One of the weekday emails I get is called “A.Word.A.Day”. The author mines the depths of the dictionary for obscure, strange, common, and confusing words, often around a weekly theme, such as eponyms or words derived from literature. It is interesting to see how some words evolve to mean the opposite of what they started out as.
That’s the nature of our English language. In a manner of speaking it is a living organism. As such, new words come into being frequently. Some are developed from the constantly emerging new technologies, some are extensions of current usages, and some are mixtures of two words.
The Oxford English Dictionary word of the year for 2016 is “post-truth.” “Post,” of course comes from the Latin root which means after or beyond. “Truth” is truth. So the new word means something like, “that which is beyond truth.” What is that? That seems to be the question asked by the new word. Its usage suggests that the truth of something doesn’t matter. What matters is how a person feels about something. In its crudest meaning, feelings are more important than truth.
For instance, people who deny the reality of climate change disregard and discredit the scientific evidence because they don’t feel that the climate is changing. The increase in storms and their severity is purely anecdotal poppycock to them.
The same approach is applied to any number of topics right now. This is not a new question. We can hear in the background the ancient question asked by a Roman military governor: “What is truth?”
People are seeking authenticity. In the post-truth era, if it be such, what is authentic is what I feel about something. An editorial cartoon this week highlighted this: a woman is peering at her computer and asks, “How do I know if the news is true.” Her husband says, “If I agree with it.” Post-truth authenticity depends on self-validation rather independent evaluation.
Authenticity is the basis for the question which John the Baptist relays to Jesus through his disciples. “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” John wanted to know if Jesus was a really real messiah, or a fake real messiah. That’s the question with which the world outside the church struggles mightily. And some folks within the church, as well: “Don’t confuse me with facts. I know what I believe.”
Authenticity is not just what is really real. People have expectations about what is authentic. When the real authenticity doesn’t measure up to people’s expectations, then it won’t matter whether the really real is authentic or not. It is perceived as fake. This could fall under the post-truth category. John could be saying, “I don’t feel that you are the real messiah. You aren’t doing the things that I think you should be doing as a Messiah, so whether you are or are not, I don’t accept you as authentic.”
You have to remember that there had been before Jesus, and again after Jesus, a number of possible messiahs each of which turned out to be fake. A man named Judas of Galilee led a bloody revolt against a Roman census in the year 6. Simon was a slave of Herod who became a messianic figure when he rebelled in the year 4. Theudus attempted a revolt against the Romans in the 40s, and was killed. Notice that these attempted to act their supposed messiah-ship through violent rebellion. That sort of behavior seems to have set the ideal in people’s minds about what a messiah should be doing.
Jesus does not respond to John’s inquiry with a simple “yes” or “no.” Rather he gives a catalogue of his activities. “Go, report to John what you hear and see. Those who were blind are able to see. Those who were crippled are walking. People with skin diseases are cleansed. Those who were deaf now hear. Those who were dead are raised up. The poor have good news proclaimed to them.”
What Jesus is doing is resetting the expectations for messiahship. He is reminding John of larger, more inclusive promises of salvation which God has given the people through the prophets. In the words of Isaiah,
Strengthen the weak hands,
and support the unsteady knees.
Say to those who are panicking:
“Be strong! Don’t fear!
Here’s your God, coming with vengeance;
with divine retribution God will come to save you.”
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
and the ears of the deaf will be cleared.
Then the lame will leap like the deer,
and the tongue of the speechless will sing.
Waters will spring up in the desert,
and streams in the wilderness. (Isaiah 35:3-6)
Authenticity is to be found in actions, not words.
Jesus goes on to celebrate John’s authenticity. John is wrestling with what he thinks is the object of his faith. He is not disbelieving, but is seeking a clarification for his faith. Bonnie Pattison writes,
“Circumstances have a way of thrusting themselves into our theological paradigms, challenging our basic assumptions. Such was the case with John..., [who] came to Jesus fully believing what the prophets had written but seeking clarification concerning whether those writings pointed to Jesus.”(1)Jesus’ reply to John stresses actions, not words, and those actions verify the words of the prophets.
Jesus then goes on to celebrate John as a prophet. John is the ultimate prophet, not a royal palace advisor. Furthermore, John is more than a prophet, insists Jesus — he is “the one of whom it is written, ‘Look, I’m sending my messenger before you, who will prepare your way before you.’” (v. 10).
John is the messenger foretold by the Old Testament’s Malachi, the one who will prepare the way for the authentic Messiah. John is not a royal yes-man in a tailored suit, but is “like the refiner’s fire or the cleaner’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.” (Malachi 3:1-3). John accomplishes this mission by calling people to repentance, and baptizing them to cleanse them of their sins.
So Jesus is not the only really real person in this passage of Scripture. John the Baptist is authentic as well — he is the authentic messenger.
But notice the surprising comment that Jesus makes next. “I assure you that no one who has ever been born is greater than John the Baptist. Yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:11). John is great, but those who follow him will be even greater. Jesus predicts that he will have some authentic disciples who will surpass even John the Baptist in their faithfulness and effectiveness.
So what does it take to be an authentic disciple of an authentic Messiah? Authenticity comes from a sense of place, a larger purpose, a strong point of view, and integrity.
First, a sense of place. If you want to drink authentic champagne, then you have to open a bottle from the Champagne region of France. Anything else is just sparkling wine. If you want to be an authentic disciple of Jesus, you have to know the story of Bethlehem and Nazareth, Judea and Galilee. Jesus the Messiah did his work in a particular place, and unless we know the story of that place we cannot be his true followers.
Second, authenticity demands a larger purpose. Whole Foods Market, the world’s largest retailer of natural and organic foods, has a larger purpose — to “change the way the world eats.” If you want to be an authentic disciple, you have to look beyond your own interests and focus on the interests of Jesus. “All who want to save their lives will lose them,” says Jesus to his disciples, “but all who lose their lives because of me will find them” (Matthew 16:25).
Third, authenticity requires a strong point of view. When Billy Graham’s library in Montreat, North Carolina, was dedicated ten years ago, three ex-presidents and many other dignitaries attended. In spite of the world’s skepticism about evangelists and tele-evangelists, the American public has trusted and admired Billy Graham due to his simple, but strong point of view: Jesus saves.
If we want to be authentic disciples, we will align ourselves unequivocally with Jesus and his distinctive, even radical, way of life. “Let your light shine before people,” says Jesus to his followers, “so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
And authenticity involves integrity. In order for a person to be authentic, there has to be a match between words and actions — there has to be integrity. If you want to be an authentic disciple, you are challenged to create a match between your talk and your walk. Spreading malicious gossip or pronouncing half-truths simply doesn’t line up with “treat people in the same way that you want people to treat you” (Matthew 7:12).
By being authentic we join the long line of people from John forward who in faith pass on the torch of the really real Messiah — Jesus the Authentic One who comes in the name of the Lord. As we celebrate Advent — Christ’s first coming and expected second coming — we renew and re-authenticate our faith — for ourselves, for the church which bears Christ’s name and mandate, and for the world that longs for what is real, true, and authentic.
May the faith of our hearts and the actions of our lives be authentic in your sight, Lord Jesus. Amen.
General Resource: “The Authentic Messiah,” www.homileticsonline.com, December 16, 2007.
(1) Bonnie L. Pattison, “Matthew 11:2-19, Theological Perspective,” Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013), vol. 1, p. 284, 286.
Unless noted otherwise, all scripture references are from The Common English Bible, © 2011 www.commonenglishbible.com.
Copyright © 2016 First Presbyterian Church of Waverly, Ohio. Reprinted by permission.
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