"He must increase, I must decrease"
Notes
Transcript
“He must increase. I must decrease.” If we wanted to select a single simple mantra to take to heart, to meditate on in our prayer life, and to simply embrace in our faith journey, I’d argue that John the Baptist’s punch line from today’s Gospel is definitely one of the key Bible passages we should look at. In those simple words, John captures the essence of what an effective faith journey looks like. But even though the words are simple and easily understood, putting them into practice for many of us is anything but easy.
There’s an old “Peanuts” cartoon where Linus says to Charlie Brown, “When I get big, I’m going to be a humble little country doctor. I’ll live in the city, though, but every morning I’ll get up, climb into my sports car, and zoom into the country! Then I’ll start healing people… I’ll heal people for miles around!” And then in the last frame, Linus exclaims, “I’ll be a world famous humble little country doctor!”
Charles Shultz, the cartoonist, was laying out just how hard it is for us to be truly humble in our lives. We start out with the best intentions of being truly humble in our undertaking, but before we realize it, we’re basking in our reputation, enamored with becoming a world-famous, humble little whatever it is. Without careful attention, it’s a trap we all too easily allow ourselves to fall into.
John the Baptist didn’t have that problem though. John’s disciples came to him complaining that the people were deserting him in favor of the new upstart Jesus - jealous for John’s sake. But John was unperturbed. He knew who he was in the sight of God, and he humbly accepted his role as God’s messenger - the announcer of the Good News, but not the Good News itself; the best man rather than the bridegroom. And John joyfully and humbly embraced his diminished role. Something in him faded into insignificance when Jesus arrived on the scene. By divine wisdom, John recognized Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer. Earlier in his ministry you’ll remember he testified: “The one who comes after me, the straps of his sandals I am not worthy to untie.” But in his genuine humility John truly became first among many. And that’s a lesson for each of us today. In striving to become truly humble we grow bigger in the sight of God.
Humility stems from understanding who God is and who we are - to recognize that, “God is God, and I am not.” John the Baptist clearly understood God’s sovereignty - who Jesus was and is, and who he was. He found great joy in his role of best man, of handing off the bride to the bridegroom and stepping back into the shadows. John understood his place. His role was complete, and as the focus on his ministry decreased, he joyfully stepped aside for Jesus, whose role would now increase.
So what about us? Even in our best intentions in serving others, in our vocation, we must diligently guard against undue pride in what we do - to ensure our good works don’t draw more attention to ourselves than to Jesus. We must strive to fulfill our role as messengers of the good news, and then - like John the Baptist - humbly and joyfully step back into the shadows. If I’m truly growing in humility, Christ is increasing and I’m decreasing. He must increase. I must decrease. May God grant us the grace and humility to make it so.