Preached by the Right Reverend Grant Lynn Ford at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, January 19, 2003, and again on Sunday, January 15, 2006.
The grace of our Master Teacher — the love of God in the unity of Spirit — be with you all.
God of our Defense, Our Sword and Redeemer: In the beginning, there was only you. And from your creative energy and power of mind came the Universe — with all its galaxies and systems. Out of your live — and in the midst of what was said to be formless and empty — came the earth and its inhabitants. And the light shined brightly for all creation to be seen.
But as we travel in this light, we sometimes stumble in darkness. Lord have mercy.
We walk blindly without comprehension. Christ have mercy.
And others follow us. Lord have mercy.
Forgive us Lord. Guide us in our journey. In the teachings of our brother Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., help us to walk with one another, clothed in the light of love. Give us the voice of John the Baptist who proclaimed the Light of the World through Jesus as the focus in the redemption of humanity.
We pray this prayer in the name of the one, who exemplifies The Light, our brother Jesus. Amen.
Manual of Zen Buddhism
The Inner Light is beyond both praise and blame,
Like unto space it knows no boundaries;
Yet it is right here with us,
ever retaining its serenity and fullness.
It is only when you seek it that you lose it.
You cannot take hold of it nor can you get rid of it;
While you can do neither, it goes on its own way.
You remain silent and it speaks;
you speak and it is silent.
The Gate of Heaven is wide open
with not a single obstruction before it.
John 1:6-8, 19-27
6John was sent by God 7to tell everyone about this Light so that through him people might believe. 8John was not the Light, but he was sent to speak the truth about the Light.
19This was John’s answer to the religious leaders who came to ask him, “Who are you?” 20John told it like it was: “I’m not the Anointed One, if that’s what you’re wondering!”
21“Alright, then,” they wanted to know, “who are you? Elijah?
“No!” was his curt reply.
“Are you the Prophet?”
“I said no!”
22“Well, then, who are you? Give us an answer we can take back to those who sent us. How do you describe yourself?”
23“I’m a loud shout in the desert!” he replied. “‘Prepare a direct way to God!’ just like Isaiah declared.”
24Some of the questioners were from the Pharisee party. They wanted to know: 25“Why is it you baptize if you’re not the Anointed One or Elijah or the Prophet?”
26“I do indeed baptize with water. But don’t let that blind you from seeing someone who’s standing right here among you. 27He is coming after me, but he’s certainly not playing second fiddle to me. I’m not even worthy of taking his shoes off!”
I was raised in a Baptist home, but we attended the Methodist church for awhile. I came to know the different ways people were baptized, and knew our way was best.
So I can understand the young son of a Baptist minister who was in church one morning when he saw for the first time baptism by immersion. He was greatly interested in it, and the next morning proceeded to baptize — you guessed it — his three cats in the bathtub.
The youngest kitten took it very well, and so did the younger cat, but the old family tom cat rebelled. He struggled with the boy, clawed and tore his skin, and finally got away. With considerable effort the boy caught the old tom again and proceeded with the “ceremony”.
But the cat acted worse than ever, clawing and spitting, and scratching the boy’s face. Finally, after barely getting the cat splattered with water, he dropped him on the floor in disgust and said: “Fine! Be a Methodist then!”
Which brings us to our hero today: John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus. John was called the Forerunner, since he was the one who started preaching first, baptizing people in the River Jordan. It was a group of Pharisees who asked John: “Why is it you baptize if you’re not the Anointed One or Elijah or the Prophet?”
His response? “Yes, you’re right. I do indeed baptize with water. But don’t let that blind you from seeing someone who’s standing right here among you. He’s coming after me, but he’s certainly not playing second fiddle to me. I’m not even worthy of taking his shoes off!”
John’s message was powerful and to the point. He said what he meant, unlike some preachers, like the priest and the pastor who were fishing on the side of the road when an idea came to them. They thoughtfully made a sign saying, “The End is Near! Turn around now before it’s too late!” and showed it to each passing car. One driver didn’t appreciate the sign and shouted at them: “Leave us alone, you religious nuts!”
All of a sudden they heard a splash and a crash. The priest said to the pastor: “Do you think we should just put up a sign that says ‘Bridge Out’ instead?”
Well, John wasn’t talking about a broken down bridge when he proclaimed: “Prepare God’s arrival! Make the road smooth and straight!” [Luke 3:4] John came “baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” [Mark 1:4]
That word repentance is fascinating and usually misunderstood. Most people think repentance is “having a great deal of remorse for your deeds, with great weeping and wailing.” But actually, that’s not what it means in its biblical sense. Nor is it what John had in mind while preaching there along the Jordan.
The word metanoeo, the Greek word for repentance, means ‘to change one’s mind”. By John’s preaching, we know that when the mind is changed, a change of action follows.
The Hebrew word for repentance is shuwb, meaning ‘to return, turn back’. There is yet another Hebrew word for repent, nacham, what means ‘to be sorry, to regret’. In Arabic, the word tawbah means ‘to return’. In an Islamic context, it refers to the act of leaving what is prohibited and returning to what is commanded by Allah.
Putting all these words together, we can understand that repentance begins with a change of mind, becomes a change of heart, and results in a change of actions.
Let me make it simple:
I know it sounds silly, maybe even trite, but it illustrates that a change of mind leads to a change of heartfelt desire, which brings about a sincere change of actions. Anything short of that is not repentance at all.
John was asked how we can repent. He gave three ethical answers. First he said, “If you have two coats, give one away. Do the same with your food.”
He knew it was natural to feel guilty about having so much more than others. We Americans are so blessed with abundance that the rest of the world thinks we’re all rich. And by their standards, we really are. Yet there are people in this country who are still hungry. We can feel sorry for the needy, we can pray for the needy, our hearts can honestly go out to the needy. But until we share clothing and food, until we provide shelter and health care, we have not borne the fruits of repentance.
Then he looked at the tax collectors and said: “No more extortion — collect only what is required by law.” To the soldiers he said, “No shakedowns, no blackmail — and be content with your rations.”
Today he would have added yet another group, the overpaid executives who have bilked their employees and customers out of so much money. He would have said, “Quit cheating the public, including your own investors — be satisfied with honest earnings.”
The heart of his message of repentance was this: Think of the other person, not just of your own selfish wants. Change the way you see others, and you’ll soon see yourself in an entirely new and complimentary light.
My old Chicago friend Father Grant Gallup, an Episcopal priest in Nicaragua, calls John the Baptist a “subversive”, pointing out John’s condemnation of Herod for marrying his niece, his former half-brother’s wife. For his troubles, John lost his head. Even in death he was still subversive as he showed his willingness to die for what he believed in, and for saying that which was right even when it was neither politically correct nor physically safe.
Martin Luther King Jr. paid with his life for the same crime as John the Baptist. He too challenged the status quo and called for repentance, sounding a great deal like John when he cried from the nation’s capitol: “Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.”
He was calling for a change of mind and a change of heart when he said: “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Then Dr. King cries out the words of John the Baptist, who was quoting Isaiah: “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
That’s a call for a radical repentance that causes us to see each other in the new light of love, that brings us to see the poor as sisters and brothers in need of our help, that stirs us to work for liberty and justice for all, not just for the privileged or even for Americans only.
With this kind of repentance we will be able to cry with Dr. King and millions of others: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
And that’s the truth!
It was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” So let us share the light with the world.
