Lord Jesus, as we await the day of your coming,
give us eyes to see your grace all around us. Amen.
If we are doing God’s work, why is the church’s budget so tight? If God cares about justice, why is there so much inequity and injustice in our society? If love is the way, then why does it seem like bullying and greed get better results? If Jesus gives us the peace that passes all understanding, why do so many struggle with depression, anxiety, and addiction? Or, in the words of John the Baptist, “Is Jesus the Messiah, or are we to wait for another?” Would it be better for us to put our trust in strength, our investments in the market, and our hopes in self-improvement plans?
In
last Sunday’s sermon, we heard how John the Baptist is a model for us in faith –
as he shows us what it means to be a pointer, paver, and prophet. Well, this Sunday,
John remains a model for us as he shows us what it means to be human. Remember
last Sunday, John was energized in faith and had confidence aplenty – calling the
religious leaders a “brood of vipers” and cautioning us that the ax is lying at
the root of the tree. Today, we get a different picture of John. He’s in
prison, his vigor has diminished, and his confidence is shaken. St. Teresa of Ávila
once said, “God, if this is how you treat your friends, it’s no wonder you have
so few.” John would probably agree with that sentiment.
Life
is not always, nor often, easy. To be sure, there are moments of grace and joy
all around us, but frustration, disappointment, pain, and struggle are
constant. It’s okay to admit that. It’s okay to admit that things are not okay.
And if things ever feel too overwhelming and you need help, please know that
you can call me anytime – day or night. If these difficulties ever seem like
more than you can or want to handle, there is a new Suicide and Crisis lifeline,
you just dial or text 988 for help. This can be a difficult time of year for
people, but know that because of God’s love for us in Jesus, we are never alone
and there is always hope.
Even
if we aren’t in a place of despair to that point, we all have stress, worries,
anxieties, regrets, pains, doubts that we carry with us. It seems like we’re
doing the thing that we should be doing, that we were taught to do, and yet, as
it turns out, life is more complicated than baking a cake. Things don’t turn
out the way we want them to. This is where John is – he’s been faithful to the
ministry that God gave him, he’s done his part in preparing the way of the Messiah,
he’s expecting God’s Kingdom to arrive. But he’s in prison and just a few
chapters later in Matthew, he will be executed. Hardly the salvation and vindication
he was wanting.
In
expressing these doubts and difficulties, John is a model for us in how to be
healthy people – he names, and thereby confronts, the issue. There’s not a
problem in the world that gets better by ignoring it and pretending that it isn’t
real. In ignoring the truth, lies fester, ignorance corrupts, inaction exacerbates.
John does not wallow in his doubts and disappointments, he reaches out to
others – a great example for us. He sends some of his followers to Jesus to ask
“Are you the Messiah, or are we waiting for someone else?”
Jesus’
response is not only unexpected, but it’s also perfect – which is what we’d
expect of God incarnate. John is not chided for his question. Jesus does not
insult or shame John for having a question. When we have questions or doubts,
we will not be punished for these things either. Jesus is the truth and God always
seeks to draw us further into this truth.
Instead
of giving John’s disciples a direct answer such as “Yes” or “No,” Jesus tells John
to open his eyes and to read Scripture, for there we will see the promises of
God being fulfilled. In other words, there is evidence for the Messiah all
around, if we would just haves to see it. I quoted a poem two Sundays ago, “Earth’s
crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. But only they who
see take off their shoes, the rest sit round and pluck blackberries.” The fire
of God’s love and grace is all around us. In every act of charity, forgiveness,
healing, generosity, and courage, there are signs of God’s power and presence.
But we are so distracted by the news, by screens, by our priorities that we so
often end up plucking blackberries.
Not
only does Jesus tell John and his disciples to come and see, to open their eyes
to God’s hand at work in the world about them, he frames it through the lens of
God’s promises in Scripture. Jesus says “Go and tell John what you hear and
see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the
deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”
If Jesus had simply said, “Yes, I’m the guy,” then we would still be looking for
a Messiah of our own making. We’d be expecting the Messiah to fulfill our expectations
instead of being surprised by the abundant grace of God that is even more than
we can ask for or imagine. Jesus opens our imaginations to what the Messiah is
all about.
