Epiphany 3 – George Yandell
We hear today of a succession- a succession of leadership in Galilee. While John the baptizer appears in all four gospels, only Mark and Matthew note his arrest as a catalyst for Jesus’ public ministry. And it’s only in the Markan passage today that Jesus is not specifically singled out by John himself as the one who is to come after him.
Matthew states that John had been baptizing for repentance because, as he said, “The kingdom of heaven has come near- prepare the way of the Lord!” When Jesus came to be baptized, John said, “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it go for now. After all, in this way we are doing what is fitting and right.” Then John deferred to Jesus. [Translation from The Five Gospels by the Jesus Seminar, p. 132.] It’s not clear if anyone if anyone else besides Jesus sees the heavens opened and the hears the voice from above, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.”
In Luke’s gospel John’s father Zechariah had a vision in the temple that told him he was to name his son John and that his son would live as a Nazarite, not drinking wine or strong drink, like Samson generations before him. John’s diet of locusts and wild honey might have derived from his Nazarite tradition.
John doesn’t seem much of an organization builder. When John departs the scene, there’s a major risk his baptizing movement will fall apart. They were likely asking, “Is this really the time for whatever it is that John was foretelling?”
It became customary in Christian icons to show John pointing toward Jesus, as if John’s role was confined to announcing a person and not calling the masses to a new age of the Messiah’s coming. But in Mark when Jesus starts proclaiming that the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near, he’s picking up John’s mantel- the heroic John has fallen and Jesus carries his ministry forward in a new way.
This makes the launch of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee all the more moving and poignant. Simon, Andrew, John, James and all the rest need hope that the prophetic word and mission of John haven’t failed. [Portions of the above adapted from an article in “The Christian Century”, January 2024 issue, by Benjamin Dueholm, p. 27.]
And of course it all goes in directions none of them could anticipate. Whatever John has taught the people to hope and work for will be fulfilled in ways they weren’t prepared for. Jesus’ own followers will have to live a new and truly shocking and scandalous future. The kingdom of God has not only come near, it is being opened to them by God’s own Son.
The Holy Spirit had driven Jesus into the wilderness just after his baptism. He was tempted by Satan for 40 days. He was with the wild beasts and the angels waited on him. That’s when today’s passage picks up. Jesus started his ministry after John’s arrest proclaiming, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
The wilderness links John and Jesus. I’ve learned of another whose ministry led him into the wilds near us. The Rev. Rufus Morgan was an Episcopal priest who pioneered several Episcopal churches in the mountains. In 1982 he was still ministering to the small St. John’s Episcopal Church near his home in Murphy, NC. His story is remarkable. Rufus Morgan was one of the early pioneers in the founding and development of the Appalachian Trail. He climbed Mount LeConte 172 times (elevation 6,593 feet, a 5 to 6 mile hike to depending on which trail is taken). He celebrated his 88th and 89th birthdays at LeConte lodge. He died in 1983 at 98 years of age.
His grandmother was born in New York state and was brought up in the Church of England in Canada. She had a half-sister who’d married and moved to Murphy, North Carolina. When his grandmother came to visit her, she met the man who’d become his grandfather and married him. She stuck to her faith as an Episcopalian. But there wasn’t an Episcopal Church in Murphy. The nearest parish was in Waynesville, 40 miles away. When there were children to be baptized she would take them over there. She let the bishop know that she was in Murphy and wanted to have closer contact with a parish. So the bishop would publish that need to any clergy passing through and they would come to her family and offer communion and sermons to them.
Rufus Morgan’s parents were both Episcopalians. It wasn’t too long before they started regular services in Murphy. His father was a lay-reader. He started the services in a room above a furniture store with a piano box serving as an altar. His mother was the organist and Sunday school teacher. One Sunday a month a man from Ashville would come and offer communion to the folks.
Rufus’ family had some black neighbors in their community who’d had no religious instruction at all. When they were working for his family, they asked questions about their congregation, so his mother taught them about the Bible and the faith in Jesus. Finally in 1877 a priest came, the Rev. John Archibald Deal. He and his wife lived with Rufus’ grandparents. John Deal immediately made plans to build a Church. It was the first St. John’s Church in Murphy. Rufus’ mother was one of the chief contributors to building it.
While the Church was being built, a marker for a double grave for Chief Cuttahostee and his wife was placed on the property. They’d escaped from the Trail of Tears and come to his grandparents’ home. His grandfather visited them, read the Bible, offered prayers and sang hymns to the old man. While the new Church was being built the old chief died. His wife died the next day. He’d asked to be buried with the white man’s burial service. Since his father was giving the land for the new Church, he had them buried there together. They’re the most prominent graves in St. John’s cemetery.
After St. John’s in Murphy was built the church in Franklin was started, then one in Highlands, one in Cullowhee, because the Rev. Mr. Deal was a ‘very missionary-minded’ man. Of course Rufus was led by the Spirit to become an Episcopal priest. After seminary Rufus returned to North Carolina to start a congregation in Penland and called it the Appalachian Industrial School. After Penland, Rufus went to South Carolina and ministered to three small congregations. Rufus became the business manager for Kanuga, the conference center many of us have enjoyed near Hendersonville. He was homesick for the mountains, he said, so he’d go back to St. John’s in the summers.
Rufus got to know the man who was conducting services at the Black Church, St. Cyprian’s once a month. Rufus asked if they’d like to have a service every Sunday, so he gave them St. John’s to worship in. In 1941 Rufus was assigned by the bishop to take over the services in Sylva, meeting in the Student Union at Western North Carolina University. [This background from Foxfire 7, pp. 118- 132, Anchor Books, 1982]
The fulfillment of time in the wilds informed Jesus to emerge and walk his path. His path led his comrades into new life, new ventures. They too were transformed as they walked with Jesus through the countryside, watching how Jesus encountered people, taught, healed and nourished them, then withdrew by himself to pray. Some have called this a ‘theory of alternation’ about Jesus engaging with people, then withdrawing to engage with God in solitude.
It’s a pattern many of us have fallen into or been led to as our faith matures. It’s what animated Rufus Morgan to minister to anyone God put in his path. I like to think he’d be pleased to know about Holy Family and its ministries. He’d likely be prepared to preach the Good News to us.