“From Strength to Strength: On the Highway of Holiness”
December 15, 2013
The 3rd Sunday of the Christian Season of Advent
Isaiah 35: 1 – 10/Psalm 146/ James 5: 7 – 10/ Matthew 11: 2 – 11
His Excellency
The Most Reverend Ariel Cornelio P. Santos D.D.
Auxiliary Bishop and Locum Tenens
of the
Archdiocese of Manila
the
National Church in the Philippines
and the
Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church
This is the Third Sunday of Advent and we continue in our preparations in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord and Savior. We stepped up our preparations. We shift to high gear; still with joyful hope, we await the coming of our Lord. It is not in fear, not in anxiety, but in anticipation of something that great and is coming.
It is good news with a great joy. Not of despair, not of alarm, not of something that would cause us anxiety or fear. It is something exciting. This is the coming of our Lord. He said, “Lift up your heads and see that your salvation draws near.” It is not with fear that we anticipate the coming of our God.
Today, the gospel talks about a very prominent figure in the Season of Advent – John the Baptist. We hear Jesus Himself giving an ode to John the Baptist. I have heard comments about this portion of the gospel which pictures John as somebody who is wavering at this point. He is in prison for a long time but he was asking for himself if Jesus indeed is the Messiah. He said, “Are you really the Messiah? Are you the Christ? Then, why am I imprisoned?”
I don’t believe that John is that weak. John knew from the very beginning what His purpose was. His testimony was consistent. He was a baby in his mother’s womb when the Holy Spirit came upon him. In his mother’s womb, he leaped for joy just when Jesus was a few yards away from him that he did not even see Him. He could sense it.
I don’t believe that John wavered in his faith. John knew his place all along. He knew his ministry. He is a witness to us and a challenge to us. Why did he ask Jesus, “Are You the Christ, the expected One or are we supposed to wait for somebody else?” John knew what Jesus would say. He knew He was the Christ, the Lamb of God, but I believe John was asking for the sake of his own disciples and the rest of the hearers which were Jesus’ disciples.
John’s testimony was consistent. He said of Jesus, “He existed before me and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.” John knew that he was older than Jesus by months. John said, “He who is coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He has a winnowing fork and He will clear the threshing floor and will separate the chaff from the wheat.” Beholding Christ, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God?” He said this twice and he pointed to Christ and said, “This is the One who takes away the sin of the world.” He saw the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus and he called Him, “The Son of God.”
John knew his role was like the friend of the bridegroom who prepared the bride for the bridegroom and who rejoices at the voice of the bridegroom when He arrives. John says, “Knowing my place, He, the bridegroom, must increase and I must decrease. These are John’s testimonies and he was unshakeable. No prison or no beheading would shake somebody like him. John is a picture, the standard that we have to meet as the bride of Christ, as the people preparing for the coming of our Lord.
John’s joy was made full because he unselfishly fulfilled his ministry. He unselfishly stood aside for the bridegroom to come for his bride, whom he helped prepare. When in prison, he heard of the works of Christ and sent to Him for the sake of the people. Jesus said, “Tell John what you see. The blind see, the lame walk, the dear are raised and the poor hear the gospel preached to them. You judged by yourself if I am the expected One and the kingdom of God has not come in your midst. These are the signs from the Old Testament prophecies.”
From prison, just like Paul, John managed to fulfill his ministry by having Jesus proclaim for him that the kingdom of God, indeed, is at hand like he was preaching when he was not imprison yet. Jesus said, “John was unshakeable, not a reed shaken by the wind.” John knew his place and his calling was to prepare the way of the Lord just like our ministry. Notice though, the standard of John, the forerunner of Christ, was a reed that was not shaken by the wind. He did not leave like royalty who lived in palaces in soft clothing. John lived a disciplined life. He knew his place. He was blameless and without spot or wrinkle.
Jesus, in His praise of John said, “Among those born of women, no one is greater than John. Yet, he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John.” Among those born of women, including the likes of Moses, David, and all the Testament great names, John was greater than each and any of them. Yet, in the kingdom of God, the least was greater than John. People who belong to this era, to this dispensation of grace, were greater than John.
We are greater than John. Is that something of our doing? No, it is by the grace of God. He is saying, “The least among those who are born from above by grace is greater than John and baptized through Christ.” John was a transitional prophet. He saw the dawning of the kingdom of God, but he did not quite see the end of the day. We are privileged and honored and fortunate to belong to the era of grace where Christ died for us.
I am not saying that the Old Testament cannot avail of that. They are saved by the blood of Christ themselves, but the least in the kingdom is greater than John in the old dispensation and we have to live up to it. The Law was given through Moses, but John the Evangelist said, “The grace and the truth was realized through Jesus Christ.” All the prophets and the Law were prophesied until John the Baptist. John was a transitional prophet, but our righteousness and our greatness are by the grace of God.
Grace standard is high which is why it put us higher and greater than John the Baptist but so is the responsibility, the expectations, and the accountability that come with it. The ministry of grace does not end with the bestowal of grace, but it starts with it. The reason we were made greater, by grace, by John the Baptist, is so that we live out the greatness in the kingdom of God. This is the standard in the kingdom of God. Can we live it out? Yes, because we were given the grace to live it out. We made greater, not by our own doing, but by grace. This grace can make us do all things through Christ and greater works we can do that He did.
The grace and mercy are not to be abused. The question in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, “If we have received grace, shall we then continue in sin?” No! How can we who have been given grace continue in sin? His rejoinder was, “We were given grace so that we don’t continue in sin, but we live it out and we prove that we have been given grace.” Salvation was given by grace and we are to live it out, not vice versa. We don’t live out righteousness so as to earn it. We were given the grace to have righteousness and we, then, show that we indeed have been given righteousness.