We
heard the prophet Isaiah write about the blossoming that shall happen in the
deserts, the strength that will come to the weak, the courage to the fearful,
the sight to the blind, the dancing to the lame, the speech to the speechless,
the comfort to the suffering, the water to the thirsty, the security to the
threatened. In other words, God’s provision will meet our needs. God will set right
what has gone wrong because of Sin and Death. God will restore what has been lost,
redeem that which has been broken, save that which has been lost.
The
Messiah is not about crushing Rome, not about trading one earthly ruler for another,
not about creating justice through injustice towards our enemies. We see it
through the life of Jesus – he spends time with the least and the lost, with criminals,
with prostitutes, with tax collectors, with lepers. It’s telling that Jesus,
the Messiah, did not spend his time telling the wealthy how they can better use
their resources; instead, he tells them to give it all way. Jesus does not tell
the elites that they should be nicer to those in poverty; rather he spends his
time on the margins. Jesus does not tell people how to find their authentic
selves; but he tells us to take up a cross and follow him.
Everything
about Jesus is a reversal – our expectations are upended, our priorities called
into question, our opinions exposed as flawed. Jesus reverses the injustices of
our society by transforming us. A lot of people want a Messiah to fix the
problems of society, but not many people want to be fixed. One theologian was
asked by a reporter what is wrong with the modern world, to which he replied, “I
am.” The problems in our homes, in our economy, in our church, in our city, in
our nation, and in our world cannot be fixed apart from us. If every person on
the planet was gone tomorrow, all of the problems would go away as well. That
should tell us something about the root of our problems – it’s us. Jesus does
not come to fix them or to solve that. He comes to transform us, to shape us in
grace, to set us on the path of love. And this is not a small tweak, it is a complete
course correction.
This
is what Mary sings about in the Magnificat – the great reversal of God’s
grace. We will be scattered in the places of our conceit and lifted up in the
places of our lowliness. This is what Advent is preparing us for – for when
Jesus shall come again in great power to judge and redeem all things. And even
now, in the midst of history, Jesus is continually coming towards us in grace
to do just this.
These
both always go together: judgment and redemption. There are things in our
lives and society that need to be cast down and judged as antithetical to the
way of love. That fire of God that is all around us – sometimes it needs to
burn away the chaff in our lives. So we ought not be surprised when the idols
that we trust in fail us, when our lack of generosity closes us off to the
economy of grace, when our desire to be right makes it harder to love. And that
same fire will also warm and enlighten our path. God will bring people and
situations into our lives to bless us. If we’ve got a fistful of blackberries,
we might dismiss such things as coincidences instead of providence. God gives
us the strength to apologize, to endure, to love. Though if we resist this transformation,
we will remain imprisoned by our expectations, fears, and doubts. Jesus opens
us to God’s work of doing a new thing in our lives and world.
In
answering John with the promises of Scripture, Jesus helps us to see how the
Kingdom of God is coming on earth as it is in heaven. Scripture helps us to
have a vision of heaven so that we can see it on earth. Heaven is not a kingdom
of exclusion, vengeance, or self-centeredness. By attuning ourselves to the joy
and peace of heaven in Scripture, Jesus is helping us to see it on earth as
well. The importance of hearing and reading Scripture in our own lives of faith
cannot be understated, and Jesus’ response shows us this. When are disturbed,
doubtful, or disoriented, we turn to Scripture and find the promises of God
which are being fulfilled in the love of Jesus.
And
this is such great news – that God is reversing that which has gone wrong, that
God is restoring all things in Jesus, that God has forgiven us our sins, defeated
death, and opened the way of love to us all. Every Third Sunday of Advent, the
readings orient us towards this grace, which is why today also goes by the name
Gaudete Sunday. “Gaudete” is a Latin word that opens the traditional introit
for this Sunday and it means “rejoice.” We rejoice in the hope of our salvation.
This is why the candle in the Advent wreath for this week is pink – a lighter,
more joyful and expectant color than the deeper blues and violets. As the dawning
light gets closer in the morning, we see that radiant pink color dancing along
the horizon.
God’s promises in Scripture are intended to do the same for us, to help to rejoice in God’s salvation. When John was mired in doubt, Jesus told him to come and see the promises of God found in Scripture happening all around him. Advent does the same for us – in hearing the promises of God’s restoration and reversal in Isaiah and the Magnificat, we are prepared to see God’s salvation in every blazing bush around us. As we wait for that day when all things shall be made well in Jesus, we are given signs of hope and joy as we continue to pray, Come, Lord Jesus.
