Summary of message at Fallingbrook Presbyterian Church, Sunday, December 15 2013 (Advent 3). Scripture: Matthew 11:2-11.
It is often observed that this is a time of year when people who are down may feel even more down. There can be disillusionment – both with personal circumstances and from observation of the world. Where is the peace and joy of which Christmas speaks? It may seem any sort of success in life is for an elite, a privileged few. Christmas actually brings the message that we can be part of the privileged many – privileged to be part of God’s kingdom brought in Christ.
From Matthew’s telling at the beginning of chapter 11, it seems John the Baptist may have been suffering some disillusionment. He who had been first to recognize and point to Jesus as Messiah was in prison, and did not see from his vantage point how anything was different. He sent friends to ask of Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we wait for another?” Jesus replies by pointing to what is happening: massive healing, a sign of the kingdom’s breaking into the world in and through him. And he adds, as great a figure as John the Baptist is, having been foretold as the one to point to what is happening, the least in the kingdom is greater than he. This kingdom is both now and forever.
So what about us and our disillusionment? We need, like John, to see beyond our own circumstances to perceive the bigger picture of what God is doing in the world, and what he can do for us personally, especially as we accept the special fellowship that rest from our striving (end of chapter 11) can bring. We can handle pretty much anything with the right support.
Most importantly, our part in Christ’s kingdom gives us our true identity, which is not to be equated with our particular roles in life that can bring us disappointment and disillusionment. Our identity is wrapped up in Christ, who will not fail us. And we find we are already on what Isaiah celebrated as the highway of the redeemed (Isaiah 35:1-10). We are among the privileged many.