June 22, 2003
Luke 7:18-23
Intro - Ch. 7 - Vss. 1-10: Jesus heals a man’s servant
Vss. 11-16 Jesus brings back to life a young man who had died Read
Vs. 17 Word spread about Jesus, even to the other well known preacher of
the day, John the Baptist
Please read Luke 7:18-23
The Men’s Ensemble sings, “Go and Tell John”
This morning is a good example of the origins of sacred music and sermons.The song the men just sang was inspired by Luke 7, “Go and Tell John.” And this sermon came to mind when the Men were singing that song during the Mission Concert in March. - a great song based up a great passage!
John the Baptist was having some doubts about Jesus.
If you’ve ever wrestled with questions & doubts, it should give you great encouragement to find out that even John the Baptist experienced the same thing. The lives & ministries of Jesus and John are very fascinating & intertwined. - their relationship went way back to the beginning.
In Luke 1 - Mary the Mother of Jesus has gone to visit her cousin,
Elizabeth. Elizabeth herself is “with child.” - she’s pregnant. When Elizabeth
sees Mary, she becomes overwhelmed by the presence of God. The text says
she was “filled with Holy Spirit,” and cried out, “Mary, you are blessed
among women. Blessed is the fruit of your womb. How can it be that the
mother of my Lord has come to visit me?” Elizabeth says, “Mary, when the
child inside of me heard your voice, he leaped for joy.”
The child inside of Elizabeth who lept for joy was John the Baptist.
John began his ministry before Jesus began his. Like Jesus he was not formerly a part of the religious establishment. He was often on the outside looking in, and he did not like what he saw. And so he called people to repentance. The gospels say that many, many people went out into the wilderness to hear him. - notorious sinners, such as tax collectors went, religious leaders went, & multitudes. John was so powerful and impressive that people wondered if he himself might be the Messiah, the long-awaited Savior. But John said, “No. One far greater than I is coming. I am unworthy to untie his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will emerse you in the Holy Spirit.”
Then one day, John was baptizing folks in the Jordan River, as a sign of their repentance, and John looked up and there was his second cousin, standing in line to be baptized - Jesus. John said, “I should not baptize you. You should baptize me.” But Jesus insisted. As you might know, when Jesus was baptized by John the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus taking the form of a dove. And then a voice came from heaven saying, “This is my Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” And John said, “Then I really knew that he was the Messiah, the Savior we had been waiting for.” Then John says one of the most humble & spiritual statements ever found in the Bible: John the Baptist said of Jesus: “He must increase, I must decrease.” (John 3:30) And so John apparently pulls back from his public ministry. Jesus takes Center Stage. His ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing began.
One of the reasons John’s ministry “decreased” was that he was thrown in jail. John the Baptist had publicly criticized King Herod for the many evils he had done. John was not shy about calling sin sin. So Herod threw him in prison. Jewish Historian Josephus said John was imprisoned in a mountain fortress called Machaerus, high above the Dead Sea. Picture a mountain - caves for cells. It’s often when we’re in the dark places that the doubts creep in. That’s the way is was for John. Can Jesus really be the Messiah? If the Messiah has come, why am I in prison? Why is the Wrong so strong? and the Light so dim?
John is in prison and he’s having his doubts. And that’s when we need
the most reassurance, isn’t it? When we’re stuck in a dark place, when
life has dealt us a very hard blow, when life has treated us unfairly -
that’s when we doubt, that’s when we need reassurance. So John goes looking
for the reassurance he needs. He sends two of his disciples to Jesus with
a message:
- “Are you the One?”
- Are you the One we’ve been waiting for? or shall we keep waiting?”
For John it was even deeper.
- “Did that baptism in the Jordan really happen like I remember it?
- “Did God really speak that day? - Maybe it wasn’t God at all.
- “And maybe my Mother mislead me about the Messiah coming and me playing
a part in it all.
- “Maybe my whole life has been off the mark.
