Praying with John the Baptist

“Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

A little Bible study this morning. Please read Matthew chapter 11. Got it? K, let’s listen to the Word. John the Baptizer, through his disciples, is asking the Lord to listen to him, to hear his inquiry from behind prison bars. Jesus heard him, and answered with a call for John to look, and listen, and believe:

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

John would hear of much of the above, but he would be eyewitness to very little. For he was imprisoned and later executed. Why such an unjust fate? This the Prophet who baptized Jesus under the sign of the Spirit’s dove. The cousin of the Lord, who bonded with him when they were yet in their mother’s wombs. He prepared the way in so many ways: his birth foretold by an angel, name given and ministry assigned. He called people to repentance with power, he upset the authorities and caused them to fear. Herod was hesitant to execute John for fear of the people, who respected him as a prophet.

Jesus saw through the people. He played on his own similarities and differences with John to call the people hypocrites and spectacle seekers. He lauded John’s lifestyle, honoring the man himself, and set a collection of warnings before them concerning belief and rejection of their harmonized message. The Messiah not only heard and responded to the desperate inquiry of an incarcerated man, He publicly praised the man as God’s prophet. John departed from “normal” life, opting to live in the hills, at a distance from empire and the religious corruption of Pharisee rule. His ministry broke nearly 400 years of prophetic silence. He was the first and greatest prophet of the age, and the Spirit of God was strong upon him. Surely if anyone was to be doubtless of the Messiah’s identity, it was John. But he did ask the question, along with many he had baptized and many who rejected him.

John’s question is a prayer for assurance. This prayer is proof that a great man, mighty in word, works and Spirit, has deeply personal questions about the physical presence of God in his life. Some commentators wonder if the message was a code. Some believe of course, as might we all, that John was led by the Spirit to pose this question of his cousin who happened to be the Redeemer of the cosmos. For our prayers this morning, we will take John at his words, and we will honor him with his questions, not in spite of them.

Sometimes even the most faithful, in the presence of the Most High, need reassurance when the situation is bleak. Believing in a healing that you cannot see, and will certainly not experience for yourself, can be harrowing, it can feel helpless. It requires faith without sight, it means baptizing people into an event to which you’ll have no personal testimony. It means prophetic obedience. I wonder that this is what God’s children are called to in this day.

John exemplified Jesus’s words, that “Wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” So we join his prayer, boldly asking God to hear us, and to help us listen for an answer.

Let’s pray Together

Passion

Listen, Lord: we are surprised and embarrassed by doubt. We hesitate to name it as an additional side effect of isolation in this outbreak season. But we are locked up in the house of mourning, we are making the best of virtual visitation. Some of us are brave and beating down this crisis in hospital work, reaching the unhoused, serving the elders, delivering mail. Some of us are stupid, Lord. We don’t all mean to be. We are desperate for an embrace from the loved one we’ve so missed. We are still watching presidential press conferences and cannot feel the ulcers growing as our spirits groan.

We are all at risk, we are worried and wondering, worn out or without shelter. We are unable to work from home and we are unseen. We are calling out to You, Creator of worlds, because we need a new one, Lord. Oh how your children hate it here. How we need You! Will you hear us this morning?

We join our prayers this morning with the imprisoned and the in doubt who cry out “are You the One?” So many are yet searching for this answer. For our incarcerated beloved, we ask for an answer. For our impoverished family members, we would have an answer, for the people in our lives who cannot stop crying, we would know your answer, for the children you have made who have preferred to unmake you, we would seek your answer still. For each of us is sacred to You, and each of us breathes your air.

Listen, Lord, if you will, and teach us too. O God, show us how to listen well to you.

Petition

Teach us to listen to Your guidance. Teach us to listen to Your story. Teach us to listen to Your calling. Teach us to listen to wisdom.

Help us to look for the unmet needs of our neighbors, especially those who require special provisions and different abilities. 

Help us to look for opportunities to share light with those we "other", especially those who have tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Help us to take time to show love to Asian communities across the world who have experienced an increase in racist attacks.

Help us to look for new ways to connect with our human family while we cannot enter our sacred places, our common spaces, or our homes away from home.

Help us to look for your presence in each moment, especially in the face of our loved ones, in the positive stories of COVID survivors, and in the actions of everyday people whomake light the heavy heart of the world.

Help us to look for hope in sunny days, the sound of children playing outside, and in the kind hello of strangers.

Give us faith to believe that you are guiding the hands of every nurse and doctor treating and testing our friends, our neighbors, and our loved ones. Give us faith to believe that goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives even now Lord when times are uncertain. Give us faith to believe that there are brighter days ahead, even if we will not see them. Give us grace to bring our burning fears and questions, O Lord, before Your Mercy Seat.  And give us ears to hear Your answer. Listen Lord, we hate it here; Help our unbelief.

Praise

To the One who sends us out to share all that we hear and see. “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

To the One who teaches us to praise in these trying days. “I praise you, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, for this is what you were pleased to do.”

To the One who brings us to God’s bosom, and gives us rest. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  This is our answer from the God who listens, the word of the Lord, the Word of Life. Thanks be to God.

Scripture: Matthew 11

Songs: I Believe, John P. Kee // No Love Dying, Gregory Porter

Art: Following Jesus, artist unknown // Moment of Flight, Albert Kotin // Tar Beach, Faith Ringgold