On the Preaching of St. John the Baptist
I must start with an apology as I was not able to get out a post yesterday, as well as the Advent meditation. I have been ill the last three days and have only now felt well enough to be up and out of bed. My recovery is coming along well, and I beg your prayers.
Because of my illness I was not able to attend Mass this morning. I prayed the Proper’s for today’s Mass as well as my Rosary.
For the sermon I present this powerful piece from a priest from the latter half of the 18th century into the 19th century, Reverend Thomas White (1764-1826).
In this sermon we are asked to consider St. John’s call to penance and a new life. Through the example of St. John we are called to live a life of mortification, not of comfort and ease. Too often these days we do not hear sermons such as this because most of us are made uncomfortable by the notion of having to suffer for our faith.
I hope you will find this sermon edifying and that it will help you in this final week of preparation as we make ready to receive our Lord at Christmas.
From the book Sermons for the Sundays and Some Festivals of the Year by Reverend Thomas White (1911, Joseph F. Wagner, pages 18-23).
Yours in Jesus and Mary.
On The Preaching of St. John the Baptist
“He came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission sins.” — Luke 3:3
SYNOPSIS. — John's baptism differs vastly from the baptism of Christ. Was a baptism unto penance. His preaching a preparation for his baptism. Preached to all classes. His message: (1) General exhortation to penance and to a new life; (2) Particular application according to the needs of each class. His success came not from miracles, but from his own sanctity. Application: (1) Penance necessary. Apply the ax to the root of the tree; (2) Exhortation of fulfillment of every Christian duty.
Again, my brethren, is the precursor of the Messias presented to us in the spirit and power of Elias, announcing to the children of Jacob the coming of the Redeemer, the mighty God, the Prince of Peace, and preaching to them the “baptism of penance for the remission of sins.” This baptism of John was not remissive of sin in virtue of its institution, and of similar efficacy with the Christian Sacrament. No; it only led to the forgiveness of sin by exciting sentiments of sorrow and producing worthy fruits of repentance. It is, therefore, distinguished by the Baptist himself from the Baptism instituted by Jesus Christ as being a baptism of penance; a baptism in water only; whereas that of Christ was to be a Baptism of the Holy Ghost, by virtue of which a man was to be born again, by a spiritual birth, and without which, as Our Lord himself expressly declared, “a man cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Hence, we read in the Acts of the Apostles that they who had been baptized “in the baptism of John,” were re-baptized “in the name of the Lord Jesus”, hence St. Augustin terms the baptism of John the remission of sins in hope; hence the illustrious Origen says that those who had been baptized by John were again baptized by St. Paul, because the re- generation of the soul or the birth of the spirit was not from John, but from Christ, by the ministry of His Apostles; and hence the Council of Trent pronounces that “whoever shall affirm that the baptism of John possessed the same power and efficacy as the Baptism of Christ, let him be anathema” (Section 7, Canon 2). But, my friends, the preaching and baptism of John were a preparation for the preaching of Our Lord, for the institution of the Sacrament of Baptism, and the propagation of the gospel of peace. Long before had the prophet Malachias foretold His appearance in these words: “Behold I send my angel (i.e., my ambassador or messenger) and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord whom you seek, and the angel of the Testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple” (John 3:1).
Let us consider this day what this forerunner of the Lord preached to the people, and in what manner his testimony was confirmed; in the second place, let us observe the effects of his preaching upon those who heard him, and endeavor to derive some benefit ourselves from his preaching and their example.
We read in the Gospel that St. John the Baptist went forth into the desert of Judea and preached to the people, exhorting them to repentance; that the same John “had his garment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and that his meat was locusts and wild honey”; that he said to them: “Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). To him flocked Jerusalem and all Judea, the rich and the poor, the soldiers and the publicans, the Pharisees, and Sadducees, and with a strong voice, and in energetic language, he reproached them with their faults, and menaced them with God's intolerable vengeance, if they continued rebellious against His commandments. They beheld his manner of life with astonishment, but he employed the ascendancy he had gained over them not to exalt himself, but to enforce obedience to Him who was to come after him; “one mightier than himself, the latchet of whose shoes” he professed himself “unworthy to untie” (Ibid. ii). He cautioned them not to glory in being the children of Abraham, for it was in the power of God to annihilate the descendants of that patriarch, and yet to keep His promises made to His seed, “by raising up even from the stones children to Abraham” (Luke 3:8). To the soldiers he recommended a peaceful disposition, mildness in their behavior and deportment, and content of mind under the difficulties and dangers to which their situation of life exposed them. “Do violence to no man, neither calumniate any man, nor be content with your pay” (Ibid. 14). He exhorted the publicans, by which name in Scripture is understood the collectors of the public imposts, to be honest and just in the discharge of their duty; not to yield to the suggestions of avarice, nor by extortion or imposition to improve their circumstances, but with upright care strictly to perform what their office required of them. To the publicans he said: “Do nothing more than what is appointed you” (Ibid. 13). To the people at large he recommended the practice of good works and deeds of charity. “To them he said: He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none; and let him that hath meat do in like manner” (Ibid. 11). He exhorted them to penance, that they might escape the wrath to come; admonished them that the Mighty One, whose coming he announced, was nigh at hand; that He would judge the sinner with severe justice and condemn the impenitent to everlasting torments. There shall come “one mightier than John, whose fan is in his hand, and he will purge his floor, and gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Ibid. 17). These, and “many other things did he exhorting preach to the people” (Ibid. 18). But what proof did he offer in confirmation of his doctrine? Did he perform miracles, and by them demonstrate the sanction of heaven? No; for, as the Scripture mentions, “John indeed did no sign.” It was by the sanctity of his life, which the evangelists detail with particular exactitude, that he proved his divine mission and enforced his exhortations to repentance. He himself set the example, and by the purity of his life, in the midst of a desert, he displayed a dignified contempt of worldly vanity. By his own austerities he animated those whom he denominates a “brood of vipers,” to renounce their crimes, and to do penance for them.
