Sermon-
December 19, 2004
C.
Douglas Simmons, D.Min.
Expectations
Did you ever get in your car, turn the key and have nothing
happen? Do you remember how that
felt? Did you ever have the power
go off in the middle of a television program you were really enjoying? Do you remember
how that felt? Did you ever go to the refrigerator,
looking for a particular thing, like milk, butter, or some lunchmeat, only to
find it wasn't there?
Do you
remember how that felt?
What I’m asking you to do
and to remember is in regard to the way expectations can influence our
lives. Expectations are among the
most powerfully significant emotions that we humans have. They can lead to
new avenues of
exploration, relationship and research and, when they aren't fulfilled, they can
be a source of frustration, anger and dispute, sometimes leading to dire
consequences.
In this morning's Gospel
from Matthew there is a passage that has the impetus for this line of thought
on expectations – “When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before
they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph,
being a righteous
man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her
quietly. But just when he had
resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph,
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child
conceived in her from the Holy Spirit.’
When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel
of the Lord commanded
him: he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she
had borne a son.”
The situation
to which this passage refers is the expectation of the
people of Judah regarding the coming of the long awaited and prophesied
Messiah, or Christ. One of the
great ironies of the New Testament has to do with what and how the expected
Messiah was to come and be, and the reality of that Messiah when he came. In fact the difference
between what the
people expected and the way Jesus turned out to be created such a difficulty
that it was a major factor in his crucifixion, such are the powers of
expectations whether fulfilled or disappointed.
In regard to
the impending birth of this child imagine the perplexity
of Joseph. I wonder how many times
he had to answer embarrassing questions about why he had married so quickly,
and then the people would do the arithmetic and know that Mary was pregnant
before she married Joseph.
Perhaps
they had expected Joseph, described as being a righteous man, to dismiss her
for her supposed indiscretion, but he didn’t. And then there was Mary, pregnant out of wedlock, not a
happy circumstance for a female in those days. This placed both husband and wife in the marginalized portion
of their population.
And this
whole episode was to be a harbinger of what was to come. Their son was to
become marginalized
because he sought out and included in God’s circle of Love many of the
marginalized people of his society.
The passage from Matthew
that we read this morning is illustrative of the difference between the two
ways in which we can deal with expectation. We can deal with matters as current social norms would have
us do, in other words do the expected, or we can quietly ponder and pray before
acting to see if there is something more to the matter then first meets the
eye. The old saying “act in haste
repent at leisure” is the exact opposite of what Joseph did. In his actions
we see a man surrender
to what he understands the will of God to be rather than what society around him
expects him to do that takes courage and faith of a more than normal measure.
Now, let us turn our focus
to John the Baptist and the people both of whom were in expectation of a
Messiah. The difference between
John and the people lay primarily in the focus of their expectancy. John's expectations
were deeply rooted
in a commitment to serving God.
The people's expectations were deeply rooted in
a desire to be delivered
from their distress.
John's focus
was informed by his understanding of life and its source, and the same is true
for the people. However, John saw
life as something for which he was created, rather than something that was
created for him. His understanding
was centered on the Creator of life and how his life could serve that
Creator. The people's
understanding was the reverse.
They essentially saw life as something that was
created for them and
therefore saw the Creator of life as a kind of caretaker, who might need to be
propitiated once in a while but who was here to make sure that we humans would
get bailed out when things got too bad.
The people viewed the injustices and hardships
of life as punishments,
issued by God to malefactors.
The
other, ordinary difficulties of life tended to be viewed as impositions about
which they could do little or nothing, and God as someone who would either
deliver one or allow one to perish, according to one's merit. There is a fine
balance between the
view of John and that of the people.
Life does have a lot of injustices and hardships.
It always has and it
always will. However, John did not
see life as essentially created for humanity's pleasure, rather for their
service of the Creator.
The
people, on the other hand, appear to have been convinced that life is created
for God to guarantee and work for human welfare and wellbeing.
Both John and the people
expected a Messiah, however their interpretations of what the Messiah would do
and how he would do it were quite different. John had the profound hope that God would deliver Judah from
sin and its oppression and did not place any restrictions on the method. The people also
wished release from
oppression and from foreign occupation and expected that the Messiah would lead
a revolution that would overthrow Rome and re-establish Judah as a power to be
reckoned with. The expectations
that the vast majority of the people held were correct in their reliance upon
God and grossly wide of the mark in their interpretation of how that reliance
would be fulfilled. Jesus showed
them how, through his acting out of God’s love. The people, seeing what he did, wanted more of the same
without any participation on their part, except to be recipients of blessings
from God. The religious leaders
did not want to support the work of Jesus; they saw it as a threat to their
carefully and tightly structured codes of religious behavior.
Expectations, we all have
them, we all need them, and we can all misuse them. Jesus was not crucified because he was an evildoer or
because he was a criminal, he was crucified because he did not fulfill the
expectations his people had for the Messiah. How many times, I wonder, have disappointed and errant
expectations led to personal agony and injustice? More than likely far too many times,
How many times, I wonder,
do we miss or smother the spirit of God within ourselves because of the ways in
which we expect God to act in our lives and in the world? If the truth be
known, probably far too
many times. And how many times
have we dealt with our families, friends and others in ways that were unhelpful
because of expectations that were not fulfilled or disappointed?
There is an implicit invitation to each of us in this passage from
Matthew regarding the ways in which we deal with God in relation to our
expectations. The Messiah came and
still comes into human lives.
God's love and grace still operate on behalf of
humanity, all of
humanity, even those we consider to be part of the marginalized portion of our
society in this day and time.
How
will the work of the Messiah be known through us? How will God's grace be made manifest in us and through
us? The answer is the same now as
it was when the Messiah first came.
In ways we don't expect.
Through people we don't expect it to happen through,
by means we never
dreamed of. The experience will
hopefully not lead to as many crucifixions as it will to blessings. That is the reason
we have a gospel to
teach us, and the living spirit of God to guide us. So let us look and listen carefully, preparing ourselves to
behold what God sends to us so that we may respond in a manner that befits the
Creator's intent. The attitude
that we are called to adopt is exemplified in John the Baptist. As this excerpt
from the Letter
of James says, “But be doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who deceive
themselves.” The deception of
which James speaks is in expecting God to do it all, whatever “all” may
represent, and forget that God put us here to be co-creator’s with the
Divine. Read the promises of the
Baptismal Covenant that we all recite at every Baptism, they are filled with
calls to act, to read, learn, pray, persevere, repent, proclaim, serve, strive
and to respect the dignity of every human being. These are not passive words they are promises to work with
God on behalf of God’s world and God’s creatures, of all kinds and sizes and
orientations. To expect of life
anything different is to be setting ourselves against what we find Jesus
exemplifying in his life and ministry.
