Reflection on Matthew 11:2-11

 

Matthew 11:2-11

2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” 4 Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

  7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What, then, did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written,

 ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

  who will prepare your way before you.’

11 “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

Reflection

“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” John the Baptist asks from the dark pit of prison (Matthew 11:3).  That is what ancient prisons were after-all, dark, dank, underground pits that were often overcrowded and filled with despair.  From the depressing confines of the pit, John asks, “Are you the one…?”

Maybe he did not know that two blind men followed Jesus around just days before and cried out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” (Matthew 9:27).  After they caught up with him, Jesus asked, “Do you have faith that I can do this?” (Matthew 9:28).  They told Jesus that they did trust that he could heal them.  The scripture then says, “Their eyes were opened” (Matthew 9:30).  These two blind men had been healed, just as the prophet Isaiah promised: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened” (Isaiah 35:5).

Yet, John sits in prison and asks, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

Maybe he did not hear about the friends who carried a paralyzed man on a stretcher to Jesus, trusting that Jesus could do something about their friend.  As the story goes, “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, child; your sins are forgiven’” (Matthew 9:2).  Then after some religious types scoffed at Jesus, Jesus declared to the man, “’Stand up, take your bed, and go to your home.’ And he stood up and went to his home” (Matthew 9:6-7).  The lame man was healed and he got up and walked.  This was just as the prophet Isaiah promised: “Then the lame shall leap like a deer” (Isaiah 35:6).

But, out of the depths of his despair John asks, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

Surely John knew about the man from early on in Jesus’ ministry who listened to the sermon that Jesus preached on the mountain, and caught Jesus on the way down the mountain, asking to have his skin disease healed.  “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” he urged (Matthew 8:2).  After-all he had just heard Jesus preach that the kingdom of heaven was for people such as he.  Jesus responded, “I am willing.  Be made clean” (Matthew 8:3).  Stretching out his hand, Jesus cleansed the man of his skin disease immediately.  Surely, John heard about the man whose skin was restored and, thus, his life spent with friends and family was also restored.  This had to be a big deal!

Yet, John pleads his own disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

That is not to mention how Jesus healed the guy who could not talk because a demon had possessed him in Matthew 9:32-33, or better yet, the little girl whose story is found in Matthew 9:18-26.  She died while waiting for Jesus to arrive, yet Jesus “took her by the hand, and the girl got up” (Matthew 9:25).  A precious little girl who was dead was brought back to life! 

It is as if the promises of Isaiah 35 are materializing right there for everyone to see! 

“’He will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy” (Isaiah 35:4-6).

It is as if the Lord had finally arrived, the path was made straight for him, and he followed the path right to his people.  The Bible tells us that he was “teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.  So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, people possessed by demons or having epilepsy or afflicted with paralysis, and he cured them.  And great crowd followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.” (Matthew 4:23-25). 

The kingdom of heaven had indeed come near in the very flesh and blood of Jesus, just as the Prophet Isaiah described.  Jesus had become a superstar of heavenly goodness, fame spreading everywhere, and all that John the Baptist can say in response to all of the goodness that was spreading throughout the land by the lips and hands of Jesus is asking him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (Matthew 11:3).

I think I know why.  John is not receiving any of it.  He is in a pit, literally and figuratively.  He is literally in a prison pit, and his emotions are also in a pit of deep depression and despair.  Jesus may be saving his people, but John is apparently not one of them.  John is offended at Jesus’ lack of saving…him. 

Jesus has not shown up at the prison with an army to set him free.  Jesus has not overthrown the king that put John in prison for simply pointing out that maybe it would not be a good idea for Herod to marry his own brother’s wife. 

Jesus could take his rightful place as king and pardon John and set him free.  Jesus could have done any sort of thing to help John.  He could have sent a huge groundhog to dig a hole to secure John’s escape.  But has Jesus done that?  No!  Jesus has not done any of that.  Jesus has not sent fire from heaven to consume the retched and immoral leaders.  Jesus has not set John free. 

“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (Matthew 11:3).  It is a question that feels a lot like the question, “Don’t you care?”

“Don’t you care?”

I am reminded of the parable of the rabbi who threw a dinner party, invited a whole bunch of rich guests, and invited one poor man.  The poor man was seated next to the rabbi, and when the servants came out with the first course, they set the food in front of only the rabbi and the poor man.  The rich watched as the rabbi and the poor man ate, but out of respect they said nothing.  The same happened with the courses of bread and soup.  Then finally when the main course came out and only the rabbi and the poor man feasted, one of the rich guests finally spoke up out of frustration, maybe he was hangry, and he asked, “Where is our food?  Why are you dishonoring us like this!”