My brethren, it is for us to profit by his exhortations, by his life and conduct. We are to remember that the “Lord is nigh,” that “great is his empire,” and of his “kingdom there is no end”; that it is in vain to “flee from his wrath,” which is only to be appeased by humility and works of penance, by “filling up every valley,” that is, the emptiness of our hearts engaged by a love of terrestrial objects; by “leveling every mountain” of pride and self-conceit, “by making the crooked ways” of our perversity “straight,” and the “rough ways” of an unsubdued passion “smooth.” We must remember that the “ax is laid to the root of the tree,” and that “every tree that yieldeth not good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). That the Lord will “gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Ibid. 12). If St. John, “than whom a greater hath not risen among the sons of women” (Matthew 9), led a life of such austerity, shall not we be required to submit to the rigors of penance? And in shunning the comparatively light mortifications of which we so much complain, shall not we be inexcusable? If we were sincere in the professions which we make, of detesting our sins, and of loving God, we should not be forever seeking that which is pleasing to flesh and blood and avoiding whatever is calculated to subdue the corruption of nature, and to bring it into subjection to God.
But let us now consider what effects were produced by the preaching of the Baptist. The people had gone out from their homes into a dreary desert, actuated by a desire of receiving instruction from the forerunner of Our Lord; and this truly laudable motive drew down upon them the blessing of God. When men are animated with a proper disposition of pleasing God and possessed with a firm determination of rigidly adhering to the dictates of conscience and the mandates of duty, difficulties sink and disappear, the grace of God is increased in the soul, and a noble fortitude impels to great achievements. If ambition can urge its votaries to brave danger, in pursuit of a paltry attainment, shall not the Christian, warmed with the love of God, and strengthened by His grace, fight the battles of his Lord with courage, and pursue his glorious career with perseverance, when victory is sure to be the result of unwearied endeavor, and immortal bliss and honor the reward of conquest? The hearers of St. John, seeking only their own improvement, were rewarded by God, in being called by Him to repentance. They inquired of Him what “they were to do” in order to please God and save their souls; they received His words with humble obedience, “and were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:5). While you hear the summons of St. John, follow the example of the multitude. Be assiduous in hearing the word of God, but let it always be attended to with docility, and an earnest desire of applying it to the exigencies of your souls. Amidst the decay of piety everywhere so visible, one duty of a Christian life seems to be attended to with fondest attachment. To assist at sermons is in this country considered a pleasing employment and excepting amongst the most irreligious and profligate of society, is a practice generally observed. But even the word of God may be ineffectual, like His secret graces, if it be sought or received with improper dispositions, or from improper motives. If vain curiosity led you to hear public instructions; if you are anxious only about the composition, the style, the delivery of the preacher; if, as in other public exhibitions, you seek only to be entertained, or if you hear only to apply occasional passages to the foibles or vices of your neighbor, never to your own; if these, or similar motives, actuate you in hearkening to sermons; or if, when they are over, they are immediately let loose from the memory; idle is your pretended devotion, like the professions we so often hear from persons who impressively declare that to hear a good sermon is to them the greatest satisfaction. But let it be your care to beg of the Almighty that He will assist you in applying what you hear to His honor, and the salvation of your souls, and let it be your endeavor to benefit by what you hear, by practicing whatever may be useful to you in your particular circumstances.
Many there are who content themselves with approving the advice of the preacher, but stop there, never thinking of practicing what he advises. But do you, my brethren, take example from those who heard the precursor of Our Lord: say to God with the publicans and the people: “What shall we do?” And having heard what is required of you, set about the performance of what you find is your duty without delay. Lay the ax to the root of your passions; cut down every enemy of your soul; every aspiring thought or desire of odious pride, vanity, and ambition. Confess your sins with unfeigned repentance; throw off every habit that makes you displeasing in the eyes of your sovereign Lord; and, above all, for all depends upon this, shun the occasions of sin, whether they proceed from your own negligence and temerity or from the solicitations or suggestions of others. Consider how trifling a pleasure, how contemptible an interest, perhaps how vile a gratification, robs you of God’s love and friendship, and will, if continued to be cherished, rob you forever of His happiness and plunge your souls into unquenchable fire. Now, then, while time is in your hands, given to you by the Almighty for this very purpose, at this acceptable time, in these days of salvation, confess your sins with sincere repentance, with horror and detestation of your past guilt, and of whatever can displease your heavenly Father. The day of retribution is at hand, the Lord “will come, and will not delay”; He will then “bring to light the things hidden in darkness and manifest the designs of hearts” (1 Corinthians 4).
Let this be the fruit of what you hear this day, and let the week into which we have just entered be spent in studious and impartial investigation; in probing your hearts to the bottom; in laying before your eyes every secret disorder of your soul, and in imploring the grace of a true conversion, a contrition of heart for sin, which may continue to the end of your lives. Resolve to confess your sins at the tribunal of penance to the ministry of Christ, “the dispensers of the mysteries of God. Then shall the Blood of Jesus cleanse your polluted souls from all the abominations of iniquity, from the filth and ordure of sin; then shall your hearts beat with sentiments of joyous exultation and lively gratitude; then shall the sunshine of peace irradiate your consciences; the feast of Christmas be a festival of spiritual gladness, and your spirit be renewed in the Lord, who will come to visit you and lead you by the hand through life, till He brings you to the joys of His kingdom. Amen.