Like last week, this week's Gospel reading is also about John the Baptist. What do we know about John? He is a relative of Jesus, and it was John who leaped in his mother Elizabeth’s womb when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, arrived at their house. As John’s father Zechariah later sang, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way, to give God’s people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.”
What Zechariah sang indeed came to pass - it was John in the wilderness who called for the people to repent, declaring that, while he baptized with water, one was coming who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. It is as Jesus reminds the people at the end of today’s gospel reading: “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.’”
But, since that time, John has been thrown into prison for daring to publicly speak against Herod for taking his brother’s wife as his own. The contrast between the two stories about John is almost shocking - we go from loud, confident John in the wilderness to quiet, uncertain John in prison.
It's a common feeling, I think. We can be gung-ho about something, but then when we don't see the expected results, we backpedal a bit and wonder...was it all a waste? Did I hitch my cart to the wrong horse?
So, from prison, filled with doubts and questions, John sends his disciples, his followers, to ask Jesus: "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" After all these visions of a winnowing fork, baptism of fire, and so on and so forth, Jesus' time spent with outcasts seems a little anticlimactic.
What Jesus tells John's disciples is that he didn't come for flashy displays or talk-show appearances. You want receipts? Here they are - "Go and tell John what you hear and see: those who are blind receive their sight, those who are lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, those who are deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them."
This shouldn't be surprising to us. This kind of healing and restoration to wholeness and community has always been what God is all about. We see it in today’s readings from Isaiah and Psalm 146. We hear these themes again and again throughout the Bible, in God’s work through prophets, in the work of Jesus and his disciples in the Gospels, in the actions of the early Church, and still today.
After all, the way we know Jesus is through our encounters with people who have been changed as a result of the presence of Jesus in their lives. This is the work of evangelism - go and tell others what you hear and see of God’s presence and action in the world.
We know that God is present, we’ve experienced God’s mercy and God’s provision, but sometimes we don’t notice all that God has done, and we’re not always the best about going and telling what have heard and seen.
So - what do you think? Is Jesus the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another? What are the signs and examples of the living God present and active in our midst? Where have you seen and heard the God who is present with the suffering, seeks the lost, and restores the outcast? Where have you seen God bring healing and wholeness to places of brokenness and pain?
[In worship, everyone was invited to take a few minutes to share with one another where they've heard and seen what God is doing in their lives and in the community and the world].
On this third Sunday of Advent where the pink candle reminds us of our focus on joy, it is wonderful to experience how sharing the joy of how God has been present and active can multiply and spread that joy!
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| Photo by Steven Wright on Unsplash |
What Zechariah sang indeed came to pass - it was John in the wilderness who called for the people to repent, declaring that, while he baptized with water, one was coming who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. It is as Jesus reminds the people at the end of today’s gospel reading: “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.’”
But, since that time, John has been thrown into prison for daring to publicly speak against Herod for taking his brother’s wife as his own. The contrast between the two stories about John is almost shocking - we go from loud, confident John in the wilderness to quiet, uncertain John in prison.
It's a common feeling, I think. We can be gung-ho about something, but then when we don't see the expected results, we backpedal a bit and wonder...was it all a waste? Did I hitch my cart to the wrong horse?
So, from prison, filled with doubts and questions, John sends his disciples, his followers, to ask Jesus: "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" After all these visions of a winnowing fork, baptism of fire, and so on and so forth, Jesus' time spent with outcasts seems a little anticlimactic.
What Jesus tells John's disciples is that he didn't come for flashy displays or talk-show appearances. You want receipts? Here they are - "Go and tell John what you hear and see: those who are blind receive their sight, those who are lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, those who are deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them."
This shouldn't be surprising to us. This kind of healing and restoration to wholeness and community has always been what God is all about. We see it in today’s readings from Isaiah and Psalm 146. We hear these themes again and again throughout the Bible, in God’s work through prophets, in the work of Jesus and his disciples in the Gospels, in the actions of the early Church, and still today.
After all, the way we know Jesus is through our encounters with people who have been changed as a result of the presence of Jesus in their lives. This is the work of evangelism - go and tell others what you hear and see of God’s presence and action in the world.
We know that God is present, we’ve experienced God’s mercy and God’s provision, but sometimes we don’t notice all that God has done, and we’re not always the best about going and telling what have heard and seen.
So - what do you think? Is Jesus the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another? What are the signs and examples of the living God present and active in our midst? Where have you seen and heard the God who is present with the suffering, seeks the lost, and restores the outcast? Where have you seen God bring healing and wholeness to places of brokenness and pain?
[In worship, everyone was invited to take a few minutes to share with one another where they've heard and seen what God is doing in their lives and in the community and the world].
On this third Sunday of Advent where the pink candle reminds us of our focus on joy, it is wonderful to experience how sharing the joy of how God has been present and active can multiply and spread that joy!
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