The people “were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah.” With all the talk of winnowing forks, sorting out and burning the chaff (in other words, sorting out the sinful), and the heavens opening up with the Spirit descending as an actual dove on Jesus, I want to ignore all of that dramatic stuff for the time being and instead focus on something much more boring. The people wondered if John was the one who would save them.
Of course, we know that John is not the Messiah, but they did not. They were waiting with great expectation for the one who would come along and make everything right again. John was bold. John was persuasive. John was charismatic. John definitely was not a part of the business-as-usual establishment. Even the soldiers were coming out to listen to him. “Is he the one who will make everything right?”
I focus on this first because, even though I know exactly who my Messiah is, still I find myself searching for someone to fix the problems of the world. “Will he or she finally by the one who will figure it all out and make everything alright?” Or sometimes, more times than I would like to admit, I ask, “Will this thing make everything alright?” We put our trust in so many things each day, expecting them to work miracles.
But, rather than asking you, “What have you put your trust in that ultimately failed?” I will go ahead and offer my life as a humiliation on your behalf. So here we go, a list of people and things that Jira Albers has trusted to make everything right instead of Jesus:
1. Candles and scented soaps. I lit the candles and set them around the bathtub, hoping for an experience of bliss. Instead, I just found myself sitting in a tub with sub-par lighting, and no place to safely rest my head because of all the stupid candles.
2. My dog, Sparky. He was to be my friend at a time when I had very few. And, he was a great dog, when I could bring myself to get close enough to him to pick off all the ticks. And, the licking…I never got into the whole dog licking/kissing thing. Making out with a dog is not a good enough substitute for a girlfriend…just saying.
3. My first car. It was to be my freedom. It was to be my release. It was to be my salvation. It ensured that all my free time was filled with a minimum wage job to pay for gas and insurance. Welcome to the real world Jira.
4. President Bill Clinton. Well, we do not have to say too much more there, do we?
5. My Grandpa. I loved him, and he loved me. We would go on rides in his jeep together, and there were those special times of fishing in the lake with one another. The world was right when I was with Grandpa. And, then the phone call came telling us that he was dead. Even Grandpas are not the eternal Messiah.
Why mention this list? Because, even though we have a Messiah, here’s the reality: it is hard to remember that we have one. There are some days when we are certain that someone or something will make our lives happy and right and good. And, when they fail…as they always do…the feeling is devastation. On those days of devastation, the heavens feel closed up like in the days of Elijah, when God refused to shine on the land and its people. On those days, we feel like the widow as she prepared her last bit of flower and oil for her son and herself. They would plan to eat, and then they would plan to die. Their messiahs had all given out. Everything they looked to and hoped in had dried up, like the blowing soil just beyond their front door.
But, I have news for you: the heavens are not closed up. God has not chosen to leave us dry. Instead, the heavens were torn open and the Spirit was spilled out onto Jesus in the waters of his baptism. And, later Jesus chose to spill that same Spirit upon us.
It is still happening today. They heavens are still torn open, and the Spirit is freely flowing here. Our Messiah has already come, and we have been washed with this saving presence.
That reminds me just how much I like taking time each day to remember my baptism. Here’s how it works; every morning, when you splash your face with that refreshing water and scrub away the grime of the night, you can say boldly, “I am God’s child,” in remembrance of that day when the Spirit was splashed upon you. It’s a great discipline to have. It is refreshing and life-giving. Let’s practice by declaring it loud. “I am God’s child!” “I am God’s child!” “I am God’s child!”
I love this daily morning practice because it reminds me before the day even begins that I do not have to go out into the world looking for a Messiah. I do not have to waste time, putting my trust in people and things that will fail. Instead, I am reminded that Christ has set me free to be who God designed me to be. I am free to go about my day loving the world as much as I want.
Here is an idea. What if, instead of trusting others to fix what we see as wrong in the world…instead of putting hope in a politician or a pastor or someone quite close to you in order to make everything right…what if we simply trusted that Jesus is already on the task of redeeming the world.
Not only that, since we aren’t looking to someone else to fix the world, we can feel free to join in on what God is up to. What if everyone felt free to join Jesus in improving the world, rather than trusting that a politician will do it for us, or worse yet, trusting that scented candles and soaps will magically make the world well?
I can feel bold in asking the question because, I know one thing to be true, your Messiah has come, and Jesus has set you free from all that binds you and holds you back. Sin? Gone. Low self-worth? You are accepted. No matter what binds you, you are free in Jesus Christ. You are free to go from here and love all that you want. No one can stop you. And, the gift of love never dries up. The heavens have been torn open, and the Spirit pours down permanently on us with grace until the end of time. How is that for some good news?
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