Great Un-Expectations

Wrong Expectations

I speak often of knowing what to expect of God. It’s so important for us to get this right.

The number 1 cause of frustration in life is unfulfilled expectations. But if I’m expecting the wrong thing, then there’s no way to avoid getting frustrated. And, a life of constant frustration can be frustrating!

If you come to church on Sunday expecting the A/C to be working, and it isn’t, then, how do you feel?

Hot.

We are so dependent on tech today. If Jim shows up and something isn’t working, which is just about every Sunday, maybe we should adjust our expectations.

If you go out to start your car, and it doesn’t. I don’t want to be Debby Downer here and expect it not tow work b/c it does just about all the time. But, when it doesn’t!

If you expect your deck to be rebuilt in less than a year and half, and it isn’t. Should I have expected it to be completed last summer. Yeah.

When I go home, should I expect my wife to bow down to me and treat me like I’m here king?

If I do?

First of all, I’m not her king. Jesus is.

Second of all, just no.

If I expect the D-Backs to win the World Series, the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl, the Coyotes to win the Stanley Cup, and the Suns to win the NBA championship; and they don’t.

Maybe there are some areas where we should change our expectations. Lower them. Raise them. Change them.

Things break. On the hottest day of the year, the A/C goes down. It happens. We know a guy. We’ve called him. But, it’s been a holiday week and I’m sure we’re not the only ones whose A/C has gone kaput.

They say the heat does more to damage your car battery but the cold will finish it off. Have some jumper cables handy and buy the extended warrantee on the new battery.

And, about our expectations of God. My own life my expectations have evolved.

There was the Santa Claus era in my spiritual life. God gives good gifts to good boys and girls. Bad boys get coal in their stocking and make bad grades on college exams.

I learned God expected me to study and no amount of praying would change any wrong answer I wrote on a test.

This was the time period when I was hoping God was watching me go to church and have a quiet time during the week. Like, He’s the rewarder of good deeds. Do good things and you’ll get better things.

My mom struggled w/ this one. She swears she was taught this growing up. Be nice, don’t kill anybody, or kick the dog and nothing bad will happen to you. It messed her up when she realized she was married to a man who was not faithful to her. She blamed God.

God didn’t meet her expectations. But, maybe, my dad was the one who didn’t meet her expectations, not God. And she was mad at the wrong person.

What are we supposed to expect of whom?

There was the big Judge in the Sky era. When things are not going so well, I got the feeling God was up there waiting for me to make a mistake w/ a big stick in his hand just so he could whack me w/ it.

One false step and I’d be smote.

But, then, I messed up a lot and realized I didn’t get whacked or smote. Maybe that grace thing is real.

So, maybe we’re free to do anything. May grace abound all the more. But, then you come to that passage in Romans where Paul said, “No, you idiot.” If you’re married, you can’t act like you’re not married, or you won’t be married for long.”

So, if you’re saved, it makes no sense to act like you’re not. So, if you’re acting like you’re not, are your really. Faith alone. But belief impacts behavior. So, clean up your act.

I remember when, early in my Christian days, I believed my bible was a good luck charm. If I carried it around w/ me I’d have good luck. Have it on the front seat of car when I drove and in my back pack when I went to class.

But, then I realized it was only weighing down my back pack and my old car still broke down.

Maybe my bible isn’t a good luck charm at all, but it’s a workbook to be studied. Maybe I leaned there it wasn’t a charm and I didn’t need luck.

If I applied what I studied in it I would be blessed. That’s enough.

Expect a blessing? What’s a blessing anyway?

There’s a learning curve. And Jesus is patient w/ us as we learn what we can expect from Him. Jesus believed in us before we believed in Him. He died for us before we realized we needed it.

Once we accept it, we know enough to be saved. But then, it’s a lifetime of learning. The more we know and understand, the more are like Him, and the more accurate our expectations of Him.

In the meantime, what? As we learn, Jesus is patient w/ us. More patient than we deserve.

Jesus may not react the way you expect. He is big enough to handle your doubts, look past your mistakes, calm you when in a bind, take your insults, and prove He can save you.

Keep an open mind and let God ease your expectations to reduce your frustrations.

Unexpected Time & Place

Matthew 11:2–3 NIV

When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

This is JB. Jesus’s cousin. Leapt in his mother’s womb when a pregnant Mary came to visit. He baptized Jesus and introduced Him and the Lamb of God who had come to take away the sins of the world.

He’s been thrown in prison by Herod Antipas for calling him and his wife out for their immorality. Herod didn’t like his politics, didn’t like the excitement he stirred up among the ppl when he rallied them, and his wife didn’t like the public reaction to her b/c of his preaching.

What had he done, he divorced his wife so he could marry the wife of his brother, Philip. The scandal.

JB was doing right. Preaching high standards of morality. As a result, he was arrested and bound in prison.

I don’t know that John didn’t expect to be put in prison, bound and confined. We might. Who hasn’t questioned Jesus along the lines of, I’m doing the best I can to follow you, why is my life so hard right now? Why is this happening to me?

Did he expect and easier life in ministry? Hard to say.

