John the Baptist, Russian icon, 1560s
"Lord, make me an instrument
of Thy Peace." St. Francis
"And so John came, baptizing in the desert and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins...At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan." Mark 1:4&9
"No Christian should ever think that he is not fit to be God's instrument, for that in fact is what it means to be a Christian. We may be humble about many things, but we may never decline to be used. John the Baptist told the people by the river Jordan, 'I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one who comes after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to take off his shoes.'
Then Jesus himself came to be baptized by him, and John tried to dissuade him, saying to him, 'Do you come to me? I need rather to be baptized by you.' Jesus replied, 'Let it be so for the present; we do well to conform in this way with all that God requires.' So John baptized him whose shoes he was not fit to take off.
The gospel is full of reassurances to us, some of them startling. You are salt to the world! You are light to all the world! Even the hairs of your head have all been counted! These words were exciting to those who heard them. Things might be dark but they were to be the light of the world. They were given a new sense of value as persons...One can hardly describe the joy of the first disciples, who were given by Jesus such a sense of their significance in the world...
There are therefore two things for us to do. The first is never to doubt that God can use us if we are willing to be used, no matter what our weaknesses. The second is to see that God can use any other person who is willing to be used, whatever his weaknesses, and if need be, to assure him of this truth."
from Instrument of Thy Peace
by Alan Paton (1903-1988) , South African author & politician
"Lord, make me an instrumentof Thy Peace." St. Francis
"And so John came, baptizing in the desert and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins...At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan." Mark 1:4&9
"No Christian should ever think that he is not fit to be God's instrument, for that in fact is what it means to be a Christian. We may be humble about many things, but we may never decline to be used. John the Baptist told the people by the river Jordan, 'I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one who comes after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to take off his shoes.'
Then Jesus himself came to be baptized by him, and John tried to dissuade him, saying to him, 'Do you come to me? I need rather to be baptized by you.' Jesus replied, 'Let it be so for the present; we do well to conform in this way with all that God requires.' So John baptized him whose shoes he was not fit to take off.
The gospel is full of reassurances to us, some of them startling. You are salt to the world! You are light to all the world! Even the hairs of your head have all been counted! These words were exciting to those who heard them. Things might be dark but they were to be the light of the world. They were given a new sense of value as persons...One can hardly describe the joy of the first disciples, who were given by Jesus such a sense of their significance in the world...
There are therefore two things for us to do. The first is never to doubt that God can use us if we are willing to be used, no matter what our weaknesses. The second is to see that God can use any other person who is willing to be used, whatever his weaknesses, and if need be, to assure him of this truth."
from Instrument of Thy Peace
by Alan Paton (1903-1988) , South African author & politician
3 Comments:
Ahh, thank you! Just wanted to say that I linked/plugged you today at my sputtering blog - so worthwhile and personally very needed during this crazy Springtime. Thank you again. Love how Paton connects personal baptism and what having that done calls us to do...they are most definitely not mutually exclusive, personal redemption and our Call to go forth...
I'd like to offer these words by the 19th century Quaker, Hannah Whithall Smith: "You do love your work in the abstract, but in the doing of it you find so many cares and responsibilities connected with it, and feel so many misgivings and doubts as to your own capacity or fitness, that it becomes a very heavy burden, and you go to it bowed down and weary before your labor has even begun. Then also you are continually distressing yourself about the results of your work, and greatly troubled if they are not just what you would like; and this of itself is a constant burden...
From this also there is deliverance in the wonderful life of faith. For in this way of life no burdens are carried, no anxieties felt. The Lord is our burden-bearer, and upon Him we must lay off every care. He says, in effect, 'Be careful for nothing, but make your requests known to me, and I will attend to them all.'
Be careful for nothing, He says, not even your service. Why? Because we are so utterly helpless that no matter how careful we were, our service would amount to nothing! What have we to do with thinking whether we are fit or not fit for service? The Master-workman surely has a right to use any tool He pleases for His own work, and it is plainly not the business of the tool to decide whether it is the right one to be used or not. He knows; and if He chooses to use us, of course we must be fit. And in truth, if we only knew it, our chief fitness is in our utter helplessness. His strength is made perfect, not in our strength, but in our weakness. Our strength is only a hindrance."
from The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life
I find myself in a precarious place this lent season. I'm over 40 years-old, but a "missionary" to young s. I have embraced the possibility, no probability, that I'm one of God's many instruments to the next generation. Yet God has required something "bigger" of me. He has called me (ready or not) to embrace my own daughter, a young-adult herself, who is unwed and pregnant. Now I'm to be God's instrument of peace, hope and reconciliation to the marginalized within this section of society.
This piece on John the Baptist has been like the "deep calling to the deep" within my soul.
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