The Fourth Sunday of Advent --- 15 December 2013

Isaiah 35:1-10

James 5:7-10

Matthew 11:2-11

"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.”

• You might remember that a few years ago, a rather famous man made this statement: “Christianity is a religion for losers.” There was a lot of publicity and hollering and clucking of tongues at the time and I think he may have amended his statement later. We also know that this attitude is still quite common in certain circles.
• Nobody wants to be tagged as a loser. Winners get things done. Winners make a difference. To put it simply, winners win and losers lose and that's the way the story ends.
• Where do we place ourselves? We're not losers, are we? We're successful, good looking, financially comfortable, well liked. We're not losers.
• Still each of us has our pains, our losses, our troubles, our out-of-control times. We suffer from aches and pains of age, of sickness, of injuries old and new. We've lost loved ones, friends, jobs, livelihoods, interests, homes, and dreams. We all wish, at one time or another, that we were a few kilos lighter, that our nose wasn't so big or so small, that our hair was lighter or darker, or that we'd taken better care of ourselves.
• Most of us, if not all of us, wouldn't mind a few more dollars in our pockets or a house that fit our lives better. Many of us would like more friends, better friends, or deeper friendships.
• Let's face it... each and every one of us is broken in some way. Although we may have done well for ourselves, in some way, each of us has fallen short, whether by our own doing or because of circumstances.
• Another way of saying this whole thing is the use of an word that is very easily found in Scripture. It is also another word we don't like to hear: poverty. Poverty goes further and deeper than money. There are rich people who are quite poor and penniless folk who count themselves rich.
• Make no mistake; poverty is a tragedy – the starving, the homeless, those who are suffering from illness and wounds that still go untreated – all this is tragic. And we each of us are called to do something about these things if it is in our power.
• Should we help because we're somehow better? No! We help because we're the same!
• Now every person I've ever known is poor in some way. Every last one of us needs and is needy in some way or another.
• This fact leads us back to our reading from Matthew. When John's disciples convey John's question about the Messiah. “the one who is to come”, to Jesus, Jesus responds by saying in effect “See what I'm doing and tell John.” There have been other people who claimed to be “the one who is to come”, but actions speak louder than words.
• Jesus outlines what he's been doing: "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.”
• Jesus' answer is actually clear; he is doing what the Messiah will do. The healings and cleansings don't surprise us. The last point “...and the poor have the good news brought to them.” really is good news to those in any trouble. In Jesus' time, the poor were often considered sinful since they did not receive the blessing of God like the rich had. This was the general attitude even with the preaching of the prophets. The poor needed the good news that they were important to God and that the salvation of God was not reserved for the rich and powerful as any number of people had believed... and still believe.
• Jesus says “the poor have the good news brought to them.” This is not a rumour they've overheard or something they say on a poster in the public places of the city. This is not a crumb brushed from the table of the powerful. This good news is being delivered to them directly. This good news is for them.
• This is good news for us today. Our brokenness and our sin is not obstacle for God. The word of salvation has come near to us, without our work or even our desire. Those who are broken do not have to work to deserve God's gifts; they are given without regard to deservedness or worthiness.
• We know that there have been waves of troubles, one after the other, in our lives and at times we feel swamped by them. Yet in the midst of all these troubles and pains, the Good News shines through. Beyond that, if we know ourselves to be people with troubles and ills and pains and all sorts of poverty, we know that this good news is addressed to us
• ... and it is good for us to hear.