The Great Lie of Life

Brad Sullivan

3 Advent, Year A

December 11, 2016

Emmanuel, Houston

James 5:7-10

Matthew 11:2-11

The Great Lie of Life

We hear in our story from the Gospel according to Matthew today a story about John the Baptist, sitting in prison and wondering if all he had done had been worth it.  Was God’s kingdom truly coming?  Was salvation actually at hand?  Or, had he thrown his life away, been miserable out in the wilderness, eaten locusts for God’s sake (literally for God’s sake), and ended up in prison, soon to be killed, all for a lie, a misguided zealot’s farce?  Was Jesus truly the messiah, the anointed one?  So he asked, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

Jesus could never give a simple “yes” or “no”, could he?  When John’s disciples asked the very direct question, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another,” Jesus answered, “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.” 

I can hear in Jesus’ response, the tacit, “Of course I am, John.  Doesn’t that sound like salvation?  Doesn’t that sound like the kingdom of God?”  But then I can imagine John thinking, “Thanks, Jesus, that sounds great for those people, the lepers, the deaf, the dead, the poor, but I’m sitting here in prison.  Have I thrown my life away for nothing or not?”

To that second, unasked question, Jesus preemptively says, “blessed are those who take no offense at me.”  “Take no offence at me, John, even though I am not all that you thought I would be.  Fear not, even though I have allowed you to be imprisoned.  Fear not, even though I have not taken command of Israel and destroyed Rome.  Fear not, John, because the Kingdom of God, that political, social, and religious revolution for which you entered the desert, for which you have been imprisoned, that revolution will not come at the point of a sword, nor will the turning of the world upside down come with the violent upheaval of mighty forces and fields drenched in blood.

“The turning of the world upside down, the revolution, the movement for which you have given your life, John, will come with each life which repents of anger, destruction, and isolation, and which turns instead towards love. 

“Remember all those people who came to be baptized, John, those who were so thirsty for the waters of repentance, that they entered the Jordan River with you, those muddy waters, filthy, dirty as sin.  Those people entered those waters not so that I could take up the sword against the occupying nation of Rome.  Those people entered the waters not so that we could shed blood and turn the waters of the Jordan from brown to red. 

“Those people entered the waters of the Jordan because they wanted to draw near to God and they didn’t want their past or future sins and wrongdoings to prevent them from drawing near to God ever again.  They entered the waters of the Jordan to be free.  They wanted to be free from the shackles which the religious elite had placed on them, telling them that they were never good enough to approach God.  They wanted to be free from the same old ways of life which they thought would bring healing and wholeness, free the same old ways of life which they thought would soothe the suffering of their souls and fill the void, but which only left more brokenness and the void in their souls even greater.  Those people entered the desert with you so that they could wash, be made new, and then leave the desert for the promised land of life in God’s kingdom.

“God’s kingdom is not brought about through the continual shedding of blood, the killing and exclusion of those we believe to be unworthy of God, and the only way I could free you, John, would be to let the bloodletting begin again, so no, John, I am not going to free you.  ‘Am I the one who is to come or should you wait for another?’  Here’s what’s happening, John. ‘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.’  Remember, it was for such as those that you baptized, John.  So take no offense at me, for the Kingdom of God is indeed at hand. 

“At the same time, yes John, you are going to die in prison.  In fact, you’re going to be beheaded at the hands of a faithless, immoral, and impulsive ruler, simply because he was turned on by a young woman’s dancing.  The kingdom of God is at hand, and you are going to die senselessly for your efforts in bringing it about. 

That’s probably not what John wanted to hear.

For us, 21st century disciples of Jesus, those of us who are a part of the Jesus movement which John helped start almost 2000 years ago, we too get to be a part of the Kingdom of God.  We too get to help bring about the Kingdom of God and live into the Kingdom of God, continually turning toward love, continually turning toward Jesus, and offering that love to others, offering Jesus to others…everyone we see, including the poor, the blind, the lame, the marginalized, the overworked, overstressed, those trying like hell to live life the right way, and certain that most of the time they are failing.  We get to offer love, grace, forgiveness, mercy.  We get to offer Jesus.

At the same time, like John, we will at times still find ourselves in prison, wondering when Jesus is going to come, and the only answer we will receive is, “I’m not coming.”  Like everyone in the world, we who are part of the Jesus movement have sicknesses which are not healed, loved ones who die too soon, relationships which are broken.  Like everyone else in the world, we suffer from sorrows, addictions, times of being overwhelmed and feeling trapped, times in which we feel imprisoned by life.

Contra some clap-trap out there that various preachers peddle as gospel, believing in Jesus and following in the Jesus movement does not earn us a get out of suffering free card.  We all know this.  We still struggle with life:  bad jobs, no jobs, difficult or failed marriages, disease, sickness, senseless death, dashed hopes.  Like with John, this is probably not what we wanted to hear this Sunday, but we’re fooling ourselves if we try to pretend anything else. 

Like John sitting in prison, following Jesus, giving our lives to his teachings and his service, trusting him and following in his movement…all of that affords us no special protection.  We suffer and we die just like everyone else. 

The great lie of life, the great lie of medicine, the great lie of wealth, and even the great lie of some modern pseudo-Christianity is that we can avoid suffering and death.

Avoiding suffering and death is not the Gospel.  The Gospel is that our suffering and death is not punishment from a capricious, child-like God with a nasty temper and a mean streak a mile long. Suffering and death is simply a part of life, and the Gospel accepts that truth.  The Gospel then tells us another truth:  we are not alone in suffering.  We are with a God who likes humanity so much that, even with our human frailty, he thought it would be a really good idea to become one of us.  God loves us so much that he actually wanted to be human.  So the Gospel truth is we are not alone even in death, and death does not have the final word.  Life continues through suffering.  Life continues after death. 

Accepting that fact, accepting that we are all dust, and to dust we shall return, we can then let go of the countless ways we try to avoid suffering and death.  We can let go of that fruitless struggle and then grasp with both hands the life that truly is life.  Letting go of fear, we can truly live and see all of the joy and beauty in this world, even in the midst of suffering and death.

It’s a risky road, the Jesus movement, the revolution for which John prepared the way.  Love always is a risk.  But, the life of the Jesus movement, the life in which the downtrodden and unacceptable are loved and included, that life is worth the risk.  The life of the Jesus movement, the life in which God is with us in our sorrow and death, the life in which we are never alone, and we remain with each other even in our sorrow and death, that life is worth every risk, even the risk of feeling disappointed as we sit in whatever prison we find ourselves hearing Jesus tell us that he isn’t coming this time.

If we’re truly honest with selves, all of life is a risk.  Waking up in the morning is a risk.  In the Jesus movement, however, we risk with each other.  We risk for each other.  We risk with God for the sake of all of those who come to the dirty as sin waters of the Jordan seeking freedom, seeking acceptance, seeking Jesus.  Amen.