All it takes is one—some ONE—to start a social/religious/political/cultural transformation, to break long-held patterns of behavior, our “ways” we say.
Think Rosa Parks, Martin Luther, Alexander Hamilton, Syrophoenician Woman, Charles Dickens, Pope John XXIII, FDR, MLK, JFK, Julian of Norwich, William Shakespeare,Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Jesus of Nazareth, Harriet Tubman, Mary of Nazareth, Mr. Rogers, Toni Morrison, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Pauli Murray, Karl Jung, Jean Baker Miller, John the Baptist. Who is he?
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I remember my brilliant young high school daughter singing in the musical Godspell. She sang “All For The Best” and never missed a beat or a word of the high speed lyric rendering of the biblical scenario about Jesus’s gospel, according to Matthew. The song was perfectly emblematic of what happens to people who are confronted with great confusion, great pain, and great hope all at once over a short sweep of time.
Imagine the confused joy of people, especially those most destitute and those with a surplus of wealth and resources, also leaders, wondering and worrying about the future in chaotic times, just like our own, when suddenly out of the desert and into the crowds came an exotic messianic prophet screaming at people to REPENT NOW. Unburden yourselves of sins and worries now. Prepare!
A herald’s voice cries in the desert:
Prepare the way of our God,
Make straight the paths of God.
(Mt. 3,The Inclusive Bible)
Would you have listened? I might have sensed the urgency and wondered. I’d engage in lots of obsessive overthinking to prepare for all possible outcomes—known and unknown. I would have felt stirred by fear and hope all at once? But I might also have condemned the message as crazy. I’d also call my closest most trusted confidantes or an authority figure, for support and answers. Secretly with tears, I’d inwardly confess my own naked neediness? Then I’d step out and follow.
According to the biblical story, Jesus knew about his cousin John’s eccentricities and the risks of dire political consequences. John tried to persuade Jesus that he Jesus was the one who should be doing these repentance baptisms. But Jesus reassured John, telling him to “leave it this way for now”—in other words, there is a power greater than the two of us in whose faith we trust to make it all for the best. Then Jesus went into the waters for his baptism and began his career as an activist for justice, peace, and righteousness—not being holier than others, but being in right-sized and humble relationship with friend and foe alike.
How did this new movement we call Christianity, ignited by one brave man named John work out? In the Bible story, both John and Jesus established a following. Both became proclaimers of justice for all people, in the name of God. Both became heroes. Both were persecuted as enemies of the State. Both died ugly, ignominious deaths (beheading and crucifixion). Neither went unforgotten.
Many still ask: who was that ONE who first cried out?
