Stroop Sermon, Year A, Advent 3

Lectionary Year A, Advent 3,

December 15 and 16, 2001

Isaiah 2:1-5

Psalm 146

James 5:7-10

Matthew 11:2-11

St. John's Episcopal Church

Austin, TX

In the backyard of my rural boyhood home in Klamath Falls, Oregon, we used to have giant lilac bushes, big blue peonies, beds of petunias and other annuals, and rows upon rows of Sweet William and Lantana. We also had a large square patch of raspberry bushes. In the early summer, when many of the flowers were all in bloom, and the fragrance of lilac hung in the air, a careful look among the leaves of the plants would reveal a world alive with caterpillars.

All kinds of caterpillars were in the yard. Some were fuzzy things that looked like floor mops without their handles. Some were long and green, with a fleshy lance on the back end, and false eyes painted on the other; the whole appearance was of a Chinese dragon, designed by nature for protection against the birds. Others caterpillars were bigger still, and striped with orange, yellow, and black all around their middles. I would put all of these together into a big cardboard box full of fresh lilac blossoms; they had a wet sponge to drink from. For weeks I would feed them fresh leaves.

Then over the course of a few days, they would wrap themselves in silk, or encase themselves in armor, and hang upside down from the top of the box. When they were all entombed, I would leave the box open, and wait. Eventually I would awaken in the morning to find several butterflies and moths hanging from the drapes in my room. Sometimes I did not know which butterfly came from which cocoon or chrysalis. I would look at them and wonder which butterfly started out as which caterpillar. Of the caterpillars, I wondered, "Who are you?" What butterfly will you be?"

While John the Baptist was in Herod's prison, he heard stories about what Jesus had been doing in his ministry. It was not what John expected, and John sent word to Jesus asking whether Jesus was "the one who is to come" or whether John and John's followers were to wait for another. Basically, John was asking Jesus, "Just exactly who are you?"

John was imprisoned in the fortress of Machaerus near the Dead Sea because he had rebuked Herod Antipas of Galilee.[1] During a trip to Rome, Herod Antipas had seduced Herodias, the wife of his brother, Herod Agrippa. After his return to Galilee, Herod Antipas dismissed his own wife, and married his sister-in-law. John publicly reprimanded Herod for his transgressions, so Herod silenced him by putting him in prison.

Last week we heard about John the Baptist. He dressed in clothing of camel's hair, and ate locusts and wild honey. He was a holy man of the desert. He was not used to confinement – in fact he may have never lived in a house. Now he was in a small jail cell in an underground prison.

Many years ago I visited Fort McHenry outside of Baltimore. In the fort is a small brig. The cells are about five feet high, and they are not even long enough to lay on the floor and stretch out. They are cold and damp, and when the jailer closes the outer door, they are very dark.

John the Baptist's cell might have been something like that. In that cell, alone with his thoughts, John must have begun to wonder about that man named Jesus that he had baptized in the Jordan. Was He really the Messiah who was to come? Was He really the one about whom John felt he was not even worthy to carry His sandals? For an evangelist, who probably realized his days were numbered, this question had to be answered: "Just exactly who are you?"

A fuzzy fellow, without feet,

Yet doth exceeding run!

Of velvet, is his Countenance,

And his Complexion, dun!

Sometime, he dwelleth in the grass!

Sometime, upon a bough,

From which he doth descend in plush

Upon the Passer-by!

All this in summer.

But when winds alarm the Forest Folk,

He taketh Damask Residence --

And struts in sewing silk!

Then, finer than a Lady,

Emerges in the spring!

A Feather on each shoulder!

You'd scarce recognize him!

By Men, yclept Caterpillar!

By me! But who am I,

To tell the pretty secret

Of the Butterfly![2]

"Just who are you?" John asked Jesus. Jesus did not say that He was God's anointed one. Rather He said, "Look at what I do. [In God's name] the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them." Jesus pointed to His own actions as the answer to the question as to who He was. There is a lesson in that for us today. If anyone argues with us about the importance of Jesus, we should not try to argue. It is not the time for debate, but a time to encourage an experience of Jesus' transforming power. We should simply say, "Try giving your life up to Him. Let Him do with your life what He will. Let His actions speak as to who He is and what He can do."

Jesus still works wonders. We can all experience His power. Jesus of Nazareth opens our eyes to the truth about ourselves. If we ask Him, He will cleans us of the sins we carry in our hearts. If we are deaf to the voice of conscience, He will open our ears. The poor will inherit the riches of God's love.

"What, then, did you go out to see?" Jesus asks the people who had been followers of his cousin John the Baptist. Three times Jesus asks "What, then, did you go out [into the desert] to see?" First He asks if they went to see a weak preacher who would shy away from his God-given work like a reed in the wind. John the Baptist was no weak reed; he publicly renounced Herod and his sinfulness. Jesus then asks if they went to see someone in royal robes. John was anything but dressed in royal dress. In today's language John would be a scraggy-haired street person. Finally Jesus asks if they went to see a prophet. "Yes," Jesus answers for them, yes, you went to see the greatest prophet – a herald of the Lord. Jesus in fact equates John with Elijah – a very high honor indeed.

Three times Jesus asked the followers of John "What did you go out to see?" Perhaps if we listened carefully we might hear Jesus asking those of us gathered here right now, "What did you come here to see and hear?" "Why are we here?"

"Because the least in the kingdom is greater even than John or Elijah" Jesus says. And there is our answer. What was it that came into the world with Jesus? What was it that John lacked? What is it that the Christian has that John could never know? It was the cross! John the Baptist would never see the full revelation of God in Jesus Christ. Because John did not see Jesus crucified, dead, buried, and raised, he did not experience Jesus the way we do. In a way, John only saw the caterpillar – he never knew the glory of the butterfly. John had the honor of pointing the way to Jesus Christ. He was the signpost, the lamplighter. He foretold the coming of the Lord.

Why do we come to see and hear? We come because we know the whole story that reveals the length and breadth and height of God's love for us. We come to hear the story over and over again. We come to worship the God who so loved the world that he sent His only son to live and die as one of us.

In about a week, the cycle of stories begins once again. Hear it with new ears, and see it with new eyes. Let the story fill your spirit and enrich your lives. "Give your life to Him. Let Him transform you as the butterfly is transformed.

Isaiah 35:1-10

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,

the desert shall rejoice and blossom;

like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,

and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the LORD,

the majesty of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

"Be strong, do not fear!

Here is your God.

He will come with vengeance,

with terrible recompense.

He will come and save you."

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then the lame shall leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

the burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water;

the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,

the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

A highway shall be there,

and it shall be called the Holy Way;

the unclean shall not travel on it,

but it shall be for God's people;

no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.

No lion shall be there,

nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;

they shall not be found there,

but the redeemed shall walk there.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain joy and gladness,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Psalm 146, or 146:4-9 Page 803, BCP

Lauda, anima mea

Hallelujah!
Praise the LORD, O my soul! *
I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, *
for there is no help in them.

When they breathe their last, they return to earth, *
and in that day their thoughts perish.

Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!*
whose hope is in the LORD their God;

Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; *
who keeps his promise for ever;

Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, *
and food to those who hunger.

The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind; *
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;

The LORD loves the righteous;
the LORD cares for the stranger; *
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.

The LORD shall reign for ever, *
your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Hallelujah!

James 5:7-10

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Matthew 11:2-11

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me."

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way before you.'

Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

[1] Some background material is from William Barclay. The Gospel of Matthew, Vol 2, Revised Ed. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1975.

[2] Emily Dickinson

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