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Century Christian
Church 1301 Tamarack Road, Owensboro, KY 42301, (270) 684-0286, Pastor: Rev. Jim Westmoreland |
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What Do You See and Hear? This is the third Sunday of the Christian calendar, which begins with the Season of Advent, not the month of January. We remind ourselves that this is a time of expectancy and preparation - expectancy of the coming of Christ and preparation for his coming. This morning, I want to touch the expectancy and yearnings that we all have for God, and I want to call us again to use this time for preparation and devotion to remember the coming of God into the world in the form of a baby and to also remember the first coming of God into our hearts as the One who saves us and makes our lives new. How do we get in touch with our expectancy and yearnings for God? (1) And, how do we prepare ourselves and our families for something special and holy in an utterly secular world? What questions do we ask as we try to sort our way through the "cultural smog" of the commercialized and secularized "Christmas season?" The Christ of Christmas is almost choked out by the toxic fumes of materialism and self-indulgence. We get some help from our text today as it deals with a story involving John the Baptist. A key spiritual insight revolves around the question, "What do you see and hear?" This was a question Jesus gave to John and his disciples, and He ultimately gives this same question to us, "What do you see and hear?" John arrives on the scene in biblical history when there is a high messianic expectation. There was a longing and yearning for the Messiah, who was seen as a deliverer. Israel had long been a conquered people. They remembered and told stories about the glory of David's reign, but it didn't last, and they had been subject to the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans. There had been many attempted revolts, the most famous being the bloody Maccabean revolt around 100 B.C. A big part of the messianic expectation was a deep longing and hunger for their former glory. They wanted to feel good about themselves again, and so they remembered their national greatness and international power, even though they were now vassals and subjects of conquering nations. They longed for a Messiah who would come and overthrow their oppressors. John the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus, was born just a few months before Jesus in answer to the prayers of his older parents who had been childless. Before Jesus begins his public ministry, John appears in the wilderness preaching repentance and baptizing. Many scholars believe that John had been a part of one of the Essene communities of the time, such as the Qumran community, which produced the scrolls and manuals found in caves in Palestine in 1947, called the Dead Sea Scrolls. One of the writings found came from Cave 4 at Qumram and are Aramaic fragments of the apocryphical book of Enoch. The messianic figure in Enoch is called the Son of Man. The Son of Man was a conquering hero. He ushered in the Day of the Lord, which was an apocalyptic overthrow of evil and a time of judgment for Israel's oppressors. The Son of Man would restore Israel to her proper place of greatness among the nations. Artists have depicted the Son of Man as a kind of Herculean conqueror riding a winged-white stallion with lightning bolts coming from its eyes, fire from its mouth and smoke from its nostrils. The image of the Son of Man is dramatic and powerful, and it stirred the deepest emotions of the long oppressed people of Israel. It was not a big jump at all to mix the Son of Man imagery in with the Messianic imagery for a people who had grown tired of being second class. They were sure that the Messiah would make it all right. Many had come claiming to be the Messiah, which created skepticism, but also a deep desire for the real thing. Into this churning sea of expectation steps John the Baptizer. He is a great preacher of promise. He is the forerunner, the one who preaches with fire and judgment a message of repentance. Many people were following him. In chapter 3 Matthew tells us that Jesus went to John to be baptized. John had no trouble recognizing Jesus at the Jordan as the promised one. When his disciples began to leave him to follow Jesus, he said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." In spite of his early recognition and confidence in Jesus as the Messiah, John had second thoughts while in prison. Everything had been taken from him - his preaching, his mission, his opportunity to call others to repentance. (2) He found himself in Herod Antipas' terrible fortress prison of Macchaerus, (3) just east of the Dead Sea. Here, he received reports about Jesus' Galilean ministry. What he didn't hear bothered him. He didn't hear any condemnation of Herod, nothing that sounded like the baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire. There was nothing that suggested the images associated with the decisive Day of the Lord, where God came in judgment and everything was made right. He must have thought, "Where have I gone wrong?" Who can blame John for doubting and questioning? He clearly expected a fire and brimstone, conquering messiah. Messiah was