Christmas Day - God with us - us with the world

Christmas Day Sermon

God with us – us with the World

As we gather today on this Christmas Day and over the Christmas period, we have heard the characters in the nativity story again.

Central to the Christmas story is the message of God’s presence with us.

The story begins with a birth that was surrounded by a scandal.

A young unmarried mother – pregnant but not to her betrothed husband.

It is a story that is followed by disappointment – no room at the inn.

It is story that includes disgusting surroundings  – born in an animal shed – in a feeding trough for the animals.

We make it seem sweet and pleasant but if you’ve ever been to the Royal Melbourne Show and into the animal displays you can imagine the smells and uncleanliness.

In hospitals we can’t even go from room to room these days without the need of sterilising our hands – and yet here is a birth in a filthy barn.

It must have been hard for Mary and Joseph at the time because they didn’t know how it was all going to end.

Mary and Joseph are alone on this journey and they don't have the luxury like us of knowing exactly how it is all going to turn out.

Soon they will have to flee for their lives when they hear that Herod wants to kill their son.

They just have to trust God and what he promised before Jesus was born and the words of prophecy from strangers like Simeon and Anna.

You wonder why God would send his one and only son into this sort of beginning which was always going to be risky.

The story of Christmas is a story of God taking a risk because of his love for us.

God took on a great risk entering into the messiness of life.

But God also took on a great risk when he created human beings with a free will who would reject him and also his Son whose birth we celebrate today.

Central to the story of Christmas is a story of gift giving.

It is the gift of risky love of God.

If I was God, I might have sent something quite different to really awaken the world.

Something fantastic.

Something so amazing, so awesome, the whole world would know about it.

Something huge and glittering and memorable.

Something that would make people want to come and worship.

But God sent a baby!

And not even a royal looking baby.

But a baby born to an unmarried peasant girl.

Born in a dirty stable, without even the benefit of clean sheets or water.

But this baby was extra special.

He was a message from God, "The Word made flesh". ‘

In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ...In him was life, and the life was the light of human beings. ...And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.'

As we read in Hebrews 1 - In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (Hebrews 1:1,2)

The message given by the baby Jesus is a message of God’s love to the world – to every human being.

It was a message that God loves us in the midst of the darkness and depravity of all that happens in the world.

It was a message to give us hope that darkness has not overcome the light of God in his Son Jesus Christ – the Light of the World.

What a gift!

A gift which goes on and on.

A gift that keeps on giving.

The gift of God himself to every individual.

The life Jesus lived was a human life with all its suffering and difficulties.

God born within a baby at Christmas.

God living within a human being throughout his life.

Jesus showed us how God’s love could penetrate the most darkest places.

We all have the opportunity to share that love within our own lives, in our families, in our communities, in our work and social settings.

But sometimes that also takes a risk:

How will people respond?

What if they reject me?

What if they make fun of me?

What if I lose family or friends because of the message?

But imagine if God didn’t take a risk.

God's great gift at Christmas was the gift of himself.

And God continues to give that gift each time we come to worship.

When we hear again the Word made flesh.

When we received the Word through the body and blood of Holy Communion.

These are given to us as reminder s that God is and always will be a God who is “Emmanuel” God with us.

And God sends you to be his presence in the world.

A world that still rejects him but a world that God still loves and always will.

We are called to be God’s “Emmanuel” – God with the world.

Will you take that risk?

Christmas Eve - Text Matthew 1:21-23 – God with us in the manger

Christmas Eve – Text Matthew 1:21-23 – God with us in the manger

I went with our Parish Choir during the week to sing Christmas Carols at Martin Luther Homes, one of our nursing homes.

In the ward where we sang the Christmas Carols there were many suffering dementia who struggle to remember their family’s name or even what they had for lunch that day.

But as soon as the carols are sung they join in remembering their old favourite carols.

And that’s what I love about Christmas.

It may be the same story year after year.

It may be the same carols year after year.

It may be the same decorations and scenery year after year

But I believe we need that.

There is so much that happens in our lives and in the world throughout the year that creates uncertainty that it’s lovely to be brought back to the joyous occasion and traditions of Christmas and the story of Jesus’ birth that we know so well.

