Reflection for Sunday – January 12, 2025

Sonja LivingstonSunday Readings Homilies

Readings Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7; Acts 10: 34-38; Luke 3: 15-16, 21-22 
Preacher: Sonja Livingston

 While thinking about the week’s readings, I tried to imagine John the Baptist living in our time. This wasn’t an easy task. Even more than his camel’s hair clothing, diet of locusts and wild honey, and full-throated insistence that God is near, I suspect John’s humility would most unnerve us.

In today’s reading, John’s followers are abuzz with the possibility that he might be THE ONE, but rather than succumb to the temptation of such praise, John rejects the notion outright. Instead, he puts all his energy into shining a light on the true Christ who will come— even going so far as to proclaim himself unfit to be considered in the same category as Jesus. “One mightier than I is coming,” he says. “Whose shoes I am not worthy to loosen. I baptize with water,” John says, “but he will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

We don’t see many examples of such humility in contemporary America. In fact, modesty itself seems increasingly at odds with the modern ideal. If humility is out of fashion, someone—especially a leader— proclaiming himself unworthy is downright alarming these days. In 2025, John the Baptist would undoubtedly be sent to therapy. I imagine his counselor recommending podcasts on self-esteem and a list of daily affirmations. “Listen, John,” his friends would suggest, “if this message of yours is so important, assemble a marketing team. Start a YouTube channel,” they might advise. “Write a book or a blog, but whatever you do, you have to drop all the unworthiness talk.”

I’m exaggerating a bit, but the point is that while the values of confidence, independence, strength and self-promotion continue to be expanded and enshrined in the American character, we are increasingly wary of humility. To further complicate matters, as the nation continues to interrogate and grapple with histories of exclusion, there’s an understandable resistance to any suggestion of “lowness” or being “less than”, especially by those who have systemically been considered unworthy. This is, in part, why church language and traditional prayers can turn people off.  

But John reminds us that humility and humiliation are not the same thing. While both share the same root (“humilis,” Latin for lowly), humility refers to adopting an unassuming view of one’s importance while humiliation is having one’s status publicly degraded. Humility is a matter of personal perspective and choice; humiliation is inflicted, often brutally. Perhaps most importantly, humility connects us to each other while humiliation only severs.

But why on earth am I thinking so much about society’s problems with humility this week? Our own political and cultural divisions have not taught us much about the cost of arrogance. But John the Baptist embodies how essential humility is in making our way to God.

In fact, humility is still on my mind from earlier readings in Advent when Mary so beautifully concedes to having her life “overshadowed” by God. It’s also been on my mind since New Year’s when I was in the hospital recovering from surgery. I had only a minor operation and I’m fine, but, for the first few days of 2025, I had to rely on others to stand or get dressed. Even as I continue to recover at home, my husband must cook, drive, feed the cats and pick up whatever crumb or dishtowel I accidentally drop on the floor. I have never been so reliant on others as an adult. I have, in fact, purposefully avoided such a powerless and lowly position. Yet, as uncomfortable as it was and is, I feel somehow freed by the experience. I truly have had no choice but to drop the illusion of control and to allow myself to ask for help, to be open and to receive. As a result, I’ve felt more grateful and more deeply connected to everyone, from friends who sent soup to the hospital workers who delivered food trays to Jim who continues to change my bandages with care. Isn’t it surprising that the ways in which we fear appearing “low” in the eyes of the world are the exact thing that open us to each other and to God? 

And so this week, I am thankful for the example of John working along the Jordan, reaching out for one hand, then another. He isn’t bent in subjugation or humiliation as he baptizes those assembled but is instead wild with enthusiasm and fully alive in his work, embodying perfect and life-changing humility as he prepares the way for God.

Sonja Livingston
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