The Rev Mark Pendleton

December 11, 2022 3 Advent, Year A The Rev. Mark Pendleton The World Wants Proof: Jesus Points to Lives Transformed 2When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" 4Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me." 7As 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? 8What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' 11Truly 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 11:2-11 Anyone trying to sell or communicate something takes in account the product or message - and the people who are doing the buying or listening. It takes both. Sellers need buyers. Writers need readers. Actors needs audiences. The church - which is made up all the baptized - well we need one another. A preacher needs a congregation - large or small. This is what people were saying about John the Baptist in Jesus day: 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' John was the messenger: Jesus was the message. Advent and Christmas are key times when the Church "goes big" with what we believe is the meaning of a God born into the human family: God shares our humanity so that we can share in God's divinity. It isn't the easiest message to convey to a cynical and doubting audience. We start with words like hope, peace, joy and love, and we hope that the words take seed somewhere. In places that need encouragement. In hearts that break too often and in lives that can use a lift and better days. What I often see, and experience is that because so much of our world and lives seem to be in constant change - with updates, new versions of even newer models - often the recipe most treasured is sameness. It is in the routine and ordinary where the holy often shows up. We change up our Christmas Eve services very little - we sing the same carols and light candles at the same time. Hopefully not the same Christmas sermon. What am I getting at? This is a time to listen to God who wants to share with us something that we need to see and hear. Today's gospel is essentially asking about the message and the product of Jesus' ministry. John the Baptist is sitting in prison and maybe, just maybe, wondering if this man Jesus is truly the one sent by God to be the Christ, the Messiah. John's time would soon end with his horrible death at the hands of Herod, and perhaps in his desperation or doubt he sent words to his cousin: "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" Jesus had his own questions: To those who followed John the baptizer, has asks: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? What then did you go out to see? Again: What then did you go out to see? These are still the questions that confront us in our day. What draws us to worship a God we have never seen by reading ancients texts that are thousands of years old? What space are we hoping to fill, what thirst do we want to quench and what hunger might we satisfy? I spend a lot of time thinking about God - which one would expect from someone doing what I do. And I know that many of you do so as well. We believe in a transcendent God who is beyond time, reason and science. God's existence cannot be proven as math formulas are tested, but merely professed and proclaimed. I have often noted that for many of us the only time we sing is in church, and it never matters what kind of singing voice we have we simply get to sing out. We profess our faith, and we commend our faith to others on our better days. Most days we simply live out our faith - with its traditions and beliefs playing somewhere in the background. With our focus on God - claiming an identity as believers -- I like to listen at time to the arguments of those who say that you and I are wasting our time. They might throw around words like magic, and myth, and superstition. To those who deny the existence of God they would ask us: where is your evidence? Where is your proof? Or they might say: look at the evil that has been done in the name of religion. How could a God allow bad things to happen to good people? Didn't God die in the gas chambers of the Holocaust or through the horrifying suffering of 12 million human beings in the Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas? For those who can imagine a beginning of our universe and the creation of stars and planets some 13 billion years ago - they can pinpoint a fantastical design - without a need to name or wonder about a Designer behind it all. They are content to take the universe as the wonder it is and even try to the get 'how' and 'when' it all unfolded, without asking question 'why.' They claim that God believers are self-centered - dismissing out of hand that any rational person can claim to have a personal relationship with a supernatural being. To know God and feel that one is known by God is a bridge too far. I am always open to hear their arguments. I simply remain unmoved by them. I cannot prove the exitance of God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit. We cannot prove the details about the unlikely birth of Christ that took place long ago in Bethlehem. If proof is what is needed to show that God is God, I can see why Jesus said what he did to John's followers Matthew's gospel. I find in Jesus' answer to John's question if he was the Messiah simple and honest. If the world needs proof, I will tell you about what is changing in people's everyday lives. No one is becoming famous or getting rich or getting what they think they most want. There are signs though that people are getting what they most needed: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. There are signs if not proof that something new was taking place. The signs even today are mystery, wonder, reversals, unanswered questions and yet untold and unfolding stories of lives being changed. Isaiah put it this way: deserts can blossom, weak hands can be strengthened, and the fearful no longer are afraid. (Isaiah 35:1-10) Those who deny the existence of God might argue that it is foolish to claim that God can be personal. That God can be known and know and care about you and me. Billions of years, billions of stars and billions of souls -what fantasy it is to claim that God has known us from our beginnings. That as we believe in God, God believes in us. In the end, I may never be able to satisfy the doubters and deniers. I can only speak of the truth that I have seen and known. That something happened long ago in and around Jerusalem in places named Bethlehem and Nazareth: cities that exist today. And the world is still trying to make sense of it. On our better days, followers of Christ can show the world that the message - the Good News -- still holds up over time and only gets deeper the more one is willing to believe and trust. Our work is always to go and tell others what we have heard and seen. 2