The Lutheran Hour
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"Being Sure"
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Text: Matthew 11:2-4
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed. As the world prepares to celebrate Christmas, believers rejoice they have been given a sure and certain hope their Savior has come. Promised by prophets, awaited by generations Jesus is born to live, to die, to rise, and bring light to those who live in darkness. In the Christ Child’s Name and to His glory this message is shared. Amen.
Twenty-eight years of visiting mothers in the hospital the day after they had given birth to a child, has taught me a number of unalterable, undeniable, and unchangeable truths. First, no matter what I may personally believe, every baby born is exceptionally beautiful. I have learned when a mother asks, “Don’t you think my baby is the most beautiful child in the entire world?” there is only one answer possible: a quick and enthusiastic “Yes!”
There is another thing I have learned. Along with being the most beautiful baby ever born, every grandparent who has rushed to the hospital has assured me their grandchild is also the smartest baby this poor planet has ever seen. Consider the facts. Hasn’t their grandchild already had the wisdom to open his eyes? Amazing! But there’s more. Their baby has already figured out how to sleep and eat and… do other baby things.
Of course most dads don’t worry about their baby being beautiful or brilliant. It’s not by accident that when proud papas first show up at the hospital they come armed with footballs, basketballs, hockey sticks, and curling stones. When a dad looks at his baby boy or girl, he sees the next Olympic gold-medal winner. When baby wraps a pudgy hand around father’s finger, every dad immediately senses some special, superhuman strength. Dad knows that someday his child is going to grow up and shatter every record put on the books by Babe Ruth, Tiger Woods, Jesse Owens, Jim Thorpe, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, and Michael Jordan. Little wonder that most dads, as they drive home from the hospital, mentally put together a comprehensive training schedule for their little athlete. Sometime in the future, when a sportscaster asks their son or daughter, “To whom do you owe your success?” dads want their child to honestly reply, “I owe everything to my Pop.”
In truth, when any of us look at a baby for the first time, we dream dreams. In our dreams our children will always be applauded by teachers, admired by classmates, appreciated by all they meet. In our dreams our children enjoy a long and healthy life of laughter without tears, a life where their love is always returned and their hearts are never broken.
In truth, even in the best of situations, things seldom turn out the way we dreamed them.
In Scripture, when Adam and Eve watched their two boys, Cain and Abel, playing with each other, did they ever believe that the oldest would kill the youngest? When David looked upon little Absalom for the first time, did he ever imagine a day when his headstrong child would try to overthrow him and they would be involved in a life-and-death struggle for the kingdom’s crown? I wonder, in the Christmas story, when Zechariah and Elizabeth looked at baby John, what did they think would happen to their little lad? If ever parents had reason to dream gloriously great dreams about their child, it had to be this couple. After all, John’s name had been picked in heaven and his birth was a biological miracle foretold by an angel. They had been given God’s promise their boy would not only bring joy and gladness into their lives, but he would also be filled with the Holy Spirit and many would be blessed because of him (see Luke 1:13).
Do you think for a moment they ever imagined their boy would end up living in the wilderness; that his clothing would consist of a camelhair suit accessorized with a leather belt? Did they ever suppose his diet would be made up of locusts and wild honey, or that his days would be spent doing baptisms in the Jordan River? Could the family of a respected temple priest ever think their boy would call respectable people like Pharisees and Sadducees a “generation of vipers”? And even if Zechariah and Elizabeth could have imagined all of these things, they certainly would never have guessed their little boy was going to be thrown into the dungeon of the black fortress of Herod Antipas. Things seldom turn out the way we dream.
Look at the 11th chapter of Matthew (and the 3rd chapter of Luke) and read how John the Baptist, designated as the forerunner of the Messiah, ended up in a royal dungeon. Herod Antipas, who was functioning as a loyal Roman puppet-prince hadn’t been bothered when John called the common people to repentance; Herod didn’t have any difficulty when John told the soldiers who had come to hear him, that they should stop intimidating the people, nor did Herod get upset when John had taken a few shots at the existing religious establishment. But then John had gotten personal. John let fly some criticism of Herod and his new, slightly used bride, Herodias. You see, Herod had, against all morality, tradition, and law, stolen and then married the wife of his brother, Philip. It was a union God had forbidden; an action John condemned.
Now anytime a pastor says somebody is committing a sin, he can be sure the people who are committing that sin aren’t going to like what he has to say. But when the person being accused of a crime is the king, well that simply will not do. Criticizing a king can lead to discontent; discontent can lead to revolt; and revolt can lead to an old king being removed and replaced by a new leader. That’s why Herod gave the order for John to be taken out of circulation and put in prison.
Things seldom turn out the way we dream. That may have been John’s thoughts as he sat in prison. John knew other prophets had died when they pointed out a monarch’s sin, and he realized his fate might not be so very different than theirs.
