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God, our Father, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ be yours. Amen.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the text for this morning comes from the Gospel reading, as well as some parts from the Old Testament reading. You may be seated.
You know, this doesn’t look right. We’ve got two blue candles, in fact three blue candles, and we’ve got this pink one sitting up there. It doesn’t even match. There’s something about it that’s different. And that’s the point of the third Sunday in Advent. It’s the middle of the Advent season. It is in the midst of this waiting that, as we sang and as we heard read, in the midst of this, we rejoice. In the midst of waiting, we rejoice. In the midst of a world that denies the very thing that we’re celebrating on Christmas, we rejoice. In the midst of people who look at what we’re practicing, our faith here, and scoff, we rejoice.
John the Baptist was praised by Christ to be no one greater than him. And yet there he sat in prison, from the text. There he sat in prison for being faithful to God. There he sat in prison for having loved King Herod enough to have spoken truth to him. So it makes you wonder if he scratched his head and thought, “Wow, if I’m the fulfillment of this prophecy, if I’m being faithful and loving, why am I sitting in prison?” Something doesn’t look right.
John knew that such signs and deeds that Jesus had performed, which he had heard about already, revealed Jesus to be who he is. John heard and knew that the deaf received hearing, the blind received their sight, the lame could walk. And yet John also experienced the prison that he was in for being faithful to God. He experienced being held by a thread between death and life by a maniacal man named Herod, whom he loved enough to speak the truth. Something didn’t look right.
So John asks his disciples, “Go and talk to Jesus. Ask him, are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Because something doesn’t look right.
Now step back for a second. Let’s look at the Old Testament. The Old Testament. God has always engaged his creation by coming down into it with deeds of either judgment or deeds of salvation. Look at the Old Testament. The people of God were brought out of Egypt with deeds of salvation, and yet there were also deeds of judgment. God engaged his creation by coming down into it and doing those deeds. He put forth promises. He put forth promises. God always makes promises, and at specific times, he fulfills those promises and does something new, different, unique.
Finally, all throughout the Old Testament, God always sent a prophet who pointed to that new thing and said, “Hey, everybody, look, God is doing this new thing for you, for your salvation. Take note of it. It is his promise being fulfilled.” And yet here sits the last Old Testament prophet, the one that Jesus said there’s no one greater than, the one who was the herald before Christ came, sitting in jail, announcing this new thing and this new era in which the church and the world was heading, and yet he does it from a jail cell. Something doesn’t look right.
In this morning’s text, Jesus very clearly affirms John is the one. What John had been proclaiming really is fulfilled in him. He’s the new thing. And the era in which he brings the reign of God to this world is the new era. But something doesn’t look right. Jesus affirmed, “Behold, I’m sending my messenger before your face.” He’s saying, “Hey, everybody, this prophecy which you’ve been reading for 700 years is fulfilled in John the Baptist. He’s the one.” But he’s in jail. And he’s going to be beheaded pretty soon by that maniacal King Herod. Something doesn’t look right.
Even Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who’s not offended by me.” Why would anyone be offended by Jesus? And yet you know and I know, your faith is not embraced by everyone whom you know in this world. You know and I know that the faith which we embrace and cling to is not received properly.
So then what is this new thing of which John is proclaiming in Christ? And what is this new era in which Christ is ushering in? The reign of God coming. And why doesn’t it look right? Consider this. If the reign of God truly has broken into history with Christ being born, which we’re about to celebrate in a matter of weeks or days, if the reign of God has broken into history, and it did in Christ being born, why does evil still remain in this world? And why hasn’t evil been overthrown by Christ who has come? Hmm, something doesn’t look right.
If Jesus really has come to save people, and he has. He saved two more this morning. If he really has come to save people, why then does he teach us that we’re supposed to expect opposition and hatred from the world? Why? Something doesn’t look right. And if God, and only God, can reveal to people, infants, knowledge and faith in Jesus, why then will many fall away through unbelief because God chooses to use hidden ways of revealing himself, like water, word, and bread, and wine? Something doesn’t look right.
Let this not cause you to worry, brothers and sisters. This is Advent. Advent is, because of the blue, the symbol, Advent is a season of hope. But our hope is based on faith in that which God has revealed. It’s not based on wishful thinking, positive thinking, or any other kind of thinking. It’s based upon what God has revealed in Christ. That’s why Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
John the Baptist could have thought in his head, “You know, if I’m so faithful and if I’m doing the right thing and I’m proclaiming the truth in loving to King Herod, why in the world would God allow this to happen to me?” Indeed, why? He was beheaded because of his faithfulness, wasn’t he? By something as bizarre as a whim. And yet Jesus, who was faithful in all things, was also crucified as a common criminal, wasn’t he? It doesn’t look right, and yet it is. It doesn’t sound right, and yet it is. And it doesn’t even feel right, and yet it is.
When a woman is pregnant, whether she’s nine days pregnant or nine months pregnant, she’s pregnant. She now has a child within her womb. Now, granted, there are nine months before either father and mother get to hold that baby, but from the moment of conception, there’s a baby in that womb. They have a child now. Now. Not nine months from now. Now.
This is the life of the Advent Christian. You and me. We live in a now and not yet life of faith. We have salvation now. We have eternal life now. We have forgiveness now. And yet, by all appearances, it looks as if we’re no different than anybody else in this world as believers. In fact, if you were one of those lucky ladies who were horribly ill, you’re thinking, “I’ve got this beautiful life within my womb, and it’s making me nauseous every day. And I’m upchucking and all those things that go along with morning sickness. And yet I don’t get to hold this child that’s causing all of this. I don’t get to touch this reality that’s within my womb.” That’s the now and not yet of your and my faith.
We’ve got salvation now. We, like John the Baptist, have the reign of God coming, and yet it looks like it’s not here. Now the analogy breaks down because, yes, a woman’s appearance changes with her pregnancy, but it’s still now and not yet. Having it now, but we don’t get to enjoy it yet. That’s your and my life in faith. We have heaven now. It’s now with us. It’s as much with us as it is with these two babies. And yet we don’t get to enjoy it yet. We’re enduring this for the time being.
That’s why James wrote what he wrote. He said, “Be patient, brothers, for the coming of the Lord. Be patient.” That’s why Jesus spoke through Isaiah the prophet, “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad forever. The wilderness of the dry land shall rejoice. The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing, everlasting joy. They shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and sadness shall flee away.”
In the gift of life, you see that, don’t you? If you ladies had to go through a lot of morning sickness… If you husbands had to walk gingerly and daintily around your wife during those sickness times, you had it: life, and yet you don’t get to enjoy it yet. And isn’t it interesting after the baby is born, it doesn’t take too long, and she’s willing to go through it all again because of the gift of life. The now and not yet. That’s your and my life in this world.
We live with it now, but we don’t get to enjoy it yet. But even when it doesn’t look right, like it didn’t look right to John, it didn’t look right to his disciples, it didn’t look right to Jesus’ disciples, and yet it was right, wasn’t it? Just like with you. You’ve got it now. It doesn’t feel like it, it doesn’t look like it, but you’ve got it now. Rejoice!
That’s why the rejoice is there. In the midst of our waiting, and you know it can be very difficult in waiting, whether you’re nine months and you’re just so uncomfortable, or whether you’re a few days long and you’re very ill, the waiting is hard. You’ve got it now. You’re waiting for the fullness later. That’s the gift of this day. We rejoice in the midst of what doesn’t look right because we’ve got it now, and it shall never be taken from you.
Be glad. He who has ears to hear, let him hear and believe. In the name of Jesus, amen.
