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John the Baptist is one of the key figures of Advent. He’s obviously very special to me since I named my website and online apostolate after him. I take John the Baptist as my primary patron and, with Shawn being the Irish version of the name John, that sort of makes me “Shawn The Baptist.”
Jesus tells us that John the Baptist is the greatest of all the prophets. So, when it comes to evangelizing, it makes sense that we would look at how he did it. In today’s reflection, I’d like to focus on three key characteristics of John’s mission that I think can also help us.
First, John was an unexpected person. We can’t just gloss over how strange John would have seemed. He wore camel hair, a leather belt, and ate locusts and wild honey… not the typical well-dressed and polished looking preacher we would expect. Maybe you think you’re the last person who should talk about God. Join the club! All the prophets thought the same and God chose them anyway. God has chosen you, as unexpected as you might think that is.
John is also found preaching in a rather unexpected place. If you wanted to start a religious movement at the time of John, the place to be was in Jerusalem at the temple. It was the center all religious life. In fact, John was the son of a temple priest and he therefore would have been expected to be found in the temple performing the ritual duties of a priest. Instead he was in the middle of nowhere 25 miles from Jerusalem. We too are called to spread the gospel in unexpected places. We shouldn’t allow our faith to be confined to the building of our church. The primary living out of our faith happens in the world, at our place of work and in our families.
Finally, the message of John is also unexpected. After people manage to come all that way to see him, he tells them that they are sinners that need to repent and change their lives. Today, people often expect a happy message of Christianity that says everything is going to be great if you follow Jesus. The true gospel is that they killed Jesus, and we will all have to suffer and die, but death is not the end. Jesus rose to eternal life and so can we. It might actually be harder in this life if you follow Jesus. That’s the real, if unexpected, good news.
What’s the result of all this? Well, that’s also unexpected. Many people were coming out to see John. And many people are turning to follow Jesus today in places you wouldn’t imagine. This is because, like I said last week, God is the primary actor. If you let him work, he will use someone unexpected, like you, in unexpected places, with an unexpected message. So don’t be afraid to say yes and begin living the unexpected life.