Sermon, Parish Eucharist Sunday 15th December 2019

“THE KNOWN UNKNOWN”

Reading: Matthew 11. 2-11

By Mark Wakefield

I’ve now reached the age that I’m old enough to be a grandfather, not that there is much sign of it yet despite both my children being in long-standing relationships with wonderful people.  In any case, being traditional Belinda and I would prefer a wedding to happen first but that may be too much to ask for. 

Being of this age means that I often meet up with my children’s friends or children of my friends who are having children for the first time.  When I meet these first-timers I often tell them that NOTHING can ever prepare them for what is to come, whilst also saying that it is, of course, the best thing they will ever do.  It’s a bit like crossing a line beyond which, in some senses, you become a new and different person with a very different outlook on the world. 

It seems to me there are parallels here between this most extraordinary yet everyday experience of anticipating the birth of a child and John the Baptist’s anticipation of the coming Messiah that we read of in our Advent gospel.  John is if nothing else the prophet of an age experiencing birth pangs and the arrival of something new and different. But what Jesus says about John in today’s reading is – on the face of it – rather puzzling.

Firstly he says:

“Among those born of woman no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist” 

But then goes on to say:

“Yet the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.”

So what, you may wonder, is going on here?  Well, I’ll offer you my best shot at this mindful that we can spend a lifetime pondering the gospel mysteries and never reach the end of them. 

Continuing my new parenthood analogy, it seems to me that John the Baptist is rather like an expectant mother or father.  He knows that something big and important is going to happen but not quite what.  Yes, he’s preparing everyone for the long-awaited Messiah, but he’s unsure what form this Messiah will take and what this Messiah will mean for the world.

So you find him sending word to Jesus in today’s reading asking:

“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

To which, of course, he gets a very clear reply.  But, like any man or woman who hasn’t experienced parenthood before, he still doesn’t know what he doesn’t – indeed cannot – know.  So what does he do?  He falls back on what he does know. This, I believe, is why we find John speaking some of the most spine-chilling words in the NT.  We heard them last week.  Things like: 

“You brood of vipers!  Who told you to flee from the wrath to come?; every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown onto the fire”

John knew that he lived in evil times and he also knew that the Messiah was coming.  So working on the basis of what he knew he anticipated the Messiah bringing down a terrible and terrifying judgement on the world. What John did not and could not anticipate was that the Messiah would usher in what is, for Christians, the final revelation of God’s true nature, a nature that is defined by acts of self-giving love.  In other words, he did not – and could not – anticipate the cross and not just the cross, of course, but the resurrection too.

In John’s worldview it was sinful mankind that should writhe in torment.  How could he possibly have anticipated that the blameless Son of God Himself would assume the role of guilt-laden victim?  The true, extraordinary extent of this new world that the Cross ushered in can be seen most clearly in the gospel accounts of the resurrection appearances however literally or figuratively you regard them. Does Jesus appear as the mighty conqueror riding triumphantly through Jerusalem ready to dispense summary justice to an evil and godless generation? No, he does not - quite the opposite in fact. 

Look at these appearances and what strikes you is their quietness and intimacy. No fanfares, he quietly makes himself known to men and women who had given up hope.  In the three years of his ministry he often addressed crowds but the heart of that ministry was the intimate encounter with the single man or woman or small group and that is the pattern of the resurrection appearances. And what happens in these encounters?  Is there any blame or recrimination?  Does he try to “guilt-trip” those like Peter who have betrayed him and fled, leaving him to suffer torture and execution alone?  No, not a bit of it.  His whole, quiet presence is one that speaks of reassurance.  Despite all appearances to the contrary, it really is OK.  For all the evil of the world, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will out.  He will put things right. 

This good news is surely what John couldn’t possibly have anticipated.  And this, it seems to me, is why Jesus said that for all his significance John was less than the least in the Kingdom of God.  That Kingdom was the focus of J’s entire ministry.  It describes not a place but a state of being in which the gospel values of love, truth and justice hold ultimate, final sway.  And it’s in the cross, and above all the resurrection, that we see those values triumphantly at work giving us a vision of a human life truly worth living that we will only achieve in part in this life but to which we look forward in eager anticipation

So, to stretch my parenthood analogy probably to breaking point, thanks to the cross and the resurrection we are, in our faith, no longer anticipating the unknown of parenthood; rather we are like the proud parents of a beautiful offspring.  Life with this offspring of faith is difficult – at times impossible! - but it’s also full of joy and - above all - full of hope for the future.

Amen