Good News in Strange Places

July 24, 2001

(adapted from December 13, 1998)

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 11:1-6

NOTE: This is an outline of what I'm working on for Sunday. I'll send you the sermon with a story in the front by another e-mail BUT I don't think the story can be told in translation (??) But THIS is the outline in full: -- Russell

"And the poor have the gospel preached to them . . ." Matthew 11:5

John the Baptist was a great man. Jesus makes that plain in this story in Matthew's gospel. But even as great as he was, when he was in prison, facing death, he wanted to hear some good news about the Savior he had put his trust in.

"Why didn't Jesus get me out of this?" he may have wondered. At any rate he sent his disciples to say, "Am I mistaken?" And Jesus sent them back saying, "Just tell John what is happening here, and tell him to hold steady!"

(I will tell a story about rich kids and poor kids that I don't think would translate too well to begin the next section of the message)

It is very easy to let our circumstances, our feelings, determine our spiritual faith. It is all too easy to let the worldly culture determine who is right and who is wrong. John is "wrong" because he is in prison; some rich person is "right" because he is a "success."

UNLESS WE ARE VERY CAREFUL OUR VALUES WILL BE LIKE THE WORLD: "HOW MUCH?" "HOW MANY?" "HOW BIG?" EVEN IN CHURCHES!

I. Christian faith is very materialistic. Nothing wrong with that.

It matters very much how we handle money and things. Jesus is not an Idea. He is a Person. He came in a particular time at a particular place. He taught us to pray daily for bread. He told us we ought to pay our tithes. His people share what they have with those who have less.

It is not possible to be a true Christian only in the mind and spirit. We are challenged to present our BODIES as living sacrifices to God. That means God cares what we do with things like money and possessions.

But the Christian faith introduces a different sort of reality from the one that worships money and power and things:      IN JESUS' KINGDOM THINGS ARE USED, NOT LOVED. AND PEOPLE ARE LOVED, AND NEVER 'USED.'

In Jesus' kingdom the poor in spirit are blessed, and the last are first, and the lost are found, and material things become tools of the spirit. If the spirit is right we get the material things right. The spirit is everything.

II. Christian worship is of the spirit.

When we think of "rich" and "poor" we think of belongings. If we see a man who holds a lot of money or land or power, we say he is rich by this world's standards. We think if a lot of things "belong" to a person then he or she is rich.

We have heard Bible verses like "What shall it profit to gain the whole world and lose one's own soul." But still down inside we think we would be happy and rich if we had a few million, or if we had a lot of power.

Would you really like to change places with Bill Gates or Tiger Woods?

Jesus has words that 'fit' here: And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. (Luke 12: 15)

Things that "belong" to us can not really make us rich. What we "belong to" is what really makes us rich.

Or more precisely, Whom we belong to– to be accepted into God's house, and be a part of His family. When we really know we are in His kingdom then we dare to believe that he will make all the pieces fit. Our Master said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will take their proper place in line." (Matthew 6:33, free translation)

We think that if circumstances could just change then we would have faith. If only we could be free from this situation then we could begin to live. If only we had more money— If only. It is human to doubt and be tempted to look to things for security. But Jesus challenges us to follow Him and says he will care for us.

Maybe that was where John was that day when he sent his friends to ask Jesus, in effect: "Have I missed it? Are you really Messiah?"

III. Christian hope is for life as it really is lived.

The question from Matthew's Gospel came echoing out of a prison. It was asked by the greatest prophet in the Bible: Are you really Christ? Are you the Son of God? Why am I here in prison? Aren't you supposed to change things for the better?

Jesus answered John the Baptist's question in an oblique manner. He told John's disciples to go back and tell John what they were seeing.

The lame walk. The deaf hear. The blind see. And the poor have the Good News told to them. The kingdom was already here, and just as Isaiah had prophesied, was already changing lives.

I believe in that dungeon John the Baptist's spirit was renewed and revived. His Master had answered him. From a purely human point of view things were unchanged. John lost his life to a weak and vain King Herod. But John the Baptist was rich beyond understanding, and is wealthy today in ways we can only imagine. And in this country alone today millions of Christians follow John the Baptist in telling their world about the One who came, who comes, and who is to come.

Conclusion

A prison is a strange place to hear Good News. But God's Good News is made for strange places. Wherever YOU are in your spiritual journey today, there is GOOD NEWS! YOU are not a "mission project," but you are a candidate for acceptance into God's family. God's kingdom is here! I leave you with two thoughts:

  1. Hear the Good News for yourself! Like the rich youngsters from Atlanta you may think of the poor and imprisoned as "others." But there are prisons and 'strange places' right here with us this morning:
    • There are childhood memories, memories of abuse or worse.
    • There are sins that just won't go away, and keep coming back.
    • There are "if only" situations of all kinds.
    • Some of us face the burden of getting older.
    • Some are wrestling with bereavement or depression or fear.
    • There are prisons of hurt feelings, or worse: of unforgiving hatred. We do NOT have to wait until the ideal time comes. We do not have to wait until we feel salvation to come to God and ask for grace. We come just as we are.
  2. Pray that you can pass the good word along! Wherever we are we can be agents in the work of Christ. Think small! Think near at home.

(Our next door neighbors on the Cape- we had no idea - but . . .)

The blind and lame and deaf may be nearer than you think. A healing word. A prayer in the morning for filling, and then a watchful eye through the day for sharing.

Prayer: