infant. I think there is something special in believing that Mary held John. It imparts, I believe, an added grace to the new baby. Thus, while it is likely that Jesus may not have physically laid eyes on John in those first months or years, there is something to be said about the relationship between the two of them even from those first moments.
Yesterday I did a Google search where I typed in "John the Baptist", I clicked on images and I was bombarded with more depictions of John than I knew what to do with. But one depiction captured my attention more than the others. It was an oil painting from the 14th century, Spanish, with the three figures of Mary, John, and Jesus all present with Mary in the center and Jesus and John to each side of her. That beautiful painting was attempting to convey the idea that Jesus has these two instruments through which he is being announced into the world and the instruments for which he came into the world--first with his mother Mary and then in his public ministry with John who is always pointing towards Jesus and making him known. When we look at Jesus and believe in his message, we often have to look at those around him to gain a fuller perspective. John the Baptist is one of those people.
As Catholics, our saints are people that we look up too. They are people that denote great virtue and exude some special quality. John the Baptist is no exception and he had more than one special charism for he was a teacher, a virgin, the first prophet in decades, and he was a willing martyr for his faith in God. John had this immense level of grace and is regarded by the Church as one of her greatest saints. Perhaps one of the most enduring lines of scripture in the New Testament attributed to John the Baptist can be found in the Gospel of John chapter 3 verse 30. It reads: "He must increase, but I must decrease." What a powerful line that can equally be applied to John but also to each one of us. John was always conscious of the fact that his role was to help prepare for the Son of Man. Regarding that quote from scripture, some of the early Church fathers note that the birth of John is six months before the birth of Jesus, so we should see John's birth as a physical reminder that the real birth, the birth of supreme importance is one its way. John's birth serves as a great physical reminder that the real birth, the one that the entire world should take note of is the birth of Jesus. Thus, John is the ultimate witness for Jesus.
We are reminded in this Kentucky stormy evening that one of the central tenants of the Christian faith is the belief that the Word became flesh, that Jesus, the second person of the Trinity became man. And that is what John the Baptist points too. That is what his whole life is about, it was directed at the Word. You know over the next six months, the days will little by little become shorter and darker and yet when we celebrate the birthdate of Jesus the days gradually become longer and longer. It is cool to think that even in nature, we can see the world gradually correspond to the reality of the very words of John the Baptist--"he must increase, but I must decrease."
John the Baptist was a man who was a great exemplar of humility. He had a tremendous gift of self-knowledge but it was never used for his own advancement. I think, sometimes in our world today, we can be quick to take credit at our accomplishments and we are apt to tell our buddies and peers about what we have done and sometimes we forget to give credit where credit is ultimately due and that is God. John the Baptist had no interest in that, when we look at both his words and actions, John did everything in his power to drawn attention away from himself. "He must increase, but I must decrease."
So what can John teach us today in 2018? What can that "strange" man who lived in the desert teach me? John can teach us what it means to be a person of humility. John can teach us about being that ultimate witness for Jesus. John can teach us how to be "another voice" of Jesus just as he was in his lifetime. The ways of being a witness and voice for Jesus is varied and different. What is the answer for one person may not be the right fit for someone else. I would encourage you to ask God in prayer how you can grow in being that ultimate witness and voice. Whether it is in small actions, maybe a simple act of kindness such as paying for the person's coffee behind you at Starbucks or let the mother with two small kids go ahead of you at Kroger. Perhaps it is financially supporting a local charity here in town or giving to the Water for Blessings foundation and help make available clean, drinkable water for thousands of families in Halti.
Whatever ways that we can point toward Jesus, I think we have an obligation to do so. That is what John the Baptist was so aptly aware of and what we can learn from him. During these next few weeks, I would invite you to see how we can be modern-day John the Baptists, how we can be that voice for Jesus, how we can decrease allowing Jesus to increase, and how just like John Harper, that pastor from the Titanic all those years ago, we can spread God's kingdom and help direct people to Jesus with strength, compassion, determination, but ultimately with love.
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