want a little grace

but who's gonna say a little grace for me(?)

A Sermon on John's Question:

Each week the pastor returns from an encounter with Scripture to report back what he’s seen and heard…

Truthfully, that’s a lot harder than it sounds. Especially with a doozy of a passage like today’s…

John, shut-up in prison, sends a message to Jesus, “Are you The One, or should we keep waiting.”

Honestly, the honesty of John’s question scandalizes us. Why would John, who leapt in utero when Jesus’ mom was simply within earshot, be having second thoughts now?

And, if that did happen at all, why does Luke insist on telling us about it? Couldn’t he have papered over that part? 

It’s not what we’d like to hear today; a report of this fiery preacher having misgivings…

But it is for me, to report this back to you. 

And of course, the temptation is to wriggle here on the hook for ten-minutes, or so. Doing what I can to convince you John didn’t really mean that. 

That John was just trying to get Jesus to openly reveal his identity. Or maybe John, that fiery preacher, was wondering why Jesus hadn’t declared war on the evil empire. And, as all us good, modern Christians already know, Jesus is a peaceful revolutionary…

I could do that, and we’d go home with all our preconceived notions intact. Happily protected from the shock of scripture, but not fooled. Not fooled. We’d know better. John’s question is too direct to be turned into anything else.

So, let’s just ask the most obvious question today; what if John’s question isn’t as complicated as all that? What if you don’t need my seminary training to get you off the hook today? What if the reason this passage is so challenging, is because it’s so obvious?

What it we understand John’s question, better than we understand Jesus’ answer…

Listen, I’ve spoken with enough of you, heard enough reports on NPR and read enough op-ed’s to know plenty of us feel just the way John did when he sent Jesus his message from prison.

There are moments in all our lives when we look around, unable not to wonder if Jesus is The One to set things right. Or, if we have to keep waiting for another.

In the Gospel, John’s locked up in prison. 

His problem is, he’d done everything right. He did what he was supposed to. He’d been out there, boldly preaching. Leading multitudes to repentance. What’s more, John’s obediently left everything to do that. 

Yet, for everything, all he has to show, are his chains…

A prison cell isn’t how it was supposed to go down. It certainly wasn’t what John was planning on. 

And if that wasn’t enough, Jesus doesn’t seem all that concerned! 

Instead of planning a jailbreak or insurrection, Jesus has been partying. In fact, remember when he healed the centurion’s servant? Well that centurion undoubtedly worked for the very people that locked folks like John up!

So yeah, John isn’t so sure. And when he can bear it no longer, he sends word to Jesus. “Are you The One, or should we keep waiting for another?”

And we know what that’s like, don’t we?

I know plenty of us, when we read the newspaper or watch whatever network we prefer, feel the same as John. Is Jesus going to set things right, or should we wait for someone or something else?

And today Jesus responds to us the same as he responded to John’s uncertainty. Sending a messenger to come and report what’s been seen and heard…

That’s what’s really shocking about the Gospel today. 

It isn’t John’s question. We get that. What unsettles us, what’s hard to hear, is Jesus’ answer.

You don’t need me to climb up in front of you and explain away John’s question. You know better. It’s too honest to need any explaining. 

Because those second thoughts you have when things don’t go the way you planned. Or the anger and sorrow that wells up in your chest when you put down the newspaper, and wonder why it is the wicked always seem to get away with it; that tells us all we need to know about John’s question.

No, what’s unnerving about today’s scripture isn’t John’s question. 

It’s Jesus’ reply. 

“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the leapers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

Blessed, indeed…

Today Jesus meets your misgivings with the same Word he met John’s with; the report of God’s grace. 

God’s grace, and Nothing else. Nothing else.

There are no marching orders. No clandestine reports. No easy answers. Just news of God’s grace.

Here’s the really hard thing scripture has to report; Jesus will save the world with grace; and grace alone.

That John’s hope, is your’s.

Shockingly, it’s the entire world’s too. 

To us, it doesn't look like enough, does it?

Because while there may be more than two-thousand years between us and John. While we may live in the so-called “freest nation,” we come before Jesus trapped behind the same bars of wariness. Don’t we?

“What’s the deal, Jesus? Are you The One we’ve been waiting for, or do we have to keep waiting for another?

And Jesus sends back the same message to you, he sent to John. 

All I have to tell you today, is what John’s messengers reported to him. 

Jesus is saving the world with grace; and grace alone… 

This is such a abrasive thing to say, it is so hard to hear, I am going to repeat it; Jesus is saving the world with grace; and grace alone.

How is Jesus saving the world? (Grace.)

But that’s easier to say than it is to believe, isn’t it?

Especially when nothing works out. When everything goes wrong. When you put down the newspaper and wonder what’s taking God so long.

That’s the thing about grace. 

It isn’t practical. It’s opulent. 

It comes to all the wrong sorts of people. At a time that isn’t good. 

Grace is foolish. In the face of violence and even outright rejection, it insists on loving. The love God gives whether we’re worthy, or not. Whether we accept it, or not.

From the prison we sit in, it doesn’t look like enough. As Saint Paul says, The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but for the likes of you - you who are being saved, it is the power of God. 

Today’s scripture doesn’t tell us how John reacted to the message, does it?

Perhaps he heard the message and thought, ‘that’s a good way to get killed.’ And he’d be right. 

Or, maybe he heard the message, and suddenly saw everything differently. That doing something foolish like raising the dead or bringing good news to the poor of all people, would save the world. And he’d be right, too. 

Perhaps you’re here this morning, hands gripped around your prison bars, wondering if Jesus is The One. Maybe you've made peace with your imprisonment, and can’t tell freedom from the slammer anymore. 

Either way. Either way, Jesus sends you a message. A message with the power to save you, to set you free, to give you hope. 

Jesus is saving the world with grace. 

Right now, Jesus is saving the world with grace. Saving you with grace. 

This is hard to see. 

For now, this is a promise you can only hear. One day, though, you will look back. In that day your faith will become sight. On that day, you will see for yourself grace was, grace is enough. That Jesus saved the world with grace. And grace alone.

For now, though, that faith comes by hearing.

Look, I want to take away the shock of that. I’d love to give you some evidence, something to see. What our savior gives, is what he gave John. The message that Jesus is saving the world with grace. 

And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at that.

Blessed, indeed. Right?

But really, what else did you come out here to see anyway? Some stained glass windows? C’mon. 

What then did you come out here to see? The president? You know better. 

So what then did you come out here to see?

A Church Service? Yes, I tell you. And more than just a service. The ministry of God’s Word, giving to you the message big enough for the entire world, and expressly for you:
Jesus is saving the world with grace, and grace alone.