Let us pray for peace as we remember the birth of St John the Baptist

 

Today we are presented with a remarkable set of texts with which to celebrate and reflect upon the birth of John the Baptist. The first is from Isaiah 49:1-6. Having endured one of the most darkest moments in their history, the Babylonian exile, the ancient Isrealites are challenged to see themselves as “the light of the nations” so that God’s salvation might reach to the ends of the earth. But, in order to do that, the survivors had to turn back to God and provide support for one another. Now, in their midst stands the prophet who claims that he was called before he was born and that his name was spoken as he emerged from his mother’s womb. The audacity of it all. This man emerges from the midst of a humiliated and defeated people and says he has been called by God to gather this people together because they will be a light to the nations.

 

The second reading from Acts 13:22-26 tells of John the Baptist, whom many admired, saying, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal.” As a prophet, John had also been called, not to draw people to himself but rather to the one who was coming after him. He also tells his followers, “You are children of Abraham and this message of salvation is meant for you.” The third reading is from Luke 1:57-66,80 where John is given his name as he is about to be circumcised. Against ancient tradition, he is given a name that was unknown in his family. There is something strange and different about this young man, like the prophet of the survivors of the Babylonian exile. They came out of the desert; John would eventually go into the desert, the traditional place of encounter with God. It would be there that he would appear openly to Israel. Today we look for that prophet. But wait, she has already appeared. Her name was Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopalian bishop who confronted President Trump during the National Prayer Service. There are others. Let us pray that they can be heard, as we enter into a particularly dark period in our planet’s history, as they challenge the followers of the great Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – reclaim the ancient call to be “the light of the nations”. Let us pray for peace in the Middle East, the very cradle of these religions that claim descent from Abraham.