Sermon for February 12

The reading: 

Luke 7:18-35

The disciples of John reported all these things to him. So John summoned two of his disciples  and sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"  When the men had come to him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?' " Jesus had just then cured many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and had given sight to many who were blind. And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

When John's messengers had gone, 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?  What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 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.' I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." (And all the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God, because they had been baptized with John's baptism.  But by refusing to be baptized by him, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves.)  "To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?  They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.'  For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, "He has a demon';  the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, "Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

  

 The message

Today’s reading is one that has often confused me and I find difficult to understand.  Before getting to that part, I wanted to talk a little about selling a couch.  One of the things I do when I’m volunteering at the Habitat for Humanity Restore is sell things to customers.  Take, for instance, a couch.  If someone is looking at a couch, I will ask “do you have any questions” and then highlight some of the features. If it’s a good couch, I invite people to sit on it, I’ll say it’s like new, real wood, comfortable, barely used, a beautiful pattern or great color.  If it’s not so good, I will call it vintage, an interesting style, unique, or worst case, you can cover it with a sheet.   I ultimately want them to buy the couch for the price listed on the ticket, to say, “Your all set, just bring the ticket to the register and we’ll help you take it out”.  Sometimes, as time drags on and I can tell they are losing interest or just looking for a dirt cheap price (even lower than the regular dirt cheap price), I’ll say, “you know, we sell a lot of couches and this is a good one that just came in, if you do not buy it, I’m sure someone else will by the end of the week”.  In that case, I’m willing to let that customer go and wait for the next potential buyer, who is going to pay a reasonable price.    

This morning, John the Baptist, one of the most faithful, dedicated and prophetic voices in the Bible, has that sort of, “if you do not buy it, ill sell it to someone else” moment.  When John sends his disciples to Jesus with the question “are you the one or should we wait for another”,  he is basically threatening Jesus, saying “start acting like the Messiah I want or my followers and I will start looking for other people”.     

To understand why John is so frustrated and anxious and what kind of Messiah John wanted, we have to look back a little.  Before all this, John Baptized Jesus, John saw the heavens open, John heard God’s voice say “this is my son, the beloved, with him I am well pleased” John knew Jesus was doing all of the things that the Messiah would do, John knew Jesus had cured the sick, John knew just Jesus raised the dead, John knew Jesus exorcised demons, and John knew that Jesus was announcing the arrival of God’s kingdom.   John knew Jesus was the Messiah.   

At the time John asks Jesus “start acting like the Messiah I want or ill start looking for other people”. John is frustrated and anxious.  John had been arrested by Herod, the ruler of Israel appointed by Rome. Herod wanted to shut John up and get him out of the way.  Herod did not want to kill John since he was highly regarded as a prophet and Herod could not afford to anger so many people. You see Herod ruled by the whim of Rome, an empire that would much sooner just get rid of Herod than deal with any sort public protest or uprising in a small, irrelevant, far-away place. At the same time, Herod could not just let John keep talking.  He was a fierce critic of Herod’s leadership and condemned the sort of nasty, illegal relations within Herod’s family. 

John’s frustration and anxiety comes with the expected changes that were not occurring. As much as Jesus was doing the signs announced as witness to the Messiah, other things were not happening.  John wanted to see the overthrow of the oppressive Roman Empire,  the elimination of their laws, their unscriptural foundation and restrictions on God’s people.  John wanted to see the conversion of all people and the organization of society under God’s rule.  It did not appear that Jesus was at all concerned about these things.  John felt, if the kingdom of God was truly here, the kingdom of Rome would be gone. Of course, there was also the release to the prisoners part that John was waiting for (being in prison at the time, this was of particular interest to him)  John asking ‘are you the one or should we wait for another, was not a curious question. This was a public confrontation and challenge, “do what we want or we will look at someone else”   

Despite his piety, his commitment, his deep faith and the great things Jesus says and celebrates about him, John was unhappy with Jesus actions.  This is not really the Messiah he wanted.  John knows what Jesus has done, he just wanted something else.  Jesus was doing the works of power, teaching with great authority but where was the social and political changes the Messiah would usher in.   God does not do what we want.  Jesus would reveal God’s love in suffering, weakness and apparent powerlessness.   

Im going to end with some thoughts on the last section of our reading, Jesus conversation with the crowd about who John the Baptist was.  These are the words that have always sort of confused me. At their heart, they are words of warning to people who are blind to what God is doing in the world or people who want to control what God does in the world.   Jesus knows that the world, in particular the relationship between God and people, would be completely different after his death and resurrection.  John the Baptist would die before witnessing Jesus’ suffering and resurrection (a little girl tricks Herod and forces him to behead John soon after today’s conversation).  The new era, the kingdom of God, is so much greater, the least one there is greater than John (the best of the old era).  No matter how good John was, his works could not replace God’s gift of salvation.