Expectant for Good News-December 11 2016 Sermon

December 11 2016 sermon

Matthew 11:2-11
When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Jesus answered them, ‘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. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.”

Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

This Sunday, we are in the third week of our advent worship series called ‘Expectant: In the Wilderness.’ The height of this worship series will be our Christmas Eve worship at 11pm with gathering music beginning at 10:45 and then on Christmas morning we will worship at 10:30 as usual. Throughout this worship series the lectionary has paired our gospel readings with prophetic readings from Isaiah that point to the coming of the Messiah, the anointed one of God. Last week, we heard John the Baptist address the religiously and politically elite from around Judea and Jerusalem on the banks of River Jordan warning that the kingdom of God is at hand. John strongly encouraged river bank bystanders and his own disciples to change their heart and life and to prepare for the nearness of God’s presence. The coming reign of God should press us into a posture of repentance, ready to change heart and life toward a place of goodness, compassion, humility, and self giving for others. With hearts and minds prepared, we will be able to celebrate Emmanuel, God with us.

Next week, our gospel narrative pronounces the engagement of Joseph and Mary and the promise from one of God’s angels that Mary will bear a son and name him Emmanuel. But today, we have one more encounter with John the Baptist before the infancy narratives of Christmas begin.

Right before the start of Jesus’ public ministry, Jesus goes out to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. There in the river Jordan, John baptizes his cousin, Jesus, whom he had announced as the one who comes in the name of the Lord. The heavens were rendered apart, opened, so that the Spirit of God could descend in the form of a dove. Then the voice of God declared ‘this is my son with whom I’m well pleased.’ After being baptized by John, Jesus is driven into the wilderness space by God’s spirit to be offered power, riches, and influence.

There in the wilderness, Jesus demonstrates what type of Messiah he is going to be, not one who reigns with force, power, or political influence. Rather, he will be a Messiah who demonstrates trust in the provisions and will of the Everlasting God. Once this trial and period of testing in the wilderness ends, Luke tells us that Jesus goes into the gathered community of worship to declare that the spirit of the Lord is upon him to proclaim good news to the poor, recovery of sight for the blind, and to announce that the time had come to save God’s people. This pronouncement echoes through and through of Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah at work among the people.

Jesus’ preparation and move into public ministry announcing that the kingdom of God was at hand was initiated by John’s offering of baptism and pronouncement of Jesus’ messianic identity in River Jordan. From infancy to the start of Jesus’ public ministry healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, pronouncing the kingdom of a God, and demonstrating inclusion for the despised and lowly, John’s ministry was never far away.

Even before John and Jesus are born, Mary goes to Elizabeth, her cousin who is John’s mother, to share the news of this scandalous pregnancy. As soon as Mary greeted Elizabeth upon entering her home, John jumped for joy in utero. Elizabeth knows that Mary, her cousin will become the bearer of God to the world, theotokos and this is a great honor to be in her presence. Out of delight, John jumps for joy! We don’t hear much of John from this point until he is out in the wilderness calling for repentance and announcing that Christ is coming.

As John prepares and announces the coming Messiah, blessed is the one who comes in the Lord’s name, there is a clarity and force that accompanies the proclamation. To announce that the one who Israel was waiting generations for is a bold statement. To speak of God’s ways in the world or even on behalf of God is a risky proposition-one often treads carefully so as not to misrepresent. But John isn’t treading lightly at all. There is conviction and certainty in John’s voice. John knew that the reign of God was near and the people needed to get ready. In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus has nothing but high praise for his cousin, affirming that he is the prophet and herald who rightly announced the reign of God. But the certainty that John once had about the identity and mission of Jesus is in question in our reading.

An unfortunate encounter with Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, landed John in prison and is later executed as well. John had criticized Herod Antipas for marrying his sister in law, Herodias which was forbidden by Jewish law. This critique of the royal establishment landed him in prison and on Herod’s birthday, Herodias’ daughter asked for the head of John the Baptist on a plate. Herod Antipas grants her request as is told in the fourteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel.

But more importantly for the life of faith than just historical narrative, how is it that the cousin of Jesus the Christ is raising serious concerns about whether the kingdom of God is really at hand? It’s a stark contrast to see someone so firmly planted and convicted raise a faith question that is either rooted in a need for clarification or one based in doubt. We don’t speak much about doubt, confusion, or bewilderment in the Christian tradition-but there are times and events that can rattle someone to the core and existential questions of faith take on a new urgency. Sometimes these events are relational, work related, or upon the occasion of grieving a loved one.

