ARE YOU HE WHO IS TO COME?
SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON DECEMBER 12th, 2010
Matthew 11:3 “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
Some years ago there was a BBC television show called, People Like Us. It was a series of interviews with people in different occupations, ranging from politicians to policemen. The interviewer was never seen. He remained behind the camera, asking questions.
The show was intended to be a cameo of the private lives of people in the public eye. To show that they were, in fact, people like us. But as the interview went on it was obviously a send-up – and the characters were really actors, playing the part.
The edition I remember was called, The Vicar. Remember this was a British show. This young priest seemed typical of a Church of England Vicar: inoffensive, proper, nice to everyone, “all things to all men”.
As the program went on, he seemed a little naive. Well meaning, but perhaps did not really believe in much. When he was asked what sort of priest he was, he replied: WYSI WIG. “What You See Is What You Get!”
The humorous moment came when they were in the Vicarage, interviewing his wife. “Do you believe in God?”, she was asked. With a straight deadpan look she replied, “No”! “Did this cause conflict in the marriage?” “Unfortunately not”!
You get the picture.
The climax came when the Vicar was asked his views on the Resurrection, and did he believe in miracles and the Virgin Birth? The young priest was clever enough not to admit on camera that he didn’t believe in all that – but he was hopelessly evasive and unsure.
Eventually he had to admit that if a Virgin could give birth to a child, it would, indeed, have to be a miracle!
John the Baptist seemed to be unsure about things; about Christ. Here he was in jail, and he sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the Messiah who is to come.
John was Jesus’ cousin – conceived, like Jesus, by a miracle of God. He had baptised Jesus in the Jordan, and heard the Father declare that Jesus was His beloved Son. That experience convinced him that Jesus was indeed the Christ.
But now he has his doubts. We’ve all known that experience – felt we made a mistake, questioned our faith, doubted what we believed.
So, in jail, facing the end of his life, John sends word to Jesus. He wants to be convinced.
Why did John doubt? Perhaps because after Jesus’ baptism both men went their separate ways? Indeed, John had told is followers they should now follow Jesus. John continued with his ministry – but he didn’t have much to do with Jesus.
We can understand that. When we stop keeping company with family and freinds, something of the relationship becomes distant, is lost.
If John the Baptist had been with Jesus – if he had experienced his ministry, and seen and heard him, as the Apostles did – he would not have asked the question, “Are you he who is to come?”
Consider how this applies to ourselves. We have heard and seen Jesus, and we have come to know that he is the one. And so we keep on seeing and hearing him – in our own personal spiritual life, and here:
+ in our worship
+ in scripture
+ in the sacrament itself
For christians, the sign that we have been with Jesus is joy. Joy – the theme of this third Sunday of Advent.
John Baptist was a fiery preacher, warning people to repent. Perhaps joy was something he had missed? Perhaps he was so negative, he couldn’t see the joy? Couldn’t see Christ, when he was there in front of him?
Let that not be our mistake!
Isaiah 35:1-10 speaks of joy and gladness. Isaiah also talks about signs that people will see when the Lord comes. The same signs that Jesus tells the disciples of John to go back and tell him about:
The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, lepers are cleansed – and then this punch-line, “The poor have good news preached to them.” The gospel is good news!
For the prophet Isaiah, these same things are like springs in the desert.
But in the Epistle of St James, the coming of the Lord evolves in a different way.
“Establish your hearts”, he says. “Do not grumble against one another, that you may not be judged.”
Yes, the first christians had the occasional grumble, just like us! St James reminds us that our relationships in the Church will speak to others who search.
Joy and confidence in our faith, as Isaiah presents it, must be matched by our patience to love others.
When people come to us – having in mind this Advent question, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?”, the only response we can hope to give is the quality of the joy and confidence we have in our faith.
Those qualities are shown in our worship, in our life as a community, and in our relationships with each other.
When these all line up together, those who search can say that they have indeed, seen and heard the one who is to come.