Preached as a sermon at the Minster Church of St John the Baptist, Croydon. Readings: Isaiah 401.1-11; Luke 1.57-66,80
+
‘His
name is John’! And the name John means ‘the Lord is gracious’.
Today
is our patronal festival, that is to say the festival when we celebrate our
patron saint.
And
that patron saint is St John the Baptist.
A
patron, according to the dictionary, can be a couple of things.
First
a patron is ‘a customer, especially a regular one, of a shop, restaurant or
theatre’. That doesn’t sound quite the sort of patron we’re talking about here.
John the Baptist doesn’t drop by to take in a show at the Minster: he’s not
that sort of patron.
Another
definition is ‘a person who gives financial or other support to a person,
organization, cause, or activity’. Well, John doesn’t give us any financial
support, he’s not on the direct debit planned giving scheme and he doesn’t use GiftAid. So what are we talking about
here?
A
patron saint has a deeper function
and gives other support.
As
Bishop Rowan Williams says, ‘Patron saints are not there to be benign mascots;
they are given so that nations and groups and individuals may have identifiable
friends in the company of heaven who will give a particular direction and
sharpness to the challenges of the gospel.’
What
a beautiful thought, that here at this church, we have an ‘identifiable friend
in the company of heaven’.
The
Christian understanding of the Communion of Saints isn’t of a mush of people
who have died, like drops making up a pool, but individuals whose identity is
magnified as they praise God and pray for us on earth. So we can have an identifiable friend in heaven.
That
patron saint, our identifiable friend in heaven, prays for us: there is nothing
more encouraging than to know that your friend, living or departed, is praying
for you at the throne of grace.
Our
identifiable friend in heaven is an example to us in the living out of the
gospel: there is nothing more inspiring than the example of a friend. A
Christian friend’s life helps us in being a Christian.
And
as Rowan Williams says, our patron saint, our identifiable friend in heaven, ‘gives
a particular direction and sharpness to the challenges of the gospel.’
You
can certainly say that of John the Baptist.
Before
I came to Croydon, I have to confess that I hadn’t really thought a huge amount
about him, other than that he was a bit weird, somewhat off putting and rather
remote.
I
was, of course, aware of his high profile during the season of Advent, when he
is identified as the one who proclaims the coming Christ and fulfilling the
text of our first reading: John’s is the voice crying out in the wilderness,
‘prepare the way of the Lord’.
But
since I have been here I have pondered John much more. I ask his prayers for
me, for you and our church. He has become my friend in the Communion of Saints!
And
his example stirs and inspires me in my ministry here, and I hope all of us in
our Christian faith.
Accounts
of John begin with his childhood: let us rejoice in the presence of children
and young people in our midst and ensure they are served and nurtured: that is
a gift adult disciples can give to the young.
John
the Baptist takes us to the heart of the matter, away from the fripperies and
distractions: John leads us to a deep encounter with Jesus Christ.
John
knows that his mission and ministry is to point people to Jesus Christ. And
that he does.
He
makes himself unpopular by speaking the truth, rebuking those who exploit the
poor, and the tyrant King Herod, to the cost of his life.
What
integrity. John the Baptist puts the grit back into integrity!
John
is intensely humble and aware of who he is, ‘I am not worthy to untie the thong
of Christ’s sandal’.
John’s
blunt and direct: turn away from sin; turn to God.
In
all of that John does not want to get in the way of his message: ‘Christ must increase;
I must decrease’ (John 3.30). A bit like St Paul saying, ‘it is no longer I who
live, but Christ who lives in me’ (Galatians 2.20)
Ultimately
John tells us to look beyond himself to the very heart of the matter, to the
depth of the mystery of God revealed in the one he calls the ‘Lamb of God’:
it’s my message, not me.
John
says to us, as our gritty, personal friend, ‘Behold. Look. See. The Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world’.
We
sing John’s words at every Eucharist, ‘O Lamb of God, you take away the sin of
the world. Have mercy upon us. Grant us peace’. In doing so we adore Jesus
Christ; and John’s task is realised.
For
this is where we come to behold, and to meet, Jesus Christ in his word and
sacrament.
In
John the Baptist, we have a friend in heaven, whose powerful prayers we ask for
in our daily lives as disciples of Christ and in the ministry and mission of
Christ’s church.
V.
Pray for us, O glorious St. John the Baptist,
R.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment