Scripture text: Matthew 11:2-11
Expectations. Last Sunday, I spoke about how the crowds had certain expectations of John the Baptizer. He was to be their charismatic revolutionary figure, the one that would change their world for the better, throw out the Romans, bring back the throne of David, etc.
John, of course, was not that. He did not want to be that. He knew that was not his purpose, so he resisted the desires of the crowds. He was the herald of Jesus, the one preparing for the coming of the Messiah. In the end, he disappointed those hoping he was something else. He did not meet their expectations.
Fast forward to today’s Gospel lesson. Circumstances have changed. John has met Jesus, baptized him, introduced him to the world. He’s done what he came to do, but instead of going off quietly into retirement, he finds himself in prison. He’s under threat of execution. This is not what John expected would happen with his life. His expectations have not been met and he is afraid.
People who are afraid lose their confidence. They lose their certainty. They can make foolish decisions, and John is no different. He sends disciples to Jesus to ask him, “Hey, are you the real deal? Are you the one I was preparing for?”
John the Baptizer doesn’t know this? He doesn’t know that Jesus is the Messiah? Wait a minute here. He’s the one that leaped in the womb when the pregnant Mary came to visit the pregnant Elizabeth. He knew before he was born who and what Jesus was. Could it be? Could it be that John the Baptizer, the herald of the Messiah, has lost his faith? Yes, it could be. He’s afraid. His life has not turned out the way he thought it would. His expectations were not met and all of his certainties are now in question.
We’ve been there too. Probably more than once.
I was there this week. I’m there now. Two years ago, my friend Daniel died in his sleep unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 42. In the midst of my grief was also the fear that could be me. Fast forward to recent events when I discover that many of the conditions that led to his passing are ones that I have. I spent a week in the hospital a few months ago because of them. That’s not how I expected my forties to go, to be battling life-altering and even life-threatening illnesses. My expectations have not been met and I am afraid.
Last Sunday, during the fellowship time at Grace, a member (and I apologize. I will learn names eventually) pulled me aside to remind me that not all people who voted for Trump did so out of hatred and bigotry. I know that and I try to make that point clear when speaking about the election. But who are those others who are not the bigots and white supremacists? Well, they’re folks a lot like those I grew up around. I grew up in Charleston, WV, gateway to coal country. I worked 11 years in ministry on top of a mountain in WV. I was surrounded by people who believed very firmly in the American Dream, that if you just worked hard and honestly, you’d get ahead in life. There are a lot of folks who have worked hard and honestly who are falling further and further behind. Their expectations have not been met and they are afraid.
That look of disappointment is very genuine, I'm sure.
Not so different are those people who took to the streets after the election. Many of them people on the margins of our society: people of color, alternate language, LGBTQ, and so forth. Many of them concerned about the tone of the election and many of them disappointed their preferred candidate did not win. They too have not seen their expectations met and they too are afraid.
People who are afraid lose their confidence. They lose their certainty. They can make foolish decisions, and we see this all around us. It could be us. It could be people we know. It’s certainly what we see on the news each night. Even the great villains of our time. Those aforementioned white supremacists, the terrorists of ISIS; they do what they do because they are afraid.
To John’s fear, Jesus gives an answer to which we should also take heed. “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.” The kingdom continues. God is still at work. Look not with eyes of fear, but with eyes of faith.
Life doesn’t always work out the way we think it should. We all learn that lesson fairly early on, and yet it always comes as a surprise to us despite that. And as much as we pretend that civilization makes us superior to the dumb animals in the wildernesses around us, we cave into our base animal instincts quite easily. Fight or flight in the midst of fear. But Jesus calls us to look to the good in the world, to recognize God’s hand in the midst of all that goes on in our lives.
God’s promises have not faded away in the midst of this world’s chaos and violence. They are still there in the midst of hatred and uncertainty. They are still yours and mine in the midst of broken expectations. You are still baptized. You are still claimed by the one who lived, died, and then rose again. The world may rage or cower in the midst of its unmet expectations, but God is still on the throne. Still at work. Still our loving father, eager to forgive and love.
This is Jesus’ message to John and to us. He also emphasizes it with the crowd on that day. John is the greatest, but the kingdom is still greater. We know this world, but what God is bringing is better. Do not let the disappointments of this world cloud your judgment. There is still the kingdom, God at work in this world. Making the blind to see, the lame to walk, and encouraging those imprisoned by fear.
The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudate, the Sunday of Joy. It’s the Sunday we light the pink candle of the Advent wreath (if you hold to the older liturgical tradition). It’s why I wear a pink shirt on this Sunday.
A pink Pope Francis? Oh, yes.
Joy is the opposite of fear and joy comes from seeing God at work in the world and in our lives. He’s there. He’s bringing the peaceable kingdom that Isaiah so poetically envisions. He’s doing the things that Jesus tells John the Baptizer, healing the sick, welcoming the stranger, changing the world. It may not always seem like it, but it is happening. God is at work, now and always. Open your eyes and see it. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment