I'm Nobody! Who are you? (260)
by Emily Dickinson
I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Don't tell! they'd advertise – you know!
How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one's name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!
John the Baptist was no “nobody”. I think that makes him a “somebody”.
After all in English, two negatives make a positive. Yes, John the Baptist is
so much a “somebody”, that the celebration of his birth on June 24th takes
precedence over the Sunday in Ordinary Time. In this case, the 12th Sunday
in Ordinary Time. I know of no other ‘birthday” that displaces a Sunday if it
falls on that day of the week. Even when the birth of Mary the mother of
Jesus, September 8th falls on a Sunday, it is moved to the Monday. Of course
Mary the Mother of Jesus is very much a “somebody”! Today’s feast is three
months after that of the Annunciation and 6 months before the Nativity of
our Lord. If you’re wondering why it’s not June 25th rather than the 24th, it
has to do with the Roman calendar. (Both March and December have 31
days. June has 30. And the Roman calendar counts backwards.) John’s birth
is intimately entwined and woven together with the birth of Jesus. Think of
that beautiful scene of the Visitation when the child within the womb of
Elizabeth “leaps” for joy as the newly pregnant Mary comes unto the scene.
So who is this “somebody” who is of such importance in the unfolding of
salvation that the celebration of his birth takes precedence over the ordinary
Sunday? JB is the one whose birth presages the birth of the Messiah. He is
the one who creates the context for Jesus to “come on the scene”. The birth,
life and death of John the Baptist are woven together with the birth, life and
death of Jesus. His birth prepares for the birth of Jesus. His mission sets the
scene for Jesus’ and his death prefigures Jesus’. Scripture scholars refer to
John as Jesus’ mentor. John’s understanding and proclamation of the
kingdom of God formed Jesus’ understanding, even if Jesus’ would reject
the severity of John’s interpretation. The fact of the matter is without John
the Baptist, Jesus might have been very different from the Jesus whom the
scripture reveals. John the Baptist played the kind of role in the life of Jesus
that mentors do in our lives. According to the Gospel of Luke these two
were so close in age but Jesus saw something in John that attracted him to
him. It really is a fascinating relationship between these two. For Jesus, John
the Baptist was so much a “Somebody” that he was willing to submit to
John’s baptism.
But not a “somebody” who like the frog in the Emily Dickinson poems, “tell
his name- the life long June- to an admiring bog. John is a “somebody”
because God has chosen him to fulfill a very special role in the unfolding of
salvation history. Most “somebodys” are puffed up with self-importance.
The sense you get from the stories of John, like so many of the prophets
before him was that he was responding to the call that God had given him
He knew in the depths of his being that God desired him to speak on God’s
behalf, calling the people of Israel to repentance and preparing them for the
approaching “day of the Lord”.
That’s the first part of my homily and I think it’s worth mulling over. The
“somebody” who John the Baptist is and the interweaving of his life with
that of Jesus. Now here’s the second part. Perhaps more personal.
So, are you a “nobody” or a ‘somebody’? or a little of both? In one sense,
we are all “nobodys”. We are not people of great power, importance, wealth
whose lives will be chronicled in the annals of history or in the scriptures
like John the Baptist. Who will remember us when we are gone? Family,
friends, loved ones? Their memory may last as long as they live but what
then? How many people have lived as “nobodys” on this earth? As many as
the stars in the heavens? Maybe more? Most lives go unnoticed,
unrecognized, undistinguished?
That is except in the eyes of God. In God’s eyes, each and every person from
the time they are “knit in their mother’s womb” as psalm 139 says is of
inestimable value. It is this interior knowledge and love that God has for
each and every person that makes a “nobody”, somebody. The problem is
that we live in a world where wealth, power and prestige are the criteria for
being a “somebody”. People are “celebrated” for what they have, especially
if what they have is position, rank, and power. (Whether Pope, priest or
prelate in the church, president or politician in government, personality on
the pages of People magazine, you’re a “somebody” if you have power and
prestige) and can “Tell your name- the life long June-to an admiring bog”.
In the world’s eyes, most of us are just “nobodys”. But in God, we are called
by name. We are precious, honored and loved.