Fourth Sunday of Lent: Failed Expectations

On this fourth Sunday of Lent, my text today is from the 11^th chapter of Matthew’s gospel: “Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” (Matthew 11:2-3)

The context of the passage in Matthew finds John the Baptist in a Roman prison, sharing a filthy cell with rats, vermin, and an overwhelming odor of feces and urine. And he had every reason to believe his life hung on a proverbial thread. It is no wonder he sent word to Jesus, asking Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”

Now, please remember, Jesus and John were cousins. We learn of their familial relationship in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel. So, it would be reasonable for John to EXPECT his miracle-working relative – His Messiah – to come to his rescue.

And John’s expectation is a really important point with direct application to our lives today. Many people live lives filled with a heartrending mixture of sadness, loneliness, and unmet expectations. We hoped for comfort, but we suffered – and still suffer – adversity. We expected close relationships with family as we grew older but ended up emotionally distant – even when family lives nearby. We thought God would answer our prayers – and sometimes He did; But at other times He did not.

And so, the question before us this afternoon: What are our expectations of Jesus? And – more important – what will we do if He doesn’t meet those expectations, just as He did not meet the expectations of many in that first century.

Luke tells of the time the Lord visited His hometown of Nazareth. He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and read this text from the prophet, Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19) He then closed the book and said, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

Those in the synagogue had heard of the miraculous works He’d done in other cities and towns. Why should they not expect Him to do the same in Nazareth, His boyhood home? After all, they were all His neighbors. He’d been to their homes, and they’d been to His. He played boyhood games with their children. Why shouldn’t they expect Him to heal their sick and hurting as He’d done for others? But they were about to learn, as we’ve all learned in life – God doesn’t always do what we want Him to do or expect Him to do.

Listen to the Lord’s response: “There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian" (Luke 4:25-27).

 

In other words, God does what He chooses, when He chooses, and for whom He chooses. And no one – not even Jesus’ neighbors and childhood friends – has a right to expect or demand He do otherwise. As He said through the prophet Isaiah many centuries earlier: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

If you remember the story, Jesus’ remark infuriated them. In a flood of rage, they drove Him out of the town and tried to throw Him over a nearby cliff. And don’t think for a moment that people have changed over the centuries.

 

Many still nurse bitterness toward God over withered dreams and crushed hopes. They rail against Him because an accident took someone they love, or their marriage crumbled, or their child wasn’t healed, or no one visits or calls, or they are in chronic pain, or – add your own disappointments.

 

And so, some who once walked with the Lord became disillusioned with Him because He had not met some of their even most desperate expectations.  And since they are unable to physically throw the Lord over a cliff, they instead throw away their faith. I’ve known more than a few in the past who did that. I suspect many of you do, also.

Listen, it’s a danger we all face, and we face it quite often during our lives as we wonder why He says no when we want so much for Him to say yes. Why does He work miracles for others, but not for us?

In my fifty-three years of walking with Christ, I’ve come to recognize these questions are truly critical questions that impact our faith – and I don’t think God will let any of us gloss over them. Our ability to mature in Christ DEPENDS on how we answer those questions, because each time we don’t receive what we ask, each time we get knocked to the ground, each time Jesus doesn’t meet our expectations, we face a choice, like those in the Nazareth synagogue faced – will we throw our faith over the cliff, or will we will persevere in our faith that God will work grace into our circumstances – regardless of how things look or feel at the present.

 

Several years ago, I talked with a woman who told me of her deep longing for a family of her own. It was something she’d always wanted, even from the time she was a little girl. But she never married and never had children. And now, because of her age, she thinks those blessings are things she will never enjoy. Then she asked, “Why am I denied something that others get as a matter of course? I think my life has been completely wasted.”

 

Who hasn’t faced a similar grief, a similar circumstance of unrealized expectation and hope? It’s true that when we’re drowning in depression it’s difficult to think rationally about our circumstances. But if we DID think clearly, we’d realize God works all things for the good of those who love Him. He works all things to draw us close and closer to Himself.

