Dear friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Edgar Albert Guest, once known as the People’s Poet, was a prolific, English-born American writer, who penned nearly 11,000 poems.  Sadly, he is seldom quoted today, but one of his poem’s seems especially appropriate for this celebration of the Nativity of John the Baptist.  I first saw it as a wall plaque in my nephew’s bedroom. It’s entitled, “Your Name.”

You got it from your father, t’was the best he had to give,

And right gladly he bestowed it.  It’s yours, the while you live.

You may lose the watch he gave you And another you may claim,

But remember, when you you’re tempted, To be careful of his name.

Through the years he proudly wore it, to his father he was true,

And that name was clean and spotless when he passed it on to you.

So make sure you guard it wisely After all is said and done

You’ll be glad the name is spotless When you give it to your son

According to scripture, Zechariah had been waiting all his life to offer his name to a child. Unfortunately, the years had passed quickly and there was never a son to bear his name nor a daughter with whom to share his lessons of life.  One day while Zechariah was serving as a priest in the Temple’s holy sanctuary, offering incense at the altar, the angel Gabriel appeared to him.  The angel said, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard.  Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.  You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.”

The aging Zechariah, however, had grown tired and skeptical, so he asked the angel how this should come to pass.  He was quickly rebuked by the angel and was made mute. By Zechariah’s silence, rather than by his speech, it was clear that he had seen a vision.  When he left the Temple, he returned to his home village in the hill country of Judah, and there his wife Elizabeth, who had been considered barren, soon and miraculously, became pregnant, just as the angel had said.  She remained in seclusion for five months, and in her sixth month she was visited by her cousin Mary, who had received the news from the angel Gabriel that she too was to bear a child- and he would be the Messiah.  We read that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months.

Our gospel this morning begins precisely at this point in the story. The aged Elizabeth has now given birth to the promised “miracle child,” and her neighbors and relatives have come to rejoice with her in the service of naming.  Under normal circumstances, Zechariah’s son would be named Zechariah after his father.  But to the surprise of the family, Elizabeth insisted that their son was to be named John, which means God is merciful. So they turned to Zechariah, assuming that Elizabeth must have been mistaken, and he took a writing tablet, and scratched, “His name is John.”   At that moment, Zechariah’s mouth was open, and filled with the Holy Spirit, he began to prophesy, “You my child, shall be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.”

Sadly, Zechariah would not know his long-awaited son John long. According to the apocryphal book of the Gospel of James, after the wisemen from the East visited the palace of King Herod in Jerusalem and informed him of the birth of Jesus, the new king of the Jews, Herod ordered the slaughter of all the male children 2 years and younger.  Zechariah was killed by Herod’s soldiers because he refused to reveal the hiding place of his own son.  John and his mother Elizabeth and fled to the wilderness, where they lived until the day John appeared as a prophet of the Most Hight preparing the world for God’s salvation in Jesus.  He himself, would baptize Jesus in the River Jordan and John’s name would remain pure and spotless.

My friends, you and I, we have all been given good names at birth, unfortunately, life doesn’t always bring us to the same journey’s end.  For some, life unfolds in beautiful, uncomplicated lines and verses, but for others, life takes on unpredicted turns. The pure and unblemished name given at birth becomes spotted and tarnished along the way, and people lose heart.  Even good and well intentioned sons and daughters become disillusioned and disappointed with life, and refuse to do anything to change.  The American author John Steinbeck once wrote, “It is the nature of man as he grows older … to protest against change, particularly change for the better.”   In my previous parish, I regularly visited an elderly homebound member.  She greeted when I visited, but when I would read to her from the Bible, she would take her hearing aid out of her ears.  I once asked her why, to which she responded, “Oh Pastor, at my age, I’ve heard enough.”

But it is never too late to change and to restore a tarnished name.  That is the message of hope which John the Baptist invited his followers to experience.  John modeled this truth in his own life, when he pointed to Jesus and said, “He must become greater, and I must become less.” There is a choice in life and you don’t have to stay as you are. You can choose to let Jesus play a larger role; you can let Jesus have a greater role in your decision making, words and actions, and it always begins with you. I remember a wise, old pastor once saying to me when I was complaining about a stubborn and inflexible congregation, “Well, Arden, if nothing changes, nothing changes!” And he stared at me. Of course, he was telling me that I needed to change if I wanted things to be different.  That is a message intended for each one of us. The change you are seeking in your life begins with you.  After all, you are the only person that you can change.

My friends, John the Baptist’s call to repentance isn’t simply about lamenting the decisions and actions of the past and feeling bad about how the world has treated you. No, John is always pointing to Jesus and inviting you to let him play a greater role in your life. But be prepared, you too have to become less, so that he can become greater. When you recognize that a good and spotless name is matter of choice, and not simply a matter of chance, then you can courage in your heart and with the confidence that Jesus is by your side you, take a deep breath, and allow him begin to design the life God wants for you.  And then you will once again have a good name to share – and what a treasure that is.

It is yours to wear forever, yours to wear the while you live,

Yours, perhaps some distant morn, another child to give.

And you’ll smile as did your father, with a smile that all can share,

If a clean name and a good name you are giving him to wear.  Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.