The rabbi looked at the guest and said, “This poor man starves every day, and for one night he gets to feast like he is rich.  Why can you not simply be happy for the goodness shown him?”

It is so easy to only think about ourselves.  It is so easy to miss all that God is doing for others.  It is so easy to be offended. 

Do you want to know who is not offended?  I know of a woman who has been crippled her entire life and has now resigned herself to live in a wheelchair.  She has never run a race.  She has never danced a proper dance.  She has never hiked to a beautiful mountain cliff or peak.  She has never done any of that.

Yet, when she reads in the Bible about how Jesus heals the paralytic, she does not wonder, “Why won’t he do that for me?”  Rather, she gets excited.  She says with a huge smile, “That man got to walk and dance!  I cannot wait for Jesus to do that for me when I get to heaven!  I am going to dance everywhere I go!  They are going to tell me to slow down a little up there and I am going to say, ‘No!  I have a lot of catching up to do!’”

Do you see what this deeply faithful woman has done?  She has not taken the man’s healing as a slight against her.  She is happy for the guy!  Rather, she takes the man’s healing and holds it close to her heart as a sign of hope. 

She knows that Jesus will heal her.  She trusts that Jesus will heal her.  She has the faith of those friends who know that Jesus will heal their paralyzed buddy.  She has the faith of the blind men who answer, “Yes Lord,” when asked by Jesus, “Do you have faith that I can do this?” (Matthew 9:28).  She has the faith of the man walking down the mountain with Jesus who simply states, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” (Matthew 8:2).  And she knows that when she gets to stand in front of Jesus and ask if he is willing to heal her, she will hear an “I am willing” from the lips of her savior (Matthew 8:3). 

She trusts the promises of Jesus.  She does not take offense that others have found their healing, but she has not.  Rather, she finds hope and promise through their stories.

“Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me,” Jesus says (Matthew 11:6).

And I think that is why, as great as John the Baptist was, that Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11).  John cannot trust.  He is stuck in his pit.  He is stuck staring at his coming death.  He is stuck.

But Jesus does not give up on him.  Jesus sends John’s disciples back with this message of good news: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease 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” (Matthew 11:4-6).  Jesus provides him with the gift of hope.  He provides him with the gift of knowing that the Lord has arrived. 

Jesus does care.  Jesus simply does not save in the ways we expect.  John expects a king who sits on the throne and brings judgement.  Jesus’ throne is a cross and saves us all through sacrifice.  Jesus does care.  The Messiah has arrived.  Take no offense.  Have faith.  Trust.  Trust that Jesus knows what he is doing.  Trust that all will be made right and well.  Trust that you can dance all you want in heaven.  Trust that Jesus cares, because he does.

On the train taking him and other prisoners to their deaths in WWII era Germany, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer saw the fear and hopelessness in his fellow passenger’s eyes and did what pastors know how to do: he led a service of scripture and prayer for his fellow prisoners.  And after providing a word of hope to those in the pit, his last words to his fellow prisoners were: “This is the end – for me, the beginning of life.”

We do not need to wait for another.  The Lord has come.  Jesus Christ is our light in dark pits.  Jesus Christ brings us all good news.  Jesus Christ shines in our hearts, even when the day seems dark.

Reflection on Isaiah 35:1-10

 

Isaiah 35:1-10 (NRSVue)

 ¹ The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
  the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
 like the crocus ² it shall blossom abundantly
  and rejoice with joy and shouting.
 The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
  the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
 They shall see the glory of the Lord,
  the majesty of our God.]]

 ³ Strengthen the weak hands
  and make firm the feeble knees.
 ⁴ Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
  “Be strong, do not fear!
 Here is your God.
  He will come with vengeance,
 with terrible recompense.
  He will come and save you.”

 ⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
  and the ears of the deaf shall be opened;
 ⁶ then the lame shall leap like a deer,
  and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
 For waters shall break forth in the wilderness
  and streams in the desert;
 ⁷ the burning sand shall become a pool
  and the thirsty ground springs of water;
 the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp;
  the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

 ⁸ A highway shall be there,
  and it shall be called the Holy Way;
 the unclean shall not travel on it,
  but it shall be for God’s people;
  no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
 ⁹ No lion shall be there,
  nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
 they shall not be found there,
  but the redeemed shall walk there.
 ¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
  and come to Zion with singing;
 everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
  they shall obtain joy and gladness,
  and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Reflection

“If you want to understand who Isaiah is preaching to in Isaiah 35, take a visit to any of our military or VA Hospitals,” the army chaplain said. 

And what would you see if you visited military or VA Hospitals?  You would see men and women who cannot see because of the explosion of a roadside IEDs.  You would see those who cannot hear because the intense pressures of bombs on delicate ears.  You would see women and men without limbs, learning to do the simple task of walking all over again.  And post-traumatic stress disorder will have led some men and women to turn away from the outside word, rendering them mute …unable to speak…unable to cope with life.  You would see all these wounded heroes and more.  You would see those who were once strong but are now feeble.  You would see those who struggle to walk.  You would see those who drop to the floor out of fear whenever a loud noise bursts through the peaceful scene.  You would see people whose bodies and memories have been deeply wounded by an enemy.

“And once you have seen these brave souls, read Isaiah 35:2b-6 again, and you will understand.”  And so, the Bible is pulled out, and the words start to preach their good news.

“They shall see the glory of the Lord,

  the majesty of our God.

 ³ Strengthen the weak hands
  and make firm the feeble knees.
 ⁴ Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
  “Be strong, do not fear!
 Here is your God.
  He will come with vengeance,
 with terrible recompense.
  He will come and save you.”

 ⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
  and the ears of the deaf shall be opened;
 ⁶ then the lame shall leap like a deer,
  and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy” (Isaiah 35:2b-6).

In a world that speaks highly of the warrior, but simultaneously forgets them with hands, hearts, and money, Isaiah has a message for those who have been wounded by trauma and war.  “They shall see the glory of the Lord” (Isaiah 35:2b).  The Lord “will come and save you” (Isaiah 35:4).

The Lord does not forget.  The Lord does not betray.  The Lord does not walk away.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

  and the ears of the deaf shall be opened;
 then the lame shall leap like a deer,
  and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy” (Isaiah 35:5-6).

The chaplain explained, “All of the talk about waters quenching parched lands and talk of straight roads leading home only make sense if you have been thirsty in battle, searching for relief, wandering across blood stained fields, and wishing for a road that can finally deliver you from that hell and take you home.  Would it not be nice if the Lord sent waters to cleanse lands and wounds at the same time?  Would it not be nice to finally see a path that leads back home?”

Before my conversation with the military chaplain, the imagery simply struck me as beautiful poetry, which it is.  But it had never really struck me just how much these words are a vital promise from the Lord to very real, battered and broken people, who desperately need to hear good news.  They are promises that God gave to people who actually existed back in the ancient world who were beaten down, battered, and broken by an enemy.  And they are promises that God gives to us still today when we are beaten down, battered, and broken.  They are promises that ring clearly in the ears of those wounded warriors from battles past.

In Jesus, we see that ^“the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (Matthew 11:5).  It is Jesus who promises: “Everyone who drinks [normal, well water] will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

Our parched lands, parched bodies, and parched souls will be restored again.  A spring of water from Jesus will rush into our hearts, flooding it with love and restoration.  On that day it will be said of all healed and restored heroes that “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

Reflection on Matthew 3:1-12

 

Matthew 3:1-12 (NRSVue)

1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

 “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

 ‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

  make his paths straight.’ ”

4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.

  7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance, 9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

  11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Reflection

Fire dramatically alters life.  From fires that destroy all you have to fires that burn within your soul, fire dramatically alters life.  And the power of fire is ablaze within John the Baptists imagination as he declares that “every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in to the fire” (Matthew 3:10).  He talks of fire as if it is some sort of tool used by the Holy Spirit to clear out the dead branches and useless weeds of our lives.  He says that the powerful one who is coming separates the wheat from the chaff, and the useless chaff “he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12).  John expects that fire will be used to dramatically alter people’s lives.   

Fire changed a woman’s life.  I read about her a few years ago.  I read that fire changed everything about her.  Not only did she lose her home to an arsonist who set her home ablaze, but she also lost her face. 

Before the fire, she was beautiful.  She was beautiful in the ways that models are beautiful.  She was make-up commercial beautiful.  But after the fire, when she looked in the mirror, all she saw was misaligned, plastic textured skin, filled with scars.  All she saw in the mirror was the woman who kids pointed at, and around whom mothers steered their children, as if she were able to spread the devastation to their little ones like a disease.  She rarely went out after the fire.  When she did go out, it took so long to get ready.  She caked on makeup and even needed to draw eyebrows on her face because they had burnt away for good.  The fire was devastating.  It changed her life.

