Biblical Text: Luke 7:18-28

There is typically a 2nd Sunday of John the Baptist in Advent. I’m not sure what people who insist on sticking with the Gaudete Sunday theme do with this text. You have to get to the Joy on the other side of the pit. And maybe that is really the answer. I pick up from last week with the thought that you have to go through John the Baptist to get to the manger. Last week we talked about the apocalyptic and the preparation. This week picks up from there, but confronts the reality that as immediate as the apocalyptic is, the life of faith is nowhere near as immediate. In fact, it often throws you in the pit, with John. And it causes you to ask questions like John’s, “Are you the Christ, or should we look for another?”

What this sermon attempts to do is preach a faith that moves from the fear of God to the love of God. And to love something you have to know it. The text is a self-revelation of God. The Kingdom of Heaven that draws near in Jesus is good news for the poor. It comes humbly. It comes under the cross. This Kingdom, as humble as it is, also comes in no other way. It comes in the person of Jesus. “Blessed in the one who is not offended at me.”

Which leads to Jesus turning the crowds – turning to us. Why are you here? Why have you come to the place that is of no earthly good? You know the answer. Will you live it?

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