Advent 3

Today's Gospel reading – John sending his disciples to Jesus to ask him if he is the Messiah - is right before the verses for Reformation day - The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. John is in prison. He will soon be beheaded. The kingdom suffers violence.

It has become somewhat popular these days to talk about how John, languishing in prison, begins to doubt. And so he seeks reassurance by sending his disciples to see Jesus. Pastors wax eloquent about how, even the greatest among us can doubt, and how we look to Jesus to resolve those doubts.

The ancient church took a much different view. For Saint Augustine, the blessed Reformer Dr Luther, and many others, this was seen as John the Baptist, taking one last opportunity to point the people to Jesus. The evidence is in Jesus Jesus response – did you go out to see a reed blown about by the wind? Was John a windsock of public opinion? He was not. Jesus praises John's steadfastness of purpose. It's dangerous to read into scripture with our own post-modern psychoanalytic sensibilities. When one of the hero's of faith – Abraham, or Moses, or Peter, suddenly develops cold feet, when they doubt, or commit a great sin, we are clearly told that. Scripture makes no effort to whitewash fallen humanity. But it does not say that John doubted. It says that he sent his disciples to Jesus, to ask a specific question that would only lead to one result – they hear that Jesus is the expected Messiah. That's right in line with who John was. John has one purpose in his life. From the moment of conception, his job is to point the way to Jesus. Even in his mother's womb, he leaps when Mary, the Mother of God approaches his mother Elizabeth. He freely confesses to the scribes and Pharisees that he is not the Christ (next week’s Gospel reading). He tries to be baptized by Jesus, rather than do the baptizing, because he knows that he is unworthy to even untie Jesus sandal. He points to Jesus "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." When his disciples get upset that Jesus is drawing larger crowds, he says, "He must increase, I must decrease."

John has no trouble seeing himself as a supporting player to Jesus, because it is not only what he does, it is who he is: prophesied for this role by Isaiah & Malachi. Now, in his final moments, he gets one more chance to show his own disciples that he is not the way. Jesus is. John will soon be dead. But he is no reed shaken by the wind. He knows that it is time for his disciples to move on to the one who is the messiah, the one who makes the dumb speak, the deaf hear, the lame walk, raises the dead, and preaches the Gospel to the poor.

So John sends them, but not with a command – Go see the Messiah, Jesus. He sends them with a question, because his disciples have doubts, and Jesus will answer them. John himself could no longer point to Christ from prison. And if he directly told his disciples to follow Jesus: well, these are John’s disciples: The ones who followed him to prison. The ones who are comforting him, who will never leave him, who will likely continue after his death to talk about John. If John said to them, "You need to follow Jesus." They would all profess their undying love for John "We will never leave you!" They would say. "We will stay with you until the end." So, John says, "Go ask him a question for me. A question that will prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that after I am dead, you must follow him."

John is no reed shaken by the wind. He is a prophet. And more than a prophet. There are accounts of even the prophets objecting to their call from God. Jonah tried to "Run away." Moses said, "Here am I, send Aaron" Elijah bitterly questioned why God had called him as a prophet, if his plan was to kill everyone around him who was faithful. God had to remind Elijah there were still seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal. John never wavers. It isn't just that the disciples liked John and so wanted to paint a good picture of him for future generations. Every time we here of John, he is sending people or pointing people to Jesus – from the moment of his conception, in the womb, on the banks of the Jordan, when his disciples complain that Jesus is eclipsing him, and now, when the end is near.

If ever there was an example in Holy Scripture for us of steadfastness, we look at John the Baptist. Even Jesus own disciples left when the going got deadly. Jesus was betrayed by one of his own, denied by another, and abandoned by all.

John is what the church must be. He is a prophet. And more than a prophet. The church must also be more than a prophet – we must prepare the way of the Lord. We must be always focused on our Lord Jesus Christ, because our Lord is returning. But our sinful flesh does not want to be a part of the things of God. That is why the church must stand as prophet – as guardian of the truth. It must stand and point to Jesus always and only, and never to ourselves.

There is an old story about the preacher asking the actor why it is that the theatres are full and the church empty. The actor responds, "Because you preach the truth as if it were a lie, and we preach a lie as if it were the truth." The pressure on the church to compromise it's prophetic task is great. Calling "sin" sin, is something we are told we should not do – especially not to members. That's a good way to lose them. A good way to make people think we are closed minded, that we don't play well with others. And so the temptation is a small compromise here or there: A small compromise will certainly not hurt us.

A survey was done a couple years ago in England. They found out that 2/3 of the people saw no need to go to church because the church didn't stand for anything. We can not be that church. We must stand and cry out with John the Baptist and with Jesus, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

And we must hear that cry ourselves. We can not simply blame the state of the world for our troubles. "Oh, the great evil out there! How can we ever survive?" There is enough evil in the heart of yes even the churched – to keep us busy preaching the law of God to ourselves. That's what John did. He preached the law to the leaders of the people – to the good churchly folks. They didn't like it. We never like hearing the law. We are good Christian people after all! We don't need to be told how to live! You see the flaw? Assuming that we are good Christians. We aren't. We are very bad Christians, for there can be no other kind. The good Christian doesn't need Jesus in the first place, because he's already good on his own. It is only the bad Christian – the sinner Christian – who needs Jesus. And it's only that sort of person that Jesus can save. If you're not sick, you don't need a doctor. If you're not a sinner, you don't need Jesus. But if you are a sinner, you need him badly. And you need to hear that law of God that condemns. Because it is the only thing that can prepare for the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.

John spends his time pointing to Jesus, because he knows the sin. He knows that Jesus is the only way to salvation. He knows that his death means nothing. In fact, John gives his imprisonment and death meaning by the very act of sending his disciples away from himself so they would recognize Jesus as the one they should follow.

John will be dead soon. Jesus will follow – he will also die. But unlike John's death, Jesus death will make all the difference in the world. Jesus death will be THE death. It isn't the sign of Jesus weakness, but of his strength. It isn't the sign of Jesus defeat, but of his victory. That's why we have Jesus on the cross. We preach Christ crucified. We are not ashamed to say, "Yes, Jesus hung on the cross for our sins." It's all we say. When we gather together to hear the Word, to once again receive the forgiveness of sins, what do we do? We eat and drink the body and blood which was given and shed on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.

This is what we do, because, like John, it's who we are. Relentlessly pointing to Jesus and his work on our behalf. We certainly aren't any more worthy to untie Jesus shoe than John was. But during this season of Advent, as we look at John's life, which ended so abruptly and violently, as we see the kingdom of heaven suffer violence, let us, like John, look to Jesus, the one who heals, raises from the dead, preaches the Gospel, and dies for your sins.

May God grant to each of us such a blessed end as John, that we may, in our life, and if we are blessed by God, also in our death, focus on and point the way to our Lord Jesus Christ.