Still, she discovered that there was a life after the fire.  It was a life that she had never known before.  She discovered that there were people who did not look away or walk away when she came near.  There were people who were drawn to her.  There were people for whom her face was an invitation to get closer, both physically and emotionally. 

These people were those who the Bible would describe as outcasts.  They were the people for whom connecting with others was hard because they too were not beautiful, or they had a disease, or they had an odd tick, or they just did not know how to relate to others in the same way as everyone else. 

They were the people with whom Jesus hung out.  There were the people with whom Jesus poured his attention and care.  They were the blind, the sick, and the lame.  They were the socially awkward and the chastised.  And they were the first people to invite the woman over to their table at the coffee shop, so that she would not have to enjoy her tea alone any longer.  They were a gift from Jesus Christ to her.

Life after the fire seemed to be so much more…authentic than life before.  It was less about looks and glamour and more about love and laughter with faulty but lovable people.  The fire had taken so much from her, but on the other hand the fire ended up providing so much more.  It provided the people of God.  It provided love.  It provided a seat with Jesus Christ at the table in the Kingdom of heaven.

Fire does that.  It burns away all that you have previously known.  And that either drives you into complete hopelessness, or it shows you what this life that God has given us, is truly all about.  It is this purifying fire, where all of the impurities are burned away until all that remains is pure and good.  John the Baptist talks about this fire when he says, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11).

This fire, which stands as a kind of wall between the common and the divine, is a reality that is very, very ancient.  Way back in Genesis, at the beginning of creation, after the first man and woman had been thrown out of the garden, removed from the presence of God because of their failure to trust God, there was a sword of fire stationed between them and God.  The fire separated them, and if they ever dreamed of returning, they would have to walk through the deadly fire.  (Genesis 3:24).

Some have walked through the fire and stood with the Divine.  Moving in a reverse direction, back toward the Garden of Eden, stepping through the cleansing waters of the flood, and then stepping through the all-consuming, purifying fire at the gate of Eden, Moses steps through the fire when as he climbs God’s holy mountain.  He survives.  He encounters God.  He is given wisdom, the Ten Commandments, all because he steps through that dangerous and holy fire.

Job also encounters fire.  It falls from the sky and destroys all that Job once had.  Job goes through a fiery ordeal, much like the woman with the burned face.  Only after the fire, only after refusing to break his trust in God, does God restore Job to a new life. 

God comes to give wisdom to Job, but only after he had gone through a fiery ordeal. 

And only after the fire did the woman with the transformed face find the community of Jesus’ beloved outcasts.  Only after the fire burned away her idealized life of beauty did Jesus give the woman a real, authentic community of love, all drawn together by the Holy Spirit.

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11).

I have something to admit to you.  I do not find stepping into fire to be all that comfortable.  In fact, I tend to avoid stepping into fire and teach my children the same.  Fire is uncomfortable.

Yet, John the Baptist is out in the wilderness preaching a fire-filled word that is similarly uncomfortable to hear.  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” John shouts (Matthew 3:2).  He screams that it is time to change your mind completely.  It is time to prepare a highway for the Lord to come.  It is time to clear out everything that is getting in the way of the Lord’s arrival. 

“Bear fruit worthy of repentance,” John shouts at the Pharisees and Sadducees.  “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham” (Matthew 3:8-9). 

He wants us to learn not to put our faith and trust in the things and in the people that we have trusted before.  We do not put our trust in Abraham!  We do not put our trust in governments!  We do not put our trust in our beauty or success! 

God can take it all away or replace it any time that God wants!  “Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). 

This fire seems threatening and fearful, because it is.  This fire seems full of death and destruction, because it is.  And this fire seems like it will change everything for good, which it will.  It will change everything for the sake of all that is good.

It is God’s fire, after-all.  It is the fire that Jesus carries with him and pours over the heads of those he loves, just like John pours water over the heads of those who desire more than anything for life to change. 

It is the fire of the Holy Spirit which destroys all that we have previously known but is also the purifying flame at the gate which allows us to pass through the door, back into the garden, to walk and talk with God. 

It is the fire that God uses to open the gate of the kingdom to us.  It is the refining fire that burns away all of the injustice, hatred, unfaithfulness, violence, apathy, misdirected loyalties, cold, unforgiving hearts, and sin which keeps us from life in the kingdom of heaven with God.

