June 24, 2007
(Fourth Sunday after Pentecost; The Nativity of John the Baptist)
A Midsummer Night's Prophecy
By The Very Rev. Terry White, Dean
Isaiah 40:1-11 • Psalm 85 • Acts 13:14b-26
• Luke 1:57-80
(From
The Lectionary Page)
When I was in high school, a fundraiser called the Longest Day of Golf was held at the local country club to benefit the American Cancer Society. Golfers were asked to secure monetary pledges for each hole completed. My best friend and I got our mutual employer to sponsor us for $5 per hole.
The day was hot and humid. The event was held on the Saturday following the first day of summer. The day began at sunrise and ended when it was too dark to play. We took full advantage of the entire day.
On Monday we showed up in our boss’ office, quite sunburned, and asked him to fulfill his pledges to us. My friend had finished 105 holes and I only completed 96. (By the way, we walked every hole and carried our own bags.) Inasmuch as our boss had planned on us playing a combined 36 holes and not 201, we were forced to discount his original $5 per hole pledge.
That long day of golf comes to mind nearly every year on the first day of summer. In many places, today, the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is considered the first day of summer, much in the same way that we think of Memorial Day as the beginning of summer and Labor Day as its end.
The Nativity of John the Baptist is one of the oldest festivals of the Christian church, listed in the records of a minor Church council in France in 506.This feast is a part of the Christmas cycle since its date falls exactly six months before Christmas. Luke’s Gospel records that Gabriel announced to an elderly couple the impending birth of John six months before he announced Jesus’ birth to a very young virgin named Mary.
Barrenness and prophesy are two interconnected themes of this feast. Elizabeth’s barrenness is used by God to reveal love for the entire creation. This love, expressed in divine power and glory, enables Elizabeth to conceive. The conception and birth of John points to the termination not only of the barrenness of Zechariah and Elizabeth, but also to the end of cosmic barrenness wrought by Christ’s impending victory over sin and death. [adapted from a homily by Father Robert M. Arida]
Throughout the world tonight is known as Mid-Summer Night, dating from former calendars which place the first day of summer on this day, and “mid” referring to the midpoint of the year. Festivities will include bonfires, fireworks, special foods, and beverages with some kick to them.
Throughout the years it has been said that rituals performed on this night enable you to dream of the one you will marry and is when marriages are arranged, both themes being found in Shakespeare’s romantic comedy A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream. As with several of the Church’s feasts, John’s Nativity was placed on this day to Christianize such celebrations.
Cultural festivities and traditions can bring much happiness and should be enjoyed. From a faith perspective, celebrating the Nativity of St. John is an expression of our thanks to God who has delivered us from the devastating barrenness of death. This death not only robs us of our mortal life, but long before we die impairs the creative powers of the mind and heart.
This celebration also honors John as the greatest of the prophets. His message was clear: repent, change, be ready for the Messiah. And change not only for your own sake, but for the sake of the world. Take crooked ways and use justice to make them straight. Fill in the valleys of poverty and despair by feeding the hungry and creating hope. In the face of oppression and cruelty do not be silent, but cry out from such wildernesses: Prepare the Way of the Lord. Pay attention! Every wrong must be redeemed.
As members of the Body of Christ, you and I are endowed with this same prophetic calling. We are to proclaim that the barrenness of creation has been filled with life. Like John, we are to continue announcing the prophetic word which awakens the creation and the Church from the barren slumber of sin. Like John, we are commissioned to lead an anxious and searching humanity to embrace the Giver of Life and His life-giving ways. We are responsible for continuing the call to repentance, and leading a new life of grace and love and forgiveness, which flows from our Baptism by water and the Spirit. [Ibid]
Let us pledge that the prophetic message of the Baptist will be carried out in our lives and in the work of this Cathedral. Let us affirm Christ’s victory over death and be agents of resurrection life in this city. God’s life can transform any deserts into a fruitful place. Our world is so hungry, famished, for new life, new ways, and new hope. Proclaiming new life must be at the heart of the Church’s mission to and for the world.
But let us remember that this is no dream. When John’s mission was done, when his work was completed, his head was handed to him, quite literally. Risk is guaranteed. May we accept whatever is the cost, and be faithful prophets in word and deed – mostly deed.
