In one of her great songs, "Woman of Heart and Mind," the great poet and song writer, Joni Mitchell, sings "You know, the times you impress me most are the times when you don't try, when you don't even try."  In this poignant line to which I'm sure many of us can relate and are drawn, Mitchell captures perfectly the quality of quiet humility and honest presence.  It is the antithesis of an insecure ego whose primary motivation is to be in the public spotlight.  This doesn't mean people of quiet humility and honest presence can escape being put in the eye of public attention and adoration from time to time; it merely means they don't seek it.

As Son of God, Savior of the world, redeemer of humanity, it stands to reason Jesus would seek to be the center of attention, to run for public office, to be invited to speak on "talk radio," to host Saturday Night Live, to be seen on supermarket tabloids, to appear at $100.00 dollar-a-plate fundraisers to promote him and his cause.  Could you even imagine what you could get for his hastily scrawled autograph on E-Bay?  John the Baptizer believes this.  When Jesus meets him at the Jordan, John's response is natural upon meeting such an important celebrity: "Who am I to baptize you? It should be the other way around."  But Jesus isn't interested in impressing in the slightest.  He's only interested in being obedient to God. He is a different kind of public figure altogether.  He is the still quiet voice of God who impresses us precisely because doing so isn't his agenda.  This is a lesson for the church.  While some contentious and very public figures of Christianity battle it out in the op-ed pages of newspapers, the actual serving and saving work of the church quietly continues in the background of people's lives.

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
   my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
   he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
   or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
   and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
   he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
   until he has established justice in the earth;
   and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

Thus says God, the Lord,
   who created the heavens and stretched them out,
   who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
   and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
   I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
   a light to the nations,
   to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
   from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord, that is my name;
   my glory I give to no other,
   nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass,
   and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
   I tell you of them.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him.  John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’   But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented.  And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’