One of my favorite persons in all of the scriptures is the person of John the Baptist. He is simply a fascinating person, who’s a great part of our tradition. John is the cousin of Jesus. And John, as we know, has his own following. He has his own disciples. But when he sees Jesus, in great humility he says, “There is the Lamb of God. Leave me and follow Him.” What great humility it took on John’s part to tell his own friends, his own disciples, “He’s the one that you need to follow. He’s the one who must increase. I’m the one who must decrease.” And slowly, Saint John the Baptist slips away in the scriptures until we hear of his beheading. The disciples go and they follow Jesus. And the question is: where does Jesus lead his disciples? Where does Jesus lead you and I when we follow Him?

It seems to me, Jesus leads those who follow Him faithfully into the lives of the rich and into the lives of the poor, into the lives of the healthy and those who are sick. He leads us into the lives of those who are embraced in love and those who feel that they are sinners. He brings them into the lives of the people of God. And as He leads, He teaches. He teaches all of us, all those who follow in His ways the mercy and the compassion of God. When we follow Jesus, when we accept that invitation to come and to follow, He leads us into the very heart and into the very mystery of God to understand God’s love for us, to embrace that love and then to share that love with our sisters and brothers. As we gather at Eucharist, as we celebrate Eucharist today, we are strengthened and we are nourished by the love of God, by the very presence of Christ. We receive this gift and then we share that gift with others.