Advent 3 - Watch for the Signs

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, the lepers 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.

Intro

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then…it probably is a duck.

This is a famous example of abductive reasoning. It is a test that implies that a person can identify an unknown something by observing that something’s habits and characteristics. In a world where we often question truth or wonder whether something is what it seems to be, this can be a helpful little phrase to check our reasoning.

The test implies that a person can identify an unknown subject by observing that subject's habitual characteristics. It is sometimes used to counter abstruse arguments that something is not what it appears to be.

It’s probably a duck.

I do not mean to make you weary, but are we not in a time and age as a world where we are asking questions about truth and whether people are who they say they are, a lot?

I saw an article in the New York Times this week describing “Democracy Grief” — people in America experiencing great levels of anxiety in regards to whether or not our systems of government can hold the strain they are currently under, as the branches of government debate and disagree and question each others motives and priorities. Regardless of the side of the aisle you associate your politics with, this is a time of anxiety and sadness as we watch our democracy strain and in some ways potentially crack as our leaders divide and argue and yell and obfuscate. It produces grief.

And in this kind of state, we begin to question what is even true at all. What is really going on and what is just a bunch of spin and fluff, distraction and slight of hand? I don’t know about you, but I find it even hard not to question myself and what I hold to be true as I witness these kinds of struggles around me. Maybe things aren’t as I had thought they were? If there is no authoritative truth, just alternative facts and matters of opinion, what can I trust, what can I hold on to?

So, when the anxiety levels rise, sometimes its helpful to find a practice or two that root us back in reality.

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then…it probably is a duck.

In this season of Advent, we are invited to root back down in what is true by slowing down, quieting our hearts, and cultivating a recollection and joy for what is true, what is promised, what is given to us in the Christ-child. It is a season that invites simplicity, a pairing back of the clutter, a remembrance of what truly matters.

I can imagine John’s disciples feeling the frenzy and mistrust of what the world was up to as the messenger they had followed out into the wilderness had been captured and likely awaited death. They had to be questioning the story, worried about whether they’d gotten it wrong.

Seeing the Signs - The Response to John’s Disciples

John’s disciples are looking for the promised one. They know enough of the prophecies and teachings of old to expect someone to come as the Messiah, the savior of Israel. They have seen others come and go, ones who claimed the title but never enacted the revolution. And so they are watching and waiting, anticipating the coming of the Messiah, but rightfully weary of wondering for so long.

So they come to Jesus and have to ask — is it you? Are you the one that was promised to come or must we continue to wait for another?

Jesus’ reply is perfect. He doesn’t say “if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...” but he says something very similar, helping the disciples come to the logical conclusion they need to reach.

He says “friends — don’t you see the signs? Blind receiving sight, legs and feet and backs and whole bodies being restored to their rightful strength, disease being eradicated, hearing restored, death being undone — and best of all…the poor have good news brought to them? Don’t take offense, but isn’t this what you’re looking for?”

The kingdom the people longed for had come in Jesus. Now, let’s give the disciples some credit — they had expected King David, a strong King who would overthrow the powers of the occupying Romans and the corrupted and misguided religious elders. They expected a revolutionary who would restore order to their government and their way of life. So let’s give them some credit for wondering — this kind of wholesale overturning of the powers that be had not happened and so they wonder...

But pause for a moment there and wonder with them: As we long for governments to do the right thing, as we long for leaders who will make things right, as we hope for a new kind of living in community with one another and with the world — what kinds of outcomes would we expect and hope for?

How about health care in which people get the treatments they need and their lives are made easier as they walk, their cancers are cleared up, people no longer die in vain. How about a world where the poor are lifted up and given hope, a chance to thrive instead of languish in poverty? Isn’t that the kind of world we hope for when the King arrives? When the world is made right?

The problem is that we’ve lost sight of the signs of what this good kingdom looks like. And so had the disciples.

We’ve gotten distracted by all the noise, all the lights and glitz and gifts that make us feel good in the moment, but leave us hollow and longing still. We’ve gotten distracted by all the loud talkers and the arguments and have lost sight of the small good things around us — companionship of one another, a simple joy of singing carols and being amongst loved ones around a meal.

The Hearty Prophet - Not a Reed, No Soft Robes

John’s disciples are worried and so are we. And so Jesus doubles down on his question of them. After reminding them of all the good that has begun to take shape in his work and ministry (the healings, the restoration, the good news) — then Jesus reminds them of how great John had been, as well.

Did you go out into the wilderness to see a reed shaken by the wind? Someone dressed in soft robes?

John is in prison at this point. His message was received and the baptism he offered was given to many who came to him. But his ministry is at a stall, if not an end, as he has caused enough agitation for the authorities and religious leaders to put him into prison as a dissident.

No — you went out there because of a powerful prophet who was speaking.

