December 16, 2007
Sermon by Rev. Jeffrey Bell
Providence Presbyterian Church

"Are You The One Who Is To Come?"
Matthew 11: 2  - 11

In Washington , D.C. , in 1926, 150,000 patented models of useless inventions were auctioned off to the highest bidder. There was the "illuminated cat" that was designed to scare away mice. And a device to prevent a sound sleeper from snoring. It consisted of a devise that was strapped on to the head with a trumpet mouthpiece that was positioned near the mouth.  A long brass tube bent around the head from mouthpiece to ear and was designed to awaken the sleeper when he began to snore.

Needless to say, the auction of old patent models was only mildly amusing to the curious few who attended; but if we would look into this situation a little deeper, we would discover that these 150,000 old patent models also represent 150,000 broken dreams and disappointments to those who had worked hard to create the next best thing for mankind.

It may seem inappropriate to talk about broken dreams and disappointments this close to Christmas. After all, this is the season to be jolly. But it's not jolly for everybody, is it? For those who have lost loved ones this is the loneliest time of the year. And in a world that glorifies materialism, those who are struggling financially may find it to be most disappointing.

John the Baptist knew about disappointment. In our lesson he’s in prison and looking for a sign that the long-awaited Messiah has finally arrived. That's ironic, don't you think? John the Baptist is the one who first proclaimed the Messiah’s coming. But much has happened to John since we last saw him preaching and baptizing people in the wilderness, and now his heart is cast down.

You'll remember John's message was, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." This message burned in John's soul, and he wasn't afraid to proclaim it to religious leaders and royalty alike, even King Herod himself. That was why he was in jail.

Now, this was not the King Herod who ruled the world at the time of Jesus’ birth. This was his son, Herod Antipas, who turned out to be worse than his father. Herod Antipas seduced and later married his brother's wife, but first he killed his brother. John the Baptist condemned the king's behavior and was thrown in prison.

John knew that he would soon die, and wanted to know one thing beyond a shadow of a doubt - if Jesus was really the Messiah. You see, John the Baptist found himself in a difficult and depressing time. Things were not working out like he had expected.

A few years back there was a haunting country song that included this line, "If we make it through December...."   For John the Baptist, it was the December of his life: he was hurting in Herod's prison, physically and emotionally, gripped with disappointment, and he needed to know for sure that his life had not been in vain.

John was disappointed, first of all, because he had different expectations of what the Messiah would do.

John was a product of his time. He expected the same kind of Messiah everyone else expected -one who would drive out the Romans and establish a new kingdom of God throughout the land. While languishing in prison John must have wondered why more wasn't happening.  He was disappointed because of his faulty expectations.

Leo Buscalgia learned about that kind of disappointment as a teenager. He writes, "I remember the sudden appearance under my family's Christmas tree of the largest present I had ever hoped to see. It stood at least a foot taller than I and was twice as heavy; and wonder of wonders, it had my name on it. For two whole weeks before Christmas, this present towered above all others and it defied any conventional attempts to learn of its contents."

During the weeks leading up to Christmas I could think of nothing else but my present under the tree. I imagined all sorts of terrific presents. On Christmas Day my family gathered together. "The main attraction was to be the opening of my present." Buscalgia remembered. "How many times in the past two weeks I had anticipated this moment. Even as I was opening it, I remember experiencing a vague sense of disappointment - the Great Mystery was about to end and I would no longer be able to engage in my soaring dreams."

My present turned out to be a beautiful handmade desk my uncle had built. By this time nothing of this world could have satisfied my expectations. I can't imagine what I had expected. Still, in that disappointment was a lesson which would last a lifetime."  1

Sometimes we are disappointed, not because what we receive is bad, but because we carry with us faulty expectations.  John the Baptist expected the Messiah to come by storm, but nothing much seemed to be happening. That’s not Jesus’ responsibility, as much as it was John's expectations. That’s the first reason he was gripped by disappointment.

The second reason John was disappointed as that he was looking for all the wrong signs.  The followers of John the Baptist caught up with Jesus. They asked Jesus John's question, "Are you the one who is to come or are we to wait for another?"

