Jesus comes to us in our prisons (Satterlee). What are your expectations of the Messiah? How are we imprisoned by our false expectations? The cross is where Jesus meets us in our prison. What imprisons you?
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the LORD,
the majesty of our God.
Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.’
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,*
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,*
but it shall be for God’s people;*
no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD their God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
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!
OR
Luke 1:47-55 – The Magnificat, Mary’s Song
… he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty…
Be patient, therefore, beloved,* until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.*Beloved,* do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved,* take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and 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.’ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone* dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet?* Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.” Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Pointing to Outcomes
In his sermon on this gospel text, Martin Luther suggests John the Baptist had no doubt whatsoever that Jesus was the One to come. After all, he heard the voice from heaven at Jesus’ baptism saying, “This is my Beloved Son…” (Matthew 3:17). So why did he send his disciples to Jesus to ask? If Matthew recorded the heavenly words at Jesus’ baptism, why would he then have John wondering at all?
Luther responds that John is doing this for the sake of his disciples, not himself, so that they, who are following him, might now believe in Jesus and follow him instead. “He must increase and I must decrease.” (John 3:30) John knows his ministry and his life are coming to an end. He is allowing his disciples to get a taste of Jesus’ ministry. John points his disciples away from himself.
Faithful leaders always point beyond themselves. Egotistical leaders point to themselves. They elevate themselves. Egotistical spiritual leaders preach sermons that make people say, “Wow, he is great!” Servant spiritual leaders preach sermons that make people say “Wow, God is great!” The egotistical spiritual leader inspires people to increase his church for his glory. The servant spiritual leader inspires people to increase God’s kingdom for God’s glory.
Leaders that make a difference point to something bigger than themselves: the mission. John pointed to Jesus. Jesus pointed to God, and God’s Mission: the Kingdom. To what or to whom are you pointing your people?
John invites his groupies to go and see Jesus for themselves.
“Tell John what you see:
Blind see
lame walk
lepers cleansed
deaf hear
dead raised
good news preached to the poor.”
John’s disciples see Jesus’ public ministry first hand. No hearsay. Experience the real deal.
I find it interesting that Jesus points to the outcomes. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. “Am I the real deal? You tell me. What do you see? And how does that line up with your understanding of the Kingdom?”
One challenge churches have with evangelism is their people are hard pressed to point to the outcomes. They are embarrassed to say, “Come and see.” They are afraid if they bring their unchurched friends, they’ll find the church unfriendly, out of touch, bickering, or irrelevant. This is nothing new. Three years ago, the Barna folks were talking about how dire the situation really was.
Is the tree bearing fruit? Is there healing going on? Hope? Are there signs of the kingdom of heaven in your church’s worship, community, ministry? Is there any kind of transformation taking place in people’s lives? Is there joy? Love? (“By this shall all people know you are my disciples: if you love one another.” John 13:35) Is good news being preached to the poor?
Jesus said, “You shall know them by their fruit.” Jesus is about results. Our theology often creeps into cheap grace. I often hear people quote “God doesn’t call us to be successful; he calls us to be faithful.” It’s sometimes attributed to Mother Teresa – ironic given how prolific her ministry was. While I understand sometimes we work hard planting and don’t always get to harvest, still this fear of results troubles me. The harvest is the point after all. I almost sense in some churches, if we do something good for the community we’re just being do-gooders, and that’s works-righteousness, so we better not do anything helpful, because we might be trying to earn our salvation.
The Bible may not talk about being successful, but there are plenty of passages about being fruitful. Trees that don’t bear fruit are cut down and thrown into the fire. Jesus condemns the fig tree for not bearing fruit, thus criticizing the Temple in one gospel, and the religious leaders in another, for not bearing the fruits of repentance, justice and mercy, the weightier matters of the law. The manager criticizes his investor for burying his talent in the backyard. The kingdom is like yeast, like a small seed that produces a huge tree that… bears fruit and provides nests for the birds.
If someone asked your members, “Our friends want to know if this Jesus, this church stuff, is the real deal…” could you say, “Tell them what you see… lives changed, people healed, dead men now walking…?”
Indeed Luther himself, in his sermon on this text, says things that would bother the purveyors of Lutheran neo-orthodoxy: “Here we have it stated that where the works are absent, there is also no Christ.”
Where there are no works, there is no Christ. Just let that one sink in for a bit.
Faith, without works, is dead.
Luther goes on: “Christ is a living, active and fruit- bearing character who does not rest, but works unceasingly wherever he is. Therefore, those bishops and teachers that are not doing the works of Christ, we should avoid and consider as wolves.” Ouch.
John points to Jesus. Jesus points to the mission, the works, and the fruit for signs that God is here, breaking in. Jesus doesn’t even try to spin it, much: “Go tell John what you see…”
Could you do that? “Go tell your friends what you see going on here in this ministry…”
One pastor said to me, “What if, instead of reporting attendance and giving (noses and nickels) we reported outcomes: hungry fed, naked clothed, homeless housed, sick cared for, prisoners visited?”
There’s an irony in the last part of Jesus’ comment: “…and the poor have good news proclaimed to them.” Proclaiming the gospel turns out to be the pinnacle of good works. Luther takes this opportunity to do a little teaching on law and gospel. Apparently they gave him more than 10-12 minutes to preach. This sermon looks like an hour or more to me. (But then again, there was no TV back then…)
Why good news to the poor and not the rich? Luther says, “But my kingdom, because it seeks not its own advantage, but rather bestows benefits upon others, is sufficient of itself and needs no one’s help; therefore, it cannot bear to be surrounded by such as are already sufficient of themselves, such as are healthy, rich, strong, pure, active, pious, and able in every respect. To such I am of no benefit; they obtain nothing from me.”
The gospel is for those who are famished, physically and spiritually.
Good news for the poor encompasses any who are broken in any way. If you think you are not broken – if you have it all together – well, then Christ may be of no use to you. “God cannot fill what is already full.” Another Mother Teresa quote. The only prerequisite for being filled with God’s grace is you must be empty. The only prerequisite for being resurrected is you must be dead.
Christ comes, bringing good news to the poor, hope for the hopeless, joy for the sorrowful, healing for the brokenhearted. This is good news for you, and good news for you… to carry to others.
