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The Third Sunday of Advent, 12/15/2013
Sermon on Matthew 11:2-11, by Luke Bouman
Matthew 11:2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" 4 Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 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. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me." 7 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? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 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.' 11 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.
Tell What You See and Hear
Ashley was not happy. Her life was a great big disappointment to her. She was 25, 3 years removed from college. Her plan for her life was supposed to have kicked into high gear by now. She was supposed to have her dream job in a corner office of a high-rise corporate headquarters. She was supposed to be able to travel the world. People should listen to her ideas that would fix nearly everything. Yet she was stuck in a lower level position in a cubicle office somewhere. What little vacation she had was spent back with her parents. She worked hard and no one seemed to notice her. Her life was nowhere near the amazing thing she had envisioned.
She reflected on all of this one day as she was home for another "vacation". She decided to stop in and talk to her old guidance counselor at school. They agreed to have lunch together. After Ashley finished her tale of woe, Mrs. Oberon smiled. She asked Ashley whether or not her expectations were realistic. Previous generations of graduates all had to spend time and energy working their way up the corporate ladder. Only then did they get to enjoy the kind of life that Ashley envisioned for herself right out of college. Ashley walked away from lunch determined to work harder, but Mrs. Obregon could only shake her head. Ashley's story was all too common. Young people that came through her office of late had been told their whole lives how amazing they were, how wide open life would be for them. Many had come back with stories similar to Ashley's, disappointed by the gap between expectation and reality.
Every year sees the publication of the places and cultures where people are the most content, satisfied and happy. Inevitably those cultures that are the richest and have the most material goods are the least happy, whereas those cultures that are poorest have the highest degree of general happiness. This is explained, in part, by the gap in expectations. Those who have little, expect little, and thus are happier with what they have. Those with much expect more and become dissatisfied. It seems that tempering our expectations is one of the keys to the pursuit of happiness. In our Bible reading for today, the 3rd Sunday of Advent, John seems puzzled, if not unhappy. He sends followers to ask Jesus, point blank, if he is the Messiah, the anointed savior of God's people. It seems that John, like many others of his day, has expectations about this Messiah, and questions whether or not Jesus is measuring up.
We cannot know for sure what John's particular expectations were. Perhaps like many of the people, he expected the Messiah to be a political and military ruler, conquering the enemy du jour with might and establishing a political kingdom. Perhaps John expected the Messiah at least to usher in some kind of utopian community. Perhaps John, like many today, expected the Messiah to usher in a period of material wealth and happiness, even though we know (see above) that such things as happiness and material wealth do not cohabitate in most lives. Perhaps John simply expected the Messiah to free him from the prison cell where he was at the start of this lesson. Of course the people's expectations had grown, likely in proportion to the longing that they experienced as they waited for Centuries for the fulfillment of promise. They had taken on a life of their own, so much larger than life that no one could possibly fulfill them. There were cosmic signs and terrible deeds associated with the expected coming of the Day of the Lord. One strand of the prophetic witness proclaimed those themes rather boldly. "Look, he is coming with the clouds..."
As usual, Jesus has less to do with our expectations that with God's project to join together those things that are broken. Jesus picks up a different prophetic thread concerning the Messiah's coming than that of cosmic strife. Instead he points John's followers to the prophetic vision of healing and wholeness, themes that might be captured in the Hebrew word "Shalom". Jesus asks them to relate what they have seen and heard. "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." Jesus comes to bring God's wholeness to the people, to restore what is broken. The evidence of this is on the smallest of scales, one person at a time, but God's Kingdom project is on a much grander scale. It will only be complete when the whole cosmos is restored. Thus instead of bringing change through cosmic power leading ultimately to individual healing, God brings change one person, one family, one village, one people at a time until it reaches the whole cosmos.
Of course this shatters the expectations of those who are looking for something else. It will be disappointing to those who want the Messiah to use might to obliterate enemies. It will be misunderstood by those who think that the poor and broken are getting what they deserve. It will be misused by those in power who want to enhance their position. But it is good news for everyone, even those who are disappointed, as a limited vision of God's intent is broadened to bring healing to everyone. Our expectations of Messiah are likely different in outcome than a 1st Century prophet like John. Still, unless and until we grasp that Jesus was here to bring healing to more than just us and people like us, unless and until we claim this healing for all people, for all creation really, then we will also might find ourselves either making Jesus into something he is not, or else being disappointed that he is not what we want or expect.
Our world is indeed broken still. But at the same time it is being healed by the strange and wonderful power of dying and rising. We stand at a moment in between the two: broken, yet being made new, healing, but not altogether whole. It is this chrysalid state that comes to the surface during the season of Advent, although it is really part and parcel of our lives as God's people all year round. We live in intense longing for what will be, knowing that the seeds for this new creation have been sown and already begin to grow within and around us. The Reign of God is already among us, as we see and hear of the healing that comes from Christ alone. But it is subtle where we are tempted to desire ostentatious. It is meek where we desire bold, subdued where we long for flash. And herein lies the trouble.
In Jesus day people went out to the desert to see the "John the Baptist Show" and we too are tempted to flock to religious experiences and leaders who "wow" us with lights and glamour. It is what we seem to expect from the world and it bleeds over into our faith lives as well. Note that Jesus doesn't say this is altogether bad or wrong. But he puts it in perspective. As great as stuff like that may be, it is part of the old, broken existence. The wholeness of the kingdom of heaven is greater than the greatest of this broken age. As we continue to explore what it means to be God's people, especially during this Advent season, we are called to bear witness to something else: God's Shalom, wholeness and healing for all.
Signs of this are all around us, but especially when love and forgiveness trump fear and hate, especially when death is swallowed up by a new life that we see only in glimpses. Yet it is precisely those glimpses that help us to know that Jesus is indeed Messiah, bringing life to all. And it is to that one that we bear witness with our faith and lives. Indeed, in our baptisms we are called into the "kingdom of heaven" in a way that begins now and comes to completion in God's future. As such we are called to tell people what we see and hear. Look, therefore for the places where "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." For it is there that the signs of this Messiah are most truly evident. Then go and tell this good news to a disappointed, broken world. Expectations can be arranged, but only when they are replaced with true hope and faith in God's promise of wholeness and life.