Third Sunday in Advent,
and this Gospel, we might say, is John the Baptist, Part 2.
In John’s Gospel, John the Baptizer was sent by God as a witness to the Light.
This is the testimony given by John
when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
Yes, John, who are you?
Certainly not what was expected of the son of Zechariah,
priest in the Temple,
You did not follow in his priesthood,
not performing the liturgies of the sacrifices,
not wearing liturgical vestments,
not even keeping kosher,
but throwing that all aside
and emerging out of the wilderness at Jordon.
John answers no to all their expected answers:
not the Christ, not a prophet, not Elijah reincarnated,
just a voice.
John claimed no status in relationship to Jesus.
He was only a voice.
I want to add a little something to the Gospel reading for today.
I want to jump ahead into chapter 3 of John’s Gospel.
John is still around.
He had not yet been arrested by Herod,
and Jesus was now fully engaged in his ministry.
John was still hanging around the Jordan River,
still preaching and baptizing,
and still with his own set of disciples.
But his ministry was soon to end.
John’s disciples ask him what’s up with this other guy, Jesus.
They remind him that he had told them about Jesus,
and now everyone was flocking to him.
And John replies, “Yup, I told you that I am not the Christ,
and now that Jesus is on the scene, my joy is complete.
He must increase and I must decrease.”
John knows his day has come and gone.
And therefore John the Baptist is depicted in so much sacred art
as the one pointing away from himself and toward the Lamb of God.
John prepared the way and pointed beyond himself.
“He must increase and I must decrease.”
As I think about his statement, I can see that applying to myself as well,
the clergy person who stands before you and preaches.
I really do intend to preach Jesus
and have that be predominately the message you would hear,
rather than anything that would point to me personally,
and my marvelous preaching skills.
But what about all the rest of us
who are serious about claiming that identity of Christian,
saying we are followers of Jesus?
Let me ask you a question:
For others who know you or who encounter you,
do they see you as the kind of person you want to project
as your public persona,
OR are they able to catch something of what models Jesus?
Modeling Jesus means that the “I” decreases,
that “I” that is our ego driven tendencies of self-aggrandizement,
self-indulgence, self-promotion.
Rather, be like John the Baptist pointing to Jesus and saying,
he must increase and I must decrease.
Do you remember that old saying that was popular a few decades back?
What would Jesus do?
You could wear a bracelet with WWJD on it as a reminder.
If that were a little gate that we walked each action through,
each word before spoken, even each thought through that gate,
what we would present to the world would be like John’s words,
“He must increase, and I decrease.”
That’s good advice for each of us.
The service and ministry we are all called to is not about me or you,
but about Jesus, not our own personal agenda.
How we are as a faith community, a congregation
is also not about me or you or any one of us individually,
but about how we serve one another
and follow Jesus’ commandment to love one another.
Even Jesus operated out of this pattern of “increase/decrease.”
And he especially and intentionally did so.
It was always and completely the will of the Father
that he did all that he did and lived
throughout all his life and his dying and his resurrection.
He was the servant son of humankind.
A number of his parables brought out this spiritual principle
of “it’s not about me.”
Being worthless servants, only having done what we were told to do,
is the one from Luke 17(:7-10).
Our role is to bear fruit, not for ourselves, but for Someone Else, for God.
Jesus poured out his life completely.
Even in the Resurrection he doesn’t hold back
within limits of self definition, self-defined boundaries,
but he now fills all of Creation.
The Resurrection Spirit of Jesus fills the whole world,
is accessible to all, with loving mercy and grace for all.
This is the key thing, the central focus, the prime directive
for me in “my” ministry –
to point to Jesus,
to express my devotion to him,
and to live out what John the Baptist said,
“He must increase, and I must decrease.”
I say all of this to you for the sake of the world,
and specifically for those around us,
those with whom we will interact today,
and for our own sakes, for ourselves,
in helping us get over ourselves,
get stretched beyond ourselves,
so that we can discover more of ourselves
and come to the realization that our basic identity
is to be in union with Christ.
…until you discover that all the light within you
is greater than all the Christmas lights around you.
That Resurrection Presence of Jesus, implanted in us in baptism,
that Holy Spirit infused in all of us,
when we allow, when we invite that to increase in our awareness,
then we become who we are meant to be
to the glory of God.
So something to think about today,
and to help in your reflections reread the Epistle lesson for today.
I Thessalonians, the words of Paul to the faith community in Thessalonika.
Rejoice always,
pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Do not quench the Spirit.
Do not despise the words of prophets…
hold fast to what is good…
That’s a good action plan.
And, Paul continues, may the God of Peace
(peace which is the same as completeness, wholeness)
make you completely holy in all aspects.
This is a call for each of us,
each of us for whom the whole-hearted intention
is engagement in living out our faith
and accepting the spiritual challenge of John the Baptist.
He must increase, and I must decrease.
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