It is an uncomfortable fire.  It is a devastating fire.  It is not what you sign up for if you are looking for a day at the spa.  But, the Bible seems to be saying that the only way that Jesus has to draw us to him, to draw us away from the kingdom of this world into the kingdom in which he stands, is to drag us through the cleansing water and pull us through the purifying fires so that we can finally be cleansed of everything that tugs at our trust and love.  After we are pulled through the fire, we can trust in his love. 

Only then, stripped of the old, can we live in Jesus’ new kingdom of love and peace, where “the wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6).  Children will be able to play near snakes and not get hurt because, in God’s kingdom, on the mountain of God, in the land of Eden, there is no attacking one another and there is no destruction.  There is just the peaceful life that the Lord our God has given as a gift by his own blood on the cross.

This purifying fire is what death and new life in Jesus Christ is all about.  All of this is what faith and grace looks like when we encounter it.  All of this is being loved by God and then shaped into the person we were created to be.  All of this is being given the gift of living in the kingdom of heaven…the kingdom which has come near.

Reflection on Isaiah 11:1-10

 

Isaiah 11:1-10 (NRSVue)

 ¹ A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
  and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
 ² The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
  the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
  the spirit of counsel and might,
  the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
 ³ His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

 He shall not judge by what his eyes see
  or decide by what his ears hear,
 ⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor
  and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth;
 he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
  and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
 ⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist
  and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

 ⁶ The wolf shall live with the lamb;
  the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
 the calf and the lion will feed together,
  and a little child shall lead them.
 ⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze;
  their young shall lie down together;
  and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
 ⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
  and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
 ⁹ They will not hurt or destroy
  on all my holy mountain,
 for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
  as the waters cover the sea.

  ¹⁰ On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Reflection

“Cut down.”  “Cut off at the knees.”  “Cut down to size.”

The people of God were once the great tree that God planted.  The people of God, together, were once a great cedar tree planted on the mountain of God upon which all eyes could look for guidance and inspiration. 

But the people of God forgot they were that tree.  They forgot that the fruit of their branches were for the benefit of all, so that all people could eat and find shelter; especially the poor, oppressed, and forgotten.

And when trees bear no fruit, they get cut down.  Assyria, and later the Babylonians, attacked and that kingdom was no more.  The once mighty tree was left as a stump. 

Has shame and guilt ever cut you down to size?  Have your past mistakes cut you off at the knees?  Do you feel cut down in life, unable to walk properly?

“Where do I go from here?” the woman asked after being abandoned by family and friends because of her lying and stealing.  “What am I supposed to do now?”  The woman felt utterly cut off, literally and figuratively.  She did not know how to live life without the support of the family and friends that she once had.  She wanted some wisdom that could just fix it all.  She wanted some way to gain everything that she had lost back.

There is hope.  “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots,” Isaiah promises (Isaiah 11:1).  Maybe, the first thing to do is simply acknowledge that you are a stump.  Martin Luther put it this way as he gazed at his own life and action in his last moments, “We are beggars.  This is true.”  We are beggars.  We are unable to help ourselves.  We are stumps.  Stumps cannot grow fruit.

Or can they?

Have you ever seen a tender shoot sprout out of the side of a stump?  Just because the tree and fruit became bad does not mean that the roots are rotten.  The roots of love and righteousness, the roots of trusting in the Lord and following the Lord’s ways, are still below, holding firmly to the ground, and they can send out a new, tender shoot that can grow into a full-sized tree.

Isaiah envisions a new leader of God’s people who will grow from the roots.  This leader is the one who we beggars can cling to.  This leader is the one who will be what we often fail to be.  Isaiah says that “The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2-3).

This spirit filled, tender shoot will trust in the Lord’s ways.  “He shall not judge by what his eyes see or decide by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth” (Isaiah 11:3-4).  This new savior will care for those who are poor, oppressed, and forgotten.  This new savior will open the eyes of the blind, feed the hungry, preach good news, and welcome the outcast and forgotten.  This new savior will take the sin and failures of stumps and beggars like us and bring them back to new life.  Even stumps will not be forgotten.

Jesus Christ is our tender shoot.  He is the new life for old stumps.  He is the one to whom we look for peace and life.  He is the one who can create a kingdom in which “the wolf shall live with the lamb” and in which it is safe for a child to “play over the hole of the asp” (Isaiah 11:6-8).

