When Jesus Doesn't Measure Up

Is Jesus living up to your expectations?

When I was a young boy, my family only went on two out of state vacations.

One was to Daytona Beach and the other was to Panama City Beach.

The red-neck riviera.

Heaven on the Gulf of Mexico.

Only it rained.

And it rained a lot.

The good news was just a block of so away was an arcade where they had Skee-Ball.

I was new to Skee-Ball, but it was my jam.

It didn’t take me but a minute and I owned Skee-Ball.

Ya’ll know what I’m talking about right.

Game has a ramp that you roll a croquet size ball up.

There’s a lip that tosses the ball into the air and it lands in one of the circles and you score points.

It’s built like a target you shoot at.

Outer ring is 10 points, each ring closer to the center is 10 more points.

And the center ring - the bull’s eye, was 50 points.

And I was a madman for that bull’s eye.

If I was rolling the ball, I was dropping those bull’s eyes.

And the best part it, after each game, the machine would spit out these little blue tickets.

Now I was rockin that Skee Ball game and those machines just kept spittin’ out long, loonnggg, rolls of those little blue tickets.

It rained for days - we played for days.

Blue tickets just kept coming.

Every time we had to go, I’d stop by the redemption counter and imagine what it would be like to own a new bike.

Or a new bow and arrow - or a model rocket.

Every day I’d cram another fist full of tickets in my pockets.

On the last day, I couldn’t wait to go shopping.

I was a Skee-Ball Beast.

I marched to the redemption counter with wild-eyed expectations of a poor boy about to strike it rich.

I didn’t have enough for the bike - but that was ok.

The bow and arrow was out of reach too - along with the model rocket.

In fact, all of things I had laid in bed dreaming about.

They were all out of my reach.

Finally, in the area where I could shop, I saw a set of steak knives I thought my mom might want.

So I surrendered my war chest of little blue tickets which probably cost dad $50 in quarters.

For a $5 set of steak knives.

Not exactly what I expected - but they seemed to make mom happy, so there was that.

Have you ever been there?

The party you dreamed about for months turned out to be a drudgery.

The date you’d been dreaming of for weeks turned into an evening that couldn’t be over fast enough.

The job that promised you everything, delivered you nothing?

A faith that made so much sense when you were young, but it just doesn’t seem to make that much sense any more.

Welcome to the world of John the Baptist.

If you have your Bibles with you, and I hope you do, please turn to Matthew 11:2-11.

And while you are going there - let me give you the background.

And there’s a lot of back ground.

400 years before John the Baptist was born, a man named Malachi wrote this:

Malachi 3:1 ESV

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

John’s daddy was priest - he had studied Malachi all of his life.

He knew what it said - he knew what it meant.

Like every good Jew, he was waiting for the messenger that Malachi wrote about to come and tell them that God was ready.

The Messiah was here.

So John’s daddy, like everyone else, waited.

John’s mama and daddy might have been good at a lot of things, but making babies wasn’t one of them.

They were getting a bit old - babies weren’t even on their agenda anymore.

But when it was John’s daddy’s turn to serve in the temple, an angel came to him with unexpected news.

This angel told John’s daddy -

Luke 1:13-17 “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.””

Of course John’s dad is a lot like us - this isn’t the way things happen in the real world.

So the angel made him unable to speak until the baby was born because he didn’t believe that God could do whatever God wanted to do.

But when the baby is born, everyone wanted to name him after his dad, but mom said no.

So they asked dad - and he said no.

He wrote that his name will be John - and immediately he could talk again.

But now listen to what he said about his kid - it’s a lot, so be ready.

Luke 1:67-78 “And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high”

Luke 1:79-80 “to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

What do you think about that - can you imagine, John grew up hearing that.

“Son, the Lord has chosen you.”

“Son, the Lord said you are Elijah who prepares the way for the Messiah.”

“Son, the Lord has chosen you to usher in the New Jerusalem.”

“Son, when Messiah comes, all of our enemies will be conquered.

“Son, no one will ever be scared ever again.”

“And you, my son, my son, you’ll be right there - in the thick of all of it.”

“I hope I live to see it, John.”

“What a day that will be.”

Let me ask you - what were your parent’s expectations of you?

How did those expectations influence you?

