+In Nomine Iesu+
GAUDETEAdvent 3
St Luke 7:18-28
13 December 2009
So easily we get caught up in little things even
silly things. Are all your Christmas decorations up?
Times running out. Finished all your Christmas shopping?
Not much time left. Got all the Christmas cards and
letters mailed off? No time to waste.
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And yet, if it doesnt all work out so what? If
the decorations are still in the box on December 25th will
it still be Christmas Day? If cousin Harry doesnt get
his sweater until later will his Christmas have been ruined?
If your Christmas cards dont go out until the end of
December, will there have been no Christmas? Those are all
rhetorical questions, really. No answer is expected.
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But what if? What if there is no Christ this Christmas?
No Messiah? Will you have been robbed? Absolutely! If
there are no wise men seeking the Christ will you have
become any wiser? Never! If there is eggnog by the bucket
full but no blood of Jesus no Most Holy Blood of the
Most Holy Son of God will you have received your life
and salvation? You know the answer.
<>
Little things. Often silly things. Were always
getting caught up in the peripheral affairs of life.
Peripheral things that can cause ulcers but never give
peace. Little things that make us feel all warm and fuzzy
when theyre taken care of, but never last. Silly things
that divert Christians away from repentance and faith, and
direct them toward self-congratulations and vanity. Little
things that steal our time and threaten to leave us
without the One who is time-less.
<>
As we meditate on the Gospel texts during Advent
something is happening. Something quite subtle is taking
place. Something so quiet and unobtrusive that unless it is
brought to our attention we might not notice at all. A
progression is quietly underway, and it is coming on quiet
little cats feet. As weve mentioned before, Advent
and Christmas deal with the mysteriousness of Gods time.
Thats the undercurrent. And like all undercurrents, it
doesnt make headlines.
<>
Let me explain. All through Advent time is being
reconfigured. Time is being changed narrowed down.
Really, preparations are being made for a revolution in
time. Its like a flashlight beam being adjusted ever
more closely. Focused more and more tightly until the
entire power of the light shines on one very small spot.
<>
It all began two Sundays ago. The Gospel for Advent 1
was Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem. No specific
mention of time, but we know the event happened in time.
All history does. It was simply, When Jesus had said
these things. Only after the fact do we see that
Jesus words and actions marked the beginning of the end
of time. Last week things became more specific. We read,
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.
From a non-specific reference to time, to a particular
year. Today the focus becomes even tighter. Speaking of
Jesus the Gospel reports, In that hour he healed many . .
And next week? Next week we will be brought to one
particular moment in time. More and more precisely the beam
shines. And after time has been narrowed down to one
moment, it will open up again. Open up and broaden out to
encompass everything. Everything in heaven and on earth.
But more about that next Sunday.
<>
So, is this emphasis on time intentional or am I just
making a mountain out of a molehill? Is all this deliberate
in the mind of St Luke as he writes, or am I just imagining
things? I think its all very deliberate all very
well planned. After all, the world is coming to an end.
Soon everything will be turned upside down. Very soon the
new heavens and the new earth will begin to break in. It
isnt just the calendar that will forever flop over from
B.C. Before Christ to A.D. Anno
Domine In the year of our Lord. Everything
will be changed. God is coming to man. He will not be
diverted. The Creator is coming to His creatures. Rescue
is at hand. The Lord of Hosts is coming, and He is coming
for you. Nothing will dissuade Him. You are too important.
Nothing will prevent His arrival His Advent. His
way has been prepared. Announced. John the Baptizer has
done his job.
<>
And look what its gotten him! John sits in the gloom
of a prison cell. After warning all to prepare for the
coming of the Messiah what has John to show for it? He
languishes in prison. He awaits his end his martyrdom.
A fine thank you indeed.
<>
And so, his disciples come to him. They come and report
what Jesus is doing. John listens. And he wonders. Two
disciples are sent off to question Jesus. Are you the
one who is to come, or shall we look for another? To us
that question seems almost ludicrous, doesnt it? We know
the answer. We want to take John by his hair-skin cloak and
shake him. Dont you get it? we want to yell.
Dont you see? You know, Im not sure he does.
And Im even less sure that you and I always see.
Even yet today many seem unable to get it.
<>
Put yourself in Johns sandals. He has done everything
that way given him to do. He has been faithful. In the
face of danger and threats, always faithful. He has
steadfastly proclaimed his message. He has been the prophet
par excellence. He has stood firm before every big shot
that came to him. You couldnt ask for more than John has
done. Jesus says as much. I tell you, among those born
of women none is greater than John. And what does he
have to show for it? There he is, rotting in prison.
Now I want you guys to go and ask, Are You really the
one or do we wait for another? Fair question.
<>
You see whats happening? I think John was expecting
something more. I think John was a lot like us. We often
expect more. Someone is a member of the Church for 70
years, even longer. Theyve done everything that was
asked of them. Given their offering every Sunday. Brought
the hot-dish for funerals. Taught Sunday School. You name
it. And what becomes of them? Cancer, perhaps. A car
accident, maybe. The early death of their children.
Alzheimers. Not at all what they had expected. And
then the doubts begin. Satan taps them on the shoulder.
Thought youd win, did you? Ha! Thought you meant
something to God? Its all been a waste! Meaningless!
You thought God cared for you? Fool! And in that
assault, faith trembles. It groans, and sweats blood.
<>
How does Jesus respond to Johns questions? Go and
tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive
their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf
hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news
preached to them. My friends, there is the promise of
God laid out for all who will, to see. The promise of
God acted out given out. Each of those items has a
double meaning. Miss that and you will have missed a lot.
Miss the double meanings and your Christmas will be limited
to cutesy trinkets, and cards and lukewarm eggnog.
<>
All the things Jesus mentions are physical miracles, to
be sure. Wonderful gifts. Healings of the body.
Absolutely astounding. But thats only the beginning.
All those bodies healed of various maladies for now
those same bodies still died eventually. You see, a much
greater gift stands in the background.
<>
Tell me, what is the greater blindness? Physical eyes
that dont work, or the inability to see Jesus in
His Means of Grace. The inability to see Jesus active in
Baptism, and the Lords Supper, and Holy Absolution?
Which is worse, a physical defect that make one lame or
the defect of the soul that makes one always a sinner? How
about the leprosy of the heart that cant, and doesnt,
trust and thank God the Father for all things? Or how about
a deafness of the heart that cannot hear the Word of God as
it convicts of sin, and them promptly absolves the very sins
it just condemned? How about the deadness of sin that kills
us forever? How about never realizing the spiritual poverty
within which we live and within which we die if not for
the mercy of God in Jesus Christ? Double meanings all over
the place. Jesus words point to the physical, yes, but
more importantly they point to the spiritual.
<>
You see, Jesus directs Johns disciples and us
to consider what is truly going on. Our Lord cares for
physical bodies. No doubt of that. But thats only the
start. Jesus once raised His friend Lazarus from the dead.
But Lazarus died again. All the sons of Adam do. Greater
miracles than physical life restored await the Christian. A
far greater mercy is given, bestowed, draped over us. We
are the objects of Gods love. Eternal love. Love with
eternity in view. You. Me. Your sins have been taken away
just as were Johns. Theyre gone. Swallowed up by
Jesus. Sin no longer separates you from God. You have been
shown the trivialness of the world. All those things it
considers so important you have seen as the passing dust
they really are. Indeed, you have been brought into the
light that emanates from the very face of God. Into the
light that is Jesus. Behold, your King is coming. Indeed,
He is already here and, He is coming again. He is for
you! Eternity the end of time awaits you! Thanks
be to God!
Amen
+Benedicamus Domine+
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