The kingdom of God has been gladly given to us and we are expected to make it visible. Make visible the kingdom of God. How can you make visible something you don’t have or own? First it has to be given to you and then you prove it that you have it, that you possess it, and that you live in it.
There was this war film about 15 years ago which is about saving a guy named Private Ryan. The story revolves around this man who was the only surviving enlisted son of a widow. Three of his brothers had been killed in the Second World War and they found out, upon typing the letters, that the mother would receive three notices of the death of her sons on the same day. It was reported to the General that there was still one son surviving. He immediately said, “It is wrong that he continues to fight the war. He must go home to his mother because she already lost three sons. He formed the group led by a certain Captain Miller and they set on an expedition to save Private Ryan.
It is a touching drama and they went through all kinds of challenges and troubles and even death. They lost a lot of people. Even the leader died in the end. As he was dying and as they finally saved Private Ryan, he pulled the latter by the collar and said to him, “We went through all this trouble to save you. Now, earn it! Earn your salvation! Earn the blood we spilled. Earn the sweat we sweated. Earn all the trouble that we went through. Live your life like you would always everyday look back to this and is thankful for it. Earn your salvation!”
Does this mean we earn our salvation? It was given to us, but we live our lives as if we are trying to earn our salvation and as if we were living the Kingdom. It has been given to us. John the Baptist pointed the people to Christ, not to himself, but to His love, to His forgiveness, and to God’s grace in Him. John the Baptist’s ministry led people to repent and strive to enter the kingdom of God.
The harlots, the tax gatherers, even the soldiers asked Him, “What do we do?” Are we included in this grace of salvation? What are we to do?” To the tax gatherers, Jesus said, “Collect no more than you are supposed to.” To the soldiers, He said, “Don’t extort money and engage in atrocities. Live the kingdom life that you receive by grace”
When I was concentrated two years ago, I was read a mandate and I was given a gift – a rock on which the text of the mandate was written. It is in my office and many times as I can remember, I look at it and try to remember it, live out, and fulfill what I was made Bishop for.
From the words of Patriarch Craig Bates, “What we want from you is not your wisdom, not your knowledge, not your administrative skills, or not even your preaching skills. What we want from you is to minister to our souls. Let us know that we are forgiven. Teach us to pray when the pain is so deep. Teach us how to have hope when everything is hopeless. Teach us how to come out of our fear with faith when we shake in the terrors of the world. Teach us to forgive when our hearts are consumed with anger, bitterness, and resentment. Teach us how to love when we have been betrayed and rejected. Teach us how to dwell in the arms of Jesus and learn what it means to have mercy.”
I try to fulfill this and I speak words of forgiveness. I try to convince people, “Forgive. You have received forgiveness, then, forgive. You have received mercy, then, have mercy. I try to do this, but it is not only my ministry but ourministry. John the Baptist’s ministry is also ours. We are to point to the object of mercy. We are to point to the object of grace. We are to constantly remind people that they have been forgiven. God is not angry at them, and God will never leave them nor forsake them; and that God does not count their sins against them. God loves them and God waits for them too as they wait for Him on His return.
Our ministry is about grace, mercy, forgiveness, hope and faith. We have to obtain those things first and then the giving follows. Isaiah 61 talks about the broken-hearted, those who have been distressed, and those who were downtrodden. Because the Spirit of the Lord is with the Messiah, they were healed. What happens is that those downtrodden ones now become oaks of righteousness and they, in turn, become the repairer of the breach. They, in turn, minister. They, in turn, become instruments and channels of hope, mercy and grace to other people. This is our calling. We have been shown mercy; now, we in turn show mercy. We have received grace; we now give grace to others. We have been forgiven; now, we show forgiveness to others and teach them also how to forgive.
The ministry of grace does not end with us receiving it. This is the beginning of this ministry. It is meant to spread until all the world knows of God and is filled with the knowledge of God and His glory covers the whole earth.
We who have received mercy proclaim mercy, proclaim hope in the wilderness where it is most needed. John the Baptist was not whispering repentance. His voice was not a gentle voice. He wasn’t saying, “I am but a small voice and I have but a small dream.” His voice was crying out in the wilderness. He was shouting, proclaiming; and because he was shouting out in the wilderness, where people in despair where, multitudes came. They wanted to avail the good news of his message. Multitudes came and they had been taking the kingdom violently by force. They wanted to enter in. They strove to enter the Kingdom because of the good news that they heard.
Try and ponder: if we shout and cry out in the wilderness where there is no hope, where there is no drought, multitudes will respond. Not to say timidly, “I am a Christian. I am small voice. I have a little hope to offer to you.” We are to cry out in the wilderness and the multitude will respond. This is what the Word of God says.
How do we proclaim the grace, the mercy, the forgiveness and the hope that we have been given, if we proclaim it at all? Do we cry it out? Where do we cry it out? In the spring, in the Sanctuary or in the wilderness? I am not saying that you don’t encourage one another, but hope is needed where there is no hope. Water is needed in the wilderness.
Have we been crying out in the wilderness? There is hope in our message. There is grace, mercy, forgiveness. There is very good news that is waiting for us to cry out and tell the people about. Have we been fulfilling our ministry? We have been made greater than John the Baptist. The responsibility, the accountability, the expectations come with the bestowal of grace.
This is the hope that we have. This is what we have been granted. This is what we have been given. This is the way it is in the kingdom of our God!
LET US CONTINUE OUR REFLECTION
WITH
CARDINAL OF HOLY MOTHER CHURCH
AND
VENERABLE PRIMATE
OF THE PHILIPPINES
THROUGH
THROUGH
THE WORD EXPOSED
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