Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

“If only...”

Those are some dangerous words. In fact, I think about the most dangerous words a person can say. Those are sometimes words of regret. Even more often, those are words of desire, words of dissatisfaction with the way things are, words that convey a search for happiness, a search for joy.

“If only I had a job that pays more...” then everything would be better.

“If only I had a bigger house...” then everything would be better.

“If only the stock market and housing market hadn’t crashed...” then everything would be better.

“If only the officer had given me a break...” then everything would be better.

“If only I could get away with some of the stuff Hollywood stars get away with...” then everything would be better.

You can hear the desire in each of those statements. You can hear the dissatisfaction in each of those statements. You can hear the search for happiness, the search for joy, in each of those statements.

In our Gospel today, you can almost hear John the Baptist say those same words: “If only I knew for sure that Jesus really were the One...” then all this would be worth it.

For quite some time, John the Baptist had ridden the wave of popularity. First, people flocked to him out there at the Jordan River. Maybe it was his strange clothing. Maybe it was his strange diet. Maybe it was his words. Maybe it was just the desire for something different, something better.

Still after John baptized Jesus, he remained popular. He was linked as the forerunner to and the one who had ordained the One Who was doing miraculous things – healing the sick, restoring vision to those born blind, putting hearing into ears long deaf, curing incurable diseases, even commanding dead people to walk out of their tombs. John was popular because of his connection with Jesus.

But things had changed. John found himself in jail because of his connection with Jesus. Guilty by association. Prison life today is like a vacation on a 5-star Caribbean resort island compared with jail accommodations in John’s day, but John was okay with that “if only” he could have the assurance that his time of imprisonment was not wasted, that he was where he was supposed to be, that his inconvenient imprisonment served God’s greater purpose. You can also hear in those words questioning Jesus’ true identity those “if only” words – “If only You really are Who You say You are and Whom others say You are, then spread some of Your ‘magical’ powers here.”

Have you ever found yourself saying those same words?

“If only God were as powerful as the Bible says He is.”

“If only God were as loving as the Bible says He is.”

“If only God were as good as the Bible says He is.”

“If only God were as wise as the Bible says He is.”

Maybe John’s words were really a taunt to get Jesus to help him out. Maybe our “If only...” words are really a taunt to get God to help us out.

Jesus didn’t race right over to the jail and bail John out in either a normal or miraculous way. And, truth be told, God doesn’t rush right over to us, even in our times of severe problems, but that doesn’t change Who Jesus is. It doesn’t change the Kingdom of God.

That’s what Jesus told John’s disciples to report back to John: “Go tell John what you see and hear.” Then Jesus said, “He who has ears, let him hear.”

There we find the real problem. Like John the Baptist, we sometimes get so busy saying all our “If only...” statements that we fail to stop and listen.

To this very day, God is providing abundant water to this desert we call our earthly home, making it burst into bloom [Isaiah 35:1-10]. Stop and listen for just a moment. In the past 100 years, average life expectancy has almost doubled. Diseases called hopelessly “incurable” even just a few years ago might still today be incurable, but are being treated more effectively, with almost certain promises of a cure any day. Lutheran World Relief has set as its goal the elimination of malaria on the continent of Africa by the year 2015 – and they’re set to accomplish that goal. Surgeries unimaginable twenty years ago are today being done in outpatient surgery centers – also something new in the last 20 years – to the rate of hundreds of thousands every year. And, my friends, these examples are just in the area of medical technology. Stop and listen. God is providing abundant water to this desert we call our earthly home, making it burst into bloom.

Of course the greatest thing at which we often fail to stop and listen and observe and marvel is an event that happened on a silent night, a holy night, so many years ago in a humble animal feeding trough in the simple, unpretentious village of Bethlehem. Even on that very night, so few stopped to listen to the message of the angels: “Good News of Great Joy!” No, people continued to complain: “If only this blasted Roman government wasn’t taxing us.” If the Baby Jesus could have spoken, He likely would have said, “He who has ears, let him hear.”

Thirty-three years later most people were still complaining about the Roman government. Thirty-three years later most people failed to stop and listen and observe an event on Calvary when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died in order to provide that promised “living water” [John 4:10] to all whose existence on this earth leaves them thirsty, wanting for something more, something different, something better. So many people missed Calvary’s display of God’s power. So many people missed Calvary’s display of God’s love. So many people missed Calvary’s display of God’s goodness. So many people missed Calvary’s display of God’s wisdom.

Have you missed it?

If so, stop and listen once again: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

“He who has ears, let him hear.”

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena