Nativity of St. John the Baptist
John the Baptist has a very important role in the New Testament. All four Gospels tell us something about his life and ministry, and he is mentioned several times in the Acts of the Apostles. The Jewish historian Josephus, who wrote a history of his people about fifty years after the death and resurrection of Christ, has a paragraph about John’s life and the circumstances surrounding his death.
We usually focus on John the Baptist during the Advent season, which is consistent with his role of calling the people to repentance so that they might be ready for the coming of the Lord. This year, we have the opportunity to reflect on John’s role during a different season, as the feast of his birth happens to fall on a Sunday this time. Our Gospel reading for this day gives us some of the story of John’s birth as found in the Gospel of St. Luke. What I will do here is follow John’s story as given to us by Luke and point to certain details along the way. Reflection on these details may enable us to see John as one who prepares the way of the Lord for us in ways we may not have thought of before.
We begin with the story of John’s birth as given us in today’s Gospel reading. We notice two things: the unusual circumstances of his birth, which lead the people of the area to say “What, then, will this child be?”, and that the very name the baby is given – John – is a name different from any of his relatives.
Think for a moment about what it might have been like for John as a child to bear this expectation. “Surely”, the people thought, “the hand of the Lord is with him”. Any expectation, even if unspoken, remains in the background as subtle pressure. If you are designated as the “wonder child” at birth, how do you live up to that? Perhaps some of you were given such expectations from birth – explicitly or implicitly. You may have been unusually gifted at something. You were then expected to be a greater success in life than your siblings or other peers. The pressure can be significant to live up to such expectations.
The same is true if there was some kind of shame or stigma surrounding your birth, or if you were considered the “black sheep” before you were old enough to do anything to deserve it. Perhaps, for some reason, even your family expected little of you. You may have felt rejected or that other siblings or cousins were loved much more. It would be all too easy to take this on and live “down” to such expectations.
Whether we are born into a situation where others expect great success or miserable failure from us, what can we learn from this? What does John the Baptist’s birth teach us?
Note that his very name – John – is a name that none of his relatives has. In fact, family members voice this as an objection to naming him John. In an age where one’s primary seas of identity came from being part of an extended family, this is important. John’s very name marks him out as unique among his relatives. This creates the burden of unusual expectations, as we have seen. But there’s a flip side. As difficult as that burden of expectations can be, it also creates an opening in John’s life. He need not be like all his relatives. He can then be open to a calling from God that may be very different from theirs. Also, with John being thus designated as different from his relatives in some way, he can look at them – and at everyone else – from a distance, so to speak. He will find, then, that he can see things in them that they themselves can’t or won’t acknowledge. He becomes more open to a vocation to be a prophet. He can more clearly see, with the Lord’s help, where people are being consistent with their professed commitment to the Lord and where they are not, and then call them to repentance. As John gets older and is drawn into the wilderness, his spiritual sight is made sharper still. Eventually, the Lord prepares him to speak with a personal authority that is so compelling that people come to him in the wilderness, to hear him, to be baptized, and to seek the Lord’s forgiveness.
John is given a name that none of his relatives has. What about us? Being literally given a name that none of our relatives has is not a big deal in our society now. However, it is still very significant if we look at it on a different level.
What might it mean for us today to be given a name that others in our family do not have? It might involve the expectations to either be a smashing success or to totally crash and burn, as we have seen already. It might involve being drawn toward a career or vocation that is very different from others in your family. It might involve unspoken assumptions in your family that all boys act in one way, and all girls act in another, and to find that you don’t fit neatly into that box. You may be the only one who sees that the “emperor” – whatever that may mean in your family’s life – has no clothes. You may find yourself to be the only one in your family who takes your faith seriously.
Whatever it may mean for you, having this unusual name makes you stand out in some way. You may stand out from your family. Or, your family may stand out from others. Standing out can be challenging at times. However, it also creates a wedge that gives the Lord an opening. If you have been marked off as being somehow “different” – whether that means “better” or “worse” in the eyes of others – you may find yourself more open to some alternate way of seeing things, and therefore more open to the Lord, whose ways are not our ways. You may be open to insights into your own life and that of others that other people may not be able to see until you voice them. You may find that the Spirit is thus leading you to a vocation where you can act as John the Baptist for someone else, and help that person see their life more clearly and then seek the Lord’s love in a fuller way.
When the Lord calls someone to some mission, He sets that person apart. That person is to be holy as the Lord is holy. Notice that being “set apart” does not imply being morally better. It means that the circumstances of one’s life, both the pleasant ones and the painful ones, will (with time) seem to come together in a kind of healthy conspiracy, helping to dislodge the person from the common ways of seeing things and opening that person to a new, spiritual way of seeing things. Receiving a unique name from the Lord may be difficult at first, but when we trust in the Lord and accept this unique name, we find that wellsprings of joy, gratitude and love open up within us and then attract others to us. We speak, and people listen, as if we knew what we were talking about! But it’s not us, it’s the Holy Spirit flowing through our words.
So, then. If in looking at your life, you find that you were given heavy expectations – positive or negative; if you find that you were given a name that none of your relatives has; if this makes you stand out uncomfortably, or makes you feel lonely at times; be not afraid. All of this is meant to prepare the way of the Lord – first, in your own heart, and then, through your heart, to everyone who encounters you. You will be given a unique gift to match your unique name. You will help others, by encouragement and by challenge, to live their faith more fully and with more integrity. You will become like John the Baptist, and help prepare the way of the Lord. Blessed will you be!