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The Baptism of the Lord or The Lunacy of Greatness<\/p>\n
The Baptism of the Lord, Homiletical Musings 01\/11\/2025<\/p>\n
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*Based on a homily delivered at St. Oscar Romero Old Catholic Church in Little Rock, Arkansas<\/p>\n
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Luke 3:15-16, 21-22<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;<\/em><\/p>\n John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,<\/em><\/p>\n And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Is it John\u2026is he the Christ?\u00a0 Oppression, marginalization and injustice reigned\u2026I guess you could say that the people were lower than low\u2026of course they were desperate for the Christ.\u00a0 When you are starving, everybody who comes to you with food in their hand looks like a savior.\u00a0 John brought food and the people were starving.\u00a0 But I think it\u2019s important to remember that just because somebody gives you a taste of something\u2026it doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019ve brought the main course.\u00a0 Indeed, sometimes we get so ready for something that we are willing to jump at anything.\u00a0 But something might be nothing and anything ain\u2019t everything.\u00a0 We mustn\u2019t allow our hunger to dictate the truth.\u00a0 John was not the Christ.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In our present reality, we must figure out what truth is.\u00a0 Too often we see partial measures as total victories.\u00a0 Jesus has come to redeem everything\u2026not some things\u2026everything.\u00a0 We mustn\u2019t settle for anything besides total justice\u2026total love\u2026total healing.\u00a0 To settle for anything less than totality is to settle for nothing.\u00a0 Jesus does not partially love us.\u00a0 Jesus loves us completely.\u00a0 If we are to be like Christ, we must never settle for partial.\u00a0 John was not the Christ.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n There are many who claim that a new complete and total political era of reformation has arrived.\u00a0 We are told that we have elected a leader who might make us great again.\u00a0 Great is not a proper theological category of measurement.\u00a0 Indeed, the message of Jesus is about being small\u2026humble\u2026meek.\u00a0 John knew that he must become lesser\u2026and explicitly said so.\u00a0 In this moment, followers of Jesus must bind themselves to the least of these not the most of these.\u00a0 To do anything else is to walk away from Christ.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The story ends\u2026perhaps begins is more like it\u2026with the voice of heaven declaring that Jesus is the one.\u00a0 There are so many people out there claiming to be the Christ\u2026or at the very least something akin to it.\u00a0 In such an era, we must look to John for guidance.\u00a0 When the real Christ shows up\u2026when the person of Jesus is available\u2026we must get out of the way.\u00a0 When the dove was coming down, John got out of the way.\u00a0 John became lesser so that Christ\u2026this nobody from Nazareth named Jesus\u2026might become the greatest of them all.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We can\u2019t follow Jesus and give our lives to \u201cMake(ing) America Great Again.\u201d\u00a0 Indeed, the message of Jesus is to humble ourselves\u2026so that all things might be lifted up\u2026so that love might transform all things.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get distracted.\u00a0 Don\u2019t fall for partial.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get confused.\u00a0 Love is the only thing worth giving your life to.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 The Baptism of the Lord or The Lunacy of Greatness The Baptism of the Lord, Homiletical Musings 01\/11\/2025 \u00a0 *Based on a homily delivered at St. Oscar Romero Old Catholic Church in Little Rock, Arkansas \u00a0 Luke 3:15-16, 21-22 \u00a0 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2509,"featured_media":12968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[7178,592,966,1810,7169],"class_list":["post-13010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-freshwritings","category-thoughts","tag-baptism-of-the-lord","tag-christ","tag-donald-trump","tag-jesus","tag-st-oscar-romero-old-catholic-church"],"yoast_head":"\n