Dec 15, 2013
Matt. 11:2-11
Prayer
We’re still waiting in the
waiting room waiting for baby to be born. Remember the image I asked you to
have? That of pregnant women waiting in a doctor’s waiting room. It’s starting
to get uncomfortable and… ladies I’m sure you can’t wait for this to be done
with. You’re in the final weeks and you want nothing more for it to be all over
with. Perhaps you’re getting moody… and impatient… right guys… we’re ready too
for it to be over with. Soon… and very soon this baby will be born… then a
bunch of new expectations will arrive.
We’ve been reflecting this
Advent season on waiting. There’s something about waiting that’s both exciting and
agitating. Like being pregnant and waiting for your child to be born. It’s
exciting when you first learn your going to have a baby. But as time goes and
the baby grows it gets… well… uncomfortable to say the least.
We don’t like waiting… we are
an impatient people… Our attitude, at least as Americans is… “we want it and we
want it now.”
We’ve reflected on the past
weeks about being surprised by God’s love and we’ve been encouraged to make
preparations for what God is going to do next. And today our reflection will
focus on Expectations.
Our gospel story today is a
great illustration about expectations. John the Baptist is in jail and he has
heard about what Jesus is doing. And he’s curious if Jesus is the one Messiah
all the prophets have spoken of. I find this puzzling… didn’t John baptize
Jesus? Didn’t he see and hear the Spirit of the Lord come upon Jesus? Didn’t
John say all those things about the one coming that’s more powerful than he… So
much so that he wasn’t worthy enough to tie his shoes… YES… it’s all in chapter
3.
So… I find this rather
curious… that now in chapter 11… he wants to know if Jesus is indeed the
Messiah. Really John… you see... the Jewish people had been waiting and
expecting God to do something. That God would send them a Messiah to rule the
kingdom. They’re expecting God to punish the Romans and return the land back to
them. They’re expecting God to fix their situation. That’s why John sends some
of his followers to find out… "Jesus are you the one? Or are we to continue the wait?"
Perhaps, John wants to really know if all his work was worth the effort. Jesus says, "tell John… all the things I’m
doing"… that should be proof enough.
What are your expectations
this Advent season? This Christmas
season? Maybe you like me find that your expectations are often not met. Every
Christmas as a child I waited and expected my dad to somehow recognize me and
my efforts at trying to please him.
Each and
every Christmas I was disappointed.
Each and
every Christmas I would try harder… and each year nothing but disappointment.
Each year I
hoped Christmas would be better for me, but it never turned out that way.
For many years I struggled…
though it’s not as much a struggle as it once was, but nonetheless I see myself and
others who have such great expectations about trying to satisfy others only to
be disappointed. Each year we dream for it to be different this year. And each year
we wait with the expectation of acknowledgement.
I believe we sometimes see
God in this manner. We work hard and try
to meet such lofty expectations of what we think God wants from us. Or, we
think we have met the threshold, only to be our own disappointment because we
think we’ve failed and that God is the disappointed one. I thought this. I
thought I was good… did what I was told… sacrificed… did the right things. Those
were the expectations. I thought I met them. You see… Jesus says in our story…
what sort of person did you go out to see? What did he look like? What did you
expect? Did he look like a prophet? What were your expectations? What did you
think John would be like? Well Jesus… I thought…_______________.
Then Jesus says that John the
Baptist is the greatest person ever born on the earth… think about that!! Today... when you look at John the
Baptist you find a man we would dismiss as a lunatic and a vagrant. John
wouldn’t be on most people’s guest list for Christmas dinner. The Jewish people
were expecting a king, and someone who would bring back the glory days of the
kingdom. Jesus says, “John is the best person ever born on the earth!”
Expectation disappointment for the Jews again. Furthermore… What does that say
to us about Jesus?
We live our lives with such
lofty expectations and that we must do so much to garner love and acceptance
that we often miss the one expectation of God’s love. And that love my friends…
is that God loves us no matter what. Even when we break God’s heart, when we
disappoint, when we fail to be the kinds of persons God wants us to be…God
expects us to love Him, and when we don’t, God still loves us nonetheless. It doesn't make sense does it!
As we enter this final week
before Christmas lets lower the expectations we seem to place on ourselves and
others and just love others and ourselves no matter what happens. Let’s forget about trying to please others and just love them
nonetheless. Let’s just try and open the door of our hearts and let God and
others in…
NO EXPECTATIONS necessary.
No comments:
Post a Comment