| December 16, 2001 Isaiah 35:1-6,10 + James 5:7 10 + Matthew 11:2-11 |
| His entire life was dedicated to one cause: announcing the coming of the Messiah, and for that, he ends up in jail. No one came to get him out, and as far was we can tell, no family member ever came to visit nor say word in his defense. The great “savior”, the “Messiah” who would come with such great power to fulfill everyone’s hopes and dreams is busy elsewhere. It’s no wonder he had doubts about the one he had baptized. It’s no wonder he was asking questions about what kind of a messiah this was. It’s no wonder that the church of Matthew’s age clung to this story and this image of the once great prophet sitting in Herod’s prison. Those people of Matthew’s age were dedicated too. Living as the Messiah had taught them got them expelled from the heart of their community’s life, the synagogue; betrayed and abandoned by family members; imprisoned, and killed. Hopes for a Messiah with political ambitions and power were gone on a Passover Friday Maybe a few expected him to return and overthrow the regimes of oppression, but even those few were tiring of the wait and had begun to look elsewhere. |
| Matthew’s powerful reflection of disappointment and doubt is not hard to understand: not hard for those who have been dedicated and faithful, who have kept the commandments and shared their gifts yet still find themselves with broken hearts after divorce or broken dreams after another has left them or just been too busy to care. It is still the good who get cancer, are robbed, attacked, abandoned and betrayed by trusted friends or family The innocent suffer, and the guilty and the violent walk away again to plan their return and repeat their offenses. Matthew understands the feelings. Doubt and Disappointment are no stranger to him and his church our church. |
| “This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be!” is the cry of John sitting there alone. Generations waited for this Messiah, for “justice”, for peace; and what do they get? Talk about Mercy and Forgiveness! While they suffer and wait, the Messiah is standing around the town well talking to women, dining with tax collectors, and praising the neighboring unbelievers for their kindness! Privilege and Influence mean nothing “Is this what we’ve been waiting for?” he asks? |
| And Jesus says: “Blest is the person who finds no stumbling block in me.” A new beatitude to add to the others we’ve been given. Blest are the poor, the persecuted, the grieving, the hungry the grieving, the hungry and now: Blessed are the disappointed! It is a Gospel of courage for those who do not turn away in the face of expectations unmet. It is a Gospel of hope for those whose lives do not unfold in the comfortable way they had wanted. It is a Gospel of reassurance that comes to those who have not stumbled or fallen asking for more than stoic resignation in the face of evil, doubt, and disappointment. |
| While John is waiting in prison, the blind, the deaf, and lepers are not looking for someone else. “Yes” is their answer to the question, is this the one we have waited for? |
| These are the days of Justice, and those who have already a share in that Justice would do well not to grow impatient while those who have none get some. The challenge of Jesus to John, to Matthew’s church, and you and me is still the same. Those who have must wait and long for something greater than more for themselves. John’s message again and again was: “Prepare.” We are not, if we take this Gospel seriously, to give up on the present in the face of uncertain times and threatening days. John wonders if his life is worthwhile, and no one can escape times of similar questions. In the midst of those times this Gospel rises up to remind us that like John, we may plant seeds of hope that will blossom at another time, and like John, it might be a time we will not live to see. |
| All who work for Justice and for Peace are messengers like John, preparing for a future, living with faith and dying in hope. It is their calling, and it is the work of salvation and the mission of the church. |