Last week’s gospel reading, if you recall, was a message of fire and brimstone from the prophet John the Baptist. He is baptizing all those who are coming to him to repent and threatening people with the eternal fire of hell if they didn’t! Repentance, as I talked about last week, is more than feeling guilty about doing or not doing something, and saying “Sorry” and moving on. That’s an apology, not being repentant. True repentance is more about a genuine and true desire to make a change in our behavior, towards ourselves or others—and then doing it! It’s a transformative change of heart, a spiritual conversion, which is hard work. Repentance is “about a re-orientation, a change of perspective and direction, a commitment to turn and live differently.”[1]
John baptized those people who really wanted to make this spiritual u-turn in the river Jordan, symbolically washing away their sins. It was like starting again with a clean slate, so to speak. And why was John calling for repentance? To prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour sent from God who was coming to save them. And that makes sense -- if you’re expecting to meet God, you’d like your soul and body to be as pure and clean as possible, wouldn’t you? And the temple leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees decide they best too jump on this baptism bandwagon that was attracting the people to John. And John calls them out on their pretend devoutness; he knows their hearts and souls aren’t in it, they’re just going through the motions. And he accuses them of being no better than a bunch of poisonous snakes, and threatens them with the fires of hell for their insincerity and false piety. ‘Them’s fightin’ words’ wouldn’t you say?
And now a couple of years or so later and John is behind bars, a prisoner of King Herod. Even in jail, John has heard about what Jesus has been doing—word about Jesus’ amazing miracles travelled far and wide. John sends his disciples to go to Jesus to ask him: “Are you the one who is expected, or should we expect someone else?” (v.3) I found this to be a strange question coming from John. This is the man who baptized Jesus, at Jesus’ request. He even questioned Jesus’ asking him to do so, because he felt it was Jesus who should be baptizing him. John was right there when the heavens opened and the spirit of God descended upon Jesus like a dove, and John must have heard God announce that Jesus is his son, in whom he is well pleased. And Jesus was his cousin. If anyone at all, you would think that John would absolutely know who Jesus was. So, whatever has happened? Has John turned into a doubter, maybe lacking in faith? It seems he’s no longer sure of who Jesus is—so unsure in fact that he sends his own disciples to confirm it. Is Jesus really the one? Is he for real? Is John, this fire and brimstone, camel clothed wearing hermit of a prophet having an existential crisis, a crisis of faith?
I think that’s quite possible, or why else would he send his disciples to Jesus to ask? John the Baptist finds himself in a new and extremely unhappy place. The prophet of the wilderness, now cooped up in a jail cell, and jails in those days were really bad places. John’s future is extremely uncertain. And we know how his story ends, don’t we? Herod has John beheaded. I suspect John was very much aware of his pending fate, and may well have been contemplating those big questions of life. Physically, his surroundings are horrid; emotionally he was probably stressed to the max, and spiritually — well, sounds like he’s questioning his faith too. John goes from declaring Jesus as the Messiah, to wondering if Jesus is really the one. Has he lost his faith in Jesus? It wouldn’t be surprising if he did, given his situation.
We do that too don’t we? Changing life circumstances change our responses, change the questions we ask ourselves, and our God. We sometimes even question if God is there, and if so, where? When life throws us curve balls, or sends our lives into a tail spin, when we feel like we’ve lost control—be it a life threatening illness, loss of a loved one, loss of employment, loss of a relationship or just too many stressors in our lives, our confidence and trust can turn to despair and uncertainty. Our faith can waver when we are overwhelmed. And we maybe even fear for the future. It is the human condition—happens to the best of us. Even prophets it seems.
So what does John do? He goes to Jesus the best way he knows how, through his trusted friends.
And what does Jesus do? How does he respond? John’s question is more than just a questioning of his faith; it is a plea for reassurance, for understanding. And that’s what Jesus does; he reassures John, and John’s followers and his own disciples. He tells John’s disciples to let John what they have been witness to, what they have come to know and understand about Jesus: that “ The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor”. (v 5,6) Jesus is quoting from the book of Isaiah, the book that foretold the coming of the Messiah, and what the Messiah would do when he came. Jesus is reassuring John, restoring his faith, using the scriptures. It is the scriptures, the word of the Lord that holds the words of our faith, reassurance for us that in the midst of pain, of trouble, of life’s messy, difficult circumstances, God is there. Jesus’ presence comes to us when we pray, but sometime we can be so overwhelmed that we can’t seem to receive that, and prayer is hard. So Jesus uses other ways and means to come to us—in the beauty of God’s creation or the face of a baby, the anointing of holy oil, the bread and wine of Holy Eucharist, and in the comfort and presence of loved ones or friends who reach out to us in Jesus name, sharing Jesus love. That’s what Jesus did for John, reached out to him through his trusted and caring friends. And when we come together to worship in Christ’s name, the synergy of us all together in Christ’s name, strengthens the Holy Spirit’s presence in this place for us all. We reach out, and Jesus comes in!
Doubt is not the opposite of faith. We all have doubts, we all question life sometimes. It’s the human condition! It’s ok to doubt, because it can spur us on, make us question, long for deeper understanding. Doubt can be the catalyst to stronger faith, a deeper faith when we ask, when we cry out for the reassurance of Jesus’ presence be with us. And Jesus comes. Jesus knows and understands our pain, our grief, our heartache, our doubts and fears.
Advent, the time of waiting and pondering our own depth of faith, as we wait for the anniversary of the coming of the Messiah into our lives. The Saviour King—not a conquering overpowering force that takes charge and takes over; but the King of Peace, Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” The Messiah who comes to us, who walks beside us, walks along with us, supporting us, holding us, reassuring us, helping us in the middle of the troubles and difficulties that can lock us away in ourselves, locking us away from others, and even from God. The peace of Christ brings light to the dark places that we can find ourselves in.
The message of Advent, the time before Christmas, is the annual reminder that Jesus is coming. It is also the reminder that yes, the King of Peace, Emmanuel is also here. Amen.
[1] David Lose, from his weekly blog via www.workingpreacher.org, for Advent 2 Year A 2013