Sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Advent: "Advent Questions"

+ Third Sunday in Advent – December 16^th, 2018 +

Series C: Zephaniah 3:14-20; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 7:18-35

Beautiful Savior Lutheran, Milton

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Life is full of questions. At times they’re the simple ordinary questions of daily life: What should I wear today? What would you like in your McDonald’s Happy Meal? What size coffee, the 16 or 20 oz?

Still at other times life’s questions are more serious, personal, even existential. Will I have enough for retirement? Will this illness ever get better? How will I find the right job to pay the bills? When will my broken relationship with a friend or loved one be reconciled? Have I been faithful in my vocations at church, at home, in my community?

Yes, life is full of questions. It’s the answers that prove to be elusive. Whatever questions we find ourselves asking today, we find ourselves in good company with John the Baptist. 

Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? 

It is a question that emerges from the depth of our being and the darkness of Herod’s dungeon. Mounting fears. Nagging doubts. Life is uncertain. Unfair. Uneven. Unreasonable. God’s people suffer. The wicked prosper. And there’s no good answer in sight. 

John knew this well. He wrestled. Struggled. Wondered. He was the Messiah’s forerunner. A faithful preacher. The one of whom Jesus declared: among those born of women none is greater than John. And yet here he is. Sitting in prison, waiting for Jesus as Herod’s guards sharpened the sword. 

This was not the kind of Messiah John expected. Nothing grand and messianic seemed to be happening. Jesus wasn’t doing anything revolutionary or cataclysmic. Where was the powerful Kingdom of God? Where was the power and glory, the triumph and victory? Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? 

Life today hardly seems to have changed much since the days of John the Baptist. We’ve all been where John was when he asked that question. Not in Herod’s prison. But in a much deeper dungeon, sitting a far deeper darkness. Psalm 23 calls it the valley of the shadow of death. St. Paul calls it this present evil age. 

We feel that shadow creep over our hearts, minds, and into our daily lives. A world that that’s falling apart around us: cancer. Abortion. School shootings. Broken homes. Broken lives. Broken marriages. Life is often hard and disappointing. And that’s just the world outside of us. John’s imprisonment reminds us that we are held captive and enslaved to sin. We experience hurt. Pain. Grief.

Like John, we sit in whatever darkness we experience and ask questions that seem to have no good answers. Are you the one who is to come, Jesus? Are you sure? We’ve been waiting in this prison for what seems like an awful long time. Our loved ones are dying. The world is unraveling. And I’m a sinful mess. Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?

Jesus answers John in the darkness of prison with the light of His Word. 

“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers^[e] are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.

Jesus’ answer to John’s question is surprising. Whatever John’s expectations of the Messiah were, whatever our expectations of Jesus are, we receive something far greater. Jesus answers John’s question, and ours, in the most surprising way of all, in the biggest plot twist of the greatest story of all time. A messiah who stands in solidarity with sinners in receiving a sinners baptism. A humble messiah who eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners. A messiah who comes for the least, the lost, the last, and the lowly. A lowly messiah who refused Satan’s temptations to feed himself and establish a self-serving kingdom. A prince of peace who endured every bit of pain and mockery the world could throw at him. A crucified messiah who conquered the darkness by diving headlong into the darkness. A Savior who defeated Death by being swallowed up into Death, and taking the world along for the ride. A Redeemer who takes all of our fears, worries, doubts, questions with him to the cross where he himself cries out a question in the dark for us. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be^[i] against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. 

Of course, life would be far easier if Jesus had promised John and us a life of fluffy kittens, unicorns, and rainbows, that life will always be happy, sunny, and easy. But he did not. For this would be neither true, nor good news. Jesus calls us all to be theologians of the cross, not of glory. For it is only in his cross that we find the answers to our questions, the comfort in our sadness, the forgiveness of our sins, the consolation in our grief, the healing of our fallen minds and bodies, life in death. 

Blessed is the one who is not offended by me. Blessed is the one who does not stumble over Jesus power hidden in weakness, his strength hidden in his suffering, his victory hidden in defeat. Blessed is the one who sees life in Jesus’ death, who sees the kingdom of God in his cross. 

Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?

Jesus points us where he pointed John. To his Word and Signs where he joins us in the Advent darkness. A cleansing bath of Baptism. The Body and Blood that bring forgiveness, life, and salvation. The Word the speaks a greater truth than the truth of your sin, your doubt, your despair. Light in the darkness. You are forgiven, my child, you are free. Your God has not abandoned you but has embraced you in these most God-forsaken of times. The Light has not gone out but shines in the darkness beckoning you, 

“Fear not, O Zion;
    let not your hands grow weak.
The Lord your God is in your midst,    a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;    he will quiet you by his love;

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.