The question this morning is a simple one, really. "Are you willing to trust God ... when the chips are down?" Take John the Baptizer. Not so long ago John had his faith figured out. He was a young preacher on the shores of the Jordan, filled with more answers than questions. He issues a "water call" to the people of Judea. A "water call" is somewhat akin to an "altar call," and John is sounding like Billy Graham some two-thousand years before Billy was a gleam in God's eye. John preaches, "If you want a relationship with Almighty God, I invite you to the water. Come, now, to the water. Put your sins behind you, be cleansed in the Jordan. Come. Leave your seats and come forward." And John hums a bar or two of "Just As I Am," and the people come in droves. The reputation of John is spreading through all the region of the Jordan. John's stock is high ... and he trusts the God who has called him to preach. "But John, are you willing to trust God ... when the chips are down?" For that was then and now is now and John has more questions than answers. It is the nature of faith that the older we get, the questions often outnumber the answers.

John is in jail. This man who loved the freedom of roaming the Jordan River Valley, calling people to repentance ... this man is now like a caged bird. It is not clear that he faces the death penalty ... but it is unlikely that he will ever again taste freedom. And one day John looks through the bars of his prison cell, and questions his disciples for what had to have been the tenth time. "Think! Think! Tell me again. Exactly what did Jesus say when you said to him 'Are you the one?'" Jacob lets out a deep sigh, shrugs his shoulders, and repeats again, for what must seem like the tenth time, as if he is talking to an uncomprehending two-year old. "Master, this is exactly what Jesus said, '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. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.'" And John says sadly, "Did Jesus not say anything about proclaiming freedom for the prisoners?" And Jacob replies, "No master; he said nothing about any prisoners."

About three years earlier, Jesus read the scripture lessons at worship ... in the synagogue of his own home town, Nazareth. He quoted from Isaiah: "The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners...." Jesus sat down, looked around, stood up once more and said, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." And maybe this is what John is hankering to hear. To have the Scripture fulfilled for him too. Release for the prisoners; a get-out-of-jail free card. If John had been blind, or deaf - that stuff about sight for the blind and the ears of the deaf being unstopped ... John would have grabbed hold of that. But no. It was the thing about the prisoners. Release for the prisoners. For John was in prison. Thus when the question is asked of Jesus, "Are you the one," and Jesus responds as he does, it seems reasonable to think he purposely does not mention the prisoner part. Why? Well just maybe Jesus wants John's faith to rest in God ... and not what God might do for John when the chips are down. This has something important to say to us about the nature of faith. About our willingness to trust God ... when the chips are down. When the underpinnings of your life are threatened - will you, do you - trust God?

I admit I can be arrogant at this point: "Sure, of course I'll trust God." What I mean by arrogant is this: my underpinnings have never been knocked out from under me. I've wobbled a few times ... but my life has been one of great tidings of comfort and joy to this point. If your life has been less than comfortable and joy-filled ... well, I for one could never judge the strength of your faith or the questioning of your faith in your moments of crises. Just as I would not question the questions of John as he languishes in that prison cell.

Did God fail John the Baptist? Did he John the Baptist, with all his questions and doubts, fail God? From my vantage point, having lived a life thus far filled with tidings of comfort and joy, I am not qualified to pass judgment on this man Jesus called, "My messenger." Once John had been so sure about things, filled with far more questions than answers. Once John stood knee-deep in the Jordan and pointed to Jesus, "Behold the Lamb of God." Now John has more answers than questions, but I have not walked in his shoes.

I only pray that when great adversity comes my way, as it likely shall, my faith will remain strong. I want to believe that when the chips are down I can still point to Jesus as my Ace in the hole. I draw strength from a variety of sources, including untold saints from this congregation. I know for a fact that the chips have been down for many of you ... and you have stayed in the game. And I have so much admiration for so many of you, as you have continued to trust Almighty God even when the chips were down.

Billy Graham is old and frail and has Parkinson's Disease. Does he complain that he's not getting a fair shake from God? Nope. From every public indication, his faith is as strong as it ever was - going all the way back to those early days and those dusty tents of the south, when he invited the people "come, come to the altar ... and give your life over to Jesus." And this morning, of course, I'm going to be issuing an altar call: come to the altar, just as you are. Come eat, drink ... and be cleansed."

Now, how did things end up for John the Baptist, in terms of this issue of faith? Well, we can't really say for sure. There is no record of that final day when John was taken from his cell for a last time. We don't know the depth of his faith ... the day the sword was poised to come down on his neck. Did this man who lived in faith ... die with hope? Did John think back to that day at the Jordan, the day he pointed and proclaimed: "Behold the Lamb of God!"? Or did John think back to a more recent day when his disciples came back to his cell and reported the response of Jesus to the question, "Are you the One?" The words of Jesus had nothing to do about proclaiming release for the prisoners ... but in the midst of news about blind who now see, and deaf who can now hear ... as Jesus talks about cleansed lepers and the lame who are now running marathons: in the midst of all this are these words, "Tell John the dead are raised."

Certainly, when the chips were down and the sword was raised over him ... the report that the dead are raised brought a measure of comfort to John. And to think only recently he might have thought the greatest thing of all was to be a freed prisoner. "The dead are raised ...." Jesus brings tidings of comfort and joy to John and to us all. "The dead are raised ...." so let those chips fall where they may.