In the midst of all the turmoil in the world – the fighting in Syria – the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo – the terrorist attacks – the crime that seems to infest our society – the long standing traditions of Christmas remind us that God is with us in the most simplest of forms:

A baby born in a manger.

We are reminded by the Christmas story that Jesus was no stranger to the troubles of the world.

He faced rejection before he was even born when Mary and Joseph found there was no room available for them to stay.

Christmas is God’s message to us that he has not forgotten us.

And that’s sometimes the message that gets lost amid all the hustle and bustle as we scramble to get everything done for Christmas.

Sometimes Jesus is nowhere to be found amid our busyness.

Just as there was no room at the inn for Jesus, so too there is often no room for Jesus in our hectic lives.

Mary and Joseph were told that the child that was about to be born would be a special child and that he would be called “Emmanuel” which means “God is with us”.

When you’re going through difficult times or you think that you’re all alone in the struggles you’re going through, remember that Jesus is with you as promised.

In his short life time, just 33 years, Jesus will go through many difficult times himself.

The suffering, the pain, the grief of losing a loved one, the rejection by his own people and much more.

Jesus knows whatever your circumstances are.

So instead of feeling overwhelmed and hopeless about everything happening around us and in our lives – we look again into the manger and see the baby born for us.

That’s what the shepherds were told to do by the angels amid their fear:

Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

So they were not told to go and see a military base that will protect them from the enemy.

They were not told to go and have a look at their superannuation to relieve their fear of the future.

They were told to go and find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

And that’s where God sends you too – to the baby born in a manger.

It might seem simplistic – it might make you wonder how that can solve all your problems.

But it has for 2000 years and it will till the end of time.

When he was born Mary and Joseph were told, he will be called Emmanuel, which means God is with us.

When Jesus departed his final words were “I am with you always till the end of the age”.

The world has shown us that it cannot be with us always.

But Jesus has been with us and always will be and countless generations have testified to the help and comfort they have received from the baby born in a manger who was with them till their last breath.

It’s tempting to look elsewhere when the chips are down but Jesus will always be there even when we look elsewhere.

When there is no room for Jesus in our lives he is still with us when we are not with him.

Jesus has seen world wars, great depressions, kingdoms rise and collapse, natural disasters and he has helped countless people through them all and he is with you to help you.

So friends, keep going back to the manger to see the baby born for you and know that he is with you always till the very end of the age.

And a blessed Christmas to you all as you celebrate again the good news that brings great joy to all people – the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

Midweek Carols service

The Christmas Grinch in all of us

I was watching the news last week and they showed CCTV footage of a woman in the Western Suburbs stealing Christmas ornaments from other people’s front yard.

She was labelled the Christmas Grinch

The Grinch is a character created by Dr Seuss who hates the Christmas season and all the festivities and is irritated by the happiness of others and gets much pleasure from spoiling other people's celebrations.

Sometimes it’s easy for us to become Grinches as the Christmas Season brings out the worst in us.

The anger trying to find a car park at Eastland or Knox.

The frustration at writing all those Christmas Cards.

The stress of wondering whether you’ve got enough food for everyone.

The worry about what to buy for each person in the family.

By this time we can’t wait for Christmas to be over.

There’s a Grinch alive and well in each of us just waiting to break out and snap at that person who stole the last parking spot.

We often complain about Governments, Schools and Councils being Grinches by banning Christmas Carols and decorations because of the offence it may cause to people who aren’t Christians.

But in reality the only ones who are Grinches are ourselves when we take away the Christmas joy in our own lives.

They can take away carols and decorations but they cannot take away our own personal joy for Christmas and what it means for us.

Only we can do that when we allow what happens in the world to take away our Christmas Spirit.

And that’s easy to happen so we need to keep in front of us what the true meaning of Christmas is.

Christmas is about gifts – but the focus should be on God’s gift to us:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Christmas is about celebrating – but we need to celebrate the right reason, just as the angels did when they celebrated the news of Jesus’ birth to the Shepherds:

The whole company of heaven celebrated shouting:

"Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."

Everything we do to celebrate Christmas is amazing.

But when we lose the focus of what we are celebrating it’s no wonder those things frustrate us.

Let’s enjoy this Christmas and not let the frustrations and hustle and bustle put a damper on it.

It’s the best news that we can ever receive – that God loves us and wants to live with us.

