“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
John the Baptists’ question from prison is at the heart of our faith.
Jesus, are you the one?
As he sat in the cold, dank prison cell, imprisoned for opposing King Herod and all his vices, I wonder if John was asking the question with a wonder if it all was worth it. It certainly doesn’t seem like he regretted anything – God called him and he followed, he baptized and he spoke out against sin.
Jesus saw John this way -I tell you, he was 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.’
So John asks, “Are you the one?”
Jesus knew what John was asking so he answered the disciples of John, “Go and tell John what you hear and see…”
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.”
The Messiah, the one in whom John hoped is doing what we heard in our first lesson from Isaiah who is speaking to a fearful people:
“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.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. 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”
Jesus through his words and actions is proclaiming that the Kingdom of God has come near. Our season of Advent, the anticipation of Christ coming among us, is about this action, the joy even in the midst of sorrow.
Henri Nouwen put it this way - “Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing - sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death - can take that love away.”
Joy & hope can even be found in the midst of sorrowful circumstances. John’s situation in prison must have been difficult, but Jesus calls on him -as he calls on us today! - to draw on a wellspring even deeper than we know, the one who calls to us - Be strong, do not fear - and above all rejoice! Look for signs among the shadows…
Five years ago, Christian families were driven from their homes in northern Iraq by ISIS. Homes, businesses, schools and churches were destroyed during the occupation. Now that ISIS has been driven out (at least, for the time being), Christian families are returning to face the long, hard road of rebuilding their vandalized, damaged homes and villages.
But amid the devastation, there are lights of hope and moments of joy..
In one Qaraqosh neighborhood, Hai Alaskary, the Syriac and Chaldean Catholics of this largely Christian city had lived side by side with Shabak-Shiite neighbors before ISIS. Now they are learning how to live together again. The Brothers of Jesus the Redeemer, a small, recently established community, picked a small house in this neighborhood to continue their work of presence and hospitality… to be a sign of hope and fraternity to the city’s Christians and Muslims, a sign “that we can live together without hate…. We can live together and work together without any problems.”
The Muslim community wants their Christian neighbors to return; the brothers see their mission as trying to make it possible for Christians to rebuild their homes and re-establish their lives. The brothers teach English, math and computer science in an afternoon program to help Christian and Muslim students get their educations derailed by the conflict. They organized a dinner to mark the end of the Muslim fasting season of Ramadan at which 400 people — Christians and Muslims — came together to celebrate their neighbors’ return and the restoring of peace and good will in the village.
During the occupation of Nineveh, the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine created a school for refugee children in Erbil, a region safe from ISIS. Now, as Christians return, the sisters are re-establishing schools in Nineveh, as well as maintaining kindergartens and schools to serve refugees who are unable or unwilling to return to their homes. Many of the children the sisters work with are traumatized from the loss of their homes and the grueling flight from Mosul and the villages around Nineveh. Their work is one of healing as well as education and welcoming children of all faiths, turning away no one.
Uncertainty about the future remains the “biggest and worst challenge.” One Dominican sister says. “Personally, I believe that living in the Middle East is really beyond our [individual] powers and our abilities. To keep the cross in the Middle East, I think, is not just our dream; it must be the dream of God as well.” [From “How two Iraqi peacemakers are rebuilding community after ISIS” by Kevin Clarke, America, May 13, 2019.]
In this Advent season, Christ comes as the light of God that illuminates our vision in new ways, enabling us to see God’s grace and compassion in one another & in our world. The readings on this 3rd Advent Sunday begin with lifeless, depressing pictures that are transformed into life-giving and enriching images: from death to life, from barrenness to harvest, from illness to wholeness. The Brothers of Jesus and the Dominican Sisters are reflections of that light of hope and re-creation in Iraq.
Are you the one? – John asks.
Jesus responds – Go and tell what you hear and see…
We are all called today to reflect that light, that hope and love, to go and tell of God’s presence in the darkest times, enabling miracles of resurrection to take place here and now.
The church of which we are part is called not just to glimpse such sacramental signs of hope, restoration, and joy, but also to embody the very sacramental glimpses ourselves, the visible, audible, encouraging signs for a weary and fearful world.
Be strong, do not fear!
And above all: Rejoice!
For Jesus is the one. Amen.
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