Disappointed!

In just over a week, Logan turns 18. Becoming an adult, all the challenges coming, all the pressure, graduating high school, college applications, changing jobs...

It’s, like… a lot!

It would be easy to let all that crush you. The “big lie” is that one has to live up to everyone else’s expectations.

Expectations about who you’re supposed to be, how you’re supposed to perform, what you will and won’t accomplish, all the things.

Logan, here’s the truth. Early 18th birthday advice: it isn’t about living up to everyone else’s expectations. Only mine.

… just kidding. Only God’s! Only God… and he is full of grace and love and truth.

Messianic Expectations

Last week we looked at all these different prophecies of Jesus. Hundreds of years, millennia even, expectation upon expectation about the coming “Anointed One,” the Messiah.

And devout scholars, people who devoted their lives to the Scripture, Super Messiah fans.

Or… “Christ” is Greek for “Messiah” which is Hebrew for “Anointed Ones...” So people who were super fans of the Messiah were “Super Christians” before Christmas was a thing.

Through careful Bible study, they had expectations, reasonable ones, for Jesus. Let’s take one of those well-loved verses:

Isaiah 9:6–7 ESV

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Let’s look at some of the expectations right in there. If you were reading that prophecy and you heard the Messiah had been born, what would you expect?

Wonderfulness, Might, those are all good. Peace… well, we are occupied by Rome, so maybe some kind of peace there...

But certainly he will be taking over the government, right? Restoring the throne of David, ruling with justice and righteousness. And given the occupation, we’ve got to go to war with Rome, right?

And Israel is brewing with rebellion. Within 40 years of Jesus’ death the nation does rebel… and gets put down hard. Think of Jesus being born in the decades before the Revolutionary War.

There were powerful expectations of who Jesus would be and what He would do. And so here’s the tragic bit:

Most people missed Jesus. The vast majority of people, even devout scholars, “super Christians...” they missed Jesus. They missed God with us. They missed it. And why?

There expectations about what God would do were so certain, so powerful, so committed, that they told God he was wrong when he showed up to move. They didn’t recognize him, they couldn’t recognize him.

We get beautiful stories of those who did.

We could spend some time, as Wayne reminded me last week, looking at some of those who got to see and marvel. Simeon, righteous and devout, God told him he wouldn’t die before seeing “YHWH’s Christ.” And he recognized Jesus as Mary and Joseph brought him into the temple. Or the prophetess Anna, a devoted widow, saw Jesus and started spreading the news to all.

But today, let’s read again the story of Joseph - the best step-Dad ever

Best Step-Dad Ever

Joseph has some expectations. Expectations about how life is going to go. We know that Mary must be awesome. Blessed above all women! Chosen by God to bear the Messiah.

So how stoked must Joseph have been to be her betrothed? Engaged to be married to Mary. And then he has this dream:

Matthew 1:18–25 (ESV)

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Hear the disappointment tucked in there. All the anticipation and excitement about his new bride… now replaced by betrayal and maybe anger… But Joseph tries to do the kindest thing he can and end the betrothal quietly.

20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,

25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

There’s some additional disappointment there, I’m sure.

Talk about a turn in life’s plan. From “I’m going to mary Mary, start a family...” to “raise a kid conceived from the Holy Spirit.”

What? Weird… and even if Joseph believes, who else is going to believe that?

And sudden expectations of all the Messiah stuff and “God with us” and I’m going to change God’s diapers???