When Jesus comes to dwell with us, to stand with us, to hold us upright so that we are no longer cut off or cut away, all people can look again upon the mountain with that mighty cedar tree and find life!  On that day all people “shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10).

Reflection on Matthew 24:36-44

Matthew 24:36-44 (NRSVue)

[Jesus said to the disciples,] 36 “About that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39 and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken, and one will be left. 42 Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Reflection

“Keep awake!” Jesus implores us.  “Keep Awake” (Matthew 24:42).

Shouting that at the start of the Advent sermon is a favorite pastime of preachers throughout the world, startling parishioners for years and years.  One startled parishioner once shouted back at me, “I’m not asleep yet!”  “Yet.”  This was the same guy who loudly snapped open his newspaper whenever he thought I was preaching too long.

But it is more than an inside joke for preachers.  It is an actual desire in the heart of Jesus.  He desperately does not want us to be swept away in the concerns and distractions of this world. 

And we do get swept away.  Like “in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” we get swept away in the family drama that inevitably comes with the holiday season.  We get swept away with the national stories and political concerns that tug at our attention as we talk and sip our coffees.  We get swept away with the struggles of paying bills and providing for our families.  It is not that these things are never important or worthy of our attention, but our minds and our lives can get swept away with these things, causing us to fall asleep to all that God is doing. 

Not all of us, of course.  Some of us are able to work “in the field,” keeping our minds on God, while others of us are swept away because of others concerns (Matthew 24:40).  They are the ones who are not paying attention while the cows are stampeding towards them, and they get swept away in the commotion and get trampled.  “Keep awake,” Jesus says. 

Some of us use our time in the kitchen to pray and meditate on all that is holy, and others are swept away while “grinding meal together,” worried more about the things that distract, and their bread is ruined along with their lives (Mattew 24:41).  “Keep awake,” Jesus says. 

A monk once taught me that even the simple task of bread making or beer brewing can be holy.  He taught that all of it can be a time for prayer and…and.  Well, I did not really hear the rest of what he was saying because my mind wandered to something else.

Ever been there?  Have you ever been so distracted and carried away with your concerns that you were not truly present with the person you were with, or not truly present to accomplish the task at hand?

I was once at a doctor’s appointment, and the doctor was so distracted, talking and decompressing about the trauma from which she had just come, that it was only after 15 minutes of talking that she realized that she only had about 5 minutes remaining to talk about why I was sitting there in the room.  And you thought there was nothing hazardous about a pastor’s job.  “Keep awake,” Jesus says. 

“Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 26:42-44).

“Keep awake…you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matthew 26:42). 

While I was preparing for this sermon, I decided that I needed to find some way to stay awake spiritually.  “I need to try my best to keep awake,” I thought to myself.  “Maybe I will set an alarm to help remind myself.  Maybe I will start some sort of daily routine that allows me to remember to keep awake.”  And just as I resolved to do exactly that, a very basic question popped into my head.  “Jesus?” I asked, “what does keeping awake look like?”

“How can I possibly keep awake if I have no idea what you are talking about, Jesus?”

And that question sent me into the Bible.  I started searching for what was going on just before Jesus told us to keep awake.  And if you take a wander with me to just a few chapters before today’s reading about keeping awake, you will discover in Matthew 23:37 that Jesus laments that Jerusalem has refused to gather under his wings and follow his ways.  And if you look even further back you will see Jesus warning some scribes and Pharisees that they have been paying attention to the wrong things; they have been swept away, focusing on things that are not very important.  Sound familiar? 

Listen to Matthew 23:23: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others” (Matthew 23:23). 

“Justice and mercy and faith.”  The scribes and Pharisees have been distracted by things that are not so important and have forgotten to do the most important things: “justice and mercy and faith.”  We still get distracted today from these very things in favor of other concerns and pressing needs: “Justice and mercy and faith.” 

Jesus is not stating anything new by trying to bring our focus back to “justice and mercy and faith.”  This has been the drumbeat of the prophets forever and ever.  Micah 6:8 reminds us: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” 

Isaiah 1:17 tells us to: “Learn to do right; seek justice.  Defend the oppressed.  Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”

And just in case you are not the type to hear a message through verbal instruction, but you need to hear it in song form, the Bible serves up for us Psalm 82:3. “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.”

Ensuring that all people are treated fairly and just, making sure that all people experience forgiveness and experience a concern for their wellbeing, and encouraging people to love and trust in the Lord is exactly what Jesus is talking about when he tells us to keep awake! 

