Restore Our Joy

Rebecca Sheridan
Sunday, December 14, 2025
Matthew 11:2-11

    Have you ever imagined something would go one way, and then how it actually turns out is completely different than you envisioned?  For example, I enjoy baking especially this time of year.  You look at the beautiful Christmas cookie pictures in the cookbook.  Each one is uniform, delicately frosted and decorated to perfection.  Then, you try to recreate that picture.  You carefully follow to the letter each of the instructions.  The end result?  Usually, not as pretty as the picture!  Generally, my baked cookies taste pretty good and are worth the effort, but are a sad resemblance of what’s advertised.  Instead of appreciating the joy in the season and having the time to bake and perhaps give away delicious cookies that are obviously, imperfectly homemade and a gift from the heart, I can get bogged down in disappointment and frustration with my unrealistic expectations, and that’s all I focus on – the cookies don’t look like the ones in the picture.
    This is the same with our faith, especially in this Advent season.  Most of us, probably, have a lot of plans and preparations and ideas about how things will go this time of year.  And most of us, probably, will have to adjust those plans and ideas for one reason or another.  John the Baptist, in our gospel for this morning, has certain ideas about who Jesus is as the Messiah and what he should be doing.  For me, it is actually comforting to hear that even John, the forerunner to Jesus who is strong in faith and baptizes Jesus himself, also has doubts.  If John has doubts sometimes, I probably will, too.  Following John’s example, it’s healthy to name our questions and seek the support of other disciples so our doubt does not turn to despair.  
John is in prison here in Matthew 11.  He has to rely on secondhand accounts now of what Jesus is up to – he is not witnessing these healings and resurrections himself.  Like many faithful Jews of the time, John probably believed that Jesus as the Messiah was going to overthrow the Roman government, maybe by violent force, and take over right now.  In the picture in John’s head of what Jesus would do and how he would behave, Jesus as Messiah might get him out of prison and prevent his death.  So John asks this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”  He is afraid, anxious, and wanting to trust that even if he dies in prison, his faith in Jesus will be worth it.  
    Thankfully, most of us have not had to endure prison because of our faith, but we can identify with John’s question and impatience.  He is relatable here!  We, too, have to rely on the secondhand reports of the eyewitnesses of the disciples and the gospel writers and trust that what Jesus has done at his first coming is changing everything for the better, even when it doesn’t seem like things are better right now.  We have to trust that Jesus’ way as Messiah is better than our understanding of an instant total takeover.  The answer, in a way, to John’s question, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait?” is “yes.”  Yes, Jesus is the Messiah, who has come in the baby in a manger at Bethlehem and died on a cross at Calvary. And yes, Jesus will come again, and we are still waiting for his coming.  He was, he is and he is to come – all at the same time.
    We have been praying for a restoration of our hope and joy this season.  It can be easy to focus on what is going wrong in the world and in our lives.  Like those imperfect Christmas cookies, life doesn’t look like the picture in our heads – maybe the picture that the prophet Isaiah has been painting for us in Isaiah 2 (swords into plowshares) or Isaiah 11 (lion laying down with the lamb) or Isaiah 35, our first reading for today (a desert blossoming).  Our scripture readings encourage us, however, that we have seen and heard glimpses of Christ’s activity in our lives that give us joy, peace, and hope in the midst of the mess.  
John calls us to turn toward Christ and prepare for Christ’s coming. Let’s turn toward what we are hearing and seeing of God’s activity in the midst of our messy and imperfect lives.  The cookie may not look like the picture, but it sure still tastes good, for example!  And here is what Jesus encourages John with even as he is in prison and about to be martyred for his faith:  “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.”  Jesus’ healing, preaching, and actions are proof that he is the Messiah in the gospels.  
What are the ways Jesus has changed your life for the better that you can point to as proof that he is the Messiah?  My life is not perfect, but it is certainly better because of Jesus’ activity in it.  Despite disappointments, frustrations, and true trials in our life, we still taste and see the goodness of the Lord.  As this Sunday in particular focuses on the Holy Spirit’s gift of joy, let’s remember that joy is not the same as happiness.  It is possible for John, hearing what Jesus is doing as the Messiah through his disciples, has joy in knowing he IS the one who is to come, even though he is in prison and eventually will be beheaded.  It is possible that we are both grieving or struggling this season and feel the joy of the season at the same time.  Joy has a depth to it that happiness does not.  Joy is a gift from God that lives deeply in us that blooms like flowers in the desert.
    Here’s some good news to restore our joy and hope this Advent:  the picture of what God’s kingdom looks like is even better than we can imagine.  It is very likely different than our own ideas about what God should do for us.  But as we spiritually prepare for Christ to come again, may Christ transform our hearts to see a vision of what God has in store for us – eternal life with him.  Isaiah paints this picture of a desert blooming, the restoration and healing of people, and a highway called the Holy Way where no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.  When we feel foolish in our frustration, our doubt, our fear, our imperfection, thanks be to God, Jesus brings us back to following his Holy Way.  In trusting him, we will not go astray.  For this and for so many blessings in our lives, we give God thanks and rejoice!  Amen!