But more importantly, God wants us to live with him and Jesus work at Easter time will assure us of that.

Year A Advent 4 2016

Year A Advent 4

Text: Matthew 1:18-25

True God and True Human

On the surface it seems that Joseph has 2 choices.

He can abide by the Law of Moses and hand over Mary to be judged with the likely result being Mary is stoned to death for adultery.

Maybe this is why Jesus has so much compassion for the woman caught in adultery during his mission tour when the people brought her to him and wanted to stone her. (John 8:1-11)

Maybe he realised that this could easily have happened to his own mother.

The other choice for Joseph was to say nothing and quietly abandon Mary which is what seems to be the decision he had made:

“Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly”. (Matthew 1:19)

But Joseph is now confronted with a 3rd choice as an angel of the Lord comes to him to tell him what has actually happened – that Mary was not unfaithful to him but in fact faithful to God in bearing God’s own Son.

It seems on the surface an inconsiderate thing for God to do:

Firstly putting Mary in danger of her life and secondly it opened up Joseph for ridicule.

Why couldn’t God take Mary and Joseph’s first born and appoint him like he had done with other Old Testament heroes – like Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and King David.

In each of those cases God selected someone already born to be his servant.

Couldn’t God have done a similar thing with Jesus, born of Mary and Joseph?

What we need to understand is that what happens at Christmas with Mary and Joseph is not just a story which sometimes sounds like a fairy tale like Cinderella or Snow White meeting their prince charming.

No, what is happening here is so significant that it changed the course of time, even though many would love to rid society of BC and AD (Before Christ and anno domini “in the year of our Lord”).

But it also changed the course of humanity by beginning the reconciliation process of God and humanity completed at Easter.

The Virgin birth was necessary because the child born needed to be free from Original Sin which affects all human beings through Adam and Eve.

Since death is the consequence for sin – as Paul points out in Romans – the wages of sin is death – Jesus’ death at Easter needed to be for our sin and not his own.

And to do that Jesus needed to be born without sin.

So Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and not by Joseph meaning his own death was not the consequence of his sin but payment for our sins.

And that is so important to understand.

It is not a fairy tale even though at times it sounds like one – a young unmarried couple – no room at the inn – a baby born in a barn in a feeding trough – it sounds like a romantic fairy tale of a young couple beating the odds.

But this is not a fairy tale – but it is a love story.

It is God’s love for the world and working out how he is going to deal with sin that is going to separate human beings from his eternal love forever if God did not intervene.

And this is where Mary was also significant.

Mary is there representing humanity, as we confess – born of the Virgin Mary.

In order to pay for human sin Jesus also needed to be fully human which came from his birth through Mary.

And that’s why God didn’t just select an angel from heaven to come to earth.

The one dying for sins had to be human to die the human death.

But he also needed to be free from Original Sin so that his death was not payment for his own sin – therefore he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and not Joseph.

So even though it seems a strange story – one that has been romanticised in Christmas Carols and Christmas Plays – the birth of Jesus to Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit – is a deeply theological action necessary by God to save us that goes beyond our understanding.

And it also highlights just how serious sin is that it couldn’t simply have been ignored by God.

As Paul said – the wages of sin is death – BUT - the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

Christmas is a beautiful time of year where we exchange gifts, get together with family, put lights on our homes, take some time off, sing carols and watch the children dress up as shepherds, angels, Mary and Joseph.

But we must never forget the deep theological meaning that sits at the heart of the birth of Jesus – conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of Virgin Mary.

This is our reconciliation with God that will not be broken ever again by God.

This is God’s solemn promise to us that our sin will no longer separate us and that is why God named him Jesus - for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

And he will be called: Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”

The sin which banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and God’s presence has been dealt with and “God is with us”.

And so Jesus last word at his death was “it is finished”. (John 19:3).

The work of God was finished – the work of reconciling us by paying for our sins was finished  - God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21).

We often complain at this time of year at the treatment of Christmas.

They’ve replaced Merry Christmas on cards with Happy Holidays.

They’ve banned Christmas Carols from many school end of year programs and other public places.

They start selling Christmas things in the supermarkets around October and we believe that the world is commercialising Christmas.

But in reality the world is not the one doing the harm to Christmas.

Only we do harm to Christmas when forget what Christmas truly means for me.

