This week’s passage from Luke talks about the controversy of naming John the Baptist. His mother Elizabeth had somehow received a message that he should be called John despite the custom of naming him after other male relatives in the family. Such was the shock amongst neighbours and relatives it was decided that his father Zechariah should be consulted despite the fact that he had been struck dumb.
So they gave him a writing tablet and to the amazement of all Zechariah wrote “His name is John”. At this moment Zechariah’s power of speech returned and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. He gave profuse thanks to God and prophesied that his new-born son would go on to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. His prophecy must have sounded very familiar to any religious Jews present because his words echoed those of Isiah’s that we heard in today’s Old testament reading.
The events of this day convinced all present that John the Baptist would indeed be a very special man indeed! Even so probably very few could perceive the extent of his influence upon the future of Israel and ultimately the peoples of the whole earth. However his ‘specialness’ became even more significant when he decided to go and live in the desert away from virtually all contact with other humans and living solely off the land.
His life began with a difficult and controversial decision regarding his name and went on in a similar vein because when John came out of the desert he would confront many people, even priests and outspokenly demand that they repent and turn back to God. He would prophecy the incarnation of God on earth in the person of Jesus, The Messiah!
The Jews would be confronted with many difficult decisions which would change their way of life, their way of worship and their relationships with others. They would not only need to be baptised in cleansing water by John himself but also baptised in Spirit by Jesus himself. Many more difficult decisions but necessary to bring about change for the good; to usher in the Kingdom of God and to reconcile mankind with their creator once and for all.
John The Baptist is our patron saint and today is his feast day. How fitting as we too are at a sort of crossroads as a church as we draw close to making the hugely difficult decision of selecting a new Rector after 33 years of guidance and teaching from John Ganjavi. This decision is made against a backcloth of thriving stability and a particular style of worship that suited and inspired a majority of our congregation.
However the changing demographic profile of many Anglican Churches suggests that some changes are necessary to restore growth in Christianity and we are called upon to open our minds in ways that we may never have contemplated. For me the really difficult part of this is getting the balance right between traditions that we lovingly cherish and the need to embrace a broader spectrum of involvement in and with the community. This may well involve an outgoing mission to be part of Christ’s fellowship, a new level of pastoral involvement and way of life practices that endorse what we say and preach.
In all of this we rely entirely upon the Holy Spirit and our guided discernment of the way forward and is my prayer that our new Rector will be blessed with the ability to lead us through this maze. Even so, there will be difficult decisions and maybe quite some heart searching for us.
May God bless and guide us in our decisions and all who dwell in Henley and its surrounding villages!
