Sermon

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Finally it´s summer. Since a couple of years my favourite season of the year has changed. It used to be the fall, where the colors of the the trees changed into red and gold and I started to long for walks in the nature, hiking, going to the mountain site. Since I am living in the small village of Ágfalva, I begun to fear the winter and the cold and the snow, which limitates my life a lot. Nowadays I really appreciate the heat of summer and the possibility to spend a lot of time in the garden. It´s easier to live in the summer here.
But when the summer officially starts in the midst of june, that means also already the begin of the end of summer. From now on days will be a little bit shorter every week until Christmas.
I don´t know if maybe I am just melancholic or even a little bit depressive, but the prospect that we already make towards winter is somehow sad. A lot of things are like that: if you on the top of a hill, that means that you are already starting to descend; if you really feel good, that means that it only can get worse. – Winter is the other way round: in the midst of winter the days will start to become longer, the cold means that it hopefully will get warmer some day.
I don´t want to ruin this summer day with my thoughts, but I think that there is a deeper truth in it, which is somehow behind the bible word about Jesus and John the baptist: He – Jesus - must become greater; I – John - must become less.
John was in the midst of his life, on the top of his career, so to say. He spent his life in the desert and reached a lot of perople with his preaching. His message was a bit hard and inconvenient: Change your lives or you will be punished! But he had a lot of followers, even disciples. He became famous like one of the famous prophets of Israel. Some thought of him as the Messiah, the savior and redeemer. – But then Jesus came. And his message was quite different from Johns message. Change your lives, yes, that was similar. But not the fear of punishment was the center of his message but love. Jesus preached love and forgiveness, he spoke abot mercy. He brought us God – but not as a just judge but a loving father. How would John felt about that, about Jesus?
No envy, no bad feelings, no harsh words: This is the lamb of God. Listen to him. He must become greater; I must become less. – he submitted himself, he humbled himself to Jesus.
I don´t know if anyone of us would to the same like John did.
His message, his life, his position als the main prophet of his time: he gave himself up, he bowed to Jesus. He pointed him out as the real one, the son of God.
John is important because he did it. Like others after him, who did not insist on their own importance and rank, who focussed on God and charity, who sometimes even gave their lieves for other. You may think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King or Mother Theresa.
Which brings me back to the topic of summer. Summer is something wonderful, like life in general. When we enjoy the summer of life or a life in summer, we can be very thankful. We should not hesitate or bother because every summer will end. None of our business. But every summer is a gift, a gift of God. Like life.
Catch it if you can, enjoy it, but do not cling to much to it.
And if summer is ceasing, if days become shorter, if life gets darker – we should not forget, that Jesus is waiting in the middle of winter and in the midst of the night.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Und der Friede Gottes, welche höher ist als alle unsere Vernunft, bewahre unsere Herzen und Sinne in Christus Jesus, unserem Herrn. Az Isten békessége pedig, amely minden értelmet meghalad, örízze meg szíveteket és gondolataitokat az ÚR Jézus Krisztusban! Amen.