“Are You the One?” Luke 7: 18-35

 Growing up my brothers and I had an “I can read” book called the Question book. In it the children, who were narrating, asked all sorts of questions, some of which were answered, some of which are not. 

Many of us have had children in our lives who ask questions. All sorts of questions. It’s seems like “why?” Is right up there with “no” as one of kids favorite vocabulary words. But captured in a question is also so much more - curiosity and wonder. Amazement. In a child’s question is trust that adults will know the answer. 

As we get older, we some how start to think that questions are a bad thing. Have you ever had someone apologize to you for asking a question? Or been around someone who always pretends to know the answer instead of being open to asking questions? 

But someone who was not afraid to ask a question - a really important question -was John the Baptist. John has been arrested and is surely facing death. He has this moment where he sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus - are you the one? Are you the one we have been waiting for? Are you the one I was to prepare the way for?

But wrapped up in this question of “are you the one?” Is so much more. As John looks at the end of his life he is asking is it worth it? Have I done what I was appointed to do? Or have I misunderstood it all?

Some of the most holy space I have ever found myself in is with people who are facing death. For some it is their own death. For others it is the death of a loved on. But on that hallowed ground where people are honestly reflecting upon their lives. That is where John is. That is the place his questions bubble up from. 

Jesus, however, being Jesus didn’t answer John’s question directly. Instead, Jesus sent them back to bear witness - to testify to what Jesus had done. It’s as if Jesus wasn’t just going to tell him the answer, but instead wanted them to judge by his actions. What are they testifying to? And does this bear witness to the Messiah? The anointed one?

But Jesus didn’t stop there. He looked out on the crowds, these crowds who had flocked to John out in the wilderness and he had a question for them - what were you looking for? Why did they go out into the wilderness? Was it just to gaze with their own eyes upon this one whom other people were talking about? Or was it to actually be changed?

This practice of asking hard, soul examining questions was part of the Jewish tradition. Faith and practice were linked to taking time to examine what you believe. Asking questions wasn’t a sign of doubt or weakness, it was a sign of the true depth of faith.

Asking questions was an active part of faith. 

For far too long, folks have looked down on John the Baptist for being in the jail cell and sending some of his disciples to ask Jesus questions. But what would we do if we found ourselves where he was? What are some the questions we are going to have when we look back on our lives some day? Because while we may not all find ourselves in a jail cell like John, we are all going to approach the end of life’s journey.

John knew what his job was - it was to prepare the way for the Messiah. And now that Jesus is here, he wants to make sure he has completed his job, to the best of his ability, before he is called home. Because now that Jesus is here, the something new that John was preparing folks for has arrived, and he is no longer going to be part of where it is going. 

What we are trying to decipher today is what is in this scripture passage for us? Why did Luke feel that it was important enough to pass down to people throughout the ages. 

This passage is a reminder for us that questions are okay. In fact, questions are more than okay, asking them is an act of faith. Like a child trusts that an adult who cares for them is going to answer their questions, we trust that God will reveal the answer to our questions in God’s perfect timing. But it goes a step beyond that - questions are not just to be answered, they are to be lived into. In other words, with all that Jesus sent John’s disciples to testify to, to bear witness to, there is a question that comes for them as well - now what? Now that the one they followed is about to die and Jesus has revealed who he is, in ways great and small, what are they going to do?

It’s a lot like the question that Jesus posed to the crowds as well. Are you just coming to look or are you coming to be a part of this Kingdom movement? Are you just coming to see for yourself or are you going to be with me? Jesus is still asking that question to us today! One of the things we get confused is that we think we can believe in Jesus in our heads, but not live our lives for him as his followers. We need to take time to examine our own hearts and souls and ask some tough questions as well. 

John Wesley knew something about the power of questions. When people committed their lives to Christ, they were placed in these small groups called bands, where tough questions were asked of them every single week. How is it with your soul? What unconfessed sin do you have in your life? And people honestly answered!

We live in a day an age where we think living without questions is a badge of honor, when really we use it as a shield to not have to examine our own lives or invite others to point out our blind spots. Not asking questions is actually an act of passive faith, not active faith.

In seminary, one of my classes had an oral exam. We had a pretty good idea what the questions were going to be before hand and then we came in and had a conversation with the professor about them. I got a B+ on that exam. When I asked why, it wasn’t because I had forgotten any information or misspoke, but because I spoke with two much confidence about those answers. My professor was trying to teach me that we will never know all of the answers, and that is okay, and it okay to speak as such. 

Friends, if the one who prepared the way for Jesus still had questions, of course you and I will as well. Let us embrace the questions and live into the answers. Let us invite others to ask hard questions of our lives. And let us set aside the thought that we “should” have all of the answers for experiencing of meeting Jesus right where we are at. Amen and Amen.