Jesus answered, "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." The day of the Lord had arrived. There was evidence that God's kingdom had begun. "Just look around," Jesus told John's followers, "to see what is happening."

Centuries before Isaiah prophesied about what would take place when the Messiah would arrive. He said, "The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; the lame shall leap like a deer." Those weren't the signs John was looking for. He was looking for something more dramatic, more like thunder and lightning.

Charles Kuralt, in his travels across the United States , found what looked like a Christmas tree growing in the most unlikely place in the Rockies . "Trees need good soil and good weather and up here there's no soil and terrible weather," Kuralt notes. "Nothing can live up here and certainly not trees. That's why the tree is a kind of miracle."

On a barren stretch of U.S. 50, without another tree in sight, grows this Juniper tree. "Nobody remembers who put the first Christmas ornament on it ” some whimsical motorist of years ago. From that day to this, the tree has been redecorated each year.

"The tree, which has no business growing here at all has survived against all the odds." People who live miles away in all directions know and love the tree. "Just looking at it makes you think about how unexpected life on earth can be.

The tree is so lonely and so brave that it seems to offer courage to those who pass it” and a message: that there is life and hope even in a rough world."  2   Isaiah wrote, "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom."

Truth is, those aren't the kinds of signs that impress people. We want greatness writ large. Bold, thunderous, exciting transformations. That's not God's way. God chooses to work in the little insignificant places of life - like a manger, a carpenter's shop and a cross.

The third reason John was disappointed was that he didn't give God time.  John wanted action - now!  I can understand that, in light of his current situation. But God takes His own time. After all, He has been working on this world for hundreds of millions of years. But His purpose is just as sure and His plan is just as unstoppable.

Lincoln Steffens remembers one Christmas while growing up when he wanted a pony more than anything. "I prayed and hoped I would get a pony," he wrote. "My good little sisters -- to comfort me -- remarked that Christmas was coming, but Christmas was always coming and grown-ups were always talking about it, asking you what you wanted.  All I want is a pony," he told them. "If I can't have a pony, give me nothing, nothing."

Christmas Day arrived and the children were up at 6:00 a.m. At first they were overwhelmed by all the presents. "My sisters had knelt down, each by her pile of gifts; they were squealing with delight, till they looked up and saw me standing there in my nightgown with nothing. Nothing."

The young boy didn't get the pony he wanted more than anything else for Christmas. His sisters joined him in his agony, running back to their bedrooms crying. He refused to eat anything. He was too upset. He went out to the stable, and his mother came out to comfort him. He noticed his father watching him from a window for a couple of hours. This was his worst Christmas ever - not one present.

Then he noticed a man riding a pony down the street, a pony with a brand new saddle, and it was a boy's saddle. The man was reading the numbers of the houses. "He looked at our door and passed by," Lincoln remembered. That was the last straw. He flung himself on the ground and began crying uncontrollably.

"Say, kid," the stranger asked, "do you know a boy named Lennie Steffens?" "Yes," he spluttered through tears, "that's me." "Well," he said, "then this is your horse. I've been looking all over for you."

The man told Lennie his excuses for being so late, but the boy never heard them. "I could scarcely wait." Before too long he was riding down the street on his pony. To this day he still doesn't know if that was his best Christmas or his worst.  3 Truth is, the pony was always coming. It was Lennie's impatience and uncertainty that drove him to the brink of despair.

I've been there, haven't you? As much as I want Him to, God doesn't work on our time schedule, God works his creation out on His timetable. And sometimes He doesn't appear to be working at all. But He is.

1.  Leo Buscalgia, BUS 9 TO PARADISE (New York: Slack, 1986), pp. 25-26.
2.  Charles Kuralt, ON THE ROAD WITH CHARLES KURALT (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1985), pp. 315-316.
3.  Lincoln Steffens, "A Miserable Merry Christmas," FAMILY CHRISTMAS (Pleasantville, NY: The Reader's Digest Association, 1984), pp. 141-146.