The sermon for December 11 was based on Matthew 11:2-10.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

John was in prison; and he wasn't getting out. He knew it. He was sitting in Herod's cell, waiting for the ax to fall. A young man, barely in his thirties, but already his life's work was finished. He had come into the world for one purpose: To prepare the world for the Savior. Now the job was done. Jesus had arrived. He was already walking city to city, teaching, preaching, healing the sick, raising the dead, and doing all sorts of miracles. But there was no miracle for John. John was in his cell, rotting there, waiting for death, because King Herod thought John went too far and preached one sermon too many. John preached against sin, Herod's adulterous sin. For that, Herod would make John pay. He would have his head on a silver platter.

John was going to die; and he knew it. He not only lived his life, but now he would soon give up his life for his Lord. Now he wanted to know if he had done the right thing after all. That is why he sent two of his disciples to Jesus. He sent them to ask Jesus, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" Fair question, I'd say. Wouldn't you? If you put all your hope in one Person, if you have absolutely nothing else in the world going for you, other than this one Man, this Jesus, and now you were lying in a jail cell, waiting to die, wouldn't you want to know if you trusted, hoped for, and longed for the right thing? That is why John asked, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"

That was then; and this is now. John was sitting in a cell, and you're sitting in a pew. You might be tempted to say that you have nothing in common with John. You might say, "John was such a great man, and I am just an ordinary man. John did so much, accomplished so much, and suffered so much. What have I done, compared to John the Baptist?" You might say that, but I would not. Yes, John suffered, but I know that you have suffered, too. I am not trying to belittle the suffering that John endured. But by the same token, I will not belittle the suffering that you endure. The suffering, the doubts, the hurts you feel don't separate you from John. They connect you with John. They make you the same as John. Jesus, the Christ, the One for whom John was waiting, comes for suffering people. Jesus comes for John. He also comes for you.

Jesus doesn't belittle your suffering. He doesn't put it down. He never says, "Ah, what's a little suffering? Come on; let's see that stiff upper lip! Stop complaining, and get on with life." Jesus knows your hurts, your fears, and your doubts. Do you think Jesus didn't hear that argument you had with your spouse? Do you think His back was turned when you cried tears into your pillow? Do you think He was too busy up in heaven, running the universe, to notice you, sleepless, sitting up all the dark night long? Do you think Jesus doesn't know that you are scared? Are you scared of what might happen to you; scared of your finances, as your income doesn't meet your bills; scared of your health, as you wait for that phone call from your doctor; scared for your job, as you face possible downsizing; scared for your kids or your grandkids, as they so easily get sucked in by this world; scared of growing old, as your body just isn't what it was when you were twenty; scared you'll end up lonely and unloved, and nobody will really care what will happen to you? All this fear, confusion, pain and doubt is suffering; and you feel it.

In a way, Christians suffer more than anybody else in the world. Why? Because people without Jesus Christ have absolutely no hope. They grow old, they suffer, and they die. But they don't expect to do anything BUT grow old, suffer and die. They just try to put off all that suffering as long as possible. They spend their efforts and their money in looking good, feeling good, and grabbing as much happiness as they can WHILE they can.

But you are different. You are a Christian. You belong, by grace, to Christ. Your hope doesn't lie in investments or securities. It doesn't lie in health or beauty aids. Your hope doesn't lie in the latest thing on the market to make your life happy. You are like John, sitting in his cell. Your hope, your trust, and your faith lies in this one Man from Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth. So you crave to know for certain that He is God, the Coming One that God promised to send to rescue and redeem you; the long expected One who came to bail you out. You want to know the same thing John wanted to know, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" Fair question, I'd say. Wouldn't you?

When I'm hurting, suffering, or doubting, the last thing I want to hear is someone telling me, "Come on, keep a stiff upper lip! Stop your complaining. Stop your whining. Be a man." That's the last thing I need to hear. What I need to hear just happens to be what Jesus told John. John was hurting. He was in jail, dying. He needed assurance. He needed to know that his trust in Jesus wasn't for nothing. He needed to know that Jesus was exactly what He claimed to be: the One God promised to send. And that is exactly what you need to know as well.

Jesus says, not just to John, but to you: "Take a look around. The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."

Jesus is right. Take a look around, and look what happens whenever, wherever, Jesus does His work through His Word and Sacraments. Look at what He does. Every week, week by week, He sends His Spirit to gather folks who are altogether sinners; He speaks a Word over them, and forgives them all their sins. Altogether disgusting sins, like pride and greed and lust and hate, are now forgiven. And that means you are forgiven. God holds that sin against you no more. Here you were, deserving to die; but Jesus forgives you, and that means you will live. You will live forever, mind you! No matter what your aging body tells you. You will live forever because you get to live with Christ.

Look at what else He does through His Word and Sacraments. He comes to the lonely and alone. You may have lost everybody else in the in the world, but you have not lost Him. He even sits, eats and drinks with you a foretaste of the feast you'll have with Him in heaven, surrounded by angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven. No Christian is ever alone, even if that Christian is John rotting in Herod's jail. You have Christ up close, and with Christ, you have every other Christian that has lived, lives, or ever will live, with you, next to you, shoulder to shoulder and arm to arm with you. You are never alone.

Look at what else He does through His Word and Sacraments. Were you sitting up all through the cold and lonely night, wondering, worrying what's going to happen to you because your finances, your job, your health, or your family lies in ruins? Do you think Jesus doesn't know? Do you think He's powerless to help? None of these things can stop Jesus. He has already taken care of all those problems, all those hurts. Your future is certain. There is already a mansion in your heavenly Father's house with your name over the door. The only thing you need to know in this troubled life is that Jesus will be with you here, come hell or high water, until He moves you into that mansion. You know where you will end up. You also know Who will be right beside you, until you end up there.

Look at what else He does through His Word and Sacraments. The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and you, though poor, have the gospel preached to you. Wherever the Word and Sacraments are, there is Jesus, doing precisely what all the prophets said He would be doing. And He does these wonders right here at Bethany. Indeed, plenty of poor sinners have the Gospel preached to them here, and God considers them sinners no more.

So, you see, Jesus is the Coming One. He is the One whom God sends to rescue and redeem you. He comes to this place, in His Word and Sacraments, to be with you and comfort you in all your hopes and in all your fears. It is almost time to celebrate the birth of God; it is almost Christmas. And I pray that the closer Christmas comes, the more you will come to this place to prepare for that celebration. How does that hymn go? "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight"? Take that as an invitation, in the midst of your hopes and fears, to keep coming here, to keep meeting, in Person, Jesus. Amen.

The Peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Last Updated: 7/15/2008