Things seldom turn out the way we dream. Maybe that’s what John was thinking as he spent days, weeks, months, in prison. During those lonely hours did his mind wander back to the stories his mother had told him about Mary, his relative from Nazareth who, as a virgin, had given birth to the promised Savior? Did he think about the day Jesus had come to him at the Jordan to be baptized, or how God’s voice from heaven had pointed to Jesus as being the promised Messiah? Did John think Jesus would come to his rescue and release him from prison? That might have been a possibility. After all, the prophet Isaiah had promised the Messiah would strike the earth with His mouth and with the breath of His lips slay the wicked. That same Old Testament prophet had told how God’s anointed one would proclaim a day of “vengeance” Isaiah 61:2). Hadn’t the Holy Spirit instructed John to say Jesus would “gather the wheat into His barn, and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12)?
No, I don’t know what John was thinking; but I’m pretty sure he felt confused. God had told him to call sinners to repentance and now Jesus was eating and drinking and partying with sinners. John had preached of a God who was displeased with the way people were living their lives and Jesus was telling them that God loved them. Apparently the folks who were taking the “Jesus-reports” to imprisoned John left out the fact that Jesus was just as much against sin as John had ever been; they forgot to mention Jesus was transforming sinners into saints just as the Spirit had done when John was baptizing at the Jordan. Confused, John called two of his disciples to him and said: I’ve got a message I want you to take to Jesus. I want you to ask Him, “Jesus, are You the promised Messiah, or would our time be better spent looking for someone else?”
It was an honest question made by a man whose life was hanging in the balance. Jesus, are You the one? John’s question was short, but it covered a lot of territory. If Jesus wasn’t the right one, if John had been mistaken about the person and mission of Jesus, then maybe he had been mistaken about other things as well. “Jesus are You the one? Are You God’s Son, the world’s heaven-sent Rescuer from sin, death, and Satan? Are You the one who is the physician for souls which are spiritually sick and dying? Are You the one who is going to give His life as a ransom; the one who is going to redeem the people? Are You the one who is going to call us from darkness to light?” “Jesus, are You the one?” That was the question John’s disciples were to ask.
If you don’t mind, while the disciples are taking that message to Jesus, I’d like the two of us to walk along with them. Why? While we’re walking, it gives me a chance to talk to you. About what? I’d like to talk to you about you. It occurs to me John’s question might also be your question. Maybe you’ve found out, as John did, things seldom work out the way we expect. Now I suppose you may be one of those people who have led a charmed life and everything has always gone your way. If you are indeed such a person, you are a rare bird. If you are such a person you may have difficulty understanding the rest of this message. You may have difficulty understanding because the rest of this message is going to talk about the vast majority of people whose lives are not going according to plan.
Still with me? Good. So, things haven’t turned out the way you expected, have they? Are you lonely? Has a good, trusted friend betrayed you? Has your job security become less than secure? Has the mortgage, which once seemed so payable, become a crushing burden? Are creditors riding you, tormenting you? Are you drowning in sickness, sadness, sorrow? Things don’t turn out the way we expect.
Is it a child who is the root of your worry and your pain? Do you have a son or daughter with whom you can no longer communicate, to whom you no longer can express words of concern? Do you have a parent who is having difficulty maintaining independence and you must make decisions which are impossible to make? Things don’t turn out the way we expect. Of course, it’s impossible for me to list everyone’s burdens and hurts. Time doesn’t allow for that. Even so, I believe, I know, you are hurting.
If you feel that God, if there is a God, has been ignoring you and your problems; if you feel the Lord hasn’t been listening to your prayers and He doesn’t care about what happens to you; if you feel you are alone in facing whatever black emptiness confronts you, please, listen carefully as John’s disciples ask, “Jesus, are You the one who is supposed to make a difference, or should I start looking around for someone else to help me?” Listen carefully because the Baptizer’s question is your question, too. “Jesus, are You the one who is to come or should we look for another?”
Scripture says John’s representatives got a twofold answer to their query. The first part of the answer came in the form of a demonstration. The Gospel writer, Luke, says, (7:21) “In that hour He (Jesus) healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind He bestowed sight.” Then, having performed a multitude of miracles, Jesus turned to John’s messengers and said, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.”
Now, you and I are practical, get-to-the-point kind of people. You know John’s friends had asked Jesus a simple “yes or no” question and He chose to give them a long, two-part answer. Why? Two thousand years after the event took place, I can tell you John would have understood the “why.” He would have understood, but you might not. You see, John would have known Jesus, in doing what He did and saying what He said, was making reference to a prophecy made centuries before by Isaiah. By the Spirit’s power, that prophet had told unborn generations how they would be able to recognize the Messiah. Let me read just a part of what Isaiah (chapter 35) wrote: Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, … He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
When John’s disciples relayed those words, John would have been at peace. He would have been assured that Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior of the world. No matter what might happen to him, John knew that his sins were forgiven, that he was saved, and that he had told the truth when He pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” John would have been comforted because he believed Jesus Christ is, as the Christmas angel said He would be: “God’s good news of great joy for all people.” Above all John knew: Jesus was His Redeemer, His Savior and Lord.
