What happens when our expectations don’t get fulfilled? The answer is simple: disappointment sets in. I know a kid in my family who was thinking he had a deal to get a laptop this Christmas and then, for some reason, the deal fell through. There was major disappointment and it took quite a while until this child calmed down. As we all know, this is not a phenomenon that applies exclusively to children. Adults also know what it feels like when your expectations aren’t met. A few of you have had the following experience: you were almost assured that you were going to be hired for this job, everything looked good and promising, and then, for some inexplicable reason that no HR person will ever tell you, it fell through. And you were deeply disappointed.
How about when it’s our expectations about God that don’t go as we hoped?
Six years ago, Steve Johnson, then a wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills, voiced his surprise on Twitter when things didn’t turn out the way he hoped during a football game. After Johnson dropped a potentially game-winning touchdown pass during overtime, the Pittsburgh Steelers won the game 19-16. Afterwards, Johnson blamed God and tweeted: “I praise you 24/7!!! And this how you do me!!! You expect me to learn from this???How??? I’ll never forget this!! Ever!! Thx Tho.”
You have to love this story! Only wide receivers can blame God when they drop a ball. You know, it couldn’t possibly have been his fault! The Pittsburgh Steelers are playing against Buffalo again this afternoon, but Johnson has since moved on to San Diego, so there is not going to be a happy end and a miraculous catch that saves his faith six years later. I am telling this tongue and cheek of course, but let’s take it seriously for a moment.
If your theology says that praising God causes God to reward you by favoring your football team, then what if you drop the ball? Or what if your football team, excuse the expression, stinks…
Maybe Johnson should just be commended for the honesty of his prayer, for being in communication with God about his questions and doubts. As we know, worse things have been written on Twitter.
So, his expectations weren’t met. Either God wasn’t keeping God’s end of Steve Johnson’s deal, or Johnson’s world had just shrunk, with God operating outside the box he tried to fit God into. Or maybe God doesn’t like Buffalo enough. Oh no, let’s not go there…
Rather, let’s go to the gospel for this Sunday. There, John the Baptist’s world has shrunk quite literally. He was held in a prison cell. The prophet who earlier baptized Jesus, was now dependent on his jailor to bring him a cup of water. The authoritative preacher who once was sure of who Jesus was, now wondered what was going on. Dependent as he was on the reports of his support cast outside, he asked, “Is he really the one? Or was I wrong about this guy? This is not the Messiah I expected. Please check him out!”
Matthew writes, “When John heard what Jesus [the Messiah] was doing…” What Matthew could have written is, “When John heard what the Messiah was not doing …”
Because Jesus was not following the elder John’s blueprint for ministry! He was not adhering to John’s mission statement. John had told people that the axe was lying at the root and that the Messiah was coming to clear the spiritual forest of unworthy trees. He had a lot of fiery images: chaff being burnt, etc. He painted the picture of a strong man coming to fix the country. And now those expectations didn’t come true. This carpenter from Nazareth didn’t use his index finger for judgment. Instead he drew a line in the sand. He didn’t baptize anyone. He spent too much time at weddings and in the homes of rich tax collectors at least in John’s mind. At the same time, he, John, was sitting in prison and awaiting his beheading because he had dared to stand up to King Herod. It seemed to John that he was doing all the dirty work and getting killed for it, while Jesus had a good time. Can we blame him for being disappointed?
This is the Jesus he heard about: he pronounced forgiveness generously, healed the sick, served the poor, invited the obscure, accepted women as equals and seemed to have a soft heart for all sorts of weird people. And because of that, John asked, and the disciples asked, and we may ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for someone else?”
Each of us has expectations about the kind of Savior we want. And let’s face it: our expectations differ too. Some want a strict, maybe even a fire and brimstone Messiah who points out where everyone else is going wrong. Some want a Jesus who will champion your favorite cause: environmentalism, human rights, abortion! Some are happy with a gentle shepherd who will not demand anything of us, but only assure us that he loves us. Some may not want a Messiah at all but someone who tells us that we are great and that we can do no wrong.
Eventually though, our ideas of Jesus bump up against who the real Jesus is, and if we take him seriously, he will at times upset our expectations. He will ask, “Do you want to follow the living Christ, or do you want to worship your idea of who I should be? Do you want the thrill and hope and challenge of a life with the living Christ? Or merely the comfort of worshipping an idol of your own making?”
John wondered if Jesus was really the one in whom he should hope. So he went to Jesus to ask via his disciples. We are invited to do the same – go to Jesus with our questions, concerns, ideas. Formulate your questions. Study with other Christians and seekers. Take the risk of acting on your beliefs. Pray. Take communion. Worship. Praise him – even when you drop the ball.
Maybe Jesus wasn’t exactly what John was expecting: He brought fire – but it was the fire of the Holy Spirit. And he really let the unworthy have it – but what he let them have was grace. Grace upon grace.
May that kind of fire and that kind of energy reach you this morning and throughout your week and shape your expectations and sharpen your eyes and ears and hearts for the real deal: Jesus among us, the kingdom of God among us!
Amen.