Advent III
The Rev. Christy Laborda Harris
December 11, 2022
Matthew 11:2-11
When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
Can you imagine John? Locked up for XXXX. Sitting in prison. A prison that was far worse than the ones in our country today. Having literally staked his life on Jesus, he asks, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Are you really it? Was this how it was supposed to go?
We do not know exactly what was going on in his heart and his mind. Perhaps he was really questioning if Jesus was the one? Perhaps he was scared and just needed reassurance that his sacrifice was really worth it? Perhaps he was questioning why the messiah would let the one who declared him die in prison? We do not know…
John’s question echoes the question of many believers, the question many of us have asked or at least pondered… Really? Was Jesus really the one? Is this… all of this… right? Is this really what it’s about? Really what we’re supposed to believe or do?
The good news is that Jesus does not rebuke John. He doesn’t get in trouble for asking or doubting or needing confirmation. The bad news is that Jesus, in usual Jesus fashion, does not answer simply. He does not say, “Yup. It’s me. I am the one who was to come.” Nor does he say, “Nope. You’ve got to wait for another.”
Instead, “Jesus answered them, ‘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. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.’”
Go and tell what you hear and see. Jesus answers the question of whether he is the one by listing what he has been doing:
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.
This. This list. These actions of healing and wholeness and compassion… These moments where those who have been cast out of community, who have been pushed to the margins and suffered greatly not just by their presenting aliment but by the way their society has ostracized and ignored them… these examples of transformation, both individual and communal… this is proof positive that he is the one. The one they had waited for.
Jesus’ non-answer turns the question back on John the Baptism and on us (Pulpit Fiction Podcast). Jesus has just described himself. This is who I am, he tells us. The one who cares about the marginalized, who heals, who creates wholeness, who brings us back into relationship, who transforms us and our world. This is who I am. The question is whether that is who you are looking for? Or are you going to keep looking for another? For someone else?
I feel like the popular Christianity of our larger culture has done a bait and switch with Jesus. We’ve accepted him by name but not by action. We’re happy to declare him the one, but we reject the very signs of his work in our world. He’s our personal Lord and Savior, but not so much concerned with the healing and salvation of the world. But when we deny his work of healing and wholeness, compassion, reconciliation and transformation… we actually deny him. That was who he was. That was how he lived the heart of God.
I fear that if you surveyed a random assortment of folks walking down the street and asked them what Jesus taught and did and cared about, you’d hear a lot about being a good person and getting into some other worldly heaven and avoiding hell. You’d hear about a Jesus who instead of bringing people on the margins of society back into relationship, is very focused what happens in the privacy of our bedrooms, on women’s bodies and on how being gay or queer or trans is wrong. I am sure that some things never mentioned in the Bible but transposed into our imaginings of scripture would come up… such as abortion and the sentiment that Jesus helps those who help themselves, those hard-working puritanical Christians who pull themselves up by their bootstraps… but it’s unlikely you’d hear much about the foundational Gospel concepts of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the refugee, and visiting the sick in prison.
I can’t help but picture a life-size image of Jesus… you know, with the blond hair, blue eyes, and mild sorta whimpy expression… except when you walk around the side, you realize it’s cardboard cutout. There’s nothing behind the two-dimensional image. Instead, feel free to put whatever you like back there! Whatever suits you and your life.
Professor Stanley Saunders, writes, “John’s question concerns both what actions he expected of Jesus and, thus, whether Jesus is really the Christ. Another question is implied: will John (and we) stand with or against him? The scribes, Pharisees, and other leaders, who might be expected to recognize more clearly than others the nature and meaning of Jesus’ ministry, have already set their wills against him. Is “this generation,” which will soon kill both John and Jesus, looking for the wrong signs? Or do they already discern the possibility that his coming constitutes a threat to their status or way of life? Do their investments in the status quo or their trust in their own righteousness make it impossible to accept the signs of God’s coming, whether in judgment, redemption, or both? Why do those who see themselves as the righteous so often stand on the wrong side of God’s will and work?”
We are challenged as followers of Christ to seek to know Jesus as he was—from his actions and his words. Go and tell 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.
For those of us who are comfortable and privileged in this life, Jesus’ actions may constitute a threat to the status quo that serves us or to our way of life. But I believe and trust that the God of creation, who knows and loves each and every one of us, seeks not the suffering of the rich but instead the alleviation of the devastation of poverty. And how that will happen might be scary for those of us who comparatively have much but I’d rather hitch my wagon to this man of healing and reconciliation, wholeness and transformation, than to some other false gospel that pats me on the back and tells me I am doing just great and that my privilege is a sign of God’s favor, some other gospel that is so threatened by Jesus’ work that it advocates for just about the polar opposite.
I am deeply saddened that the Jesus of our culture’s popular Christianity seems to be a bigot concerned with escaping the beautiful world his father made. I am heartened because I believe that there are many out there who are in fact searching for Jesus as he describes himself to John. Jesus who heals, makes whole, reconciles, and transforms us and our world. But all our culture presents us with is the empty, socially acceptable, exclusive and perfectionistic Jesus. That Jesus is not only rather uncompelling but that Jesus rings hollow, inauthentic, and cut off from the sacred life force of the divine. We deserve the truth of Jesus. There is deep truth in the authentic, challenging Jesus who spoke hard truths that disquiet and discomfort. And I believe that there are people in our lives, in our wider community, who would like to be exposed to this Jesus, with the Jesus who got himself executed bucking the powers and authorities.
We do not know if they’d jump on the bandwagon and be found in the seat next to us the following Sunday but, honestly, I don’t think that’s the most important part of it all. We are challenged as followers of Christ both to seek to know Jesus as he was—from his actions and his words AND to go and tell what we 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.
We all deserve to know about this beautiful Jesus who loves us, who seeks our healing and wholeness, reconciliation and transformation.
This is part of our dream for The Playground. We dream that it will be a community where we journey together across our spiritual diversity. This is not the image of the melting pot where we each lose who we are and melt into some indistinguishable glop, but instead the image of the salad bowl. A good salad has distinct elements- crunchy cucumbers, juicy tomatey tomatoes, crisp greens—some bitter, some sweeter, perhaps salty cheese or seeds or nuts, if you’re getting all fancy some herbs with their distinct scents and flavors…The Playground will challenge us to articulate this Jesus we follow. Who he was. What he did. What he said. And what we understand it means to follow him today. It will be a place where we are challenged to share our faith and given the blessing of hearing about the faith and practices of others. This is joint journeying.
“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus’ non-answer turns the question back on us. This is who I am, he tells us. The one who cares about the marginalized, who heals, who creates wholeness, who brings us back into relationship, who transforms us and our world. This is who I am. The question is whether that is who you are looking for?