Saturday after Epiphany Sunday
1 John 5:14-21 | Psalm 149:1-6,9 | John 3:22-30
‘The bride is only for the bridegroom; and yet the bridegroom’s friend, who stands there and listens, is glad when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This same joy I feel, and now it is complete. He must grow greater, I must grow smaller. (John 3:29-30)
I have a long-term client for my consultancy, and I’ve been helping his development team on various projects for over a decade now, helping develop new products and figuring out how to solve particularly knotty problems. That I performed near-miracles on a regular basis probably helped his sales greatly, when his customers assumed I was his development lead.
So he was startled and rather upset a couple of years back, when I renewed my business agreement with him…and restricted my future involvement to an advisory capacity.
I then explained to him why I chose this path, and I still occasionally have to remind him when he wants me to code up a thing or two:
I’ve been helping you build your team for years; they’ve long since been able to support themselves. They don’t need a Superman swooping in to save the day; that just punctures their confidence in their own abilities.
It’s true that I can out-code and out-think most of your team, but they need a wise old Yoda more than a hotshot Luke Skywalker, pointing the way and providing reality checks instead of cutting through every problem like a lightsaber through butter.
And besides, I’ll have to move on soon enough. I don’t intend to do the same thing forever.
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I imagine something similar went through the mind of St. John the Baptist in today’s Gospel, when his disciples shared their concerns about this upstart teacher who was blessed by his baptism, but was now “stealing” his flock. He had to remind them that he was not the Christ, only tasked to pave the way for Him. Instead of being upset at having his thunder stolen by another, he was resolved to proclaim Jesus as Lord and master, even at the cost of “losing face” with his own disciples.
He also knew full well that he was not the “bridegroom” to be wed to the Church of God that is us all, but he could still take pleasure at meeting his Saviour, and witness the beginnings of His ministry on earth. The joy of completing an assigned task to the fullest is something most of us have experienced, and St. John the Baptist must’ve been doubly joyful in the knowledge that he was doing his tiny part to save all mankind…
Before his head moved on, forcibly separated from his shoulders by King Herod Antipas.
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We too can know such complete joy, by growing the name of Jesus while effacing ourselves. When our focus is on spreading the Good News, every light of truth gleaming in another’s eyes is another spark of satisfaction in ours, every heart turned to Christ beats in harmony with our own.
So let’s keep cracking on, for Jesus awaits everyone. As St. John the Baptist might have sung, were he musically inclined:
Here is your God, coming with your vindication.
Look and behold the saving power of God!
Amen.