December 16, 2007
| Advent 3, 2007 | Isaiah 35:1-10 | |
| James 5:7-10 | ||
| Matthew 11:2-11 |
The preacher gave a very confident message. And it was about time too. Foreigners had flooded into the homeland. Worship was getting adulterated into a multi-cultural mish-mash.
The preacher came across with a bracing message calling for personal responsibility. Then the preacher gave a promise that God would send someone to clean up the mess.
You could package that message. Throw on some designer lighting, a tailored suit, and you could speak that word from the heart, and straight into the TV camera. It's a great message. It's the message of John the Baptist.
People listened to John the Baptist. Lots of people. But why? He had no cameras, and no slick packaging. He did not dress for success. He was not camera friendly. Here's a guy who wore animal skins and ate bugs! Modern day seminars on how to win friends and influence people do not mention eating bugs or dressing in animal skins.
But people flocked to hear him. John did not have a following because of his great looks or his happy message. John attracted an audience because his words were empowered by God. He was a prophet.
But wait a second. John got thrown in prison. God's appointed prophet ended up in jail- in trouble for telling the truth. That's bad. But here's what's worse...
Jesus did not get John OUT of prison. The ONE said to be sent from God, mightier than John, no less than God's Messiah- did not spring John from prison. Did not depose the corrupt local leaders, did not deal with the foreign invaders.
Just imagine how disillusioned John was. John himself said God would send someone- and now the Someone can't- or won't- set the world straight.
So he had to ask. "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?"
That is a very modern question. Lots of people have looked at Jesus and moved on. The whole "Love your neighbor" thing sounds wonderful, but is dismissed as impractical, and risky in this hostile world. Better to strike first to let them know you mean business.
A close parallel to John's question is this: Why does God allow sin and injustice? How can a servant of God end up in jail? When will the justice of God prevail over the tyrants and the thugs of this world? When do the good guys win?
John is asking a hard question. If the Messiah has arrived, how come things are not better? That's the question. Hard enough to ask it. Even harder to answer.
I think this text offers us an answer. It's hard to put into words.
Here's an illustration. I think most of us are familiar with those pictures you see in Psychology books and articles: you see a black and white image, and first it seems to be a pillar- a kind of spindle- maybe a lamp or a column from a banister. Look again. It's two faces- mirror images looking at each other. Have you seen those?
There are others. I remember another one. Looking one way, it is the profile of a mean-looking old hag. Looking another way, it is an elegant young woman with porcelain skin. Have you seen those?
Those are real-world illustrations that teach one thing: You can look at exactly the same picture and see completely different objects.
John had a picture in his mind of what the Messiah would accomplish. I think it had to do with winning. We humans are prone to think in terms of "Us and Them" and then we attach the idea of justice to the idea that the good guys win and the bad guys lose.
Jesus did not fulfill John's picture of a conqueror, so John's confidence was badly shaken.
How many of us have troubles in our walk of faith because we just can't see how God is winning? But what if winning looks different than what we imagine? This is not playing with words. God's ways are not our ways. If God's prophet was looking at the wrong picture, then surely we must do the same.
Jesus did not come to earth to re-write the job description of Messiah, but to point us to a better picture of what it means to save.
What is missing from John's picture is that God loves both the oppressed and the oppressor. God is out not to crush, but to transform. And transformation is possible and is taking place.
Violence begets violence, and love begets love. If you think that is a pipe dream then consider that historians and economists agree that when nations become active trade partners, the likelihood of a war between them is dramatically reduced. The surest and safest victory is when an enemy becomes a friend.
God is not in the business of scorched-earth victory. God is not in the business of coercion. God offers to the world - Jesus- willing to absorb the world's abuse and yet offer forgiveness. A light for us to see that real victory is in winning hearts.
God is loose in the world. Winning hearts. Winning yours, and using it to win others. Watch for it. Keep watching. You'll see.