Sermon for the Last Sunday after Trinity: ‘John the Forerunner’ preached at the Eucharist, Sherborne Abbey, on Sunday 15 December 2024 by Canon Charles Mitchell-Innes.  (Philippians Ch 4: v 4 – 7; Luke Ch 3: v 7 – 18 )

John the Baptist was not a comfortable preacher. He himself was a wild, hairy dresser with a weird diet; and his message was as austere as his personality. The Messiah, the Christ, whose forerunner John asserted he was, would separate the wheat from the chaff, gather the wheat into his granary (that is, the saved), “but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” This, says Luke, in our Gospel, is how John “preached good news to the people.” Well we might be tempted to ask what the bad news was like.

Yet people flocked to hear him, and were not satisfied till he had roundly berated each different group and told them how they could improve. Tax collectors should stop extorting inflated sums (presumably a common practice); soldiers who asked for his verdict on them were told not to intimidate or blackmail people. It does seem to be true that there is often a special delight in being verbally lambasted in this way, provided it is a group rebuke, not aimed at individuals. The hellfire sermon, popular in some circles, would have a frightening effect on its recipients, for at least a couple of hours.

There is a story told about the Reverend Ian Paisley, Ulster preacher and politician, of the muscular variety. I have heard it from two different sources, so it must be true. He was once delivering a typically robust sermon, which concluded with a warning to the wicked that they would be cast into outer darkness, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. After a stunned silence, a small voice from the front row was heard to ask, “Mr Paisley, what about those of us who have no teeth?” Never lost for a reply, Paisley intoned, “Teeth will be provided.”

John the Baptist’s “good news” was in fact much more positive and encouraging than might at first have appeared. For his was a message of repentance: no one need be lost, providing they “bear fruits worthy of repentance”. This was each individual’s responsibility: they could not rely on their Jewish heritage, or in our case membership of the Church. Those of course were, and are, important – indeed vital – in mediating our asking for, and receiving, God’s forgiveness. But John is clear that it is on each person’s deeds and attitude that they will be judged. Deeds, not words, will reveal the truth. It is interesting that that is just what is being said by world leaders about those newly in power in Damascus, who have offered words of kindness, inclusiveness and mercy to its inhabitants. We pray that their deeds will match their words. The earliest Christians had similarly ambiguous feelings about St Paul after his conversation at Damascus. Fortunately for them, it was genuine.

John’s message was clear and hugely significant: take care in all your dealings to be honest and morally upright. Yet if we may be so bold as to criticise him, we might claim his judgement to be over-severe, his morality too black and white. Although he spoke of Christ as likewise separating the wheat from the chaff, there is a real contrast between John’s and Jesus’ approach to sinners.  Consider how Jesus dealt with the woman taken in adultery who was about to be stoned to death.  He challenged the self-righteous crowd: “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” And they melted away in shame. Here is a far more nuanced approach, sensitive to the particular situation and combining recognition of sin with insight and humanity. “Go free,” he said, “but sin no more.”

Nevertheless John did offer hope of salvation: “Repent,” he declared, “and genuinely reform your life; be baptized and saved.” Indeed, we see another, more gentle, side to him, after Herod put him in prison for criticizing his, Herod’s, marriage to his brother’s wife. Herod admired John for being fearlessly honest about speaking truth to power and pointing out that this was not only unlawful but also immoral. Mark’s gospel has an unexpected take on this: “Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly.” (Mark Ch 6: v 20) Despite his severe public image, John seems to have been a good listener and a respected spiritual guide. It was only through the machinations of his scheming new wife that Herod was forced, with regret, to have John killed.

The Baptist was the forerunner of his cousin Jesus, not simply in proclaiming him as the Messiah; we also find in him the beginnings of the much more sympathetic understanding of the moral code which Jesus embodied. Where John offers the gathered tax collectors baptism if they keep to his ethical teaching, Jesus goes much further: he sits alongside them – literally, at meals (very shocking!). And not only with tax collectors, but with other social and religious outcasts. John’s actions “anticipate[s] the friendship and love shown by Jesus …. to them.” (G.H.P. Thompson’s commentary)

As so often, St Paul hits the nail on the head, in our Epistle this morning. What is needed, he says to the Christians in Philippi, is a special quality which our version translates as “gentleness” and the A.V. as “moderation”. But neither of these does justice to the Greek word he uses (ἐπιεικὲς), which means “reasonableness”, as opposed to a strict interpretation of the law or moral code. To be reasonable is a particularly Anglican aspiration, and I like it. So let us be guided by Paul: “Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.” And “rejoice” in “the peace of God, which …. will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.

 

Philippians Ch 4: v 4 – 7

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

 ⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.

⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.