For Sunday
Advent 3B
Collect
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever.
Amen.
Reading
Reflection
John the Baptist: testifying to the light.
I think of this like a tagline on social media.
Most of us spend our lives trying to figure out where we fit, who we are. We think about what people will say about us when we’re gone. Or what we’re supposed to do with our life. And most of us don’t have this kind of clarity.
Last week, we met John as one crying in the wilderness, a messenger, set to make the messiah’s path straight. He was dressed like a prophet and sure acted like a prophet. In this different gospel, he says he is no prophet. Whether he is a prophet isn’t dependent on his accepting the job title, however.
Just like I imagine John with social media accounts, I imagine his response in the modern demonstrative; offering a card, with a simple phrase: I baptize.
I suppose that John the Baptist isn’t a complicated figure for us. He comes before Jesus. Prepares the way. Baptizes people. And uses his fifteen minutes of fame to guide people toward Jesus.
And yet I wonder if we recognize this job title he offers is always in demand. And it doesn’t end with him.
Can we see that he is both unique, visionary, and necessary on the one hand and a role model for our own response to the divine? For we have seen the great light. And our world certainly could use more of it.