It’s enough of a life turn, that, notice this, Joseph doesn’t go home. He stays in Bethlehem for two years. I don’t think that was the plan before the whole census thing and birth, the assumption would be to go back “home” to Galilee. Instead they stay in Bethlehem until the wise men, and they meet Herod, and Herod freaks out and kills all the children under two. From estimates of the size of Bethlehem, probably 6-10 kids, but God spares Jesus by throwing Joseph another curveball:

Matthew 2:13–15 ESV

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Oh… go move to Africa!!! And they do for something like 3 years. So if Jesus is nearly 2, now he’s nearly 5, those are some formative years growing up in Egypt, in Northern Africa, then Herod dies and time to move again:

Matthew 2:19–23 ESV

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Back to Galilee. Nazareth, a small worker town, near where they were building a new Roman style city, Sepphoris. It’s like living in the suburbs where Joseph would likely go be a “general contractor”, not just a carpenter, likely working mostly with stone, off to work everyday building the city. Likely taking Jesus on to teach his trade.

In all of that, we would understand if Joseph put his foot down. What about his expectations of what life should look like. What God should do?

What is reasonable for God to ask of him?

How many times do I have to move to a different continent? How am I going to find work to feed my family?

What about Joseph’s expectations of Messiah? I don’t think it involved a manger… much less colic and ear infections and spit up.

Can you imagine if Joseph had said “Nope, that’s not how it works, God!” This isn’t my plan, so it isn’t happening!

This isn’t the way it’s supposed to work, so I’m out!

We might laugh… but that’s the way we tend to approach our lives… even when it comes to the “God things.” Even when it comes to the Savior.

Hear this again: Most people missed Jesus because of their expectations.

Because they were looking for what they wanted, they missed what God was actually doing.

Shakespeare said it this way:

Expectation is the root of all heartache

So… simple solution. Have no expectations.

That’s a direct contradiction of last week’s sermon… and all the prophecy God gave concerning the coming Messiah. Thousands of years of building anticipation. The answer is not cynicism and disconnect.

Humble Expectations

Back to this guy.

Of course I had all sorts of ideas and excitement around what this little punk could be. What would he look like, act like? Would he still love knights fighting dragons or would he grow out of that?

The excitement and anticipation is all part of my love for the boy. There is no cynicism there, eager anticipation and expectation.

BUT:

Can you imagine, if I was so focused on what my ideas of this little guy should be that I missed out on the awesomeness of who God is shaping this fine young man to be? He was cuter before, sure…

But God has a calling on Logan’s life, He has a hold of him, and He knows his Savior, His Messiah… and God is working in him and through him. And we wait with eager anticipation, humble expectation, to see all that God will do through him.

I think this is Joseph’s secret. Humble Expectation.

I’m sure Joseph had a thousand expectations about what God would do. But when God shows up, what does Joseph say?

“Yes, Lord.”

To Bethlehem! Yes, Lord.

Step-Dad to the Messiah. Yes, Lord.

Off to Africa. Yes, Lord.

Back to Asia. Yes, Lord.

And because Joseph kept saying “Yes” to God, he got the best seat in the house for at least the first 12 years of Jesus’ life, I hope it was more. Maybe the first few decades, seeing Jesus grow into the man of God revealed.

Humble Expectations

As we approach Christmas, let’s wait in humble expectation.

We want our eyes wide open to see what God has done, and what God is doing now.

God is with us… in our family. With our kids, our friends, our parents. Our messed up relationships. He is already at work, already working out salvation among us.

Are my eyes set on my plans and ideas… are they open to see what He is doing.

Are my dreams open, open enough to hear him calling me to Africa… or to be bold in my next encounter on the bus.

God is at work in our church… are we ready to see it? Are my ideas and expectations of “church” driving, or am I ready for God to do a new thing? A humbler, harder thing?

No one saw Christmas coming. That wasn’t the story anyone was telling before it happened. But for those brave enough, humble enough, honest enough, to see what God is doing… they got to see our Savior, God with us, born on Christmas day.

It isn’t like when I get the wrong thing for my wife for Christmas. I’m dumb. I make mistakes. God doesn’t. When what He gives is different than what we put on our Christmas list, on our prayer list… we should get curious. We should get excited. We lean forward to see and behold what God has done.

Let us not miss what God is doing among us. What God is doing in us.

Come, let us behold him. Christ, the Lord.

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