John The Baptist

Luke: 1

67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy: 68‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favourably on his people and redeemed them. 69He has raised up a mighty saviour* for us in the house of his servant David, 70as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 71 that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. 72Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, 73the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us 74that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,might serve him without fear, 75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. 78By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon* us, 79to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.’ There are some calender events I want to talk about today. June 25 is called the Little Christmas. It is six months before Christmas and is John the Baptists Birthday. According to Luke's Gospel, Elizabeth is six months pregnant when the angel Gabriel tells Mary that she is going to give birth to Jesus. June 21, the first day of summer, we commemorate Onesimus Nesib, translator and evangelist in Ethiopia. Onesimos was the name of the slave in Paul's letter to Philemon. Philemon became a Christian but did not baptize and free Onesimus so he ran away to Paul. Paul baptised him and Onesimus returned with Paul's letter that was going to be read in the assembly where Paul speaks of hoping to visit there and requests a place to stay. Onesimus of Ethopia was also a slave and a missionary paid for him and freed him. He learned the Holy Scriptures and later translated them and became a leader in the Ethiopian Christian Church. Terror: phobia, an irrational fear, devoid of reasoning. It seizes us and takes control of our minds and makes us act unreasonably. The government tells us to be afraid and gives us color code that never reaches green to tell us how afraid we are supposed to be. There are four steps to peace that take away all fear: knowledge of salvation to the people; the forgiveness of sins; to give light to those who sit in darkness; and to guide our feet into the way of peace...then we can serve God without fear. The color scale seems to have replaced the doomsday clock of yesteryear. We were told after the events of Sept. 11, 2001 to go shopping. It was the governments call to victory through shopping. This is not a Christian or Christ like arrangement. What does the angel say? "Fear not! only believe." This is a spiritual solution set apart from our worldly superiors. The government wants us to depend on the state to make us feel safe and free from terror. The clock is ticking on the powers that be. Today as we commemorate St. John the Baptist, we understand that the the time is up on fear. Jesus makes us free.