But what we can say is John expected Jesus to show Himself as Messiah, judge the sins of the ppl, and overthrow the Roman government. Be the military Messiah. But, that’s the next time Jesus arrives.

What’s behind the question is, If I’m the one who came to prepare the way for the One, what am I doing still in prison? I can’t prepare anything right now. Should I be here in the first place? And, What’s taking so long? Timing!?

All of this swirling around in his mind. In a difficult situ, literally bound up, not free, and Jesus is not coming thru for him. His expectations of Jesus had led him to doubt if He really is the One who he’d introduced so long ago.

Now, JB, of all ppl, doubted if Jesus really was the one and could do what he said he could do. What’s he waiting for?

How would you expect Jesus to respond? Is it okay to Q God? Challenge Him. Doubt Him? Jesus is big enough to handle this and respond w/ grace.

Unexpected Response to Doubts

Matthew 11:4–6 NIV

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

Jesus didn’t directly answer his question. Nor, did He smite him on the spot. You may think, “How dare you question me and my timing! I’ll show you.” Big Judge in the sky.

No. Jesus calmed him. And He reassured him.

Jesus quoted Is. 35:5-6 then added his own amendment. JB, being the good, well-educated Jew that he was, would have been very familiar w/ Isaiah’s words describing what the One will do when He arrives.

Basically, Jesus is saying, you know what Isaiah wrote. You know what I’m doing. Then, Jesus’s edition, the dead are raised. Jesus, Himself raised 1 already that we know of. And, empowered the disciples to raise the dead when he sent them out 2x2 that I talked about last week.

The literally blind have been given their sight. And the spiritually blind can now see the truth.

The literally lame can walk. The spiritually lame are no long bound by their by what holds them down.

Leprosy was always an analogy of the effects of sin. So those who literally suffered from leprosy were cleansed of their disease. And, those whose bodies were rotting away due to sin were now given new life.

The literally deaf can now hear. And the spiritually deaf can now hear the truth and believe it.

The good news has been proclaimed to the poor. Not just the materially poor. Sermon on the Mt. Jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit. That is, those who recognize their spiritual poverty apart from Him.

These are the poor who are hearing the good news and are saved.

And, JB’s reps were witnesses that these events were happening. The proof was right in front of them. Jesus was fulfilling the predictions of Isaiah that he had written 750 years earlier.

You know what Isaiah wrote. You know what I’m doing. What do you think? Am I the One?

Then, again, another unexpected response. He offered a blessing to JB. He didn’t free him from his literal prison. But, he blessed him in it. Don’t stumble by doubting any more. You can be sure.

To be blessed, to have a deep sense of contentment, satisfaction in life, filled w/ hope. In prison? Really? Yes.

We know how this ends for JB. He’s freed from prison when his head is freed from his body. Herodias, wife of Herod, thru her daughter, asked for JB’s head on a platter. Herod reluctantly agreed.

JB is in heaven. The rest are not. Who got the best deal here?

John’s reps turn and leave to relay the encouraging message.

Jesus, then turns to the crowd, and addressed them about John.

What do you expect his opinion to be of John? What would he tell the crowd? Would he defend and offer and excuse for his apparent weakness? Is doubt a weakness?

No. His opinion of JB, that He shared w/ the ppl might be the most surprising part of this passage.

Unexpected Opinion of John

Would He be critical of John? Would He criticize him for being weak? No.

He’s not weak.

He is strong

Matthew 11:7 NIV

As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind?

Doubts don’t make you weak. You can be strong and still struggle.

Have you seen professional athletes in their weight room? They struggle to life massive amounts of weight. But the face the challenge and grow. Their muscles grow as they recover from the strain.

When we face challenging times in life, we struggle to get thru them. But, once we do, our spiritual muscles grows and they recover.

Jesus implied comparison of JB as one who stands strong when the winds of the opposition blow against him. He does not flop around like a reed, or blade of grass. But he stands tall and strong the face of the persecution.

John has always handled himself right. He has never done the easy thing, avoided the hard thing, if hard was the right things.

Right over comfort

Matthew 11:8 NIV

If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.

You may expect the servant of God to have the finest clothes and finest accommodations. Some preachers present that image. However, that’s heaven.

Here, JB is commended for not pursuing comfort but doing what’s right. He preached high standards of morality, for which he was imprisoned here.

He preached repentance. Own your sins, admit the things you do wrong that create a deficit between you and God.

Have faith in the Lamb of God to make that deficit up for you.

He never made his own comfort his priority. He willingly lived in the wilderness, a survivalist diet and camo clothes for the day. Camel hair. He blended in w/ the Sally. But Sally had 5 humps, so there’s that.

He wasn’t just any prophet. A prophet is someone, gifted and empowered by God, who preaches powerfully and the ppl respond.

Not just any prophet, but...

The Greatest Prophet

Matthew 11:9–11 NIV

Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Imagine speaking to a Jewish audience, about a guy who just doubted that Jesus is the Messiah, but he had a track record of powerful preaching and doing right. Now, he’s in jail for it.

The ppl were very familiar w/ the stories about Elijah and Elisha, Isaiah and Ezekiel, Malachi, Habakkuk, and the rest.

