Do We Look For Another?

Christ is still present today, but where can he be found? People are certainly looking for him. They are going hither and thither, trying to find a savior. Some may not admit it, but if you are with them for an extended period of time and get to know them their Messianic need will soon appear. Sure it may hide conspicuously behind other words like, validation, money, purpose, a need to loved, etc. But at the root is always the need for a savior.

John the Baptist needed a savior; indeed he, with many old testament prophets, had been looking for one for a long time. He thought he found the savior, Jesus the Christ, until he was locked up in jail. I don't know what John was hoping for, maybe a political overthrow, perhaps his swift release from the dungeon, who knows? But we find him in jail, perhaps hearing about Jesus, realizing his idea of Messiah wasn't being fulfilled, and so he sends his disciples to inquire.

"Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"

It is a question we have all asked, and many are still asking. The one whom we asked may not be Jesus, it may have been any number of things we sought salvation in; but nevertheless the question is asked. Always searching, always looking, always wondering and hoping, we, like John the Baptist, longingly wait for the response that will change everything...

Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.

Perhaps not the answer that was expected, but it was the necessary one. These are the marks of the savior. People who cannot see him are now able to behold him. People who could not walk with him are now able to become his followers. Those leprous ones who were excluded from society are now welcomed into a community of believers. The ones who could not hear the gospel are set free by its sound. Dead people, both physical and spiritually, are raised to life at the command of his voice. And the poor, those who we so often forget, those who we throw our scraps, these poor, have the gospel preached to them.

What does this mean for the living body of Christ--the Church? Well, if we are the body of the Messiah in our world, then these must be the distinguishing marks that characterize our ministry. Yes there are other things we would like to do together; other programs we've been dying to bring to our church. But run them through the sieve of Matthew 11:5. If they are not doing these things then they are not Messiah driven.

People leave churches and say a number of things. "They have great coffee." "I enjoyed the fact that service was short." "They play the music I like." These things are not bad, but if they do not go away saying what John's disciples came saying to him then it is possible that though they enjoyed themselves they did not meet the Messiah.

So, when we encounter people and they go away telling others what they have seen and heard. Will their words  reveal the Messiahs presence or absence?