He Asked

If not for ice on the roads south of Springfield, Missouri, this sermon would have been delivered at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on December 16, 2007, the Third Sunday in Advent.

Isaiah 35:1-10
Psalm 146:5-10
James 5:7-10
Matthew 11:2-11

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

Once I mentioned how much I like the John Cusack movie “Say Anything.”[1] It’s the story of Lloyd Dobler, a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who asks out Diane Court, the prettiest, smartest girl in the school. At the big High School graduation party, this most unlikely combination caused a classmate to ask Lloyd, “I don’t know you very well, you know, but I wanted to ask you—how’d you get Diane Court to go out with you? Lloyd answered, “I called her up.”

How’s that? How did Lloyd Dobler get Diane Court to go out with him? He called her up and he asked. Nothing drastic, nothing earth shattering in the question. So the conversation continues, the classmate asks Lloyd, “But how come it worked? I mean, like, what are you?” The answer: “I’m Lloyd Dobler.” No bragging, just a simple matter of fact. He’s Lloyd Dobler.

I’ll say this for the writer and the actors, the simple elegance of this scene betrays the tension, fear, and anticipation that Lloyd felt in the first place when he asked Diane out on the date.

So John and his disciples want to know, they need to know, so they are sent with a question: “Are you the one who is to come? Or are we to wait for another?” It’s almost the classmate’s second question all over again, “I mean, like, what are you?” This is surely the question, “Oh, Jesus of Nazareth, who are you? Are you the one?”

As we read a couple of weeks ago, John had promised everyone who had come to the Jordan that while he was there to baptize with water, one who is more powerful is coming after who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. In the verse that immediately follows, we read, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.” John knew who Jesus was. Matthew’s gospel tells us that John would have prevented Jesus from being baptized by him saying, “I need to be baptized by you.”

John knew who Jesus was. The story of the Baptism of Jesus ends with a voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” John knew who Jesus was, but Jesus wasn’t doing the things he had expected the Christ to do. Jesus wasn’t doing the Messianic stuff, the Holy Spirit and fire he had expected wasn’t coming. Where’s the brimstone when you need it?

Of course, John’s expectations of a Messiah who would come with fire weren’t his own creation. There was a long history of prophets who had prophesied the coming of the Messiah with fire. Our reading from Isaiah promised God will come with vengeance and with terrible recompense. Isaiah promised divine retribution coming to destroy the enemies of God. We’re talking about fire and the Holy Spirit here.

The conventional wisdom of the day was that the Messiah would come to free the nation from its oppression by conquerors. Freedom from Rome, freedom from Babylon, freedom from Egypt, the Jews expected a military and political leader who would free them from the traditional shackles of the world and restore the Kingdom of God on earth.

But with everything John knew, knowing Jesus is the Christ, what Jesus was doing didn’t meet his expectations for the acts of the Messiah. He knew Jesus was the answer, but where’s the fire? Where’s the vengeance? Where’s the terrible recompense? Where’s the divine retribution? Where is the destruction of the enemies? John’s in prison. He isn’t long for this world, and I am guessing he is feeling the pressure of prophecy and the weight of the cosmos upon him, so he sends his disciples to ask. “Are you the one who is to come? Or are we to wait for another?”

Jesus answers John’s disciples. “Go and tell John what you see and hear.” He tells them don’t ask me, see for yourself and tell your master, your Rabbi, John what you see. “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

In a simple sentence, Jesus reminds John’s disciples of the miracles he has performed in the name of Holy God, to give glory to God. Jesus reminds John’s disciples of the blessings he spoke to the crowd in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus even reminds them of what Isaiah said later in the passage we read today, “The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!”

Jesus tells them exactly who he is. And if he isn’t what they expected, that wasn’t his concern. Maybe they should take another look at their expectations.

Jesus is exactly who he is, he is exactly who he says he is, and he isn’t Lord of creation to meet others expectations or desires. We all have an idea of who God is, but that may not be who God is at all. So how do we find out who God is? We do just what John did, he asked, so we ask.

But we must beware of asking. To get good answers we need to seek good questions. In “The Grifters,”[2] John Cusack plays a man named Roy Dillon who wants to become a grifter, a con man. So Roy went to an old con man, a legend in the field, to learn from him. When the man decided to accept him as a student, Roy asked for a lesson. The legendary grifter asked for twenty dollars and Roy gave it to him. The legend pocketed the bill and said, come back tomorrow and I’ll teach you some more.

The con man taught this lesson, ask, and people will give. You can take advantage of people just by asking them. As much as this is a lesson of life, it’s not a righteous lesson. So as we ask, we have to seek—we have to discern the righteous lessons from those that will lead to terrible recompense and divine retribution.

Yet we are fortunate, one of the joys of our questioning is that we have the source of the answers. Scripture is the word of God. Its authority is in the fact that the Bible is the authoritative historical witness to Christ. It is the testimony of those who actually saw and witnessed to the saving acts of God in history.[3] The Bible is worthy to be called Holy Scripture because it conveys, mirrors, or reflects what is authentic and valid about God and God’s works.[4]

Of course we have to beware, there are lessons that are easy to take that are incomplete, or not really there at all.

Godly American men, people of God used scripture in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries to justify slavery of Africans to oil the economic machinery. Since time immemorial godly men have used scripture to deny godly women a place in church leadership. As Presbyterians we have only in the last 100 years elected women Deacons and only in the last 50 women Ministers of Word and Sacrament. We must pray, we must seek, we must ask, but we must also discern.

Last week two members of the Presbytery of Arkansas’ Committee on Ministry came to the Session meeting for the Presbytery’s triennial evaluation. They come to check on us, but for more than any other reason, they come to help us focus our mission as the church in the community and in the world. They asked three questions, questions to help us focus who we are and what we do as the Body of Christ:

What are we living for?
What are we willing to die for?
What excites you?

He asked. And these questions are a starting point for us to see who we are and what we are willing to do as the body of Christ in the community and in God’s good creation. As for the answers, well, we have to ask the questions. With a discerning ear, we have to ask God through prayer—individually and in groups—for the answers to these questions. And we have to listen to hear the answers when they come. And we have to remember, the answers may look nothing like we expect them to look.

John asked if Jesus was the one. Jesus, in a way only Jesus does, said “Yes I am, just look around and see the Kingdom of God blossoming around you. It may not be what you expected to see, but it is what my Father expects me to do.” John’s disciples left to spread the Good News of Jesus. We need to ask: Who are you, O Lord? What are we living for? What are we willing to die for? What excites you? What excites us?

Advent is upon us. Jesus is coming. As for me, I am excited. Now, let us spread the Good News of our God who reigns now and for all generations.

[1] Crowe, Cameron, “Say Anything.” Gracie Films, 1989.
[2] Westlake, Donald E., based on the novel by Thompson, Jim, “The Grifters.” Cineplex—Odeon Films, 1990.
[3] Authority of Scripture, Richardson, Alan, “Interpreters’ Dictionary of the Bible.” 21st Printing 1992. Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1962
[4] Authority of Scripture, Barr, J. “Interpreters’ Dictionary of the Bible—Supplemental Volume.” 13th Printing 1996. Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1976.