Did they tell you that you’d be the first in your family to go to college?

That you’d be the one to carry on the family name - that they expected you to take what they gave you and make it even more?”

Or did they tell you that you were worthless.

Or dumb.

Or fat.

What did those expectations do to you?

Or what about your faith?

All of those years that mom and dad drug you to Sunday School.

People telling you that Jesus will take care of your every need.

And then you got older, and life slammed into you head on.

And all of a sudden, nothing really seemed to make sense.

How did those expectations work in your head?

See, all of his life, John heard about what great things he was going to do.

And thing’s worked out according to plan for a while.

His mama and daddy raised him well.

He was an extremely devout man.

He moved out into the woods and he started preaching.

And the people loved to hear him.

They came from everywhere to hear him preach.

They were convicted of their sins.

They repented and he baptized them.

Hundreds - maybe thousands.

Just like he had been told would happen.

But then one day, Jesus came and everything changed.

The crowds started following Jesus.

People still came to hear John - but not like before.

And then there was Herod Antipas.

He was the king of the area where John was preaching.

Herod was evil - he decided he loved his brother’s wife, so he married her - bet that made Thanksgiving Dinner awkward.

John called him out on it.

So he threw John in one of his worst prisons.

And that confused John.

Prison wasn’t in the prophecy.

This was not how he expected Jesus to handle things.

Remember John’s dad’s prophecy, “to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear..?”

Surely, if John was right about Jesus being the Messiah, Jesus wouldn’t allow such an evil man like Herod to ruin his life - would he?

Jesus was not measuring up to John’s expectations.

Now you are caught up.

Hear now the Word of the Lord from Matthew 11:2-11

Matthew 11:2–11 ESV

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, “ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

I used to ask, how could John doubt?

Now that I’ve thought about it, I wonder how could John not doubt?

John might have well asked, “I know I’m the one to announce the Messiah is here.

“But if you are him, why aren’t you doing something?”

Why aren’t you doing something?

Have you ever prayed that prayer?

How did Jesus answer you?

Jesus answered John with scripture.

800 years before Jesus was born, the Lord’s prophet Isaiah said this:

Isaiah 35:5–6 ESV

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;

Remember, John is a minister born of a minister.

He knew that scripture.

He knew it was about the Messiah.

He knew Jesus was doing those very things.

So he knew who Jesus was.

Jesus was delivering two messages.

First, yes, I am the one you’ve been waiting on, and,

Two, what you’ve been expecting is not what I am doing.

You and I have been there.

What’s going on is not what we expected.

And how did we handle it?

Just like John.

Why Lord, why? Why aren’t you doing something.

Why won’t you heal mama?

Why won’t you heal my wife? my husband? my child?

Why aren’t you doing something?

And nothing happens until nothing can happen.

And people tell you, “They are in a better place,”

“They aren’t suffering anymore.”

“They are fishing with Uncle Arthur in heaven right now.”

But still you wonder, I prayed for healing, and I didn’t see it.

Jesus didn’t measure up.

The problem isn’t Jesus though.

It’s what we’ve been led to believe about Jesus.

Suffering is the heart of Christianity.

And you can say, “if that’s the case, I don’t want any part of that,” but that doesn’t make sense.

If you are alive, you are going to suffer.

Doesn’t matter who you are.

Mike Mason wrote the book, “The Gospel According to Job.”

A good friend gave me a copy.

I was re-reading part of it the other week and this stopped me cold.

“…There are no easy answers to suffering---that there is, for example, no such thing as getting a grip on oneself or pulling oneself up by the bootstraps. The only bootstrap in the Christian life is the cross. Sometimes laying hold of the cross can be comforting; but other times it is like picking up a snake.”

That’s the line that got me - “Sometimes laying hold of the cross is like picking up a snake.”

Someone said what I was thinking.

Sometimes following Jesus isn’t easy.

Especially when we don’t understand what He’s doing.

Following Jesus requires abandoning our expectations of Him - die to self, remember that?

We expect - we were told, if we do the right thing, then it all work out like we want it to.

But that’s not what the Lord promised.

He said He’d never leave us or forsake us.

He also said we’d be hated, misunderstood - some of us killed.

And sometimes we are called on to do things that we just don’t understand why we have to.