supposed to overthrow the enemies and set up a new government. He was to come with both power and control. Jesus did not come forcing people into subjection and putting them under his control using overwhelming power. Fred Craddock, in his opening message to the 2004 Kentucky Regional Assembly in Owensboro, said that Jesus had unlimited power, but, he used it with restraint. Power with restraint. He could have done all that the people hoped he would as Messiah, but he didn't. Jesus was not what John had waited for. Jesus pronounced blessings on the poor in spirit, the meek, the peacemakers. He called his disciples to love their enemies. He warned them not to judge others. Why didn't he rescue John? Why didn't he bring down fire from heaven on John's oppressors? We struggle with these same kids of questions today. Why does God allow bad things to happen to us? Why are evil people allowed to continue doing what they do year after year? Why do good people suffer? If we tithe, why aren't we rich? We have to admire John's honesty and directness with Jesus. He had a problem with him; so, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the one or should they wait on another. Though John had his doubts, he was open to hearing what Jesus had to say. It was a shocking question. It was the question asked by Jesus' worst critics, but now the question has been asked by a friend, Jesus' cousin, the one who baptized him. Are you the Messiah? (4) We could almost miss the emotional impact of this little story in these two verses (Mt. 11:2-3) about John sending his disciples to Jesus to ask if He was the Messiah or should they be looking for another. We have to feel the disappointment behind John's question and also the disappointment of Jesus because John and the majority of the multitudes didn't get what Jesus' ministry was about. Jesus' words beginning in v. 4, "Go and tell John what you hear and see" lead to a spiritual crescendo. To add to the impact of Jesus' response, I imagine cymbals clashing dramatically with each statement as Jesus tells them some of what they see and hear. The blind receive their sight (boom!); the lame walk (boom!); the lepers are cleansed (boom!); the deaf hear (boom!); the dead are raised (boom!); and the poor have good news brought to them (boom!). Go and tell John what you see and hear. Tell him about the people who are no longer the same. Tell him about people who have changed. Tell him about people who have found hope and good news. Tell him about people who are willing to take time to be a neighbor and care for others. Advent is a time of waiting and expectation, not just about a baby's birth but about the experience of Messiah. We have been a nation experiencing the greatest religious freedom the world has ever known. Why are people becoming more "godless" in their lives rather than "God-led?" I think it is because we don't want to wait for anything and our expectations about God are distorted or so diluted as to be worthless. We are desperately trying to find happiness by having more things, or more pleasures and pastimes, but we are tragically looking for God in all the wrong places, and every day we put on our plastic faces and try to act like everything is okay. We need what Jesus offers: unconditional love and a loving spirit, forgiveness and a forgiving spirit, healing and a healing spirit, compassion and a caring spirit. We need his sacrifice and a sacrificing spirit to offer our lives and our time and resources and talents for others not only here in Owensboro but to the uttermost ends of the earth. In the most recent U.S. Census in Owensboro 28% claim no religious connection of any kind and less than one in four people go to church each week. We are not talking about those who claim some marginal relationship to a church but never go. Nor are we talking about those who may go to a church infrequently but do not consider their faith and practice a significant influence in their lives. It would be a great experience, if it didn't scare us too badly, if someone were to ask us if Jesus was the one sent by God, but most people are just looking for God in all the wrong places. When the subject of religion comes up, what do we talk about? Music, friendly people, preaching, the rituals we observe? Is this what Jesus had in mind when he said to go and tell what you see and hear? I don't think so. How about talking about changes that have occurred in us? (boom!) Changes in our attitudes? (boom!) Changes in our values? (boom!) Changes in our behavior? (boom!) Changes in the way we treat others? (boom!) The power of the Gospel is in changed lives, lives in which Jesus is making a difference? (boom!) Think about how the coming of Christ into your life makes a difference for you. This morning, as the impact of this encounter between John's disciples and Jesus reaches its crescendo in Jesus' words to go and tell what we have seen and heard, we need to ask ourselves, "What are we doing to clash the cymbols?"
Endnotes: 1. From a sermon, Will He Answer?, by Jim Westmoreland. 2. From a 12-16-2001 sermon by Katerina K. Whitley found at http://arc.episcopalchurch.org/ 3. Josephus, Jewish Historian at the time of Jesus. 4. William H. Willimon in Pulpit Resource for December 12, 2004, p. 46. |
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