Advent List - A Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent, December 11 2022
GOSPEL: Matthew 11:2-11
The gospel is announced.
The holy gospel according to Matthew.
Glory to you, O Lord.
John the Baptist expects the Messiah to bring God’s judgment upon the earth (Matt. 3:11-12). From a prison cell, he wonders whether Jesus is the one who will do this. Jesus’ response indicates that God’s reign is indeed being fulfilled already through healing and restoration.
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.”
The gospel concludes:
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
This is a friendly reminder:
Christmas Eve is less than two weeks away.
December 24th is a Saturday,
so you only have one full weekend left
to finish your Christmas shopping.
If you think the stores are busy this weekend,
just wait until Saturday.
Many of us are just like Santa Clause this time of year,
making our lists,
checking them, twice,
to make sure everyone has the right present,
Whether naughty or nice,
we look forward to scratching names
off our shopping list.
Gift giving is a love language:
it is one way that many of us show love.
I don’t know about you,
but I struggle to write my own wish lists:
to think of those gifts
that I would like to see
under the Christmas tree for me.
There’s some pretty cool stuff out there,
but the new gadgets and sports equipment
come at an increasingly high cost.
I’m happy to buy loved ones a gift,
but I don’t want people
spending a lot of money on me.
On the other hand,
Some of us have long wish lists
of the items we want to see under our tree.
For some,
The higher the price tag,
the shinier the object,
the greater the worth of the individual,
the greater the love.
It’s a false security;
having the most toys.
It’s a false sense of worth.
It reminds me of a story I heard
about a woman and her husband.
The husband was a penny pincher
and he worked hard his whole life,
saving as much money as he possibly could.
He loved his money more than about anything.
He said to his wife
“Now listen, when I die
I want you to take all my money
and place it in the casket with me.
Because I want to take all my money
with me to the after life.”
He convinced his wife to promise him.
Well, one day he died.
When they had the viewing,
the funeral director was about to close the casket
when the wife looked at her friend,
and suddenly said “Wait a minute!”
She had a shoebox with her,
and she placed the shoebox in his casket.
The funeral director closed the casket,
and rolled it away.
Her friend said, ‘I hope you weren’t crazy enough
to put all that money in there
with that stingy old man.’
‘Yes, I promised. I’m a good Christian,
I can’t lie.
I promised him that I would
put that money in that casket with him.’
“You mean to tell me
you put every cent of his money
in the casket with him?”’
I sure did,’ said the wife.
‘I got it all together,
put it into my bank account
and I wrote him a check.’
Too often we place our hope and our trust
in those things that will fade,
in those things in which moth and rust will consume,
When Christ’s love,
and peace,
and forgiveness
are eternal.
We can’t take our toys with us forever.
The Gifts of God do not fade,
not in life,
and not in death.
They can’t be taken away.
John the Baptist finds himself in prison.
John’s message is the Prophet’s message,
echoed in the wilderness.
John’s message is Jesus’ message.
John’s message is Mary’s message
Mary’s song, the Magnificat,
that we sung as our psalm.
John looks forward to the coming Christ,
who will usher in God’s reversal.
and it is a grand list
of what God will reverse.
The blind receive their sight, check
the lame walk, check
the lepers are cleansed, check
the deaf hear, check
the dead are raised, check
and the poor have good news brought to them. Check.
We can check that list twice
and see that Jesus fulfills the wish list
of God’s reversal,
yet John still seems to have his doubts.
Even John needs some help
knowing if this Jesus is the one
that John prepared the path for.
From prison, John asks Jesus “Are you the one?”
Maybe John asked for the good of his disciples,
or maybe it is because he is locked up,
imprisoned,
awaiting death and feeling hopeless.
Are you the one, Jesus?
Do you fit the Messiah checklist?
Jesus gives a joyful answer -
look at what is happening:
God’s reign is happening,
God’s gifts are poured out:
the blind see,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear.
God’s Reversal is happening.
Check and check again.
Or put another way:
Jesus, the gift giver
is more like a holy thief:
stealing people’s blindness,
stealing injury,
stealing illness.
Remember, the Son of Man
is coming like a thief in the night,
Jesus proclaims.
This Advent - I suggest that we all need a Holy Thief.
A Thief in Night.
Too many things get in the way of us
living into the kingdom of heaven today,
the kingdom of heaven that, with Jesus,
has come near.
I suggest we pause,
amidst the Christmas lists,
and write our own Advent List.
This might not be a new idea for you,
some of you may have done this back in 2020.
Christ coming into our lives like a thief in the night
need not be bad news.
We all have things that we would like Jesus to take from us.
Maybe that’s an illness,
or some kind of addiction,
or the way you think about yourself
or the way you think about someone else -
like that person that you avoid.
Maybe it is resentment in your heart,
or loneliness
Maybe it is your dependancy on money,
or that secret you are keeping.
Maybe you do just have too much stuff.
It could be a long list.
I know mine is.
We all have something
we are better off without.
We all need Christ, the Holy Thief
to take something away from us
I invite you to take a moment
and like a child writing their wish list for Santa,
write down your own Advent List:
of what you want Jesus to take from you
like a thief in the night…
2000 years after John asks from prison,
“Jesus, are you the one?”
People are still asking Jesus the same question:
“Jesus, Are you the one?”
Are you the one to give me fulfillment?
Are you the one to give my life
meaning and purpose?
Are you the one who will give me happiness?
Are you the one who will help me with my problems?
I think it is good to ask Jesus “Are you the One?”
too often, in fear, we ask
“Are you the One”
of our employers,
or retailers,
or mutual funds representatives.
And when the answer appears to be “Yes”
we jump in.
Too often we think we’ve found
meaning and purpose,
fulfillment and happiness
in activities or people or possessions
and it quickly fades.
Perhaps the most common is we ask
“Are you the one?” to our money.
We work, save, invest,
become indebted
because we actually believe money
will buy our happiness or security
We buy into the fallacy
That the stuff that’s worth living for
is actually stuff.
Our brokenness can’t be fixed with an Amazon order.
Our sins can’t be forgiven
with another order from skip the dishes.
Only with Jesus do we find fulfillment,
meaning, purpose,
joy and salvation that endures.
Christmas gifts are more or less memorable.
The gifts of God will never fade.
With Jesus, God’s reversal is happening.
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.
That never fades.
As children hope and wish
for Santa to bring them
all they’ve asked for this Christmas,
As we scramble to buy the best gifts
for the ones we love,
to scratch their names off our lists,
As we ask,
in our own way,
Jesus, are you the one…
May Jesus come to us like a thief in the night
and steal from us what needs to be stolen.
May God’s work of reversal continue
in our lives and in our world.
May we receive more than we could ever ask or imagine
with Jesus Christ, our coming Saviour.
Thanks be to God.
