Rev Sue preached this sermon for us recently. Here it is again:
We know even less about John the Baptist’s early life than we do about Jesus’. He was just a few months older than Jesus, but the first time we meet him since his birth he’s out in the wilderness preaching. It’s a little hard for us to imagine, as in our crowded country we are never far from civilisation. The Judean wilderness near the river Jordan is not huge – it’s 60 miles long, but only 13 miles wide, so you are always going to be able to walk out of it, if necessary. It’s warm in the winter, and hot in the summer and dry all year so there’s very little vegetation. John lived on locusts and wild honey, which was probably in fact from plants rather than bees, like maple syrup or agave. It was a very austere life, so when he preached to the soldiers and tax collectors to live on their somewhat frugal pay and not extort money to supplement it, he was doing so with authenticity. It’s not easy to complain that you can’t manage to someone who has literally nothing.
After John baptised Jesus, Jesus went into the wilderness himself, to reflect and to pray. John must have been pleased by that. But although Jesus didn’t ever settle down, but had a roving ministry eating and sleeping where he could, he was not averse to accepting hospitality wherever it was offered, so he was called a glutton and a drunkard, and accused of mixing in bad company. No doubt this was an exaggeration – but he did go to parties. Maybe that’s why John, languishing in prison, sent his disciple to check that Jesus really was the Messiah. Jesus reminds them of the prophecy of Isaiah – the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. In other words, Jesus is going about things differently, but the results of his ministry speak for themselves.
Then Jesus turns to the crowds and speaks the words of today’s reading. The people of Jesus’ day were like children who couldn’t agree with each other. One group played music, but the others wouldn’t dance. When some of them were upset, the others didn’t sympathise. John was criticised for being too austere, Jesus for joining in with a party. Basically, they couldn’t win.
Two thousand years later, people are much the same. Anyone who is well known is fair game – the media dig in an effort to find out things that reflect poorly on them. Outside Manchester cathedral is a statue of Gandhi, an outstanding political and religious leader of the twentieth century. He preached nonviolence and wanted the people of India to put aside religious differences and unite in an independent India. And yet there was a protest by students to ban the statue, saying that Gandhi was a racist in some comments he had made about black Africans. It was decided that the things he said as a young man were outweighed by his later years of commitment to peace. No one is perfect, but that doesn’t mean that no one is to be admired.
You also heard today the most famous words of St Paul. He invites us to judge him by a different standard. He says that someone might be an eloquent preacher, giving away all their possessions and speaking with genuine understanding. But is this person motivated by love? Because without love the rest doesn’t matter at all. And Paul’s idea of love isn’t gushing or sentimental. It is in evidence – or not – in our behaviour.
Are we patient and kind? Or are we arrogant and rude, insisting on our own way? When things are not as we wish, do we envy others, and become resentful and irritable, or do we keep going with courage and hope? Is it more important for us to be right, or for the truth to be told?
Can you imagine politicians who were humble and caring? Or a church where no one is ever critical or resentful? Or a family where no member is ever envious or irritable? I think, thank God, the answer is yes, we can imagine it, knowing full well that we can never as individuals, churches or institutions measure up to those high standards. We are not hypocrites – we know we fall short. But we stand out against the cynicism in our society that calls everything flawed and sees nothing as good.
St Margaret's Church Prestwich 