The Birth of John the Baptist

SERMON BY THE VICAR, JUNE 2024

Today we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist. Our first reading from the Prophet Isaiah is a vision of hope for a people who had experienced being captives to a more powerful nation going back to their own land. The land was ravaged after a long neglect during their exile. Psychologically, they were a broken people; they needed someone who would help them move forward to a new beginning. This is the context of the people of Isaiah’s words: “Comfort, O comfort my people says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that she has served her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sin.” Sounds familiar?

Our Christian interpretation of this voice crying out in the wilderness prophesied by Isaiah is John the Baptist himself. He incarnates the self-description, mission, and destiny of the prophet. John is born for a big purpose, big destiny, and mission: to pave the way for the coming of Jesus Christ. Now, let’s ask ourselves: What do I think is my big destiny? Did God create me for nothing? Like the prophet, can we speak in the first person when talking about our destiny? Do I believe I am called to do great things? Can we move from our personal and parochial interest to a more universal and global one? The church has always been called to be prophetic and this morning I’d like to focus on two aspects of prophecy – the big picture, and the local and particular one, ending with ourselves as individuals.

First the big narrative which already affects our lives – Artificial Intelligence. Last week, Pope Francis became the first pontiff to address world leaders when they gathered for the G7 summit. His plea was for AI to be given a moral and ethical framework, especially in the context of liberal western democracies which appear to have no ethical frameworks or meta narratives other than my absolute right to do whatever I like whenever I want. He said “We would condemn humanity to a future without hope  if we took away people’s ability to make decisions about themselves and their lives, by dooming them to depend on the choices of machines “ His position is a balanced one drawing on the advice of Fr Paolo Benanti, an Italian Franciscan who is expert in the field. Benanti himself, as opposed to more secular academics whose frame of reference would not allow them to consider such things, is greatly influenced by the fourteenth century Catalan philosopher Ramon Lull, who is writing in both Catalan and Arabic for a multi faith readership. Ramon Lull, in many ways, is considered to be the father of AI because of his computational systems which also refer to algorithms. The fact that AI has theological roots may be the key to its future as a tool for human development and not to an uncontrolled future of an ethics free zone, which could either condemn humanity to a future of slavery, or to extinction. The unapologetic use of theology as a tool to guide our human future is the main reason why Christian leaders need to be steeped in theology and not business management tools 20 years out of date, as we have seen recently with the Post Office scandal and as we see now in some declining Dioceses in our own country.

I take comfort and encouragement from this community which has had a prophetic role in the past and can do the same today. This church in the nineteenth century stood against the evils of the trans-Atlantic chattel slavery trade; stood against the prevailing violent white racism of Notting Hill in the 1950’s, was a founder member of the World Council of Churches Programme to Combat Racism, and as I speak, a motion originating from this Parish will come to the General Synod of the Church of England calling for a national ecumenical day of prayer and action for persecuted Christians. Of our history and reality, in terms of being called to be prophetic, we can be rightly proud. Two more things on the local front. As you know, we are engaged in an upbeat campaign to protect, restore, and renew our church building to make it fit for purpose in the twenty-first century as a place of worship and community gathering. We make no apology for this and invite all people of goodwill to join us. On Thursday of this week, Fr Larry and I had the privilege of going up the scaffolding to the top of the church where we saw for ourselves the urgent and serious condition of the deteriorating stonework. We are putting this right, and next year the work will move on to renewing our lighting and heating systems to help to achieve our target of becoming carbon neutral by 2030, and finally restoring the decorative order and integrity of the inside of the building to reveal its original beauty. Yesterday, your PCC met and renewed our Mission Action Plan for the year ahead, so we feel more confident and in a better position than we have been for many years. Prophetic too is our investment in clergy, and the four priests working here will be joined by a new deacon next week.

So let us take comfort with Isaiah from the Prophetic tradition of our faith, and in particular from John the Baptist, the forerunner who points us to Jesus and reminds each and every one of us to prepare a room for Our Lord in the desert of our hearts. The birth of John is not just a matter of a miraculous birth announced by an angel, but a matter of religious and spiritual significance. We must find the meaning of the birth of John. He will have the character and determination to wrestle with those who resist his preaching and will succeed in bringing those who repent close to Jesus. John also reminds us that, at our baptism, we come to share in the priestly, kingly and prophetic mission of Jesus Christ. In baptism we become children of God, and we remember that our own baptism is commission to ministry and full involvement in life - in our parishes, local community and wider. To do this, we all need to undergo a daily process of conversion. The Eucharist helps us do this. It points to a greater reality than ourselves, just as the birth of children points us to a greater reality than ourselves, and as the birth of John the Baptist, which we celebrate today, points us to the greatest reality of all – to Jesus.