From the Pulpit: Matthew 11:2-3

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?”

The month of December is such a busy time, filled with expectations and get-togethers. Maybe it’s been a stretch of time filled with excitement or maybe it’s included sadness and loneliness. No matter what your experience of the last month, after the extreme emotions and family interactions, it is not uncommon to feel a bit of what is often called, “post-holiday blues”. 

We celebrate the promise of peace on earth and goodwill to all, but when we finally catch our breath and read the headlines, we are reminded that peace and goodwill are sometimes hard to come by. 

I think that’s what makes this reading a powerful one this week. We find John the Baptist as an adult, in prison, asking the question that sounds like they have some doubt and fear behind it. 

John was expecting a Messiah that would come with power, but Jesus’ response to John’s question was quite the opposite. The people that Jesus was concerned with were not the movers and the shakers of society. They were the outcasts and vulnerable. 

This unexpected Emmanuel, God with us, is whom we prepare for and hope for this season. 

God, who comes near to us in flesh and blood and who promises to be with us and for us forever. 

So, while this portrayal of John and his doubts might be startling, maybe it’s not so odd to hear when we too, at times, feel stuck between God’s promises made, and God’s promises kept, and when we find ourselves to be vulnerable. 

It’s at those moments, we know that whatever our misgivings, our disappointments, our loneliness, God comes to us, eager to join us in our weakness, to hold onto us in our loneliness, and comfort us in our fear.

Wherever you are on your journey, somewhere between John’s dark prison cell or experiencing the joy of peace, may you sense God’s presence in both your darkest and lightest times, and know a connectedness that comes from deep within the whole of creation and knits each of us into it. Know that you are not alone.