Joining John in Mind Blowing Joy
You can listen to this sermon here
Gate Pa – 3rd Sunday in
Advent - Year A - 2022
Readings:Psalm - Psalm: 146: 5 -10
What I want to
say:
Joy reminds us that for many, Christmas is not a time of joy. For many reasons it is very hard.
John was finding life hard too. Explore some different ways of reading John’s questions. And then reflect on joy, and where we see God’s joy in the world, and what we might need to hear and see to know joy
Joy reminds us that for many, Christmas is not a time of joy. For many reasons it is very hard.
John was finding life hard too. Explore some different ways of reading John’s questions. And then reflect on joy, and where we see God’s joy in the world, and what we might need to hear and see to know joy
What I want to happen:
People to reflect on what joy means this advent
The
theme for this Sunday is joy
But as our CWS video reminds us - for many people Christmas is not a time of joy
For all kinds of reasons
- War and violence
- Natural disasters, many exacerbated by climate change
- Disease and health
- Separation from families
- Grief
As we remember the theme of Joy
Let us also remember those who are struggling with Christmas this year
Here in this community
And around the world.
2.
John not having a good time
Joy would not be a
world you would apply to John in the reading we have just heard
John was not having a great time
It had been quite something being the prophet in the wilderness
- That dangerous and thin place that echoed so much of Israel’s foundation stories
Reminding those who came that God’s faithfulness was the basis of their identity
- Not ancestor Abraham
- Not temple
- Not David’s line
ð God’s faithfulness
It had been quite something having so many come out and listen
And baptising them into a new community that sought to live this out.
Even the one, we are told, that he had been pointing towards
- Jesus the Messiah
But now he is imprisoned
- This cannot and does not end well.
He now seems quite uncertain
And sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus if he really is the one.
I wonder how we understand that question
Mostly I have understood it as John doubting that Jesus is the one
John was big on repentance and judgement
- and Jesus seemed less focuses on that and more on healing people and communities.
- in prison
And now he seems to doubts.
Jesus not doing what John thought would happen
o Not enough repentance
Sends messengers to Jesus ask “THE” advent question
“Are you the one, or should we wait for another?”
I wonder if you have ever asked that question of Jesus
And in what way you might have asked it.
3. Other
ways of asking
- And I’ve tended to preach it this way
Some offer other ways of understanding the question
For example –
rather than doubt, maybe it is a need for a quiet confirmation
- He is pretty sure who Jesus is and what he in about
this has become a moment of repentance
- Turning
It was blowing his mind.
Not so much – I got this wrong
But more, “O, there are all these layers to this as well.”
- And then the wondering of “Have I got this right?”
In the
end we don’t know how John asked the question
And we don’t know how Matthew intended it
But the question is there to read in any of those ways, and maybe some other ways.
And it is given to us to ask this Advent
“Are you the one, or should we wait for another?”
I wonder how we would ask it right now?
4. Jesus’
response
“Go back and tell John what you see and hear:
The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.”
Let’s spend a moment reading this from the
point of view that John has had his mind blown and is asking for an affirmation
of what he now sees it to be all about
Some commentators read this as being more than Jesus just curing people of their medical ailments
They see it as a theological statement
Those who were sick were seen as judged by God for their sin
In healing these people Jesus is making a counter theological statement
- That they are not being judged by God
- Broken communities cause ill health
Go back and tell John what you see and hear:
So maybe that list is an affirmation that John himself has had HIS sight restored
- He can now more fully see what God is up to in Jesus
Maybe we are among the blind, the deaf, the lame
Maybe it is us that needs healing this Advent
- So that we might join John in having our minds blown
Even as we ask
“Are you the one, or should we wait for another?”
5.
Joy
Let’s finish with joy
Francis of Assisi knew joy
Joy in living the gospel in the way of poverty
Letting go of all his father hoped for him
And seeing the crucified and risen Christ in all creation, and in the poor, the bling, the deaf, the lame, and particularly the leper
In all this he knew that joy is a gift.
It is planted deep down
And he lived a life of joy despite all the hardships.
And he is not alone among the saints who have lived joy.
But there are things we can do to help nurture our joy.