Is this all there is? How do I find purpose in this new season of life? How can I continue on without them by my side? Is it worth it? How do I know if this is true? This is what I hear underpinning John’s request for his disciples to go and visit Jesus. John needs to know whether or not his calling and ministry was in vain possibly proclaiming a Messiah that didn’t come as he announced. I imagine that John’s rather distressing circumstances of imprisonment under Herod Antipas created an opening and urgency to revisit his initial pronouncements about Jesus.

He is asking: ‘Jesus, are you the one who was promised or is it somebody else?’ It is often said that the Messianic expectation in ancient Israel was pointed toward a military ruler, a hometown hero who would stir the spirits of the people and drive out foreign powers. But when Jesus utterly fails to embody this expectation over the course of his ministry, disillusionment begins to stir. If the kingdom of God isn’t slaying enemies in its way, then what is it doing? Jesus sends word back to John that the blind are receiving sight and the poor are receiving good news. This should be evidence enough that the kingdom of God is at hand even if it wasn’t the kind of kingdom that was expected or wanted.

While we do hear of the response that Jesus sends back to John, we don’t know how John receives it in prison. Did it calm his fears that his life had been misplaced pronouncing a false messiah? Did it bring him delight again to know that the Messiah had come to bring in the reign of God? Did the words of Jesus ease the isolation and despair John must have known confined to a prison cell he would not likely exit alive? Did the signs of the kingdom stir in John that fervor for God that he had called others to on the river bank? It’s worth wondering how in the midst of imprisonment, John received the news of Jesus the Christ.

It has been several years since I spent time in prison-it’s been about seven years and it was this time of year when I went with others to make Christmas visits in maximum security lock-up at Riverbend Prison in west Nashville. Through the ministry of the chaplain’s office at Riverbend, there was an opportunity to help prepare care packages and then deliver them to individuals whose lives are generally confined to a small cell. As I would pass the care package contents through an opening not much bigger than a mail slot, we would strike up conversation about family and hobbies. Some guys would show me art work or tell me about the latest thing that they were studying. What was most notable were the declarations of faith and the humble faith questions that were shared. How could God love somebody like me who has been a complete life’s failure? How could God forgive me for what I’ve done? Another man reinforced how much God loves and wants to change the lives of those who have no hope of doing it themselves. There are some mighty fine preachers and evangelists locked up in prison who have come to know the forgiving, pardoning, and perfecting grace of God.

A bit further west in Tennessee at the Mark Luttrell Correctional Center, there is a community of women that worship as jubilantly as we do. The church inside the prison is called Grace Place United Methodist Church and a Service of Organizing was celebrated on February 25, 2013 by Bishop Bill McAlilly. The women who are part of this unique church, the only one of its kind in the southeastern jurisdiction of United Methodism, have demonstrated a missional witness to serve Jesus Christ. Many of the grandmothers and mothers are skilled knitters and have notable family recipes they have used to prepare a published cookbook. Whether they are preparing scarves and hats for those who are homeless, shawls for those undergoing cancer treatment or giving away the cookbook proceeds to fund ministry outside the prison, the women of Grace Place UMC are demonstrating trust that the Messiah is coming and his kingdom will look like justice, peace, and mercy.

Lastly, in Atlanta’s metro jail, there is a ministry of Emory University and Candler School of Theology that is blessing the God given gifts of folks who are locked up. It’s a degree program in which individuals in prison can earn their Certificate in Theological Studies. One year upon the completion of the degree program, world renowned theologian Jurgen Moltmann went in to the Atlanta jailhouse to encourage those who had just completed their course of study. Jurgen had been a prisoner of war for years after the Second World War for serving in the German military. He says: “For three years I was lost in sadness and desperation, and Christ found me.” He has gone on as a leading voice of theology declaring that God Almighty knows and experiences the suffering of humanity through Jesus the Christ. He knows the power of despair and isolation and yet the hope that the kingdom of God is breaking in through thin places. In an exchange with Jurgen, one of the new theological graduates said it well. “I now know there is salvation, peace, and forgiveness from the Creator. I have learned that we are all worthy of redemption, whatever our background.”

When Jesus sent word back to John about the nearness of God’s kingdom, we don’t know how it echoed in John’s ears but this we do know. Prison gates can’t keep God out.

Bless you in the name of the Everlasting God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.