Text: Luke 7:18-28
In the children’s book “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible,
No Good, Very Bad Day” Alexander is very upset.
One thing after another goes wrong for him. He went to sleep the night before with gum in
his mouth and woke up with gum in his hair, got out of bed, tripped over his
skateboard, and dropped his sweater in the sink while the water was
running. He could tell it was going to
be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
Later, at school, his teacher Mrs. Dickens liked Paul’s picture of a
sailboat better than Alexander’s picture of an invisible castle. At singing time, she said he sang too
loud. At counting time, she said that he
left out sixteen. At lunchtime, he discovered
his mother had forgotten to give him dessert, but his friends had a Hershey bar
with almonds and a jelly roll with little coconut sprinkles. It was just one thing after another, all day
long. It was a terrible, horrible, no good,
very bad day.
Oh, dear, sweet, little Alexander. You have no idea.
On this Third Sunday in Advent, the Scriptures call us to
rejoice. The call to rejoice is all over
our service today. But there is not much
rejoicing in Newtown, Connecticut today.
There is not much rejoicing for all of us across the country who have
been touched by Friday’s tragedy. In
many and various ways – to coin a phrase – many of you know how difficult it is
to rejoice when your world comes crashing down around you.
John the Baptist had little reason to rejoice. He was in prison. Soon to be executed. With doubts about the identity of the very One
for whom he was sent to prepare the way.
John was the set-up man.
Jesus was the closer. John was
the opening act. Jesus was the
headliner. “The Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “He
will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Luke 3:16). “He must increase, but I must decrease,” John
declared (John 3:30).
But now, imprisoned, John’s world suddenly became much
smaller. John was not only imprisoned by
the walls and bars enclosing him. He was
imprisoned by doubt. It had become
difficult for him to look beyond the walls and bars enclosing him and see the
big picture, understand what God is up to, for John to understand his own part
in the plan.
Our world can seem very small when our doubt, our grief, our
anxieties, our addictions, our problems press down upon us. Our world becomes very small when our sins
press down upon us. When your day ends
and you go to bed, with everyone else tucked in, you are left all alone with
your thoughts. What do you think about? What’s the condition of your conscience?
Do you have questions like John? “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we
look for another?” John’s judgment preaching
didn’t seem to correspond to what Jesus was going around doing according to reports. What happened to the baptism with the Holy
Spirit and fire that John said the Messiah would perform? Jesus was preaching about liberty to the captives
and for those who are oppressed. Did
John think to himself, “Well, here I am, cousin! How about a little help?”
Shall we look for another?
For anyone? Is Jesus really going
to return like he promised? Is he the
kind of God who allows the greatest “among those born of women” (Luke 7:28) to
linger in prison? To be beheaded? Is he the kind of God who can't stop terrible
tragedies from occurring? Or is this just one gigantic,
cruel hoax?
Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me”
(Luke 7:23). But many are. Many are offended, trapped, scandalized by
the false expectations they have of the nature of the Messiah and his work. Many stumble and fall away from faith when
they see God acting in ways they don’t expect him to act … or failing to act in
ways they DO expect.
Jesus did great miracles in his earthly ministry, bringing
wholeness and healing to his fallen creation.
“The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and
the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to
them” (Luke 7:22). This is what the
prophets of old said the Messiah would do when he came on the scene. When you saw this work being done, then you
could know the identity of the Messiah. But
what about the humble appearance of this one?
God in the womb of a virgin? God
in a manger? A crucified God? This takes eyes of faith to see and recognize
God in all of this. These are eyes, this
is faith, that only God gives through his Word and Spirit. And the Word of God through the prophets
foretold all this. Isaiah said that “the
virgin will conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah
7:14). God with us. Micah said that he would be born in Bethlehem
(Micah 5:2). In Psalm 22, David foretold
that his hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16), among other details of
the crucifixion. And Isaiah explained in
advance the purpose of Messiah’s suffering: “Surely he has borne our griefs and
carried all our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and
afflicted. But he was wounded for our
transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the
chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah
53:4).
Jesus has borne your griefs.
He has carried all your sorrows.
Enduring the results of evil and sin in this world – and that includes
the evil and the sin we ourselves have committed – Jesus was stricken, smitten,
and afflicted. Bursting forth from the
grave on the Third Day, Jesus proved that he conquered sin, death, and hell for
you. He proved that his death was sufficient
for the forgiveness of all your sins and to give you the promise of everlasting
life and resurrection when he comes again at his Second Advent.
Imprisoned by doubt, we are liberated by the joy of Christ’s presence now and the life he gives in this world of evil and death. “Rejoice,” says Zephaniah, “The Lord your God is in your midst” (Zeph. 3:14, 17). “Rejoice,” says St. Paul, “the Lord is at hand” (Phil. 4:5).
Imprisoned by doubt, we are liberated by the joy of Christ’s presence now and the life he gives in this world of evil and death. “Rejoice,” says Zephaniah, “The Lord your God is in your midst” (Zeph. 3:14, 17). “Rejoice,” says St. Paul, “the Lord is at hand” (Phil. 4:5).
He is the one who was to come … and DID come as Mary’s Son.
He is the one who is to come again. On the Last Day he will return as judge of
the living and the dead. That day will
be a dreadful day for those who have been scandalized by Jesus, but a joyful
day for those who cling to him in repentance and faith. Blessed is the one who does not stumble over
Jesus, but rather plummets headlong into his arms of mercy.
He is the one who is in your midst today. With joy we listen to his Word … words we
heard earlier today: “The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down” (Ps. 146:8) …
“The Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil” (Zeph. 3:15) … “he
will quiet you by his love” (Zeph. 3:17) … “the peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil.
4:7).
With joy we approach the altar to eat and drink Christ’s body
and blood. Here he gives us a foretaste
of the wholeness and healing we will receive in resurrection. Until that day, he gives eyes of faith to
those who are spiritually blind. He gives
legs of faith so we can walk in his ways.
He cleanses hearts that are leprous with sin. He opens ears to hear and believe the Good
News. He raises up from the waters of
baptism people who were once dead but now are truly alive in him.
Shall we look for another?
No. Only Jesus can soothe your
hurting soul. Only Jesus can forgive
your sin. Liberated from our prison
walls, sin and doubt no longer press in upon us. God expands our horizon. We can look beyond the evil that we see and trust
that God is still with us and acts on our behalf even in the midst of sadness
and suffering. We can look out from within
the darkness and see the light of Christ.
Will the believing families in Newtown ever be able to look
out from their darkness and see the light of Christ? Will they ever have
a joyful Christmas again? Even for the
baptized, it takes time for the clouds of grief to break and to see the light
of Christ clearly through tears and sadness.
For those whose Christmas may not be so merry this year …
and perhaps this includes you … this is where the message of Advent is so
helpful. Advent is all about
waiting. Watching. Anticipating with hope and expectation. Looking forward to the return of Jesus when finally,
there will be only JOY … and no more truly terrible, horrible, no good, very bad
days.
Amen.
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