What Do We Hear, What Do We See?

Sermon-3 Advent- -December 12, 2010
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”
In about the year 28 John the baptizer attained public notice, not as a priest but as a prophet. He was active in the region of the lower Jordan Valley, from “Aenon near Salim” (near modern Nablus) to a point east of Jericho. His dress of an austere camel's hair garment was the traditional garb of the prophets, and his diet of locusts and wild honey represented either strict adherence to Jewish purity laws or the ascetic conduct of a Nazirite (a Jew especially vowed to God's service). His mission was addressed to all ranks and stations of Jewish society. His message was that God's wrathful judgment on the world was imminent and that, to prepare for this judgment, the people should repent their sins, be baptized, and produce appropriate fruits of repentance.
Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee and central Transjordan in the 1st century divorced his wife and married Herodias, the divorced wife of his half brother. This was illegal by Jewish law, and John the Baptist, denounced the king for his crime. Herod arrested him and had him killed. (from Biography.com)
You all know this story. In John’s world there were those were repentant-and those who were not. And he saw himself as one who prepared the people for the coming of and angry, vengeful God. So when he was in prison and he heard about the ministry of Jesus, his cousin, he had to wonder-was this the one he was preparing people for-or not.
It had to be very hard on John, believing that the end time would arrive soon-and Jesus was growing in popularity. John had a cult like following, so he had several of his followers go and ask Jesus directly-are you the one I am preparing the world for-or not?
And Jesus gives this answer, it is straight from the great prophet Isaiah: 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."
How do you think John felt about that message? John’s life WAS offending people-on purpose. And Jesus said “blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” How do you think John felt when he heard that?
John’s message was harsh, demanding and fearful. Jesus’ ministry was full of healing, hope, and reconciliation. John’s message was “prepare for the coming of the savior”. Jesus message was “the time is now”. John refrained from most foods, obeying the dietary laws of Judaism, and was a strict judge. Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors, and preached a message of forgiveness. How do you think John felt as he heard what Jesus said and did?
John is the alarm clock that was to wake people up to their need for God. His task was to get people to stand up and watch. A pastor named Lindy tells this story : “My Dad used to try and get his cat to watch T.V. with him. Dad would point to the dog on the T.V. and would say, ."See kitty kitty, see the nice doggy?" but the cat would simply nuzzle up to Dad's finger instead of seeing what was being pointed to. Religion tends to be that way...nuzzling up to the pointers of life instead of what is being pointed to. John the Baptist was a pointer and he knew it. “
John the Baptist saw the future clearly-and it was nothing like Jesus. That had to be so disappointing for him. John’s vision was not a world of reconciliation and hope-it was a world of heaven and hell.
Advent is our season to listen to John the Baptist getting us ready. But he is the pointer-not what is being pointed to. And that’s what we hear today. The world that is coming is a world of hope, a world where the hurting are healed, the scarred are made whole, the desperate are calmed, and the hungry are fed.
But it’s not here yet. James Boyce, a professor of New Testament writes: If this Jesus is really the good news of God, then why is there still so much suffering and pain, evil and destruction, or hurt and brokenness among God's creation? Why doesn’t God fix the world? What is he waiting for? It’s easy to see why people believed in John. We get disappointed, too. We’re waiting and expecting. We want the healing to begin, the hurting to end, the judging to stop, and the hope to begin-don’t we?
Let me tell you a story written by Kate Huey-a Congregationalist pastor that I quote a lot: “I was driving around in my car this week, listening to NPR and thinking about this sermon, when I heard a most extraordinary interview of three women who had written a book together. One of the women is Jewish, one is Muslim, and one is Christian. After September 11, the Muslim woman, Ranya, was struggling with questions about her faith and her identity as a Palestinian American. She reached out to these two other women and began a difficult but ultimately rewarding interfaith conversation and friendship. Together they wrote a book called The Faith Club. Like Mary and Elizabeth, in challenging circumstances, they reached out to each other and found a way, together. The more I listened, the more interesting the conversation grew. Then, I was struck by one thing the Muslim woman said about the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which had been one of the most painful issues for the women. Ranya (the Muslim woman)said, so simply and eloquently, "I just want an acknowledgement of the suffering of the Palestinian people; I want our suffering and loss acknowledged and honored; I believe that is the beginning of healing, reconciliation, and peace." It wasn't a song, really, but it was another woman's voice, speaking up for the suffering of her people and insisting, like Mary, that their voice be heard. The path of justice leads through compassion, through listening and honoring the experience and suffering of another.
At another point in the interview, the Jewish woman, Priscilla, spoke of her change of heart and mind about the whole Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She said that she moved from thinking of the Palestinians as an impersonal concept to thinking of her friend, Ranya, and that made everything different. What might happen, we wonder, if more and more people did take things personally – that is, if we thought of a person we know and love and if we honored their suffering, and the suffering of their people before we form an opinion or make a decision that affects them?
My heart aches, as I know yours do, too, for the suffering of people right now in places far away and close at hand, in places like Palestine and Israel and Lebanon and Iraq and the Sudan, and here in this city and in all our cities and neighborhoods and in many, many of our own homes. There are children and elderly people and so many other vulnerable people whose experience needs to be honored, whose stories need to be heard. I know we feel overwhelmed at times by the suffering and sorrow of the world. And yet, we have been shown a way and offered a promise: if those of us who are well fed and comfortable, those of us who have power, those of us who have a voice, get out of our comfort zones regularly and listen to the stories and experiences of others who are not so well fed, who live on the edge, who feel pressed down…well, honoring that experience and that pain, as Ranya said, is the beginning of reconciliation, healing, and peace. And aren't those the things that we really long for, deep down, in this Christmas season?”
John the Baptist was the pointer, but Jesus was the tv. We are called to listen and honor the experiences of others, and to be a voice of hope in a world that is crying in pain. We are surrounding our life here at Trinity with kindness this Advent-because the world-and especially we, need to hear that there is compassion, there is benevolence, there is courage alive and well-all around us. We need to see and to read “that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the sick are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” We know all too well that there is judgement and harshness in the world. We need to make sure as we listen to others speak of their pain, that we are speaking, and doing acts of kindness in response. We are called to be messengers of good news. Let us go and tell the world what we hear and see. Amen.