PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

“Lord, make your home in the place you lead me. Take that place and fill it with your love. Make me at home wherever you lead me. May each place reflect a glory all your own.”

―Ray Simpson, 40 Prayers from Celtic Christianity

Matthew 11:2-11
Messengers from John the Baptist 

2 When John heard in prison what the Messiahwas doing, he sent word by hisdisciples 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 lepersare 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.” 

Jesus Praises John the Baptist 

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? Someonedressed 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. 

John had been the voice crying out in the wilderness…he knew his voice was calling out the coming of the Messiah, the promised one. He was also waiting, earnestly. Not idly, he was in the business of calling people towards something…it was an active waiting…not anxious, but active. With all of that activity, he wasn’t able to slow down possibly…until he was put into prison. Then, the questions came. Jesus, are you the one?

John was the hinge piece between promise and fulfillment. But, even as Jesus came, even with all of the waiting with faith, questions, and even doubts…and even with all of the signs pointing towards Jesus…Jesus still didn’t seem to be what folks expected. They were disappointed maybe, still waiting to see who this Jesus was…but, for most, that didn’t become real until years after Jesus’ death even…folks had to stop, look, listen and allow themselves to die a bit. Then, they began to see that God was always with them, and physically before them through Jesus.

John was a prophet, Jesus’ words in this text about him being “less important” and John’s doubts and questions, put him squarely in the prophetic role. John didn’t have the privilege in his physical lifetime of experiencing Jesus in community and as the Messiah.
John was a prophet, pointing to Jesus.

As John waited and looked at Jesus, he might have been disappointed. Jesus seemingly broke the mold of what a messiah should look like. He didn’t play by all of the rules, he was a free spirit in many ways. John’s message had been a fiery one, a calling out and into metanoia, away from a life of unawareness. Jesus’ message was, and is, that God is for us, with us. Jesus is calling us towards something greater, to a deeper awareness, to being the people we created to be, loving and honoring and inclusive.

In the beginning of the passage, John talks about pointing towards the “deeds of a messiah”. In other words, not convinced at that moment that Jesus was the one. There were other messiahs as well. Messiah is simply a savior, or the promised one who will deliver. Islam refers to Jesus as a messiah, the promised one coming to give us words of prophetic value. Judaism is always looking for a messiah, someone to deliver them.

In our world, we have elections, we are also always looking for a messiah. We elect someone who makes promises of deliverance from something.  An earthly ruler.  Israel was wanting the same thing…and earthly ruler to deliver them from Roman oppression.

John wants to know, he’s been waiting, is Jesus the promised one, the Judaic messiah, or should John continue to wait for someone else.

John wanted a clear, explicit messiah.

So, John sends his disciples to ask Jesus these questions. Jesus’ response is from Isaiah, from prophecies. Jesus says to look at his physical activity, he has been healing, releasing folks from bondage, restoring them to community. In other words: Yes. But, not exactly what you’ve been waiting for, or what you thought. Jesus goes on to say that those who can see who Jesus is, those who do not stumble as John may have been, by who Jesus is with, how Jesus acts, but see Jesus and his way of loving as markings of the Messiah, of understanding their deliverance, would find joy in the midst of their lives. 

Then Jesus explains that John was a prophet, a herald, but still not fully seeing the implications of Jesus’ life and coming. He was still waiting.

John’s message pointed to Jesus, and it may not have been what people wanted to hear…they flocked to him, but were disappointed. John didn’t have a preaching style or message that made folks feel good. Folks went to John because they wanted a spectacle, they wanted to see a prophet. And, Jesus confirms that he was…but, he wasn’t someone who fit the mood of the times, his message, point- ing to Jesus, wasn’t exactly what people were looking for. John’s voice crying out in the wilderness wasn’t about giving folks what they wanted to hear, not about making folks feel good, but about God’s salvation that is hard to understand, it doesn’t deliver us from all of our problems, but it delivers us towards wholeness as we begin to understand that we are not alone in our darkness…and that we can overcome in our lives, even as we walk through dark times. 

John was not only a prophet, but a herald greater than even Elijah, who was calling humanity into a deeper understanding of itself through the lens of Jesus, of God with us.
John’s message, John’s voice was from a different era, the last of the great prophets. Prophetic voices of change that are marked by a maturity in waiting for the right moments to be heard. Moments that are pregnant with new things coming forth. Giving definition and shape for things to come. These voices are also still in the wilderness, calling into the cultural constructs of things to come…and to wait and be ready for that change. 

Our question this morning: what are we waiting for? And, are we waiting with a sense of being able to truly receive what we’ve been promised? Advent is about waiting for the Messiah to come. What do we need to be delivered from? Are we afraid to listen to the voice calling outside of us towards a repentance, a changing of our hearts and minds? And, are we willing to wait with patience and receive the voice deep down within us calling us towards being the people God intends us to be? In other words, do we really want to live with deep agency in knowing that God is with us, or do we simply want to keep on waiting for something else? 

It is interesting to note that Jesus goes on to say in the next few verses that this generation doesn’t know what it wants…that it’s like children yelling at each other in the marketplaces, complaining about everything. John comes along with a message of metanoia with a simple lifestyle, not eating or drinking…Jesus comes along eating and drinking with a message of grace, acceptance, and God’s inclusiveness…people say John must have been demon possessed and Jesus likes to drink, and is friends with tax collectors and sinners.

Yet, more than words said by prophets and preachers, wisdom is born out of waiting and receiving with patience the actions of a prophet and of a Messiah.

May we experience “metanoia”, have a change of heart and mind…and may we laugh and dance with a God who loves us, who accepts us, and who includes us in communion with God’s Self and others.