12/23/07

'The Authentic Messiah'

Isaiah 35:1-10; Matthew 11:2-11

Coffee. It’s an incredibly valuable commodity - second only to oil. Americans drink 2.3 billion pounds of the stuff a year, more than any other country. And it’s very possible that John is responsible for about half of this consumption. Anyway. Talk about a serious caffeine addiction. Imagine how laid back he’d be without it!

With the stakes so high, a federation of coffee growers in Colombia thought long and hard about what to do with Juan Valdez. You have surely seen Juan on television - he’s the fictional coffee grower who has been featured in ads for decades now, helping to establish '100 percent Colombian coffee' as an international brand. The problem is Juan is getting old. Fast Company magazine (May 2007) reports that he has become a bit of a joke, with recent ads showing him surfing - yes, surfing - with his faithful mule Conchita. Silly stuff. The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia saw this, and was very close to sending him off to the old folks’ home for advertising icons.

Then a consultant from Portland, Oregon, advised them to hold on to Juan. 'Juan Valdez taps into a fundamental human truth,' said the consultant - 'the things we savor the most are the hardest earned.' Maybe Juan still had value, as someone who is dedicated to the hard work of raising coffee by hand. So the federation of coffee growers decided to introduce a new younger Juan, instead of retiring him. They learned that people emotionally connect with Juan because he seems authentic, and authenticity is a priceless quality. It is important to be authentic. Even if you are a fictional coffee grower.

Of course, coffee federations are not alone in seeing the appeal of authenticity. Companies everywhere are sensing that consumers gravitate toward brands that appear to be true and genuine. Starbucks is popular because it imitates authentic Italian espresso bars. The BMW Z sports coupe taps into people’s natural desire for joy and freedom on the road. Organic foods are flying off the shelves because consumers sense that they are connected to farming practices that are healthy and good. So authenticity is hot. But how do you tell the difference between what is 'really real' and what is 'fake real'?

We raise the authenticity question because this is the issue John the Baptist raises while locked up in prison for offending King Herod. John sent his disciples to Jesus, and they asked him, 'Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?' (Matthew 11:3). John needed to know if Jesus was a real messiah, or a fake messiah. Remember that there were lots of false messiahs running around the region, claiming to be God’s one and only. A man named Judas of Galilee led a bloody revolt against a Roman census in the year 6. Simon was a slave of Herod who became a messianic figure when he rebelled in the year 4. Theudus attempted a revolt against the Romans in the 40s, and was killed. There was no shortage of fake messiahs claiming to be authentic, which is why John asked, 'Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?'

The answer Jesus gives is fascinating. He doesn’t say 'yes' or 'no,' but instead suggests that they look around and make up their own minds. 'Go and tell John what you hear and see,' says Jesus: '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' (vv. 4-6).

Look at what I am doing, Jesus suggests - then decide for yourself whether I am a real Messiah. This is like a coffee federation saying, 'Don’t listen to Juan Valdez. Just drink the coffee.' Or a car company saying, 'Ignore our ads. Just drive the car.' Authenticity is to be found in actions, not words - but rarely are people completely confident in the performance of their product.

Fortunately, Jesus wasn’t struggling with the 'actions-matching-words' problem. The blind were receiving their sight, including two who called out, 'Have mercy on us, Son of David' (9:27). The lame were walking, after Jesus said to a paralytic, 'Stand up, take your bed and go to your home' (9:6). The lepers were being cleansed, such as the one who knelt before him and begged, 'Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean' (8:2). The deaf were regaining their hearing, including a deaf man who also had an impediment in his speech (Mark 7:31-37). The dead were being raised, such as the little girl who was restored to life by the touch of Jesus (Matthew 9:25). And the poor were having good news preached to them, in words such as, 'Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God' (Luke 6:20). Look at what Jesus is doing here, not at what he is saying. He’s not just talking the talk; he’s walking the walk. His actions are proving that he’s real, not fake. He is the Authentic Messiah.

Jesus then gives credit to John the Baptist for his own authenticity. 'What did you go out into the wilderness to look at?' he asks the crowd. 'Someone dressed in soft robes?' Jesus is mocking those who hiked into the wilderness to hear the preaching of John the Baptist, only to be offended by his clothing of camel’s hair, his leather belt and his 100-percent-organic-locust-and-wild-honey diet. 'Look,' says Jesus, 'those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces' (Matthew 11:7-8).

But John is a prophet, not a royal palace advisor. Furthermore, John is more than a prophet, insists Jesus - he is "the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you’" (v. 10). John is the messenger foretold by the Old Testament’s Malachi, the one who will prepare the way for the Authentic Messiah. John is not a royal yes-man in soft robes, but is 'like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi' (Malachi 3:1-3). John accomplishes this mission by calling people to repentance, and baptizing them to cleanse them of their sins.

So Jesus is not the only really real person in this passage of Scripture. John the Baptist is authentic as well - he is the Authentic Messenger. But notice the surprising comment that Jesus makes next. 'Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he' (Matthew 11:11). John is great, but those who follow him will be even greater. Jesus predicts that he will have some Authentic Disciples who will surpass even John the Baptist in their faithfulness and effectiveness.

So what does it take to be an Authentic Disciple of an Authentic Messiah? Let me start with what authentic discipleship is not: Old Joe was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn’t find a parking place. Looking up toward heaven, he said 'Lord, take pity on me. If you find me a parking place I will go to church every Sunday for the rest of my life and give up tequila.'

Miraculously, a parking place instantly appeared. Old Joe looked up again and said, 'Never mind. I found one.'

This, on the other hand, is what true discipleship looks like. Leah Robbins joined the church on October 18, 1925. Hers has not been an easy life. She married at age 14 and had a family shortly thereafter, and her husband soon was diagnosed with debilitating mental illness. So Leah was the sole breadwinner, effective single parent, and caretaker. Nevertheless, throughout her life, she attended worship regularly, studied her Bible, served as a leader of the Women’s Association, a deacon, then an elder and financial secretary of the church, sending out all those end of the year tax receipts we all look forward to. Her food at church dinners was legendary. Leah is now 97 years old. She lives at the Masonic Home in Burlington. When I go to visit, the first thing she asks me is 'How is the church?' She tells me she reads every newsletter and every bulletin we send her. And she says that she knows she cannot 'do' much for the church anymore, but every day she begins her day by imagining herself in the sanctuary and praying for each person she sees in her mind’s eye. When she found out about the craft fair, she said to me, 'I know it is too late for this year, but next year I’ll donate an afghan I’m crocheting.'

That is authentic discipleship. As an authentic disciple you begin and end your day thinking of Christ and how, despite your own limitations, you can serve him and his body, the church. As an authentic disciple, in Kennedy fashion, 'you ask not what the church can do for you, but what you can do for the church.' As an authentic disciple you are more concerned with giving to Christ’s mission for Christmas than receiving your fantasies from Santa. Authenticity - it’s a priceless quality. Especially for those who want to be followers of Jesus Christ, the Authentic Messiah. As Jesus liked to say, 'Go and do likewise.' Amen.

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