Third Sunday after Trinity
Feast of St. John the Baptist

A father once told of how he one day found himself with too many commitments in too few days. He got nervous and tense about it.
He elaborated, "I was snapping at my wife and our children, choking down my food at mealtimes, and feeling irritated at those unexpected interruptions through the day, . . . Before long, things around our home started reflecting the patter of my hurry-up style. It was becoming unbearable.
"I distinctly remember after supper one evening, the words of our younger daughter, Colleen. She wanted to tell me something important that had happened to her at school that day. She began hurriedly, 'Daddy, I wanna tell you somethin' and I'll tell you really fast.'
"Suddenly realizing her frustration, I answered, 'Honey, you can tell me -- and you don't have to tell me really fast. Say it slowly." The little girl then pulled him close to her face and said, “Then listen slowly!”
Children can have a remarkable affect on parents. They can sometimes invoke and provoke the older generation to make changes, deep changes, when nothing or no one else can. The turn-around can even come in the form of repentance. And that is precisely the effect of John the Baptist’s birth on his father. His ministry of repentance began moments after his birth. His incredible reversal of a nation started with his own father.

Our Gospel lesson tells of John the Baptist’s birth. The text in Luke 1:57 says that Elizabeth finally gave birth to her son. The eighth day came for him to be circumcised. Many in the community gathered around the rabbi for the sacred ceremony. The moment came when the priest turned to the parents and stated, “Name this child, adding in an unusual way, ‘should I name this son after his father?’” To the surprise of all, Elizabeth replied, “No, [and the text adds], no indeed [emphatically]: but he shall be called John” (1:60). But everyone there tried to talk her out of it, reminding her, “There is no one among your relative who is called by that name” (1:61). Making no progress with her, they turned to the father, Zacharias, who was himself a priest. They had to make hand gestures to him, because he couldn’t talk. If you remember, he had been told by the Archangel Gabriel that he would have a son and he was to name him John. But Zacharias didn’t believe the word of the Lord. He was a priest and he did not do the one thing he was supposed to as a living icon to the people of God’s ways. He didn’t believe the Word of God. And so, God had taken his ability to speak away from him. But now at a critical moment, he asked for something on which to write since he couldn’t speak. He wrote just four simple words, “His name is John” (1:63). Everyone was astounded. Suddenly, the priest was given back his speech. He could talk again. And his first words were the immortal in the form of a canticle that we say in Morning Prayer: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people; And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us, in the house of His servant David . . . “ (1:67-79), p. 14 in the BCP.

Perhaps the most incredible feature of this entire story is that the ministry of John the Baptist had already begun. It had started with his own father. He had provoked by his own birth the repentance of dad. And yet simultaneously, the baby prophet had also pointed to the unique redemptive reality of the one for whom he would prepare the way, Jesus. For, you see, in a similar way Jesus, the Son of God would bring about an even greater repentance. O. Palmer Robertson in his book, Christ and the Covenants, calls this a distinct type of testamentary covenant. Normally, a will and testament are activated by the death of the father, the previous generation. In Christ, however, the last will and testament of the Father came through the death of the Son.

In both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, repentance is incited by the son/Son. And so, often the deep change of the former generation can only come through the message of repentance of the next generation. This week we have had a rather unusual conference at Church of the Holy Communion for the next generation. For two days we have had a group of 75 thrilling, college and young career folk. They have come from around the country to learn about traditional Christianity in the Anglican Way. How blessed we have been to have them. And how grateful I know they are for this wonderful parish who has hosted, served and made it possible for them to be here. Yet, I could not help but think of the ministry of John the Baptist these last few days, how the birth of this saint changed his father. In a similar way, for well over half a century we have seen generations of American Episcopalians give away the faith and church of their fathers. Could it be that the way to repentance will be through their children? Indeed, for true repentance can only come through the Son of God. In his book I Surrender, Patrick Morley writes that the church's integrity problem is in the misconception "that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior." He goes on to say, "It is revival without reformation, without repentance." Let us pray for the next generation of Anglican Christians. And how we need that next generation to bring a true revival with reformation, and yes, repentance! Amen.