Jesus, Are You The One? Matthew 11:2-15

St. John's - East Moline 12/16/07

Intro.: Why don't we take the time given us this morning to consider the real Christmas? After you strip away the super-sized inflatable snow globes, sparkling lights, trimmings and bows, once you set aside the philanthropic efforts, block out all the TV Christmas specials, and the holiday tunes on the radio, and if you ignore the Santas, Elves, Reindeer and candy canes, what is left of Christmas? Nothing but the birth of a child to a teenage girl in the barn of small town 2000 years ago.

Is it any wonder that we surround this holiday with so many other things, and fluff it up so much. If we were to really focus on that stable, and gaze upon that tiny child lying there, humble and meek, we would be forced to ask the same question as John: "Are you the one who is coming, or should we expect someone else?" Is Jesus really enough for Christmas? Is he enough for our life now and into eternity, or should we be looking for something else? We like John, ask the question "Jesus, Are You The One?"

I. DISAPPOINTMENT AND IMPATIENCE.

To some this may seem almost sacraligous, but I pray that I am not the only one who has struggled and asked this question of the Lord, and prayed: "Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief."

Many times questions like John's flow from disappointment and impatience. Ask any child in early November what they want for Christmas and you will likely discover that they have already begun to work on their list. By Thanksgiving it has multiplied beyond reason. On the other hand many adults have trouble coming up with a list at all. My family calls for a list, and what can I tell them, "well some underwear and socks would be nice." Over the years it seems that we forget how to hope for something more.

The Christmas lists you made when you were young let you dream, because they held out the promise that anything was possible. These promises stayed alive until the last shred of paper had been torn away form the last box under the tree. We eventually learned that not all those Christmas wishes could be fulfilled. The shining presents under the shimmering tree eventually became the Christmas morning reality of a few treasured items along with a lot of unwanted stuff.

Ultimately, things could never quite measure up to our wishes, so we learned to go with the old stand-bys, socks and underwear. No hopes, no disappointments.

Humanity's Christmas wish-list is found throughout the Old Testament. The voices of prophets, kings, and God's people cry out for divine gifts to fulfill their hopes.

In our OT lesson Isaiah is speaking to people who would very soon be conquered by an invading army, suffer slavery and oppression in foreign lands, and spend many years in degradation. This would become a source of great disappointment for them. Many would become disillusioned with God, and grow impatient in waiting for the day of their deliverance. To help them in this the Lord offered them promises to keep them strong, and prepare them to wait patiently for the Lord's salvation. These promises lived on even to the day of John the Baptizer, who also had great expectations. But disappointment and impatience can overtake any of us, even John.

This man, commended by Christ, suffered horribly for His work in the Lord, which led to a great deal of frustration, disappointment, and impatience. John had laid his life on the line when he declared Jesus to be the "Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world", he had said that, "he must decrease, and Jesus increase." He had proclaimed the message with such fervor, and even offended Herod and His little floosey Heroditus to the point that he was thrown into prison for Jesus' sake. And now what was happening. He was suffering, and Jesus was not living up to his expectations. Jesus was not doing what John had hoped He would do. So He asked, "Are you the one, or should we be looking for someone else?"

We can become disappointed when we look at the Lord's coming, His actions and our lives at face value also. As we heard last week from Dr. Lessing, when we think about a life surrendered to God's service, and all its struggle, pouring our time, talents and treasures into the Lord's work, and see so little profit or evidence of His glory we can become impatient in waiting for the Lord.

When we do not experience the lightening bolts in our worship, when we see the sin that still clings to the people in the pews around us, and are given nothing but the simple means of grace as the mark of God's powerful working, we can become disillusioned.

When the world finds our Jesus contemptible, rejects our witness, and even mocks our faith we can grow impatient. These things can lead us to question our faith, and our understanding of who Jesus really is. It may leave us asking, "should I be looking for someone else." We consider Jesus' lowly birth and we ask "Jesus, Are You The One?"

II. THE QUESTION - "JESUS, ARE YOU THE ONE?"

John asked this question, because He needed the reassurance of faith. There he sat in a dark cold prison, soon to be executed, hated by the ruling powers, and rejected by the Church, all because he had tried to prepare the way for Jesus' to come into the lives of others. He needed to know, was it all for nothing? Was Jesus the one?

We are prone to such questions also. It's been 2000 years and the world is still a mess, the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. What has Jesus accomplished, and when will he fulfill his promise to return. When will he establish His kingdom of glory among us? Should we be looking for something else? Have some of us been looking for something else?

The question, "Jesus, Are You The One?" stemming from disappointment and impatience is like the question of the child of wealthy parents, who had a long list of gifts which she wanted, and yet on Christmas morning was offered only one tiny gift by her parents, it was a card. With all the gifts under their giant tree that was all that was handed to her, a small square envelope. As she reached out and took the card you could see the disappointment in her face. She looked at all the rest of the gifts around the tree, reserved for other members of the family as she held that one little item. She asked, "Is this it, is this all I am getting?" Little did she know that hidden within that small package was the title to her new car parked outside in the driveway. She was ready to throw the whole it in the fireplace, when her father said, just open it honey, I'm sure you will be happy with it. And she did, and she received more than she had ever dreamed.

This is the same kind of response that Jesus offered to John's question, and to ours. He encourages John and each of us to stop looking at the package, and open it up. Then we will be assured of joy and every blessing, because in that little package of flesh, that infant child lying in a filthy stable, our salvation will be revealed. God does not give us what we expect; he always gives us far more than we could hope for.

III. JESUS' ANSWER IS IN THE WORD.

To answer John's question Jesus pointed to the promises from Isaiah that were being fulfilled. He was saying, John, this is what is happening, look at what I have done and am doing. True, the religious and social leaders were not flocking to Him. He was no Joel Osteen or Rick Warren filling stadiums with people who want to learn how to become wealthy through faith or establish a purpose for their life. He was not doing a whole lot to establish a great worldly kingdom like Willow Creek, for the Jews, but do not discount Him. He was doing so much more, he was on His journey to the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Something we must never forget when considering Christmas and the Lord's coming to us, is that it is for one purpose. He came so that He could keep God's law for us, receive the punishment that heals us, and claim us as His own for eternity. The crib and the birth of Jesus are meaningless without the cross and resurrection. In the middle of the star of Bethlehem must always be the siloette of the cross. "Tell him what you see, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk,...and [above all] the good news is preached to the poor." These words were a blessing to John. And they are a blessing to us.

How do we dispel our doubts concerning Jesus and His Gospel? How do we remain firm and steadfast in faith? By simply doing what John and his disciples did. With their doubts, disappointments and impatience with life, they went straight to Jesus and let Him speak to them. We see Jesus and He speaks to us today through His Word. Through this the Holy Spirit continues to reveal Jesus to us in ever more clear ways, as we ask questions and hear His answers. Here the Holy Spirit convinces us of the truth of who Jesus is, and of His all sufficient love and salvation.

How do you approach your Bible study with fellow Christians? How do you listen to sermons? How do you read the Word in your devotions? Have you gone beyond disappointment and impatience to scepticism and unbelief? Or do you stand before the Gospel as before Jesus Himself with a humble heart eager to hear his answer. Jesus calls us to look at His Word and life for the answer to our question: "Jesus are you the One, or should we seek another?" Do not let the package fool you. Jesus came in the flesh to be your Savior, he comes to you now through Word and Sacrament to heal your broken hearts, and He will most certainly come again in glory to deliver you from death to life.

Concl.: Jesus is the One who was to come and who is coming. There is no need to seek another! Jesus is Enough! Jesus Is The One!