Now there are some preachers who will tell you that if you have Jesus as your Savior, all of your problems, worries, pains, and hurts will disappear. That’s simply not so. When John received confirmation of Jesus’ Lordship, he wasn’t released from prison; because John believed in the Savior, that doesn’t mean his problems evaporated and he lived happily ever after. He didn’t. Scripture tells us that King Herod’s wife, through her cunning, conniving, and conspiring eventually had John beheaded. Because John believed, it doesn’t mean Jesus took away his problems, it does mean Jesus helped him past his problems.
Things seldom turn out the way we dream… but they can always turn out the way God wants. In that truth a believing John, a saved John, went to heaven. Today, tomorrow, and for all eternity he will stand before the crucified and ever-living Lamb of God who took away his sins, your sins, my sins, the sins of the entire world. Jesus conquered John’s problems and freed him. That is the promise Christ makes to every one of us. Once again, neither I, nor any other preacher, can promise God will eliminate every one of our problems the way we might like, but I can assure you that God, because of the sacrifice, death, and resurrection of His Son, will help you through your heartaches and do what is right for you.
Confident of this, this Christmas when you look into the manger, I pray you will see more than a beautiful baby lying there. This Christmas, when you see Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, I pray you may see Him for who He is and worship Him for what He has done for you. See Him in His cradle, most certainly, but also see Him on His cross, see His empty and open tomb. See Him and know that while things seldom turn out the way we dream, because of Jesus they can always turn out the way God wants. If you see Jesus this way, your Christmas, your life, will be blessed. If that sounds like the Christmas you would like to have, the Savior you would like to know, please, call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Question & Answers) for December 16, 2007
The Golden Compass Part 2ANNOUNCER: Is The Golden Compass an appetizer for atheism? I’m Mark Eischer and my guest today is Dr. Gene Edward Veith. He’s the provost and professor of literature for Patrick Henry College. We’re discussing The Golden Compass which is the first novel of a trilogy by English author Philip Pullman. Some Christian groups are warning parents about these books and their content. Dr. Veith, could you describe for us the spiritual worldview Philip Pullman presents in his books?
VEITH: What’s targeted is the God of Genesis. The God who created the universe, the God who set Adam and Eve in the garden, and warned them against eating that forbidden fruit. Of course, Pullman doesn’t believe in any God. He is an atheist. The closest thing is what he calls his dark materials, the idea that there’s a certain substance in the universe, a material substance that is the source of all that’s good. And ultimately, he’s defending materialism. We learn that when we die we rot and our bodies turn into molecules and atoms and, ultimately, these “materials.” And he presents that as a good thing, a joyous thing. Because when we die and rot and are back into the material elements of the universe we are at one with the universe. We are one with all things. And the way he writes about it, it’s a very joyous thing. But what he’s doing is trying to make an imaginative case that materialism, the view that only matter, that is the only reality there is. And that the material realm is what we should focus our spiritual aspirations on.
ANNOUNCER: Some have said that The Golden Compass serves as bait to draw the reader into the other two books.
VEITH: Well, that’s a good comment. And it isn’t just bait, it’s preparing the way you think about certain things.
ANNOUNCER: One of Pullman’s objections to Christianity is that it involves a rejection of this world in favor of an idealized afterlife. Would you comment on how Christian faith, though, does, in fact, relate to life and vocation?
VEITH: Yes, Christianity looks to another realm beyond this one, but that has always been a great motivator in the way that we live our lives here. And the doctrine of vocation speaks about how God works through ordinary human beings going about their everyday lives. And for Christians who know about God and about Christ, who know Him, they live out their faith in love and service to their neighbors. And that has manifested itself in everything from the founding of hospitals to the creation of schools and universities, all of which are Christian inventions, to the rise of literacy to the cultivation of knowledge. Again, our love of, our interest in, nature that inspired the original scientists comes from that conviction of the Creation that God created this world and so this world reflects His will. But again, this view that Christianity has nothing to say about the physical world neglects again the most central point of all: that God became incarnate in this physical world and so has blessed it with His presence. And Christians can never turn their noses up at what God has made and the life that He has given us to lead.
ANNOUNCER: We’ve been talking with Dr. Gene Edward Veith. Dr. Veith, thanks for being with us.
VEITH: My pleasure.
ANNOUNCER: This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC“Comfort, Comfort Ye My People” by J.S. Bach. From Hymns for All Saints: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany (© 2005 Concordia Publishing House)
“Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel” arranged by John Leavitt. From On Christmas Night by John Leavitt (© 2006 John Leavitt) John Leavitt Music/ASCAP
“Fantasia sopra Freu dich sehr, O meine Seele” by Johann Ludwig Krebs. From A Year of Grace by Craig Cramer (© 2003 Dulcian Productions)