Icon of the Nativity of the Forerunner John the Baptist

Yesterday was the Sunday of the Nativity of the Forerunner John the Baptist. In many circles of the Christian world the story of the barren Elizabeth and Zechariah is just a nice story that we want to get through so we can get to the main event, the coming of Christ. But, in his sermon yesterday, Fr. Hademenos showed me that it is so much more than just a prequel.

John is great today not just because God called him to a special vocation but because he walked faithfully in the path that leads to the goal that God had set for him. The neighborhood in which John was born did not help him to realize his divine calling. In fact they wanted to prevent John from receiving his God-given name and identity. They wanted to give him his father’s name “Zechariah.” They objected to his being named John. For them what a child can be is determined by what his family and lineage has been. Their dream of a wonderful future for the child is limited by his family’s background.

But God’s dream for us far exceeds anything that has been in our family background. As we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist and read the marvelous story of how he got his God-given name, let us ask ourselves: If I am now to receive a new name, a name that represents my God-given identity and calling in life, what would that name be? If you do not know your God-given name, the name which represents all that God sent you into the world to be and to accomplish, then it is time to find out by listening in prayer. This is because our greatness as children of God, like the greatness of John the Baptist, consists in discovering what God has created us to be and living out the demands of that call without compromise.

When I was received into the Orthodox Church Fr. Hademenos asked me what name I wanted to take. Although I knew this was the custom, I found the question very daunting. In the Christian faith baptism, whether as an infant or an adult, is the beginning of a new life in God; so much so that the most ancient Christian tradition is that upon baptism the person is to take on a new name, what we have come to call our “Christian name.” But, this taking on of a baptismal name is much more than simply being given a  name. It is to be a new name altogether, for the new person we are to become. Its purpose is to reflect the purpose and call of that person in Christ, and what we hope to be. We are set free in Christ and our new name is to reflect that new purpose and freedom

The society and culture John was born in, perhaps unintentionally, sought to imprison and bind him by his name. They could not envision him being anything other than another Zechariah. The expectations for his life were limited by the life of his family before him. But, God had set for this child not the family name, but a new name; “John” which means, “God is gracious.” So often, to become what God intends for us to be we must take on a new life that is unfamiliar and uncomfortable to the conventional world around us.

Like John, many of us are born into a world that does not, or even cannot, help us to fulfill our divine calling. It does not want us to take a new and different name. It wants us to be, what it wants us to be, not what God has called us to be. It wants to keep us far from the path that leads to God. It wants to hide our true name from us.

But, we must not yield. If we want our true name to be given us, we must struggle for it. The only way we can find it, and our true life in God, is through prayer without ceasing.  Even John’s name was not magic. He did not become the Forerunner without effort simply because it was declared by God, or because he received the name. But, in taking that name and that calling he was led into a life of hardship and struggle in the desert. It was this struggle of faith that revealed the graciousness of God in him and through him to the world. It was in his life of prayer and fasting that he took on  the name which he had been given. If we seek that same life of grace, how can we expect to receive it in any other way?

As Fr. Jim said this morning, “To discern what God is calling us to be we need to cultivate some form of desert in our lives where we can listen to God. And, to be faithful to the call of God we need the courage and discipline to keep away from every choice of association or lifestyle that does not help us along the path to which God has called us.” After all, “John is great today not just because God called him to a special vocation but because he walked faithfully in the path that leads to the goal that God had set for him.” Indeed, ”…our greatness as children of God, like the greatness of John the Baptist, consists in discovering what God has created us to be and living out the demands of that call without compromise.”

Amen.

Pax vobis