And just in case you do not know what any of that looks like, Jesus provides us with a very clear example.  He teaches that when he comes again, “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,  for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me’” (Matthew 25:35-40).

This is what keeping awake is all about: giving the hungry food, providing drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger and caring for them, giving clothing to the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting those in prison.  Those who are awake enough to remember these things are the ones who will not be swept away.  They are the ones who know what kingdom living is all about.  They are the ones who are awake enough to see the needs around them and are awake enough to keep the thief from snatching away those opportunities to show love to others.

And, in this teaching, did you also notice that Jesus has already returned?  It says that when we give water to the thirsty, we give it to Jesus.  He has already returned in the face of a thirsty child.  He has, indeed, shown up at an unexpected time and in an unexpected way.  “Keep awake,” Jesus urges.  It is possible that he has already arrived.

And with that, instead of being inspired, I am now thinking about the number of times I have seen the thirsty one and walked away.  I guess it is only natural to think that way, and I know that I am not alone.  I know plenty of people who live in fear, or feel tired, or simply lack the ability to feel the Holy Spirit at work in their lives.  We stand gazing at the horizon, looking for something better, looking for something beyond this time in life, always looking into the distance.  All the while, the flood waters of hopelessness are collecting around our feet. 

If I have just described you, do not worry.  There have been plenty of times that I have stood, unable to move, unable to shake the waters of inaction from my soul.  That is why we have each other.  That is why Jesus has given us a kingdom in which we stand. 

That is the very reason that Jesus asks us to keep awake and care for others; because there have been plenty of times that Jesus has sent someone who was awake to provide the water when I needed it.  Jesus has often provided someone to hand me some food when there was none.  Jesus has provided me people who have not been swept away by fear and inaction.  Jesus has provided me with kingdom people, who have not forgotten to give the hungry food, provide drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger and care for them, give clothing to the naked, care for the sick, and visit those in prison. 

And unbeknownst to me, Jesus has offered me to others as well.  Remember that doctor who had to unload about the trauma she had just experienced?  Well, Jesus just happened to provide someone trained in pastoral listening to help ease that burden off her shoulders.  And a weary and tired doctor experienced a bit of mercy. 

“When was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing?” the people ask at the end of the age.  I did not realize it at first either, but that is the way of those who are awake to God.  You do not plan or schedule love, you are love.  Jesus makes you person of love.

Living in this way is such a gift!  We get to be a part of the love and salvation that Jesus has given us on the cross!  We get to see the eyes of people start to gleam once again when they realize that someone notices them and realize that someone cares about them.  We get to know deep down that we are a part of something vital in this world when we help others.  We are extensions of God’s love, blessing the world when we give the hungry food, provide drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger and care for them, give clothing to the naked, care for the sick, and visit those in prison. 

Keep awake so that, together, we will be a part of Jesus’ great vision to allow God’s kingdom to come, and God’s will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Reflection on Luke 23:33-43

 

“Let him save himself” (Luke 23:35).

“Save yourself” (Luke 23:37).

“Save yourself, and us” (Luke 23:39).

This is what those who are “of the world” tell Jesus.  This is what those who are “of the world” say to each other.  This is what we say to ourselves.

“Save yourself.” 

“Pull yourself up by the bootstraps.” 

“Take some time for yourself.” 

“Save yourself, and us!” 

“God helps those who help themselves.”

Did you know that last one is not in the Bible?  It is quoted constantly as if it were.  “God helps those who help themselves.”  It is a better-known phrase than John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” 

The two phrases could not be any different.  The John quote, which is actually from the Bible, tells us about how God saves us through faith.  God saves us. 

The one that is not from the Bible tells us that we need to be the ones who take the initiative to save ourselves.  We save ourselves. 

“Be the author of your own story.” 

“You can do it.” 

“Trust in yourself.” 

“God helps those who help themselves.” 

“Save yourself.”

Those of us who are “of the world” take great pride in our self-made accomplishments.  Those of us who are “of the world” can clearly see that if it were not for our own hard work, we would be nowhere in life. 

Maybe we are right.  Maybe we care a lot about making our way in this world and this life, and we have accomplishments to prove that we have done exactly that.  Maybe our own success has been our focus in life.  Maybe, that is what drives our life.  Maybe, at the end of the day, all we care about is saving ourselves…or more graciously, ourselves and our friends and family. 

