John is in prison.
John wants to know if Jesus really is the one who is to come, or if he
must keep on waiting. A little strange because we know John was so confidently
proclaiming Christ as the one to come and at the baptism of Jesus, says “this
is he”. But John needs to hear it again, so he sends his friends and students
to ask Jesus.
We are in prison-
Our own lack of imagination, our placing of our ultimate hope in trust in something or someone other than God, our own self-interest: looking out for #1. Imprisoned by “the way we’ve always done things” that we cannot imagine another way. In bondage to sin and unable to free ourselves, we do the things we know are detrimental to us and others and we don’t do the things that are life-giving for us and the world. Some of us are actually in prison – and we give thanks for Mike and Steve and all those who take good news of great joy and hope that Jesus is their savior, too, because he is the savior of the whole world. Sometimes it is our depression and lack of self-esteem that imprisons us. Other times it is our pride. Maybe it’s an illness – a mental or physical malady. Maybe its an illness of the heart and soul – a failure to forgive, to receive forgiveness, to admit our wrongdoings, to admit we are powerless to change ourselves and others – God’s work is transformation.
In any case, Jesus does not leave the messengers empty handed. John receives good news. And so do we.
Appreciation, compassion (suffering with), messages that bring hope when it is difficult to persevere.
Jesus tells them to go and tell John what they see “The lame walking, blind receiving sight”
-help John know that everything he’s doing, his ministry of the gospel and sharing of God’s word is important
John receives good news. And so do we. Maybe it’s something like this…
-over the last several weeks I have been sending a text message of encouragement to people who have been in my prayers in the morning – particularly people who are engaged in the ministry of the gospel and who I know are in difficult settings, seasons
-their responses have been words of deep appreciation – more than one have said, “thank you, I was having one of those days where I wasn’t sure if any of this really mattered”
-inspiring hope for one another is something that all of us have the capacity for. The light of Christ shines within us, lights us up to light up the world.
-when I hear that you are reading and appreciating my weekly emails, notes of encouragement and appreciation, when you show up and we try new things together, acts of compassion – suffering with one another
God is up to new things, restoring the world, liberating the oppressed, shining light in shadows, bringing life from death, creating something from nothing – right in front of us and right now for those with eyes to see and ears to hear.
This is what enables us to persevere. To give grit.
It’s definitely like this…
We help each other point them out, see them, hear them. So in this Advent season we persevere with hope when it seems like too tall of a task. When it feels like many have given up on hope – depression, anxiety, suicide among young people; “I’ll just bear down and get mine even if it costs others”; “nothing I can do, nothing we can do, just try and make it through”
When we remember, like we did yesterday, that 7 years ago 27 children were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary and we have seen too many school and public shootings, we can no longer imagine a way // a world where they don’t happen.
When we are imprisoned by our need to be right, our need to be better than others, our desire to save and protect ourselves.
When we are
The kingdom of God is at hand. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, we can see it all around us. And we help point these signs of Christmas, of Immanuel, of God with us, out to one another when we cannot see. Each time someone puts the life of others ahead of their own self-interest. Every moment that someone who has been trapped in a cycle of violence is able to be broken away. The many occasions when we are able to look into the eyes of someone who is different from us – different skin color, different language, different country of origin, different politics, different age, differently abled – and see our sister, our brother, a fellow beloved bearer of God’s own image.
All of these we see the kingdom of God at hand.
Throughout Advent we’ve been singing The Canticle of the Turning, a version of Mary’s song in Luke 1, the Magnificat. And the refrain talks about the World being about to turn. Like a pancake ready to be flipped, we see the bubbles of God’s kingdom rising to the surface. The world is about to turn.
The kingdom of God is at hand. And ready or not, Christ is coming into our lives right now – to transform our minds and our hearts, to conform us to the ways of God, to give us eyes to see and ears to hear, and countless ways to live and share the good news that God is here, God is with us, the world is about to turn, God’s way of life and love is what wins, not death and hate and violence. For not even death on a cross will stop Christ who has already, is now, and will come into this world and reconcile all things to God and to one another.
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