John the Baptist knew that his job was to wake people up and point them in the direction of Jesus
Take a moment and imagine being John the Baptist at the Jordan River. Jesus insists that you baptize Him and witness the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him. Not only would that be revelation enough in itself, but you recognize that this is the fulfillment of God’s promise to you. Somehow, the revelation of the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus is the confirmation that John needed to know that Jesus was the promised Messiah. As his life was about to end, John still needed some reassurance that Jesus truly was the promised one.
Now imagine for a moment having such clarity about the direction of our own life. John knew that his job was to wake up people and point them in Jesus’ direction. That was his mission and purpose, and he made choices all through his adult life to make sure that that would happen as best he could. He spent a lot of time in the desert, wore odd clothing and ate unusual food, but he always proclaimed the truth that God wanted people to hear. He wanted people to wake up, move out of their drowsiness and assumptions of the status quo and notice the invitation that was being given to them. Instead of always imagining that God’s promises were fulfilled in some other moment, he tried to convince people to believe that now is the time. In the end, John the Baptist gave his life, allowed himself to be killed for the sake of the truth that God wanted people to hear. Imagine for a moment that the mission of our own life was that clear.
Let’s take stock of all the unbelievable gifts, talents and possessions that we have. We’ve all started a new year and have been given a chance in 2026 to live a life that God wants us to live. If I could use the analogy of New Year’s resolutions, we might begin the new year thinking that we are totally committed to Jesus’ mission. We are going to pray more, we are going to serve others more and we’re going to forgive those who have done us harm. We won’t waste a single moment, but we will live life fully for the sake of the kingdom of God. This might be like other resolutions that we’ve made in the past. We have great passion for it at the beginning of the year, and it dissipates as the days and weeks and months go on.
Being committed to Jesus’ mission is not built on passion or exuberance. Those fruits are the consequences of the first step. We must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We must allow His love to touch our minds and hearts and souls. We must allow His love to burn away any shame, guilt or embarrassment about any choice that we have made. We must fall in love with ourselves as deeply as Jesus already loves us. Only out of that freedom will we have the energy and commitment to live this present day as if the kingdom of God is at hand.
Our destiny and purpose, as contained in the Old Testament reading this weekend, is to be a light to the world. That light will shine through us or reflect off of us, making sure that it is the light of Jesus Christ and not just some fake brightness. Have we been surprised about God’s goodness? Have we accepted that goodness as absolute gift and allowed ourselves to be touched by that generosity? Have we experienced God’s graciousness in the forgiveness of sins or the healing of broken memories or relationships? Don’t we want everyone to have that experience? What is keeping us from being a light to others by sharing our journeys? What keeps us from being faithfully present in the midst of someone else’s darkness without having to answer their questions or make them feel better? Can we be a sign of God’s faithfulness to others and in the world?
Father Donald Wester is retired and serves as lecturer of homiletics at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.
