December 15, Matthew

Welcome to the third Sunday of Advent.  Time is flying by and soon we will celebrate the birth of the Christ Child.   Today, however, our Gospel lesson takes us back to Jesus’ time here on earth.  John the Baptist’s voice echoes across time placing the question right into each of our laps.  Is Jesus indeed the Messiah?  Are we open to hearing and seeing Jesus as the Messiah in such a way that He becomes the blessing in our lives that God intended, or are we so overwhelmed by the worldly customs of Christmas, the decorating, the cookie baking, and the shopping, that instead of feeling the blessing that the true meaning of Christmas brings, we only feel exhaustion.

At this point in our Scripture for today, John the Baptist is in prison.   King Herod who had married his brother’s wife, Herodias, which was against the law, had put John in prison because he did not like John’s message regarding his relationship with Herodias.  Being imprisoned, John is now looking for a sign that the long-awaited Messiah has really arrived.  Very strange so to speak because it was John the Baptist who first proclaimed the Messiah’s coming.

John seems rather tame this morning compared to his words that he cried out in the wilderness.  Who can forget John’s message to repent because the kingdom of heaven is near?  We all know that John was a man who “marched to his own drummer, a man who actually ate locus and dressed in a hair coat.  That was then, but now here John sits in a dank, dark prison cell.  Yet, John would rather be there than give his approval to King Herod and Herodias illicit relationship.  John was willing to stand up for what he believed was wrong and to pay the consequences for it.

Perhaps you are surprised that John the Baptist too had his doubts.  We are told, “When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Yet, a closer look reveals that although John questions whether Jesus is the one sent to be the Messiah; he still believes.  He believes that a Messiah will come into the world as promised.  Many Christians often miss the fact that the Old Testament is critical to the understanding of the New Testament.  It is often viewed as books of laws and judgment, scary battles, and long lines of linages of Biblical peoples, and many see it as having no bearing on their lives in today’s world.  This is, however, far from the truth.  One of the most beautiful things about the Old Testament is how it points continually to Christ.  It has been said that there are over 300 prophecies concerning the Messiah’s first coming and His second coming in the Old Testament Scriptures.  The peoples of John’s time had heard many of these prophesies time and time again.

What John is really getting at with his question is how will he know for sure who the Messiah is when he comes.  How will he recognize the true Messiah and know that He is the one he should follow?  Just as there is today, there were also many false prophets in John the Baptist’s day.

However, perhaps the modern-day version of John’s question for us is, “What does the Messiah look like today in the midst of our daily lives?    How do we find Him in the midst of the chaos of the world around us?  These questions are especially important in this holiday season when everywhere we turn, we are pushed to shop, party, and live with a frenzy that surpasses all that we have known in the past.  We can say, “Jesus is the reason” all we want, but living that statement is another matter.  In the midst of our busy ness, it is particularly hard to see how Jesus is working in our daily lives.

As Lutheran’s we know that Jesus, although no longer walking here on earth, is still always with us.   Mathew 7:7 tells us just want we need to do to be aware of Christ in our lives, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  That is, it is unlikely that we will feel connected to Jesus or have any chance of seeing how He is working in our lives if we don’t take time to seek Him out.

It is possible for everyone to carve out some time to spend with Christ even in the midst of the Christmas whirl.  How can we do it?  First, spend some time talking with God.  Spend a few minutes just thinking about Him and thanking Him for the many blessings He bestows on you each day.  For example, just the fact that you have this day in your life is amazing.  How easy it is to just take a minute and thank God for the day, or thank God for the people who are important in your life.

Secondly, look around you!  Who can you be a blessing too today?  Is there someone you know who may be feeling down that you could call and cheer up or write them a nice note telling them you are thinking of them.  Who can you bless with an unexpected act of kindness?  Can you offer to help the elderly person in front of you in the grocery line get their bags of groceries into the car.   All we need to do is look around us, and we can see Jesus in each and every person we meet.

So as we leave here this morning on the third Sunday of advent, we are called to look around us and ask ourselves where we see the Messiah at work in our world, and in our daily, ordinary lives.   Sometimes it is not an easy task, but if we look closely, enough we will see the signs of His presence.  In the miracle of someone surviving an illness or accident that no one thought they would survive; in the beauty of the sunrise and sunset; in the many blessings God has bestowed on us.  Slow down, enjoy the journey that Advent is intended to be for, “Truly, Jesus Is the Reason for the Season!”

Amen