A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 25 September 2014 and to the River Street Cafe, 614, Toronto on 28 August 2015
Read Matthew 11:2-6
Years ago I worked for a janitorial
company. My job was to fill-in for absent cleaners. I was given keys and alarm
codes to businesses all over the city and my shifts often ended late at night
or early in the morning.
One night when I arrive at a new building
it is well passed midnight; I have never been in here before and I can’t find
the light switch anywhere. As a result, I am late turning off the alarm so it
goes off. It is ringing loudly and the place is dark. I have to run quickly to
turn it off. Then the phone rings (the alarm company always calls to see why an
alarm is going off); so I’m off running in the other direction -still in the
dark – trying to find the phone before it stops ringing and the alarm company
calls the police. I get to the phone just in time but not before crashing into
a desk in the dark.
I finally get the alarm mess sorted out
and I am limping around the building still looking for the light switch. I am
lost in a maze of cubicles and I can’t see anything when suddenly I hear
something.
I hear something growl and bark loudly.
This is not good. I yell and fall to the floor. Peering up I see a couple of
police dogs and a police officer staring down at me.
What happened was when I spoke with the
alarm company on the phone, as I was not the regular cleaner my name wasn’t on
the list of people approved to be in the building and instead of calling the
janitorial company they called the police. Even though I told them my name they
still didn’t know who I was so they called the police.
This is not entirely unlike our passage
today. Matthew 11:2-3: “When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he
sent his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we
expect someone else?’”
It is interesting that John asks this
because John knows Jesus. John is Jesus’ cousin; Jesus’ mom and John’s mom are
close. John baptizes Jesus and at that time John obviously knows him well for
he says, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matt 3:14).
John is there when the heavens open up and God declares, “This is my Son, whom
I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matt 3:16). John obviously knows Jesus and
he knows something about Jesus, even before and right at the beginning of
Jesus’ ministry but now John asks him, “Are you the one who was to come, or
should we expect someone else?”
John is in prison when he asks this. He
knows Jesus but he is questioning. When we experience times of struggle, even
though we know who Jesus is, do we ever doubt? Do we ever seek further
reassurance from the Lord? Jesus provides it to John by explaining how he
fulfils the mandate of Messiah (Mat 11:4-5). God reassures us that He will
never leave nor forsake us (Dt 3:6,7; Jos 1:5; Heb 13:5) and we know that God
will never give us more than we can handle (1 Cor 10:13). God will see us
through the difficult times. When are some times in our lives when we were
comforted by assurances from God in our moment of crisis?
Based on the sermon by Captain Michael Ramsay, Are You The One
To Come Or Should We Expect Someone Else? (Matthew 11:1-11). Presented to
Nipawin and Tisdale, 16 Dec 2007 and Swift Current Corps, 13 June 2010.
On-line:
http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2007/12/are-you-one-to-come-or-should-we-expect.html
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