Tell What You See--June 29, 2023

Tell What You See--June 29, 2023

"When John [the Baptizer] 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'." [Matthew 11:2-6]

For all of our tough talk about telling "hard truths" and how reality can be a "bitter pill to swallow," sometimes we forget how beautiful the truth really can be. And for all the ways that Christians sometimes brace themselves for the world's rejection of the Good News, sometimes the word we are sent to bring is like rain for thirsty ground and balm for hurting souls.  Rather than assuming that people will always cover their ears or become hostile when Jesus' message is really spoken, maybe we should begin with the expectation that Jesus' truth really is captivatingly beautiful (or maybe, "liberatingly beautiful"?) after all.

And of course, the converse is worth considering, too--if what we think we've been sharing as "Good News" doesn't sound like, well, good news, to actual human beings who are hurting and in search of hope, maybe we need to check again and see if we've lost the thread.  Because Jesus sure seems to think that the truth about who he is and what he has come for is compelling enough to make us weep for joy.  All it takes is for people to share what they've heard and tell what they see, and the truth of Jesus' goodness enthralls us.

That's what I love about this scene from Matthew's Gospel--when a rightfully skeptical John the Baptizer sends messengers from prison to find out if Jesus is the Messiah they'd been waiting for, Jesus doesn't argue his point in a debate, shout his "rightness" to silence his critics, or launch into a philosophical proof of his divine status.  He just says, "Tell what you see."  He is convinced that the truth is not only powerful enough, but beautiful enough, to get through even to a despondent John the Baptizer.  I wonder sometimes if we believe it too.

Look, I get it that sometimes we church folk can feel backed into a corner.  We look at  changing demographics and declining numbers in church attendance across the country and feel threatened.  We fall for buying the "culture war" posture that sees Christians as inescapably in conflict with the wicked world and think we need to "reclaim" the levers of power... or positions of privilege... or whatever people think they mean in the name of "taking back their country."  We turn "truth" into a battlefield, and we are convinced that we Christians (especially the ones "like us") are not only the sole possessors of "The Truth," but also that therefore it is up to us to "defend" the truth by arguing others into submission.  We set ourselves up for conflict as though no one would ever willingly choose to listen to Jesus' message--they must be "won over" with tough talk and superior debating skills.  I've even seen children's curriculum for Sunday School or Vacation Bible School framed as part of an "epic battle for truth" between "us" and "them," and designed to teach kids to see the world as out to get them for their faith in Jesus, rather than ever seeing the world as full of people aching to hear good news.  And when you reinforce the idea that the world will always and only reject the Good News, you're not only going to nurse a sizable persecution complex, but you'll also assume everybody is hostile to the faith you want to share and that everyone must be treated as an enemy combatant in your war for truth.

It's just that Jesus doesn't do that.  Like... at all.  

Yes, as we've seen already this week, Jesus prepares his disciples for the contingency that they won't be well-received everywhere. And yes, Jesus is well aware that some will find their families and friends parting ways with them because of Jesus.  And yet, Jesus doesn't think his message requires us to become belligerent or defensive, and you will never find him fighting a culture war or engaged in an epic "battle for truth."  Jesus believes the Good News he embodies is beautiful enough to grasp our hearts all on its own.  All we ever need to do is to tell what we see.  Because to be honest, wherever people are made more fully alive, we will find ourselves drawn like a moth to the flame.  Like the old church father Augustine of Hippo so famously put it, "Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you, God."  We are aching for the kind of life Jesus brings.  We are hungry for the sustenance he offers.  We are in desperate need for the grace Jesus gives.  And so is this whole hurting world, beautiful and bruised as it is.  We don't need to attack people into faith (as if we could); we just need to tell what we see.  

What if that's what the people around us most need?  Not to be argued into submission but to get to hear what we've heard from Jesus, and to see what Jesus has shown us.  What if our whole life's calling is just to point to the way Jesus brings people to life and then to get out of the way of our pointing?

Maybe today's a day to remember that Jesus doesn't need to attack people or confront them to defend his work or his message. He is confident enough that God's Reign is unfolding through him that he can just point at what is happening all around--the blind see, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, and the poor are given good news--and he knows the truth by itself compels a response... because it is so deeply good.

Let's share our faith that way today.

Lord Jesus, give us the confidence of knowing you are at work in the world, and let us simply tell what we have seen in you.