Saturday, December 10th, 2016
Are You the One, or Not?
John the Baptist is in chains, probably sleeping on a stone floor at night, peering out through a small window, maybe, at life going by. His freedom has been stolen, his future is uncertain. I imagine he was acutely aware of a need of a different kind of saviour than we’re used to thinking of. “Get me out of here! I’m locked away, imprisoned for my preaching, my beliefs, my faith.” (And for calling Herod out on his sins). “Where is this Messiah, who is coming to redeem Israel from these Roman intruders?”
I’m sure he had a lot of time to think. He most certainly would have recalled the heavens opening on that fateful day, when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus as a dove. I imagine him squinting in the sun, looking up in awe and fear. And from the darkness of his cell, what would those memories become? A hallucination? A fairy tale? Something his mind conjured to taunt him in his shivering desolation? I mean, what more could one ask for as confirmation than a voice from heaven? John heard it with his own ears: “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Remember that Jesus and John were cousins. Distant cousins, maybe, but when Mary was pregnant, she went to stay with John’s mother Elizabeth, and that Elizabeth’s own baby jumped in her womb as she approached. So it’s likely they knew each other. Their families maybe got together on holidays, they may have played together, since they were so close in age. “I really thought Jesus would free us from these Romans! I could sure use freedom right about now.”
And so he ask his followers, his students, to go and find Jesus, and ask him a question: “What’s going on?” Maybe even, “what’s the hold up? Are you the Christ, or aren’t you?”
So as Jesus watched John’s disciples approaching, as he saw the question form on their lips, he would picture John in his mind, wouldn’t he. He’d remember the baby face, perhaps, and maybe even the pimply teen. He could possibly even hear John’s words in his mind as these followers spoke them. “Are you going to save me?”
It’s a question we all ask, even today, two thousand and sixteen years later. “Are you going to save me, Lord? I’m in need. Where are you?”
This weekend is called Gaudete Sunday - the color is pink, not purple, and gaudete means Joy. It’s Latin for rejoice. Joy is a word we throw around a lot at Christmas. Joy to the Lord, Joyful We Adore Thee, Love, Peace and Joy - it is so common that it almost means nothing anymore.
Theologian Henri Nouwen described the difference between joy and happiness. While happiness is dependent on external conditions, joy is "the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing -- sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death -- can take that love away." Thus joy can be present even in the midst of sadness.
So when John heard his students recount Jesus’ answer, he may not have felt happy at their words. His situation wasn’t going to change. He had misunderstood the type of revolution that Jesus would bring. Jesus said, “Am I the one?”
“Go and tell John what you hear and what you see: the blind can see, the lame can walk, the lepers are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”
Even though John may have not felt happy at Jesus’ words, they were a cause for great joy. That inner experience of knowing that nothing, not even imprisonment and impending death can take unconditional love away.
I invite you: send your question off to Jesus - ask him if he’s the one, If he will return to save you. Ask him to rescue you even.
From your prison... from your discomfort... your hard stone floors... your chilly nights... your lonely, peering out through a little window at the world walking by. His answer will be the same as it was for John. What do you see? You see God’s work being done all around you, and it will bring you Joy.
James 5:7-10:
Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
Amen
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