2nd Johnstide 2021, Heart-Warm Thanks

Johnstide

John 3:22-33
 
After this, Jesus and his disciples came to the land of Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at Aenon near Salim because there was much water there, and people came to him and were baptized, for John had not yet been imprisoned.
 
Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John and the Jews about the path of purification. And they came to John and said to him, "Master, he who came to you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness – here he is, baptizing, and everyone is going to him."
 
John answered, "No human being can grasp spiritual power for himself that is not given to him from the higher worlds. You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, is filled with joy at the bridegroom's voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease.
 
"He who descends from above, out of the

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spiritual world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth, whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound. He who comes from the heavens is elevated above all who have arisen from the earthly. What he has seen and heard in the world of the Spirit, to that he can bear direct witness, but no one accepts his testimony.
 
"But whoever accepts his testimony sets his seal to this: that God is Truth [or, that there is no higher truth than the reality of God]."

2^nd Johnstide
July 4, 2021
John 3:22-33

John the Baptist came with a mission. He was to witness the incarnation of the Light of the World in Jesus at His baptism. He came to prepare souls to also be able to perceive Christ. He inaugurated a rite of purification, a ritual immersion, which allowed individuals to have their own unique spiritual experience. Some saw the quality of their own lives pass before them; others felt the glorious beings of the spiritual world.

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As we hear in the reading, those following Jesus were also undergoing baptisms. John’s reaction to the ‘threat of competition’ is noteworthy.

John’s very name means ‘God is gracious.’ God graced John with the opportunity to complete what he had come to do. He witnessed; indeed, he helped midwife the incarnation of God’s Light and Love. And John speaks out of the meaning of his own name when he says that spiritual power is given as grace. He recognizes that his own day is beginning to decline while Jesus’s sun is rising. And so John graciously lets go the baton as he passes it on.

God is gracious. He gives us our lives and sends us to fulfill our tasks. And when we have accomplished what we have come to do, when we have borne witness to our times and loved those whom we were sent to love, we send the Father our heart-warm thanks for the opportunity to be on the earth, doing what we do. And so as the poet says:

May the light of your soul bless your work
with love and warmth of heart.
….
May the sacredness of your work bring light and renewal
to those who work with you
….
May it release wellsprings of refreshment,
inspiration and excitement.
…..
May dawn find hope in your heart, ….
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.*

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*John O’Donohue, "For Work," in To Bless the Space Between Us, p. 146.