“Save yourself,” we whisper to ourselves when the times get rough.  “Save yourself,” we whisper to ourselves because we are too afraid to lay our burdens on anyone else’s shoulders.  “Save yourself,” we say into the lonely night as we twist and turn and try to figure it all out before the sun comes up.

Do you know what Jesus did not do?  Jesus did not save himself.  He was not the focus of his own life.  His own welfare was not the center of his own actions.  Instead, he made his life all about others. 

He healed people who were blind.  Just ask blind Bartimaeus (Luke 18:35-43). 

He found people who were lost.  Just ask Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). 

He ate with people who were tax collectors and sinners.  Just ask Levi and the tax collectors and sinners who were feasting with Jesus at Levi’s house (Luke 5:29-39).

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” Jesus explained (Luke 5:31-32).

Jesus, “the King of the Jews,” as the sign above his head on the cross declared, did not save himself.  He was not that kind of king.  Rather, he hung on a cross of humiliation for the sake of other people; to save them.  Jesus was not a rich and successful king as our world defines a king.  But he was a king.  He was a king with and for the people.  He is “our” king.

I know of a faithful member of a church who was given a harsh warning from the pastor when he started hanging out on the front porch with some unsavory neighbors.  You know, the ones with the beer in hand, playing shoot the squirrel, sitting on the old couch in the front yard.  “You are who you hang out with,” the pastor warned the faithful church member.  “You won’t get anywhere in the world hanging around them.”

Do you know what the faithful church member answered?  “You are right.  You are who you hang out with.  I hang out with Jesus.  Maybe, they will become a little more like him by hanging out with me.”  The faithful church member was exactly that: “faithful.”  He hung out with the wrong people, because that is where Jesus hung out.

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Luke 5:31-32).

Jesus hangs out with the wrong people, he hangs out in the wrong places, and he winds up on the wrong throne.  Christ’s worldly throne, after-all, is not one with gold plating atop a marble staircase.  Christ’s throne is a cross. 

No one fights to the death to sit on that throne.  No one strives to be nailed to a throne in the middle of a kingdom of dying criminals.  But Jesus does.  Jesus was a king with and for the people.  He is “our” king.

Those who walk up to Jesus’ cross, taunting Jesus and spitting in his face, do not actually think that he can save himself.  It is a display of mockery for the benefit of all who pass by on the road into the heart of Jerusalem.  But these people who mock do say one thing that is absolutely true, “he saved others.”

Yes, that part is the absolute truth.  Jesus did save others.  He healed others when other people could not.  He guided others when other people would not.  He accepted others when other people refused.  “He saved others.”

And he is going to do it one more time before he dies. 

You see, Jesus, our King, refuses to use his powers to save himself.  After-all, Jesus explicitly states that he “is not a king of this world” (John 18:36).  But Jesus will go to any length to use his powers to save others. 

One of the two criminals hanging with Jesus at the very end of his life refuses to join with those who taunt.  Instead, that criminal admits that he wasted his time in this life.  “We indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds,” the man admits (Luke: 23:41).

He is one of those people who tries only to help himself, but in doing so, he ends up destroying himself.  He is one of those people who deserves his cross.  But he is also the only one who turns his head toward Jesus and asks, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). 

That man is the man who Jesus chooses to save.  Jesus does not save himself.  Jesus does not save someone who is morally deserving.  Rather, Jesus saves someone who simply and profoundly asks to be saved.

"Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43).

Jesus, our king, did not build for himself a worldly kingdom with a palace and throne, gilded with gold.  Jesus did not create for himself a wealthy life.  Jesus did not save himself.

But Jesus does save others. 

“Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” Jesus promises us.  “For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened” (Luke 11:9-10).

All those who ask, find that they are welcome in Jesus’ kingdom. 

That was true way back on the day that Jesus joined a thief on some crosses, and it is still true today. 

All those who ask, find that they are welcome in Jesus’ kingdom. 

Come to the cross with your burdens, you need not bear them alone. 

Come to the cross with your sins, Jesus offers to feast with you and make you clean. 

Come to the cross with your pain, Jesus desires to heal you. 

Come to the cross and worship your king.  He is a king who understands pain.  He is a king who understands sin.  He is a king whose throne is a cross of shame.  He is a king who helps those who are unable to help themselves. 

Come to the foot of Jesus’ throne. 

Come to the cross and ask Jesus to remember you. 

Come and be given the kingdom of God.

Jesus remember me,

when you come into your kingdom.

Jesus remember me,

When you come into your kingdom.