3d Sunday of Advent
Matt 11: 2-11
Dec. 15, 2013
Boy Scouts, Seton Reservation, Greenwich, Conn.
“John the Baptist … sent his
disciples to Jesus with this question, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or
should we look for another?’” (Matt 11: 2-3).
John the Baptist is in
prison. King Herod has put him there
because John had condemned the adulterous relationship he was living in, and
when you criticize a king you’re likely to get into trouble. Eventually Herod will have John executed.
Being in prison meant John couldn’t
follow the teaching and the healing of Jesus personally. He could only hear about Jesus by word of
mouth—no text messaging, not tweeting, not telephone, not even a newspaper in
the 1st century.
John is puzzled by what he
hears. Do you remember what he was
preaching before he was arrested? Last
week we heard a sample. He was warning
sinners of the wrath of God about to descend upon them when “the one who is
coming” shows up: “Every tree that does
not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. He will gather his wheat into his barn, but
the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (3:10,12). So “the one who is to come,” i.e., the
Savior, the Messiah, will send unrepentant sinners straight to hell—which will
be a lot more unpleasant than getting to close to that fire in the
fireplace. This Messiah will be a fire
and brimstone guy.
But that’s not what John’s
hearing about Jesus. What’s he hearing,
do you think? (Cf. 11:4-5, and more.)
So he sends that message to
Jesus. Does Jesus give a direct answer?
What answer does he
give? (11:4-6) What does that mean? that Jesus is a really
good doctor?
No—Jesus is alluding to what
Isaiah prophesied in the 1st reading (35:5-6).
Jesus is saying he’s the one fulfilling the prophecy, that prophecy and
others. He is “the one who is to come,” and you can see that plainly from his
actions and his words—“the good news” that he proclaims about God’s love for
everyone, God’s readiness to forgive those who repent of their sins, God’s
closeness to everyone, especially the poor, the sick, the powerless, refugees,
those discriminated against.
Time just
named Pope Francis “Person of the Year,” which means, in their opinion, he had
the biggest impact of anyone on the news in 2013. Why has he had such an impact?
There are several
reasons. One is that he’s tried to
imitate Jesus by embracing the severely handicapped and the severely disfigured
and prisoners and refugees. He’s
repeatedly proclaimed God’s mercy, God’s love, while still challenging people
who are responsible for unjust and sinful situations like war, greed, abortion,
and other forms of selfishness. So
people see in him a Christ-image, a Christian.
And they respond to him as so many did to Jesus.
When someone’s baptized, we
also say that they’re “christened.” Do
you know what that means? What does it
mean to “whiten” something? In very old
English, that –en ending means “to
make into.” Something that’s whitened is
made white. Someone who’s christened is
made into Christ, made a Christian.
Do people see us—you and
me—as people who’ve been made into Christ, made into images of Jesus? Not are you
“the one who is to come,” but are you really a follower of the One who has
already come? What do people see when
they look at you or me? a healer, a peacemaker, a helper? kindness, mercy,
compassion? If so, then they’re seeing
an image of Christ! Then we’re making
Jesus present in today’s world, as Pope Francis is doing. It’s the responsibility of everyone who’s
been christened to do that, to show Jesus to the world.
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