Now, we know it hasn’t been, but that’s not how John feels. Well, Jesus has an answer for John. He says, “Go and tell John to stop doubting himself, stop doubting his God. Here’s the proof: Go and tell John, that the blind can now see, the lame can walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf can hear, the dead are raised, and the poor receive good news! Go and tell John, that it’s all true!”
There are at least two unique lessons that we can learn from Jesus from
this passage. One is quite personal and the other relates to the church
and its ministry. The obvious thing we can see from this passage is that
Jesus is not bothered by John’s questioning. John is not reprimanded or
shamed for his doubts. And if Jesus is not taken back by doubts & questions
coming from John the Baptist, he certainly won’t be offended by your questions
& mine. In fact, Jesus answers John’s questions.
Jesus meets him in his doubts. He would often do this in his ministry
- to Peter, to Doubting Thomas, to Nicodemus, to Zacheus, to the Samaritan
Woman at the Well - Jesus met people where they were at, accepted their
doubts, listened to their questions, and gave them the gift of his love
and grace - as the greatest answers of all.
I was talking to a guy recently who said, “I’m trying to straighten out my life, and then I’m going to come to church.”
I said to him, “God doesn’t require us to straighten out our lives before we come. That’s not how God works.”
Jesus can handle our doubts and he longs to answer them with his grace.
That’s the personal side of this passage.
And as a church, a community of Christ-followers - this passage is huge.
Jesus says, “John, do you want proof that God is at work here? The
proof is in the compassion - the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear,
the poor receive good news.”
It seems to me that the point of the passage is
- where God is there is compassion,
- where God is there is healing & mercy
- where God is there is love.
“God is really at work in our church! We have 17 committees!” - we need effective committees! “God is really at work in our church! We just resided the whole building!” We have a historical obligation & a community responsibility to take care of this! “God is really at work in our church - people really care for one another.” We’re reaching out to those in need.
There is an umbrella with rain drops on it in the Narthex. It’s a wish list of items from ministries we support - in Rumford, Maine and Dorchester, MA. Someone said to me, “Should we take it all down for the weddings each Saturday?”
“No. Too much work & it looks nice.” The deeper reason is that our compassion shows that God is at work among us. Our giving authenticates our love.
I John 3 says this: “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?” When we reach out in mission and compassion it’s proof that God’s love does abide in us.
“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is form God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, because God is love.” - I John 4
John Wimber was a New Christian who started going to church & started reading his Bible. He came to his pastor one day and said, “When do we get to do the stuff?”
“What stuff?” the pastor said.
“The stuff Jesus did. He went around feeding people, healing people, casting out demons from people, preaching good news to everyone. When do we get to do it?”
“Well, that was for Jesus in his day. We don’t really do the stuff today. We just read about it.”
It’s very exciting to be a part of a church that wants to do “The Stuff.” To share Good News with the Poor - not just study up on hopelessness, but actually go to Boston Common and serve a meal and spend an afternoon with the homeless. And I think about our Caregiving Ministry, our Prayer Chain, our Bible Buddies, our Helping Hands Ministry, our Support Groups, our Deacons visiting - we’re trying to do the stuff of Jesus - healing, caring, & loving. It’s a sign that God is among us.
I’ll close by reading two summaries of this passage in two differenct commentaries I read. “Let us remember that where pain is soothed and sorrow turned to joy, where suffering and death are vanquished, there is the kingdom of God. Jesus was saying, ‘Go and tell John that the love of God is here.”
“Does the church embody this spirit of the kingdom? Is the wonderful goodness of God being powerfully experienced and expressed in the life of the church today? Unless this is so, what can we say when people ask, ‘Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ Christ is depending upon us to give the answer.
Dear Lord Jesus,
Fill us with your spirit and your compassion. Continue to inspire us to be faithful in sharing your love with one another and throughout our community and world. In your name. Amen.
Rich Knight