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RSSDecember 12, Advent III
12/12/2004
Isaiah 35: 1-10
James 5: 7-10
Matthew 11: 2-11
Psalm 146 or 146: 4-9
“Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?" And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.’” -- Matthew 11:1-2
Here is the way the world works: it's much better to be rich than poor. Poverty makes poor people more susceptible to dying from easily preventable diseases. For most “rich” people, most preventable diseases are treatable. Where we live, a bout of diarrhea is a nuisance, and your child might have to miss school for a day or two. In southern Africa, a mother can lose her child in a day or two to the same illness.
The means by which disease may be prevented are often simple: clean water, an insectide-treated mosquito net, a vaccination, nutritious food. Some good advice from a traveling health technician who leaves behind a few trusted neighbors trained in the provision of basic health services. It's not -- as we say -- rocket science. It's usually very simple.
Jesus was simple. Some people who saw and heard him were disappointed by him. He wasn't very kingly. He appeared to be a very ordinary man, a carpenter -- definitely working class. And the signs of his kingdom were not very kingly, either. No fanfare. Not even John the Baptist was absolutely certain -- Are you the one who is to come, he asks, or should we look for another? Maybe it was all too simple -- just healing, one by one by one, village by village, house by house. Good news preached to the poor and healing for those who needed it, over and over again. Simple, one-by-one things.
Yes, they were simple things. But they were signs of the kingdom -- Isaiah had said that these and many other sorrows would be conquered, and here they were, in the midst of the conquering. And it was quiet and simple. One by one.
The signs of the kingdom are the same today. Not much in the way of fanfare. Just one-by-one things, simple things. Things we can become part of, just by joining with those who visit the sick we will never meet ourselves, who bring them food we could never bring them ourselves, who bring healing and strength and encouragement to the very poor whom we will never see. By ourselves, we cannot be signs of the kingdom to them -- they don't know us, and we are too far away.
But through our relationship with Episcopal Relief and Development, we are part of it now, through prayer and support of those who partner with local health workers, community leaders, clergy in communities devastated by diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. Look at what is happening, Jesus says tenderly to John, who wonders, at the end of his life, if his whole ministry of proclamation has been in vain. It has not been in vain. The signs are all here, one by one, and the kingdom really is coming into the world.
Written by the Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton for ERD. Episcopal Relief and Development saves lives and builds hope in communities around the world. We provide emergency assistance in times of disaster. When the immediate crisis is over, we rebuild devastated communities and offer long-term solutions in the areas of food security, health care, and HIV/AIDS.