A reed shaken by the wind — what a great image for someone who waffles, blows here and there, is fickle in their perspectives and quick to turn with the feeling of the day. NOT a prophet of the Most High God.

John’s disciples, at least the ones who had paid attention to John’s words which we heard last week, would know that John is simply the messenger, the one who is preparing the way for the Messiah who would come with the winnowing fork to start the harvest, the one who would rise up out of the tree of Israel that had been cut off.

Soft robes — not for this prophet — he was hearty, strong, unwavering and convicted. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love snuggling up in my soft clothes after a long day. Slippers, jammies, cozy blanket, the works. But this is NOT who the disciples had found — a prophet of the most high God has dressed for the occasion, ready for a fight, strong and courageous in the face of the corrupt, powerful leaders and elites of the world.

This kind of prophet was a sign to the people — he was a messenger with a purpose. And Jesus wants to remind anyone who would question about this truth.

Come on, friends, if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck…is a reed shaking in the wind, a man wearing soft clothes? Or is it a hearty prophet, strong and speaking something of great substance? You know what you saw...

Practices of Gratitude and Joy

And that is what we need to be reminded of today.

Friends — we know what we are seeing.

On the level of politics and the news — don’t we know what we are seeing?

On the level of poverty and hunger and homelessness in our city — don’t we know what we are seeing?

Among us here in our gathered life together — don’t we know what we are seeing?

It is so easy to question what is true, to get caught up in doubt and to worry that things are falling apart.

But our invitation today is to come to the Messiah, to ask the question, and to be reminded of the signs that are all around us and then to hold fast to what they are telling us.

But this is hard, isn’t it? It’s hard to trust the signs.

So…as we enter more deeply into this season, we need reminders, practices, tools that help us trust the signs. We need to watch for the signs and then know that we are seeing them when the show up.

We need tidings of comfort and joy. God rest ye all, let nothing you dismay.

I want to offer something simple today, on this third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Joy, which might lead us into that place of Comfort and Joy a bit more. A practice that might remind us of how the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead rise.

This is the practice of Gratitude.

And its simple.

Practice of Gratitude

By being grateful, we begin to recognize the signs all around us of God working in good, powerful ways.

It starts like this:

We pause. We take a breath.

Then we say — thank you for…and then we name something to God that we feel grateful for.

It starts simple. This morning, I thank God for a warm, delightfully tasty cup of coffee.

I pause. I savor it. I say thanks. Because it is good.

And no matter what all the other winds of the world are saying, no matter what the noisemakers of the news or the people sitting next to us who we’ve been arguing with make us feel or that car that cut us off on the road this morning — no matter what all of that other stuff says, we can be grateful for that simple cup, for a moment.

Like I say, it starts simple. But it doesn’t stop there.

After a cup of coffee, then its a pause of gratitude for the warm home.

Then its gratitude for the person next to me.

Then its gratitude for the work I’m so blessed to get to do.

Then its gratitude for breath and life itself.

You see, gratitude expands. It spirals. It starts small, but then it opens us up to more.

It leads to joy — gratitude turns our hearts from despair to joy.

One more time, let’s go back to the signs Jesus pointed to, because honestly, they’re small things: people are healthy, the poor have hope. It’s not the toppling of an empire…at least not yet.

But out of the small gratitudes, joy begins to bubble up and more happens. Greater things become seen in the light of thankfulness, instead of the shadow of despair.

And so I continue to think of what I’m grateful for. When the days get dark and I worry about all that could be, I’m also reminded to be grateful for what is so very good.

For the sweet faces of the children we get to celebrate our lives with here at St. James.

For new members joining our church and committing to life together here.

For a significant increase in pledged giving to the 2020 operating budget of our church.

For the many new faces of people who have found refuge in this church, a place to belong.

I feel gratitude for the folks who have lit our Advent candles this month, like Tricia and Spencer this morning.

I feel gratitude for God’s faithful disciples who are taking their faith and making it action, like the Lighthouse Mission folks we celebrated last week.

Gratitude turns a heart of worry and despair into one of joy.

Gratitude does not get rid of the problems of the world. But, as Jesus reminds his hearers, we find blessing when we do not take offense to all that is good — put another way — we find blessing amidst all the pain when we also watch for the signs of what is good and celebrate it in spite of, in defiance of, in powerful resistance of all that would otherwise seek to tear us apart.

This is our work.

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…maybe its just a duck. If there is good and we see good and we recognize good with gratitude, perhaps maybe things are good. Even when the wicked would try to take it away or distract us from it…maybe God is still good. Not maybe, not probably, but yes…God is still so very good.

Practice gratitude with me this week. Name it. Speak it. Hold fast to it. Do not be shaken like a reed. Be strong, be grateful, and watch, watch, watch for the signs of God’s kingdom breaking in all around you.

Advent 3 - Watch for the Signs

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