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Sometimes we are in control of things and sometimes we are subject to the control of others. Some speak of fulfilling a destiny which is laid upon them and others say that life is a matter of chance. Whether we enjoy a comfortable life or live in poverty is determined usually by factors outside ourselves. Those suffering from the drought in Kenya and North Africa have few choice and and their lot is determined by where they were born. Those who are affected by Hurricane Irene have no choice about where it will bring devastation but have enough warning to try and protect themselves.
Is life then a series of chances or is it part of a plan - perhaps even a Divine Plan? Are we, for example, Christians by choice or by culture because we happen to live in England? Christianity is one amongst a range of World Religions, many of which would claim to be the true religion - but what are we is often determined by chance. Had we been born in Pakistan we would probably have followed the Muslim faith; in India the Hindu faith; in other parts of the Far East - perhaps we might have been Buddhists. Choice and Chance play a big part in the development of faith. In one respect we are all faced with a choice which will determine not only what happens during our earthly life but which will also have a significant bearing on our life after death - whether we believe in God or not. For those who believe in God there are not two certain facts, but three. We are born, we died; and we are re-born into eternal life.
Today we are celebrating the death of a saint who happens to be our Patronal Saint. Normally our Patronal Festival is kept in June, but that was not possible this year, so we are celebrating his martyrdom at the hands of King Herod
We may think it strange to celebrate a death. Usually we celebrate a birth and mourn a death but our faith tells us that death is the gateway to eternal life so, for a Christian, death is something celebratory. We may be sad at the loss of a loved one's physical closeness but we can rejoice that the journey of their faith - what is really a pilgrimage - has found fulfilment in all that life as a Christian longs for - union with God. That is the third certain fact of the Christian life - and it was one which concerned John the Baptist greatly.
From an early age he lived a life dedicated wholly to God. He made his choice and so accepted his vocation. He freely handed himself to God for God to use as He wished and particularly because he responded to a call to a particular ministry.
In this, John was making a choice, but it was also one for which his upbringing and indeed the circumstance of his birth had prepared him. John the Baptist was to occupy centre-stage in a Divine Plan in which he would play a vital, albeit brief, part. John accepted God's choice for him and so fulfilled his vocation. Part of that vocation was to accept its limitations. He was called to be the Forerunner - the One who prepared the way for Jesus and who got the people ready, through his Baptism of Repentance, for the message and ministry of Jesus.
He prepared for this for 30 years and it was all over by the time he was 31. Two things happened to John that brought his vocation and his life to an end at about the same time.
The first was, of course, that the one for whom he prepared the people arrived on the scene. When Jesus allowed John to baptise him, he was also signalling to his cousin that his work was now complete. John recognises that in the lovely but lonely moment in St John's Gospel, when in Chapter 1- when he pointed out Jesus to two of his disciples (Andrew being one) and told them that He was the Lamb of God. They immediately left John and followed Jesus. A moment when John's work as forerunner was complete and also a lonely moment.
Though not all John's disciples deserted him, as we learn at the end of today's Gospel, for they came and took John's body and buried him. The departure of Andrew and his companion was however significant. Like the baptism itself, it signified that Jesus was entering into his own destiny just as John had fulfilled his.
The second thing that happened to John at this time was what we heard about in today's Gospel. John was a forthright and zealous man who was not afraid to call into question the morality of King Herod concerning the wife of his brother and this got him into trouble. The facts are a bit more confusing than Matthew gives them but what matters is that Herod was lured into a beheading which resulted from the malice of Herodias and her scheming daughter. He may not have wanted to go that far, but Herod had already imprisoned John, and there's a lot of power politics mixed up in the story.
That aside, John's Life was terminated just as his vocation was completed, though there was still a final burst of energy like the final shower of a comet winging its way across the night sky. For it is not only what John did in his earthly ministry, brief though that is. that matters, but also what his death can teach us.