God has sent his Son to save me and to be with me always.

But we allow the stresses of Christmas to affect us.

In fact I have heard some Christians say “I hate Christmas”.

But no Christian should ever hate Christmas.

No, we should embrace it and use it as an opportunity to reach out to people with God’s love.

Christmas is about God coming to us and breaking down everything that had separated us from him.

And we now have the opportunity to be like Joseph and forget about what others might say and trust God.

We too can be like Joseph and not worry about what the world is doing and rejoice in what God is doing.

The worst thing we can do is react to the way the world is treating Christmas and lose the message we are called to share.

We see that happen when we attack other religions for the banning of Christmas celebrations.

In our response we can easily fight fire with fire and retaliate with words that hurt and do not reflect the love of God.

Joseph’s response was simple.

He took Mary home to be his wife and didn’t respond to any accusation.

Like Joseph let us be examples of God’s love that has broken into the world and despite what the world says or does to Christmas let us be the true spirit of Christmas as agents of God’s love.

Year A Advent 3 2016

Year A Advent 3

Text: Matthew 11:2-11 – Should we expect another?

Have you ever bought something you’ve seen advertised and then been disappointed once you’ve gotten it home?

Over the years I’ve fallen for a few items on TV shopping.

As I’m pounding my way on the cross-trainer at the gym there is an ad on the TV above me showing people standing on a vibrating board that can melt away my fat and give me the body I’ve been looking for and I ask why I don’t just buy one of those and not worry about all this physical exertion.

I recently bought the hurricane mop because the guy on the ad made mopping look like fun and how it could clean anything with a simple wipe of this technologically designed mop.

After it arrived I asked myself – is this really what I saw on TV?

It can be very disappointing when your expectations are not met.

John is an example of that.

He had high expectations of Jesus.

This was the one whose sandals John was not worthy of doing up.

This was the one who was going to make John’s baptism look so lame compared to what Jesus was going to bring.

So fired up was John that he stood up to the Pharisees and called them a brood of vipers.

But something has changed.

His expectations of Jesus did not arrive.

John took on the wrong person when he took on Herod and was now in prison.

It sounds like John is beginning to have doubts and wants confirmation from Jesus:

Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another? (Matthew 11:3)

What I like about Jesus’ response is that he doesn’t criticise John.

He doesn’t tell John’s disciples – go and tell John – you of little faith – why are you doubting.

Just like he didn’t criticise Thomas when he doubted Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus understands why John would be struggling to believe.

In fact Jesus upholds John publicly despite his doubts:

“among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11)

John was a great preacher and prophet, but his expectation of the promised Messiah didn’t fit Jesus.

And that struggle is something each of us can go through at times.

John wanted someone who would turn the religious and political order upside down;

John wanted a Messiah who would sweep away the unreligious and the corrupt.

Instead, John hears that Jesus was eating with the tax collectors who worked to collect taxes to support Rome, the enemy.

Jesus wasn’t judging and condemning sinners.

Instead, he was sitting down to meals with them and making God’s forgiveness so easily available to them.

Jesus was encouraging people to forgive their enemies -- including their Roman enemies!

Things hadn’t worked out the way John expected.

John was expecting fire and brimstone against the enemies of God!

John the Baptist knew exactly who Jesus was.

He jumped for joy in his mother’s womb when the two mothers met. (Luke 1:41)

In last week’s Gospel, John introduces Jesus as, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matt 3:11)

John the Baptist knows perfectly well who Jesus is.

So, why is he questioning?

John questions just like we question at times.

John is in prison!

The Lamb of God is not saving John from prison, and the one who is supposed to take away the sin of the world is not taking away the sin of Herod.

Maybe John misunderstood just what  Jesus’ mission was in “taking away the sin of the world” and that it was forgiveness.s

Would you blame John the Baptist or anybody to doubt in such situation?

He expected more of Jesus.

Maybe that’s what we want from Jesus too.

We want Jesus to walk into Parliament and stop them from legalising same-sex marriage and euthanasia.

We want Jesus to demand that Christian schools and churches be allowed to only employ only Christians.

Isn’t that what we expect Jesus to do?

We gather in prayer vigils and vote for Christian members of Parliament to ensure God’s will is done.

And yet we see the opposite happening.

We see the church stripped more and more of its rights and privileges.

