Third Sunday of Advent

               December 16, 2007

     I have heard that the Bishop of Arkansas is an avid duck hunter.  It seems that he was in the market for a new bird dog.  His search ended when he found a dog that could actually walk on water to retrieve a duck.  The bishop was shocked to find such a rare dog and he was sure none of the diocesan clergy and only a couple of his fellow bishops would believe him.

     He decided to prove this unique talent of his new-found canine friend to all by inviting the cathedral dean and the bishop of the neighboring Diocese of West Tennessee on a hunting trip.  The three men and the dog waited in the duck blind, while sharing their concern about the state of the church.  As they waited, a flock of ducks flew by.  All three men fired and one duck fell.  The dog responded and jumped toward the water.  The dog, however, did not sink but instead walked across the water to retrieve the bird, never getting more than his paws wet.

     The dean and the visiting bishop witnessed this rather amazing feat, but neither said a single word.  On the drive home the Bishop of Arkansas asked, “Did you notice anything unusual about my new dog?”

     The neighboring bishop said, “I sure did.  Why would you pay good money for a bird dog that can’t swim?” 

     Our expectations determine to a large degree what we see and how we interpret things.  Bird dogs should be able to swim.  Messiahs should act like messiahs and prophets ought to act like prophets.  What were your expectations as you were on your way to church this morning?  What did you come out to see?

     If you came just to see the symbols of the faith, the Advent wreath, the purple candles and hangings, the altar cross, and the elements with which we make our Eucharist, then I would have to suggest you have not yet answered the question John the Baptist sent to his cousin Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

     Remember that John the Baptist is the reactivated voice of God speaking through the prophetic tradition that had been dormant for four hundred years.  He dressed like a prophet in coarse camel hair, with a leather girdle about his waist, and he ate the food of the prophets; wild oats and honey.  More importantly, John delivered the message of the Old Testament prophets: “Bear fruit that befits repentance.  Turn from your wickedness and live within the framework and under the precepts of the covenant God established and we accepted.  That covenant says clearly, ‘I will be your God and you shall be my people.’ 

     You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath that is to come?  Look at what is going on in your nation.  The poor are being trampled, forgotten, and herded into invisible shelters.  The diseased are outcast, ostracized.  Your country is being sold to the highest bidder, you are an occupied people, and you don’t even recognize it.”

     Of course, one of the things that sometimes happen to prophets is that they get into trouble.  Agreeing to be God’s channel and mouthpiece landed John the Baptist in prison.  He had dared rebuke Herod for having his own brother killed in order to marry his wife.  Herod had the political power and into jail John went.  He would literally lose his head because Herod made a political promise.

     John the Baptist had a lot of time to think being stuck off in a walled fortress.  Certain questions came to him: “Have I been wrong in my whole ministry?  Have I been mistaken in my expectations of my cousin, whom I believed to be the Messiah of God?  Did God deceive me when that voice can the day I baptized him, ‘This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well-pleased.’”  The Gospel says that it was as John heard about the deeds of this cousin that he sent his disciples to ask the deepest human question, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

     John had his own definition of what the Messiah would be and what he would do.  This cousin wasn’t sounding or acting much like a messiah.  There was just way too much talk about love, forgiveness, joy, turning the other cheek, and too much being seen with the wrong kind of people; Pharisees, Sadducees, lepers, tax collectors, harlots, and Samaritans.  “What’s going on here?” John wanted to know.

     Cousin Jesus sent back his answer to John and said, “Go and tell John what you hear and see.”  Messianic fulfillment is from God, not in the narrowly defined parameters created by human beings.  Jesus then gives messianic deeds as proof to John; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and brought back into the fellowship, the deaf hear, the dead are being raised up, and the poor have Good News given to them.

     Of course, John wanted the same thing, but he understood, as did all believing Jews, that the Messiah would be an earthly king.  Jesus, the Messiah of God, walked the only route that could establish the Kingdom of God.

     So, what did you come out to see and hear this morning?  A reed blowing softly but impersonally in the gentle breeze?  A gentle Jesus, meek and mild?  A representative person, reasonably well-dressed and well-groomed, with shoes that might pass a VMI inspection, telling you everything is okay? 

     It has been said by those far more notable that I that before the Good News can comfort, it must first offend.  Before we can win, we must surrender.  Before we can truly live, the old self must die.  Only then can potential new life take root and grow.

     The final thing to remember is that we have an advantage that the Old Testament prophets and John the Baptist did not have.  We have been blessed by God to live on this side of the Cross of Christ.  We are witnesses of his resurrection and as the resurrection community of faith we have been baptized into the name, the death, and the resurrection of this cousin of John the Baptist.  We have the model upon which we must base everything we are and everything we do.  The Messiah proved by the actions he took, the deeds he performed, who he was.  So must we.  As the messianic community of faith, this reality we call the church, we follow the footsteps of the one who has prepared the way for us.

     People have ever right to look at this church and expect to see people helping the blind to see, the lame to walk, the victims of diseases healed and loved, the resurrection proclaimed over those who have passed from time to eternity, and Good News being shared with the poor, the broken, the disenfranchised, the outcast, the lonely, the widowed, and the orphaned.

     I pray that’s what you came out this morning to see and in which you agree to participate.  Amen.                         

        ~The Rev. G. Thomas Mustard