“We all suffer from
dreams.”
(Bernard
Cornwell)
You can’t blame a person for second-guessing. John the Baptist had been locked away in the
dungeon of King Herod for most of a year, but he had been keeping his eyes and
ears open for news about the Messiah that he believed that Jesus was. What he was hearing was nothing like what he
was expecting . . . far from it. He
wondered why Jesus had not yet announced that he was the Messiah . . . the
expected one. He wondered why Jesus had
not destroyed the power of the Romans to set the people free . . . used the
power to topple Herod and set him free.
John the Baptist was wondering . . .
And, who among us would not wonder too?
In this season of Advent we are constantly confronted on the journey
with illusions . . . illusions between what we expect . . . what we want . . .
and reality. Reality never seems as good
as the illusions. So it was for John the
Baptist . . . his illusion was being shattered by the reality of Jesus and his
messiahship . . . and, he was not the only one.
What he believed and longed for, like most of the Jewish people of his
time, was not what reality presented, but what they embraced as the illusion .
. . a great, powerful military-like king who would come in, stomp the
oppressors, and free the people. Jesus’
methods and style were a long way from that.
Thus the question that John the
Baptist raises: “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
As
I stated earlier, “We all suffer from dreams.”
We all suffer from illusions. We
all suffer from hope. Sometimes our
dreams, illusions, and hope keep us from seeing the potential and beauty of the
reality that is being offered. When that
happens it is difficult to embrace the gift and allow it to flourish.
It
is in this season of Advent that we experience this clash between the illusion
and the reality. In the illusion we are
in the camp of John the Baptist and others, embracing something that we think
is what we expect; but, the reality is something completely different. The reality is not based in violence and
power, but in relationship and love. One
way is quick and easy, the other is more difficult and frustrating. And, as M. Scott Peck wrote in his book, The Road Less Traveled, we humans have a
tendency to take the easy way out . . . thus we want the quickest and fastest
way to get the results we want. We don’t
want to sit around a campfire, holding hands, singing Kum Ba Ya. We want to get
down to business!
The
anniversary of the Newtown school shooting was marked with another school
shooting in Colorado . . . the remembrance was punctuated with more violence
and death . . . the illusion was shattered.
This past week as the world gathered to pause and celebrate the life and
legacy of Nelson Mandela in South Africa . . . inklings of violence and war in
North Korea, the Middle East, and other parts of Africa echoed in the
background of the celebration . . . shattering the illusion of peace. Each day in our newspapers . . . on our
televisions and radio . . . we hear the shattering of our illusions . . . why
can’t we just get what we want?
We
want the Kingdom of God. We want it
now. So, why can’t God just come down,
smash all the barriers that obstruct, and rid us of those who would oppose the
kingdom? God could do it . . . God could
pull another great flood like God did with Noah . . . wipe the slate clean and
start over fresh with those of us who want the kingdom. But, the reality shatters the illusion by
telling us that the only way the kingdom will ever come is Jesus’ way. Jesus’ way of love.
Jesus told us that we are to love the Lord, our God, with our whole
being . . . body, mind, and soul. Jesus
also told us that we are to love ourselves so that we could love others
likewise. All this love centers around
relationships . . . our relationships with God, with ourselves, and
others. Relationships take time and
effort . . . they do not happen overnight.
Relationships are a lot of work.
Who among us . . . after long days of work . . . really want to work
that hard? No, instead we join the
chorus with John the Baptist wanting to know: “Are you the one who was to come,
or should we expect someone else?”
It
is difficult to let go of the illusions we hold. Jesus understands this as we read his
response to John the Baptist and his explanation to his disciples . . . it is
hard to let go of the illusion to embrace the reality. Over and over again, Jesus points out to everyone
that John the Baptist laid it all out and no one seemed to get it . . .
including, apparently, John the Baptist himself. As much as Jesus would love to have everyone
“get it”, he knows that it will take time and lots of effort before the reality
of God’s Kingdom manifests itself. It
won’t be something that magically appears . . . as much as we would want it to,
but it will take generations who are willing to shatter the illusion and
embrace the reality.
To
that end, when the illusion is shattered and the reality revealed, Jesus answered
John the Baptist with these words: “Blessed is the man who does not fall away
on account of me.” Following
Jesus . . . the real Jesus . . . is not easy.
It is not easy because he is constantly shattering the hazy illusions
with the reality of his mandate to love . . . to love God . . . to love
ourselves . . . and, to love others. He
calls us to relationship . . . with God . . . with ourselves . . . with
others. We have all been in
relationships and we all know how difficult they can be. Sometimes we think that it is better and
easier to dance to the illusion than it is to learn a new dance. In this season of Advent keep your eyes upon
the reality, not the illusion . . . and, may we all realize the Kingdom of God. Amen.
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