The Last Prophet
Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10; Matthew 11:1-15
Rev. Tiare L. Mathison, Pastor & Soul-Tender
We’ve got a series of questions to address this morning:
*Are You The One we’ve been expecting or are we still waiting?
*Are you listening to Me? Really listening?
*Who do you say that I Am? Jesus’ question in Matthew 16 comes to mind.
The glimmer of hope Isaiah speaks about: the desert blooms, the cedars of Lebanon rejoice; all of creation is holy geography. The barren land is cared for by The Holy One. The blessing for humans is this: God is not in retreat, running away from Her creation. Rather, a way will be made--a way will be made. Judgment moves over and salvation sits down.
800 years before the birth of the Savior, Isaiah pens these words for those who live in desolation. Even now, with the shadow of war and destruction, all around, Isaiah says, stand up, strengthen your weak hands and your feeble knees! Look around. Salvation is drawing near. Our God reigns and never gives up. What Are You Looking For?
Are you the one? Or should we look for another?
John the Baptist asks our question for us: Is Jesus the real deal?
Is He the one worth waiting for? Is He the one Isaiah hinted at, so many centuries ago? The Last Prophet
A curious question for John to ask. Early in Luke’s gospel, John, still in the womb, jumps for joy when Mary visits his mom, Elizabeth! He is the voice crying in the wilderness, "Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand. I'm not worthy to untie his sandals. But one who is more powerful than I is coming. I baptize with water, he will baptize with fire! He will clear the threshing floor! Repent.” And why should we, repent, that is? Well, first, we are sinners. We deserve judgment. But in God’s great mercy, she provides forgiveness.
Also, it prepares us to cooperate in the body of Christ, to generate communities of interdependence against the ‘wicked’ - to be God-ruled rather than self-ruled. Our world tells us to claim our power, to force things to go our way. Our gospel says join hands with the righteous to bring about the kindom of Christ. Rooted in forgiveness, justice, peace, mercy, joy and love.
We are called to co-operate to complete God’s mission. What is God’s mission? SALVATION. It is the shadow of the cross, Christ in His glory, His public shame displayed with arms wide open, grace extended. This redemption is not only soul by soul; it is structural, designed to upend oppressive systems to bring about justice, for all.
John is in prison, He waits for the execution he knows will happen.
He did what Jesus does: he entered the public arena against well-prepared opponents. He took his stand. He spoke truth to power. He knows full well it means prison. For Jesus, it means the cross.
This is the old age in operation. Power used to control the crowd--just enough violence and enough threats to keep everyone in their place. Fear is a mighty sword of the powerful. It is why crucifixions happen beside the main streets where everyone can see. It is why lynchings are done in the town square, a picnic lunch event. It is why extremists create enemies out of people who are simply different than us. And (pause) it is why we take time to reflect on our own sinfulness, our own need of repentance, for then we build empathy and connection to all those out there, acting in ways we can hardly imagine or understand. As I say, welcome to the gutter.
The Last Prophet
John wants an Advent. He is desperate for a new age to arrive. Before the sword crosses his neck, he must know: Are you the one? (Pause)
What are you looking for today?
Let’s examine Jesus' answer: He doesn't say, "Hey, I am it. I am the one. Look at me. I am wonderful. I do amazing things. I, I, I." That is not His response. Rather, He simply says, "tell him what you hear and see.:
The great reversal:
Walk, the lame walk; sight, the blind see; hear, the deaf no longer know only silence; clean, dirty lepers and women with blood flows made clean; speak, the mute find words. alive, the dead come alive; rich, the poor are now rich and get to go to the front of the line. This is the good news of the gospel. Tell him what you hear and see.
It gives you pause, though. Jesus is no self-promoter, no narcissist, there is no self-aggrandizement in His answer. It is like He counts on His followers, us, to spread the word.
What are you looking for?
Do you want to go out to the wilderness to find the emaciated holy man? That strange guy who dresses funny and lives on locusts & honey? Will that help you find your identity in Christ? Will that strengthen your feeble knees? What about the one in silk pajamas? Are they the one? What about a prophet? Want John the Baptizer getting up in your business?
What we know to be true is this: John is an exemplar prophet, but he too had to learn to be a disciple, that is, a follower of Christ. His original call was to go ahead to prepare the way. He made smooth the way of the Lord. Then, he had to step out of the way so Christ himself could be the one John must receive. John needs a savior too.
It is not hard for us to conjure imaginative vanities about what a true Christian looks like. As it so often happens, they look just like us! Haha. And of course not like those kind of Christians. But we are not the living Christ. We are disciples who try to find our way, still learning, after all these years, still with big hypocrisies and weakness in our faith. Now we are confronted with another question, "Am I faithful?” Are we faithful? Do we hold a vision of the new world coming, even if we are called fools? It is peculiar, this anticipated world. It re-wires our values, it ignites our imaginations of what can be, we are not stuck with what is. We gaze out beyond the mundane and see hope. It is why we come to church - to be reminded God has not abandoned us. We trust this Refiner’s fire, to remake us so that we can bring offerings of righteousness to the Lord. To hear these blessed words, “well-done good and faithful servants. Well-done.”
John Calvin, founder of the Reformed Tradition, says this: Quote: “This faith believes that God is true; hope expects that in due season He will manifest His truth. Faith believes that he is our Father; hope expects that He will always act the part of a Father toward us. Faith believes that eternal life has been given to us; hope expects that it will one day be revealed. Faith is the foundation on which hope rests: hope nourishes and sustains faith. The weakness of our faith might grow weary and fall away, (it) must be supported and cherished by patient hope and expectation.” Unquote
Who do you say that I Am? The answer Jesus gives to John’s disciples expands Isaiah’s frame of Messiah. Within the covenant, it is always the poor lifted up, like in Mary’s Magnificat - God looks on the lowly maiden and does great things for her. He brings down the powerful and lifts up the lowly. He keeps His promise to heal Israel’s wounds. And therefore, ours as well.
I know we live with disquiet - life does not quite line up with our hope. We need patience yet we shout for urgency, come and make this right! Now! In the night watches we ask John’s question: Are you really The One? Or should we look for another? The Last Prophet
Look around, look inside your heart and mind and soul - see if you can discover an answer. What the church calls ‘testimony’. Has something happened in your life recently to help you point your finger toward Christ? Ready to share it?