In Jesus’ answer to John it is not about power and authority as John saw it.

It was about a different type of power and authority vastly different to how the world sees and uses power and authority.

Jesus tells John’s disciples to go back and tell him what you see and hear around me:

the blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the poor have good news preached to them.

In other words, Jesus came to show God’s love and mercy.

Jesus power and authority was shown by helping those in most need, those who didn’t have anyone else to help them, or anyone who could help them.

It is about justice.

Jesus didn’t come, as John had hoped, to destroy the wicked, but to restore the downtrodden; to give all people grace and mercy.

Jesus was inviting the sinner back to God.

Even today, some still take offense at the kind of Saviour Jesus turned out to be.

Some, perhaps including some of us, want him to close the door on anyone different from ourselves.

We have our list of those who shouldn’t make it in.

But Jesus came to set us free from that way of thinking

    -to give us sight where we are blind

    -to open our ears to what we have been ignoring

….-to give us a voice to speak out for the poor.

…. To loosen our tongues to speak God’s love and mercy rather than judgment.

Uncertain times can rattle us and cause doubts in our faith and spiritual journey.

When we face adversity and disasters, we question if Jesus really is the Saviour of the world or should we expect another.

We question why bad things happen, why God is not there for us.

We fall into the trap of thinking that God only exists in good times.

And it’s in those difficult times we cannot hear or see God’s presence.

Doubting, like John the Baptist, is part of our spiritual journey.

Part of our spiritual struggle as sinful human beings is to doubt.

Even at his ascension some of the disciples continued to doubt:

It says: The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. (Matthew 28:16.17)

Sometimes we have to wait in uncertain, and anxious moments to see how God is working.

Advent is a season of waiting, expectation, and preparation for the coming of Jesus – first at Christmas but also at the end of time.

We know the certainty of the birth of Jesus – it’s what we celebrate every year.

Yet, we are still waiting for the second coming of Jesus.

This time of waiting can be an anxious and fearful time.

There is chaos in different parts of the world.

We have our fair share of chaos causing disappointment, anxiety, fear, and anger in our lives.

More people question the presence of God than those who believe.

As Christians, during Advent we are to reflect, and pray while waiting for the coming or our Lord.

As baptised children of God we were once blind and deaf, but now we can see and hear God’s good news.

If we keep our eyes and ears open, we will hear and see plenty of God’s mighty work even in bad times.

It is time for us to share the good news and hope with others especially with those who are in doubt.

Despite what our eyes see and ears hear we know that Jesus is returning and until then he gives us eyes and ears of faith.

And so James says: Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord… See, the Judge is standing at the door.

It is hard when we go through life expecting that God is going to act a certain way if we have faith in him.

But this life is not where God’s promises have been made other than the one Jesus made when he said – “I am with your always till the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) because it is at the end of the age when God’s promises will be fulfilled.

And so Jesus says until then: Don’t let your hearts be troubled – trust in God, trust also in me: I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Another promise Jesus made.

That’s what eyes and ears of faith see and hear.

Come Lord Jesus come.

Year A Advent 3

Year A Advent 3

Text: Matthew 11:2-11 – Is there someone else up there?

A man had accidentally slipped over the edge of a cliff while bush walking.

He was hanging on for dear life to the edge with his fingers starting to slip.

In a last ditch bid he calls out to God:

God, if you’re really there, please save me.

A voice comes back – I want you to trust me.

Let go of the ledge and I will save you.

He thinks about it for a brief moment and replies – Is there someone else up there I can talk to.

Obviously not a true story, but one that typifies the situation that John the Baptist has gotten himself into.

How different things must have looked for John behind prison walls.

When John came onto the scene, he said what he wanted to say, without holding back.

John must have felt a kind of excitement with so much religious energy in the air.

John came proclaiming that “the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:2).

John came to prepare the people because someone was coming who was “more powerful” than he was (Matthew 3:11).

John was sure that when this powerful person arrived, things would change.

John expected that evil and corrupt people would be confronted.

Evil would be destroyed, burned up like chaff in a fire (Matthew 3:12).

From where John sat behind those prison walls, the chaff was still very much around.

Things hadn’t worked out the way John expected.

He must have expected that when the powerful one came, he and his group would be vindicated.