In the past I have talked about “The Book of Joy - Lasting Happiness in a Changing World” An interfaith conversation between the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams
They quote research by Sonja Lyubomirsky
3 ways to nurturing joy
- Ability to reframe a situation positively
when we
- reframe a situation positively
maybe it also opens cracks that allow us to see differently
to hear in new ways
to have our mind blown
and to be part of the glimpses of the Christ in mystery.
6. John’s Advent Question?
People to reflect on what joy means this advent
The Sermon
1.
Introduction:
The
theme for this Sunday is joy
But as our CWS video reminds us - for many people Christmas is not a time of joy
For all kinds of reasons
- War and violence
- Natural disasters, many exacerbated by climate change
- Disease and health
- Separation from families
- Grief
As we remember the theme of Joy
Let us also remember those who are struggling with Christmas this year
Here in this community
And around the world.
2.
John not having a good time
John was not having a great time
It had been quite something being the prophet in the wilderness
- That dangerous and thin place that echoed so much of Israel’s foundation stories
Reminding those who came that God’s faithfulness was the basis of their identity
- Not ancestor Abraham
- Not temple
- Not David’s line
ð God’s faithfulness
It had been quite something having so many come out and listen
And baptising them into a new community that sought to live this out.
Even the one, we are told, that he had been pointing towards
- Jesus the Messiah
But now he is imprisoned
- This cannot and does not end well.
He now seems quite uncertain
And sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus if he really is the one.
I wonder how we understand that question
Mostly I have understood it as John doubting that Jesus is the one
John was big on repentance and judgement
- and Jesus seemed less focuses on that and more on healing people and communities.
- in prison
And now he seems to doubts.
Jesus not doing what John thought would happen
o Not enough repentance
Sends messengers to Jesus ask “THE” advent question
“Are you the one, or should we wait for another?”
I wonder if you have ever asked that question of Jesus
And in what way you might have asked it.
3. Other
ways of asking
- And I’ve tended to preach it this way
Some offer other ways of understanding the question
For example –
rather than doubt, maybe it is a need for a quiet confirmation
- He is pretty sure who Jesus is and what he in about
this has become a moment of repentance
- Turning
It was blowing his mind.
Not so much – I got this wrong
But more, “O, there are all these layers to this as well.”
- And then the wondering of “Have I got this right?”
And we don’t know how Matthew intended it
But the question is there to read in any of those ways, and maybe some other ways.
And it is given to us to ask this Advent
“Are you the one, or should we wait for another?”
I wonder how we would ask it right now?
4. Jesus’
response
“Go back and tell John what you see and hear:
The blind see,
The lame walk,
Lepers are cleansed,
The deaf hear,
The dead are raised,
The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.”
Some commentators read this as being more than Jesus just curing people of their medical ailments
They see it as a theological statement
Those who were sick were seen as judged by God for their sin
In healing these people Jesus is making a counter theological statement
- That they are not being judged by God
- Broken communities cause ill health
Go back and tell John what you see and hear:
So maybe that list is an affirmation that John himself has had HIS sight restored
- He can now more fully see what God is up to in Jesus
Maybe we are among the blind, the deaf, the lame
Maybe it is us that needs healing this Advent
- So that we might join John in having our minds blown
Even as we ask
“Are you the one, or should we wait for another?”
5.
Joy
Francis of Assisi knew joy
Joy in living the gospel in the way of poverty
Letting go of all his father hoped for him
And seeing the crucified and risen Christ in all creation, and in the poor, the bling, the deaf, the lame, and particularly the leper
In all this he knew that joy is a gift.
It is planted deep down
And he lived a life of joy despite all the hardships.
And he is not alone among the saints who have lived joy.
But there are things we can do to help nurture our joy.
In the past I have talked about “The Book of Joy - Lasting Happiness in a Changing World” An interfaith conversation between the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams
They quote research by Sonja Lyubomirsky
3 ways to nurturing joy
- Ability to reframe a situation positively
when we
- reframe a situation positively
maybe it also opens cracks that allow us to see differently
to hear in new ways
to have our mind blown
and to be part of the glimpses of the Christ in mystery.
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