January 9th 2022
From expectation to realisation to manifestation.
The people had obviously heard about John the Baptist. You don’t get excited and filled with expectation over something you have never heard of. They are all up to speed about this kooky guy in the wilderness and what’s more they had spread the message. They had spoken about him. It would have been fun to catch part of this gossip circle and this made me think.
Do we gossip the gospel? Do we hear the Master being talked about, do we talk about him to others?
Do we point others to Jesus? And like St. John the Baptist…do we know that it has never been about us, that it has always about Him?
Are we good at waiting for him to manifest himself?
They talked about what John the baptist wore; camel hair coat and two tone leather belt. What every fashionable prophet will be wearing this summer. They chattered about what he ate; wild locusts and honey. Maybe not a health pyramid, a rainbow on a plate, but all the basic five food groups represented there. And they muttered the things John the baptist said.
In Matthew and Mark much of what John the baptist said was ticking people off and telling them to get their stuff together, for there was hope even when people get it wrong.
But in Luke’s gospel things are slightly different. Much of John the baptist’s tirade is omitted. Instead Luke has John the Baptist do three things.
First, John the Baptist tells the people that he is not the messiah. He quashes that rumour. “I baptise you with water; but one who is more powerful than I am is coming;”
So John knows his place. He understands the pecking order and that Jesus is at the top.
Or put it another way. John knows that it is not about Him. It is always about the one who comes after him.
Secondly, John the Baptist points the people to the Messiah.
Third he baptises Jesus.
From expectation to realisation to manifestation.
Did you notice that the people are “filled with expectation”.
They are very hopeful. Brimful of expectation. And its all the people. It’s not just a minority or handful of people. All the people are questioning, hoping, expecting, that at last John the Baptist might be … you know… Him.. the Messiah.
Some things to take away from all of this.
Expectations are all sweet and dandy but there is a dark side to them.
Think for a moment of the expectations that we put on others and you wouldn’t have to think too far back to some of the people in our sporting circles. Folk who we look up to and who had spectacular falls from grace. And while their actions might be less than desirable I am open to be convinced that the media is helpful in healing what are obviously painful dilemmas.
There are expectations that others put on us. Some subtle, some not so subtle, some appropriate, some perhaps misguided.
There are the expectations that God places on us and these are gentle. All He asks is that we be the people He has called us to be. Just to use the gifts He has generously given to His glory and not forget the source. To rejoice in ourselves which changes our perception of ourselves and others and therefore must change our actions and words.
There are the expectations that we place on God. We expect him to sort out the Middle east, find a cure for COVID and heal great aunt Flo’s lumbago all by breakfast time.
But by far the most crushing expectations are the ones we place upon ourselves and this is not what God wants at all. It is detrimental to ourselves, to others and in the end, the inevitable disappointment must send us spiralling downwards to hell. The place where hope and love are absent.
Another type of expectation to have a think about
Are we filled with expectation when we are tootling along to church?
Time was when I couldn’t wait and my shoes would be shiny and my heart a flutter and I understood and was thrilled that in an hour’s time simple bread would become the body of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. That a change would occur. An objective real and tangible change.
Things are different now.
Like a marriage, an old friend who you know is always reliable and trustworthy. Someone who is delighted to see you, who will receive you warmly and welcome because you know that he is just as pleased to see you as you are to see him.
Perhaps this year we should unburden ourselves and others of expectations. Perhaps 2022 will be the year we realise that we don’t have to live up to our own expectations or the expectations that others put on us. We should understand that all we have to do is be the people God has called us to be, the people that we always have been, then His kingdom will have come. Then our wildest expectations will have been realised.
Then the Messiah will manifest himself in the desert of our souls.
From expectation to realisation to manifestation.