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

“Are you the one…?” John’s disciples asked. It’s a simple question, begging a simple “Yes” or “No” response.

Jesus didn’t answer it directly. Instead he said “Go and tell John what you hear and see…”

What had they seen? Only that of which the prophet had written:

…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.

Jesus does not point to himself, and does not claim anything for himself, but says instead “Look at the evidence.” What the evidence tells us is not so much who Jesus he, but that God’s kingdom is breaking into this world just as Isaiah wrote. The signs are all there. John came to proclaim the coming of the kingdom, and to call the people to repentance in preparation. Jesus came to inaugurate that kingdom. The signs are all there.

There are signs of the kingdom of God all around us today, in the joy of the children in their presentation, in the work going on from this place for Christmas Cheer, in the generosity of many of our members towards people in special need, in the work of prayer within this congregation, and in the fellowship we enjoy.

There are signs of the kingdom of God all around us every day, not just in this church, and not just at Christmas, but the message of this season helps to call our attention to them anew. It is also true that the busyness of the season can obscure some of those signs, diverting our attention from what God is really doing in our midst.

So when Jesus tells us, as he told John’s disciples to “Go and tell John what you hear and see…”, let us be sure that we have in fact heard and seen, and not rushed past too quickly to notice what is happening around us.

What am I saying? Only this: at a time of sometimes frantic busyness (of which my own past week is good evidence!) we need to take the time to slow down, even to stop, and to pay attention to what God is doing.

How we do this? Allow me to offer a few suggestions…

·      Through prayer and Bible reading;

·      Through caring engagement with others;

·      Through thoughtful attention to the events of the day;

·      Through listening to our own hearts.

What is God doing around us and in our midst? Let us take the opportunity this season to hear and see, to give thanks, and then to “Go and tell.”

The kingdom of God is at hand, hiding in plain sight in our church and in our community. Let us rejoice on this Sunday, and go forth to be God’s people in a world too distracted to hear the prophet’s call.

Jesus is the one. We do not await another. But while we await his return, we continue to do his work and to proclaim the message about him, in a world that needs to know what we have heard and seen.

The kingdom of God is at hand.

Go and tell!