But for the cross, for Jesus, we do it.

John the Baptist died in that jail.

And his only comfort was he knew he had done the right thing for the right person, exactly as he was supposed to do.

And sometimes, that’s our only comfort.

John had a serious season of doubt - but Jesus didn’t condemn him.

In fact, Jesus said, Matthew 11:11 “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.”

“Of all of the people who have ever been born, there is no one greater than John the Baptist.”

This man who doubted for a season, was hailed by the Son of God as the greatest man who had ever lived.

And what did he do?

What he was called to do - even though he didn’t understand why.

And it didn’t particularly make a whole lot of sense.

Next week is Christmas Day.

It’s going to be a special morning - we’ve planned a very special service.

You have permission to bring the kids in their jammies.

You can come casual as well.

For some of you it’s going to be a difficult day.

It will be your first Christmas without someone, or maybe your second or third.

It might be the kid’s year with the ex

Or maybe they will be doing the road race, half a day with mom, half a day with dad

And as far as you are concerned, no one really has enough time with anyone.

It’s not the way you planned your life.

It’s not what you expected at all.

And for some, this will be the greatest Christmas ever.

It will feel like the Christmas to end all Christmases with everything everyone could ever want in a Christmas.

Regardless whether it feels like a snake or like comfort, it all comes from the same place for the Christian.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing to sustain us in our suffering and the only thing to feed us in our joy.

One of my favorite benedictions goes like this:

Ephesians 3:20–21 ESV

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

He is able to do far more than we ask or even think.

So, when you feel like Jesus isn’t measuring up, ask Jesus, “Are you really the one?”

And then listen for His answer.

He’s real good about answering.

Let us pray.

Lord’s Supper

I imagine being one of Jesus 12 disciples.

One minute you are sitting in the grass listening to Jesus speak and your heart is about to burst.

The next minute Jesus is saying something that absolutely makes no sense at all.

We often look at them like they were dorks, but really, they weren’t.

When Jesus made up His mind to go to Jerusalem for, what would be the last time

His disciples knew it wouldn’t end well.

They even said, “Let’s go with him so we can all die together.”

Jesus wasn’t measuring up.

He was doing things that didn’t make sense to them and yet, they kept following

Because they knew, He is God’s Son.

He knows what He is doing.

When they got to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover, even the passover was different:

Luke 22:14–20 ESV

And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

The words rang in their ears.

“Before I suffer...”

“I will not eat it until...”

“This is my body...”

“This is my blood.”

Crazy talk.

But Jesus knew what He was doing - He knew where He was going and He knew what they needed.

Ever since that day, we’ve celebrated the Lord’s Supper.

Jesus took a very common thing - eating and drinking - and he made it special.

“Do this in remembrance of me.”

Every time you eat and drink, remember me.

And Paul adds, 1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Until He comes.

People have been saying Jesus is coming again all of my life.

And hundreds of thousands of people say it’s not real.

Because it doesn’t make sense.

And really, in the physical world we live it, it doesn’t.

And yet it does.

Because, brothers and sisters, Jesus knows what He is doing.

And one day He will return.

And what a day of rejoicing that will be.

Pray with me:

Dear Jesus,

So many times we don’t understand what you are doing.

But because we know you are Lord, we trust you.

It’s been a hard year for many.

And Lord, it’s been a hard 3 years for all of us.

We’re tired and worn out.

And we need a Savior.

Thank you for being exactly what we need.

Thank you for not hesitating when the road got unbearable.

Thank you for your compassion.

Thank you for your immeasurable patience.

Thank you for loving us so much.

Thank you for my friends, my family and my church.

Thank you for teaching us to pray: (would everyone join me in the Lord’s prayer)

Our Father, which art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy Name.

Thy Kingdom come.

Thy will be done.

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom

And the power

And the glory forever.

Amen

I ask that you all exit your pews to the left and proceed to the Lord’s Table in front of you to be served.

As the lines get shorter, please feel free to move to a table with no line if you wish.

When you receive the bread and the juice, you may eat it immediately.

As you walk to the table - think of your brothers and sisters in this room.

Remember as many hardships and joys about them as you can.

And remember, it was our Jesus who saw them through it all.

Please come forward.