In the wilderness
by Neville Grieger
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‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness’ (John 1:23).
For the second week in a row in this Advent season, the Sunday gospel reading focuses on John the Baptist. My first reaction when I initially sat down to tap out some thoughts on this passage was, ‘Here we go again. How can the story about this Middle-Eastern wild-man John fella possibly be relevant to us today in the 21st century?’
But after letting it rattle around for a week or so, I had a different thread emerge. It suddenly dawned on me that this is relevant to us in 2020. John was out there in the wilderness trying to proclaim the good news about Jesus. I was reminded that we have been cast in a similar role, out in the spiritual wilderness of our world, challenged with the task of trying to get a similar Jesus message through to a mass of people that in the main are not listening. We are the John the Baptists (and Joanne the Baptists!) of today. It is our job to encourage people to be receptive to God-stuff and to bring them the good news of Jesus.
There is only one difference. We have the huge advantage of standing on the other side of the cross. We have the benefit of the profound words of Jesus, ‘It is finished’, echoing in our ears. It’s now a done deal, which brings an extra level of excitement to the news. We have been totally set free through the finished work of Jesus. We are free to dance. Let’s celebrate; let’s tell the world – that’s our challenge!
How do we do that? Well, I’m certainly not advocating climbing on a soapbox at our local mall or nearest major shopping centre. It starts with modelling. We can show people Jesus by our actions – and to use the words variously attributed to St Francis of Assisi, ‘Preach the gospel at all times, and if absolutely necessary use words’.
Dear Lord, we thank you that you got the job done! Amid the uncertainties and anxieties of our world, encourage us and support us in our efforts to show people Jesus. Amen.
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