Though John belongs to that period between the Old and New Testaments, a claim could be made for him being the first martyr of the Christian era and it is as a martyr that he has something to offer us today. Martyrs have a special place in Christianity because they make the ultimate sacrifice of self-offering. The word martyr is a Greek word meaning witness and by their total self-giving in the service of the Gospel, martyrs challenge us in our own witness. And so John the Baptist, in his final preaching which is his wordless death, challenges us.
This challenge summed up beautifully by Archbishop Michael Ramsey in a sermon eh preached to mark the 800th anniversary of the Martyrdom of Thomas a Beckett. He said that:
The martyr speaks to us all. To all of us a martyrdom
says that we are called as Christians to be loyal; loyal to our faith
in the supernatural; loyal to our divine Lord and Saviour; loyal to the
saving power of his Cross. We are called fearlessly to uphold
what is right amidst the needs of the times in which we are living.
It seems to me that those words can be perfectly
applied to John the Baptist, but for our sake we perhaps need to hear
what Michael Ramsey goes on to say. It might help us to
understand why martyrdom was held in such special regard in the early
Church and how it might be applied to a time such as ours where, in the
past century until now there have never been so many Christian
martyrs: This is what Michael Ramsey offers:Martyrdom tells us that in the upholding
of what is right, self-sacrifice can win victories, which violence and
controversy can never win. Hard as it is to gaps, and hard at
times to apply in practice to particular circumstances, the way of the
Cross is the way in which evil is conquered.
It may be hard to know what purpose John the
Baptist's death served in the court or even in the mind of King Herod
but what is shows us is that the 'Yes' of our response to God can know
no boundaries and, if it is authentic, can never be unsaid. We,
like John the Baptist and the myriad saints who have given their life
rather than compromise their faith, are called to a constant witness,
whatever the cost and whatever the circumstance.Whether we feel up to it is something only each one of us can answer, though it isn't just personal witness that counts but the witness of a worshipping, open and loving community. As a Church it is our corporate witness as a community of faith which matters as much as our personal witness. Each flows into the other. WE draw strength in our personal faith from the shared faith we enjoy here together through services and fellowship. and we draw strength from holy Christians who have received the crown of eternal life before us.
When St Polycarp was martyred at Smyrna in 156AD after guiding the church there as bishop for 40 years he was given the opportunity to renounce his faith. The Governor urged him to do so and Polycarp answered:
For eighty-six years I have been Christ's
servant and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme against
my King and Saviour - The words of won whose faith and
prayer and witness is true.
I can never hear or read them without being moved
and without being challenged. I am also aware that Polycarp's
witness strengthened a Church in the midst of a great persecution and
many a Christian's faith became more bold and steadfast as a result.John the Baptist stands as the forerunner not only to Jesus but in his own martyrdom he is the forerunner of those who followed his example and we should all be proud of his patronage and let him inspire us to renew our own witness. We can do so by paying attention to three things that John offers us in his own witness.
First - he prepared carefully for what God asked of him. We know that he spent years learning prayer in the desert community of the Essenes. So - lesson one - pray, pray, pray. No excuses. There is always time for so many things in our life. If we say we are too busy for prayer we deceive ourselves. We do not deceive God.
Secondly - be bold in your faith. John was convinced about God and about Jesus Christ. He was unafraid to speak the truth and to call people to repent - to return to the Lord. Michael Ramsey tells us to be fearless and loyal in our faith and so we will proclaim it joyfully. Why should we do that? because others have been prepared to do it for us. WE should be glad to help others to come to love and know God.
Finally, we must be self-effacing and humble. Like John, we must put Jesus Christ first - even and especially, before yourself. In prison John the Baptist said of Jesus - He must increase. I must decrease. There is a humility which is profound and opens us to John's heart. Everything he did was about Jesus.
Today's Gospel begins and ends with Jesus. That sums up John's life. It should sum up ours. When it does, our birth, what is in between, our death and what comes after, will be a witness to a faith in Jesus that dazzles and attracts other. Let it be so.