The readings for the First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) may be found at:
Life can be overwhelming at times.
I’m sure we can all come up with examples of when we have been overwhelmed. Times when we were in a situation we just didn't know how to deal with - where we didn’t know what we should do.
In situations like that we can feel scared, insecure, confused, not worthy and we can let those feelings overwhelm us and keep us from doing what we are called to do.
Can you imagine for a second, what is was like to be John The Baptist? Until Jesus arrived on the scene at about the age of thirty, John was a pretty busy guy and had been doing great things. John was Israel’s first prophet in four hundred years, and people couldn’t get enough of him. He was preaching up a storm, and people were going to the desert in large numbers to listen to him. He told people to repent, and they repented. He told people to confess their sins, and they confessed. He told them to be baptized, and they submitted themselves to be baptized.
And then, the thirty year old Jesus showed up.
Put yourself in that scene. At that time, there were very few people who knew who Jesus was. He hadn’t started his public ministry yet. But, John knew who Jesus was. In fact, John knew who Jesus was before both he and Jesus were even born. He knew immediately who Jesus was when the pregnant Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth and John leaped in his mother’s womb.
So, when Jesus came to John to be baptized, John didn't know what to do. I’m sure he felt overwhelmed, confused, unworthy and he reacted like most of us would - by worrying, protesting, complaining, procrastinating or hiding. John said, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?”
When confronted with Jesus, his instinct was to not do what he was called to do. How often do we find ourselves doing the same thing? I can’t baptize you, Jesus! Please don’t ask me! I’m not worthy! But Jesus needed John to be faithful to John’s calling. He didn’t need John to be perfect. He didn’t need John to be better than John was. Jesus didn’t need John to be anything other than faithful. Jesus just needed John to baptize him.
Jesus said, ”Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” He didn’t say, “It is fitting for me.” He said, “It is fitting for us - fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” In other words, Jesus saw John as his partner in ministry. Jesus wasn’t going to baptize himself, he needed someone to do it.
Ultimately, John was faithful and baptized Jesus. He did his part for God. This didn’t happen because John was great. It happened because John was faithful. John did what God had called him to do, and God took it from there.
There’s a message in that for us.
God has called us to do his work and to be his people. He has called all of us to be his hands and feet in this world - to take Him out of this building and with us wherever we go and to everyone we come into contact with. Like John, God has called us to be faithful to the calling to which we have been called - nothing more, nothing less - whether we like it, whether we feel ready, whether we feel unworthy.
God may call us to do something great or he may call us to do something small.
Let us be faithful.
Regardless of our insecurities or fears, let us do our part.
If we do that, God will do the rest.
