For Sunday
Advent 3A
Collect
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever.
Amen.
Reading
Reflection
Last week we met John the Baptist. Now, we’ve skipped ahead to a future point, after King Herod arrested him and now John is rotting in prison. He now has a lot of time on his hands to question his choices. So it isn’t strange to read that he’s wondering if he’s backed the wrong horse in Jesus. Is this the guy he thought he was? Best to send some people to find out. To double-check.
I think we can find a lot of sympathy for John the Baptist, if we try. He has a lot invested in getting this right. In getting Jesus right.
And I think Jesus gets it, too. This is what he’s always dealing with: second-guesses and just-wanting-to-be-sures from his followers. And his response puts the attention back on them and tells them to report what they have observed with their own life experience: miraculous healings, cleansings, and good news brought to the poor. In other words, what John told the Pharisees and Sadducees: fruit worthy of repentance.
This fits into Jesus’s consistent response when asked for certainty from people who want assurance of salvation — and what we have come to call Jesus Way of Love. And it is probably the most consistent question we all have about faith. We are promised grace and offered a path for living. It’s like a handshake deal in an era of lawyers and legal contracts. We’re just supposed to trust we’re on the right path? Yep.
No wonder we want assurance! We’re used to people breaking promises or doing what they want, rather than following the Way. We’re just trying to make sense of things. Like students worries about their grade, wanting to know what they’re supposed to study for the test. Clear. Confident. Secure.
And Jesus has been pretty clear about the Way. What it looks like. How to do it. Love your neighbors and work together. Pair up and heal and proclaim and do good. And the proof will reveal itself.