The corrupt leaders, like Herod, would be judged.

Now he was the one being judged.

He was the one in prison.

God hadn’t released him, even though Jesus claims he has come to set the prisoner free. (Luke 4:18)

The one more powerful than he hadn’t released him.

John had once made the crowds tremble with his words.

Now he is the one trembling with his head literally on the chopping block.

And so John rightly asks: “Are you the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?” (v2)

John knew that someone was coming.

Whatever has happened within him, he hadn’t lost his faith in God.

But he wondered whether Jesus was really the one.

John didn’t deserve the treatment he was receiving.

Jesus tells us that there was none greater than John on all the earth (Matthew 11:11).

John had been willing to accept Jesus as the one who was coming, but his life situation meant he had some questions for Jesus, and God, to answer.

Was Jesus really the one?

While John languished in prison, those doubts really began to matter.

Can we blame John under these circumstances if he began to wonder about Jesus being “one more powerful than I”?

Had he made a mistake about Jesus?

The answer to his question really mattered to John.

Life can be full of doubts when it comes to our faith.

John’s question about whether Jesus was really the one is sometimes the same question we ask.

How has being a Christian made a difference to our lives?

How has Jesus made a difference to the world we live in?

If the Messiah has come, why do so many of us find ourselves doubting at times?

We could all name some of those things that cause us doubts.

For John the Baptist, the prison was his doubt.

Maybe we have lost our job and the frustration eats away at us.

Maybe an addiction has us in its grip and, no matter how much we pray, we can’t break free.

Maybe the memory of some mistake we have made hangs over us and we have doubts about God’s forgiveness – about our salvation.

We can’t find any release from the guilt.

Maybe we feel isolated because we think no one would understand even though Jesus said, I am with you always.

If Jesus is the one, if Jesus came in power, if God has reached into our world through Jesus, why aren’t things different?

Why hasn’t God thrown into the fire the chaff of evil?

Why hasn’t his winnowing fork cleared the threshing floor like John said it would? (Matthew 3:12)

Not only do we struggle to understand the continued existence of evil, we wonder about the persistence of evil even though we constantly pray – deliver us from evil.

We don’t even seem to be making progress against evil.

Sometimes it feels that the more we have faith, the more we share John’s doubts.

Jesus sent an answer back to John.

It probably wasn’t the answer John wanted or expected.

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: 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” (Matthew 11:4-5).

It might seem to John that Jesus is helping all these people, but not him.

But what Jesus is pointing out is that he is fulfilling Scripture which we hear throughout the Old Testament (Isaiah 29:18, 61:1, 35:5, Psalm 146:5-10)

The point Jesus is telling John, and us, is the message of James:

Be patient until the coming of the Lord. (James 5:7)

Christ has won the victory but the battle still rages.

Jesus came at the first Christmas to begin the reconciliation process between God and humankind.

At Easter the battle raged and Christ was victorious by defeating the last obstacle in the reconciliation between God and humankind – death.

And now we wait patiently for Christ to return this time in Glory.

Until then, as we patiently wait, our glory is hidden, but it is there.

As St. Paul says to the Colossian church: you have been raised with Christ, so set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

That’s what we patiently wait for.

Jesus came in power, but not the kind of power John anticipated and not the type of power we are seeing in this lifetime.

Jesus’ power was the power of healing and grace.

Jesus’ power was in his message of the reign of God.

I love that part in the liturgy which we sing –

For the lamb who was slain HAS begun his reign.

Because of the evil of the world, we see that power now but Christ’s power is real and hidden behind water, Word and bread and wine.

Christ’s reign in this world doesn’t fix all of our problems.

It didn’t free John from prison.

Nevertheless, Jesus’ power and authority are here now.

Are we as convinced as ever that Jesus is the Christ and that the future is in God’s hands?

Doubt are part of this life, but the doubts are met by God rather than condemned.

Remember the greatest doubter in Scripture – doubting Thomas.

When he said that he would refuse to believe unless he saw the scars of Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus came to him and let him touch his scars.

And so when you doubt the power of Christ, bring those doubts to him and let him answer you as he answered John.

By pointing you back to Scripture – back to the Word of God which is the power of salvation.

As John says in his closing words of his Gospel:

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31).

That is God’s promise to you until he returns in Glory.