James 5: 7-11                                                                                                              Rev. Dr. Galen E. Russell III

Matthew 11: 2-11                                                                                                                        December 14, 2025

“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.”

Prayer: Holy, Ancient One, may the lessons of these texts be a part of what it means for us to get things ready for you once again this Advent season. Amen.

 My Facebook page has all these stereograms showing up. Yours? I must have clicked on one, and now they’re on my Facebook feed all the time. A few years ago, I showed one to you as part of my sermon, and given my sermon title this morning, “Look in the Right Places,” I thought I’d show you one again. This one is a Christmas one. Now the key to seeing the 3D object is to relax, don’t look at the picture, but look through it. Then wait for it. Wait for it… A 3D image usually pops into view.

Did it work? Anyone see the image? Anyone see an image of a Christmas tree and some dogs playing around it? [see if anyone can see the image.]

Sometimes 3D images come easily, others not so much. Well, this season of Advent we’re getting things ready for Christmas, which means that we’re getting ready to celebrate the beginning of God’s new covenantal realm on earth, starting with the birth of Jesus. So, one of the things I think we can do to get things ready is to look for God’s realm popping into view.

But do we know where to look? Are we looking in the right places? Are we relaxed enough? Looking through some stuff? Sometimes we see God’s realm easily, and other times, it doesn’t come clear.

 The thing that struck me though, is that every year at Christmas time, every Advent, we start talking about the arrival of God’s realm. We try to focus on this arrival, fit it into our schedules and our calendars. It’s amazing how linear we make it. How chronological. I mean every Advent in December; we put up our decorations. We go see the lights on houses. We take train rides with the kids and grandkids. We sing Christmas carols. Every Christmas, in late December and into the New Year, we celebrate the holidays with family, friends, football and movies. It all follows nicely in a line.

 Even our “We’re Getting Things Ready…” theme has a chronological feel to it. I mean the first Sunday, we’re getting things ready by cleaning out. Last Sunday, we heard about repenting and bearing good fruit. Today, we’re getting things ready by looking in the right places for God’s realm to arrive.

 But the thing is God’s realm is ALWAYS arriving. Not just in December. It is not so much linear and chronological. God’s realm is much more, I think, spiritual and transcendent. It pays no attention to our time frames, our expectations, our chronologies. God’s realm has a non-linear, dynamic quality about it. It’s unmeasurable, unpredictable. It shows up in real time and makes an impact on us.

 And all that was speaking to me this past week. The divine Presence, which is always breaking into our world, invites us to get things ready by seeing where God’s new covenantal realm is taking place. Where it can be both real and disruptive. Where it calls us to look in certain places and not others.

 So, what stood out for me is that John the Baptist was preaching, baptizing, gaining converts, telling people to repent because the kingdom of heaven was near. But that message was in direct opposition to the kingdom (or empire) of Rome, which already was at hand. And of course, the message calling for opposition to the Roman Empire, landed John in jail. You can’t be critical of the empire, or sound like you’re opposing it, and expect to get away unscathed!

But many, many people in John and Jesus’ day wanted the overthrow of the oppressive, vindictive, controlling Roman Empire. Many believed that the interpretation of the prophet’s words from ancient days meant that God would do this amazing power shift. And the Messiah (or the Christ) would come, overthrow Rome, establish God’s new kingdom on earth with the Christ as its new king!

So, John, sensing that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, looks to Jesus and asks, “Are you the one? Are you the Messiah, the one we’ve been patiently waiting for, or should we keep on waiting for another?” The kingdom John wanted was in a linear construct. He saw it as the next in line on earth.

But the kingdom of heaven Jesus wants is not linear or chronological. His was spiritual. It’s a new covenant where metaphorically, the blind can see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the sick healed, the dead raised, and the poor get good news.

John the Baptist’s kingdom was mostly linear. Here on earth. Finite. It ends. Jesus wanted God’s "kindom", also here on earth and in heaven, but it’s spiritual and transcendent. Infinite. There is no end.

So, I think we can compare and contrast a little. I hope this chart helps. Not only do kingdoms become "kindoms", but typical earthly realms are based on a love of power, ruling and controlling people. God’s transcendent covenantal "kindom" is based on the power of love and empowers people by sharing leadership gifts.

In earthly realms, marginalized people lose recognition and rights. In God’s realm, they’re recognized, accepted, and welcomed as part of the community. In earthly realms justice is getting revenge, getting even. In God’s realm, justice is fairness and equality for all.

In earthly realms, peace is the absence of war and acquired by showing strength and making threats. In God’s realm peace is acquired by faith and a desire for everyone’s well-being and taking steps to ensure the safety of all people planetwide.



In earthly realms swords are used for war and violence. In God’s realm, swords are turned into plowshares and spears are turned into pruning hooks.

  In our earthly realm, the meaning of Christ’s birth is ever-lessening and getting lost in secularism. The commercial Christmas. In God’s realm the meaning of Christ’s birth is ever-deepening providing life-long faith growth. Obviously, I could go on, but you get the point.

So, if we’re getting things ready, and we want to look in the right place for God’s realm, look on the spiritual, transcendent side of the chart. Look for the places where the birth of Christ means that God’s realm can touch someone’s life and make it new.

I think that means look into people’s lives where the good news of God can make a difference.  Look for someone whose life is need of the power of love. Do you know someone who is crying out for love? Christmas is for them. Look for someone on our prayer list patiently waiting for a medical condition to lighten up or the next steps in treatment.

Look for someone in a toxic work environment, or someone waiting patiently for a promotion or job change. While enduring toxicity. The kindom of God has come for them.  Look for someone who is standing in the food line waiting for their next meal. Look to see where the good news of God’s spiritual realm, which is always arriving, can make a difference. Where light needs to shine. The kindom of God has come for them. Christ is born for them.

 Look in the right places, and you will find something priceless, something more valuable, more meaningful, more life-giving than anything you can imagine.

  It’s like that extraordinary moment in September 2024, in Camden, ME when an estate sale took place for the belongings of an elderly woman. And believe it or not, an original Rembrandt painting, “Portrait of a Girl” was found in her attic. It sold for $1.4 million dollars.

Friends, God’s realm is incarnated at every level of life. Let’s look in the right places for it. God’s good news of the kindom becoming real happens because Christ’s birth happens. It speaks of having hope when hope seems hopeless.

And the amazing thing is, as we get things ready by looking in the right places, guess what? We’ll find out that God is looking for us! Giving us what our souls truly long for. That’s the beauty of Christ’s birth. It’s the start of God’s new covenantal realm becoming our reality.

 It comes in real time. We don’t have to wait for it. Jesus is the One we’re waiting for… what the world’s waiting for. It is now becoming clear. So, let’s celebrate! Amen.