Jesus, unexpectedly, named JB as the greatest prophet in history. Of all the great ones who provoked Israel to respond faithfully to God and their preaching, this one in prison is the greatest of all.

What do you think Jesus thinks of you when you have doubts? You’re struggling w/ tough questions in tough situations.

You’ve worked hard to stand strong but now your knees are getting weak and it’s harder to stand and kneel down and face the times.

Still, in the midst of it all, Jesus extolled John and He will you, too.

There was a leadership void at that time. Those who portrayed themselves as leaders were not qualified nor able to lead the ppl to God.

And, those who were qualified and capable were criticized by those who weren’t.

This led Jesus to an unexpected comparison.

Unexpected Comparison

Matthew 11:16–19 NIV

“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: “ ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

Children, immature and uneducated, sitting in the marketplace acting as if they are qualified to lead, yet getting no results.

Children demand their own way. They are always in pursuit of what they want, not necessarily what’s right.

It is the rare exception of a child who would pick a vegetable over ice cream.

That’s why parents pick the menu.

Immature ppl do not, maybe cannot, consider consequence. A child will run into the street chasing a ball or piece of candy thrown from a 4th of July float in a parade w/ little thought of the danger.

That’s why parents, mature ppl, hold their hands and set rules against throwing things from floats, or at floats.

Mature ppl understand ppl will get hurt so we don’t do that.

When immature ppl lead, chaos reigns.

Isaiah 5:20 NIV

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

When Isaiah wrote, he warned Israel, if they did not change course, and return to God, then God would judge them. The first thing He would do would be remove the mature, wise leaders. That would leave immature, children to lead the nation.

Chaos would reign. They would live as if they believed evil to be good, and good evil. They would call dark, light; and light dark.

They would try to convince their followers that bitter was sweet, and sweet was bitter.

Hmmmm, sound familiar? It would seem our nation is now hurting due to the void left by the removal of the wise and mature leaders.

We are desperate for men and women to step up who will do the right things, no matter what it costs them politically.

Leadership is defined by those who follow. Managers manage status quo. Leaders lead for change. Mavericks are out on their own.

Too many managers and mavericks think they are leaders. The ppl prove otherwise. Who is following?

We are more capable than many give us credit to see the foolishness or wisdom of those who try.

Jesus wrapped this unexpected evaluation up by pointing out his critics. All those who couldn’t lead would do is criticize those who could.

They criticized JB b/c he didn’t eat or drink.

They criticized X b/c he did.

So, which is it? What kind of leader do you want? What kind of leadership do you expect?

Do you care what they eat or drink? Do you care that they have your best interests in mind above their own?

What king of leadership do you expect of Jesus? What kind of King, Master, Lord, Savior do you expect Him to be.

He is patient and powerful. Gracious and merciful. Loving and kind. A lion and a lamb.

Once we know enough, and believe enough to be saved, then we start the process of learning more about who this Jesus is has saved us.

This passage ought to blow some of your expectations of Him out of the water. Hold your expectations loosely. Let Jesus show you what you should hang on to.

Applications

Doubts

Doubt is not disbelief. Doubt is struggling in the gym w/ the weight of a tough situ. Answers you don’t have yet. Knowledge you haven’t learned, yet. Wisdom you haven’t gained, yet.

How do you expect to get these things w/out struggling thru situations that prove you can have them.

Don’t shy away from your doubts. Jesus is big enough to handle your tough questions.

Don’t expect Him to reject you for asking them. You might be the greatest you in history, and Jesus will point that to you.

He hasn’t rejected you. You don’t reject you, or Jesus, for the doubts and questions you.

Keep asking, keep seeking answers. You will find them.

Timing

JB’s main issue w/ Jesus was his timing. What are you waiting for?

Can you relate?

If you expect Jesus to work on your schedule, maybe you should adjust that expectation.

If it hasn’t happened, it does not mean in won’t or He can’t.

It still may. Or, at least something better will.

Patience.

JB was doing everything he was called to do regardless of his circumstance.

He was freed, eventually.

Jesus did prove He is the Messiah.

Expect God work on His time. And expect it to work out good for you.

Blessed

JB was blessed even while he was bound.

Jesus will free you up even while you’re in a tight spot.

He can bless you even when it would seem there’s no way to be content or satisfied w/ where you are.

Jesus will bless you. Stand strong in your family, in you health, in your finances, and every other area of your life.

Be blessed. Find contentment in whatever situ you’re in.

There’s a learning curve. And Jesus is patient w/ us as we learn what we can expect from Him. Jesus believed in us before we believed in Him. He died for us before we realized we needed it.

Once we accept it, we know enough to be saved. But then, it’s a lifetime of learning. The more we know and understand, the more are like Him, and the more accurate our expectations of Him.

In the meantime, what? As we learn, Jesus is patient w/ us. More patient than we deserve.

Jesus may not react the way you expect. He is big enough to handle your doubts, look past your mistakes, calm you when in a bind, take your insults, and prove He can save you.

Keep an open mind and let God ease your expectations to reduce your frustrations.