 

The Father sent His beloved Son to die that excruciating death for each of us for the express purpose of DRAWING us to Himself. There is nothing that God desires more than that we come closer to Him. The apostle Paul speaks of this very thing in Romans 8, but before we look at that text, it will be helpful to get a glimpse of the severe struggles he himself had to face – and that repeatedly.

 

Listen to what he wrote to the Christians at Corinth: (2 Corinthians 4:8-10) “[W]e are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”

 

Earlier in that same letter he also wrote: (2 Corinthians 1:8b-9) “We were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.”

 

It’s against this backdrop, this reminder of Paul’s suffering, that makes his words in Romans 8 more powerful: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things . . . . For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Paul didn’t say what I am about to say, but he could just as easily added another paragraph:  “Shall loneliness, or broken hearts, shattered dreams, destroyed hopes, unreconciled families, debilitating illness, or the death of those we love – NONE of these thing will be able to separate us from the God who loves us so much that He sacrificed His Son to die in our place so that we might share our eternity with Him.”

Hear it again – what can separate us from God’s love? What could ever happen to us that God designed to push us AWAY from Him? In all the circumstances of life –the good, the bad, the ugly – in all the circumstance of life, God’s design and desire is for us to draw close to Him, even to become conformed to the image of His Son. (See Romans 8:28-39)

 

Let’s circle back to John the Baptist for a moment. John had his own set of expectations and was disappointed when his Messiah didn’t fulfill those expectations. And the message the Lord sent back to him is a message Christ also sends to you and to me: “Yes, John – I AM the Expected One. I AM the resurrection and the life. I Am the Messiah. And I love you, even though I do not meet your expectations.”

 

Listen! Please. Life isn’t like some feel-good Hollywood movie. That’s because sin has infected and infested every facet of life. And as a result of that hard reality, we can either carry our cross, or we can fling it to the ground and go our own way. We can take the chalice of suffering God has given us, or we can spill the contents on the dirt and mix our own drink instead. May God help us to not do something we will terribly regret later.

 

So now let’s look at this theme of failed expectations from another angle. What can we do when our trust in God is just not up to some of the desperate challenges we face? What ought we do when we believe God has given us too much to bear?

 

I know what it’s like to have feeble faith that’s not up to the challenges when life’s storms thrash our little boat up and down and side to side until we feel like we are going to throw up. What can we do when our faith falters? What SHOULD we do when our faith falters?

 

It’s this: If we can’t trust Him like we want to and like we should, if our emotions overrule our faith – there is still yet one thing we can do: We can still OBEY Him. We can still obey what we know are His commandments.

 

Anyone can trust God when life floats along on warm, gentle waters. But what about when God is deafeningly silent and it seems heaven is ignoring you? Obedience is an act of the Will. It’s about what we CHOOSE to do when heaven seems brass, and we think God has turned His back on us?

 

In one hour, Job lost his ten children and his vast wealth. A short time later he lost his health to excruciating boils all over his body. But I am glad his story is in Scripture because it can encourage each of us. Listen to what he said in the midst of his agonies: “It is still my consolation, and I rejoice in unsparing pain, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.” And in the thirteenth chapter he cried out: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” Job 6:10 and 13:15a

 

If Job could obey God despite his multiple tragedies – then so can we.

 

 Nancy and I know a woman living a nightmare from which she cannot seem to awaken. She recently suffered a double-mastectomy for breast cancer – and afterward learned all the cancer cells had not been removed, so she not only faced more painful and invasive procedures but also rounds of nauseating treatments. Compounding her horrible situation are the mounting financial pressures and her stark loneliness as she fights this battle nearly all alone.

 

But listen to what she told us several weeks ago: “I know better than to ask why I'm going through all of this, because as Job the Righteous learned when he questioned God, I simply don't have the standing or credentials to question. It's not up to me to understand why; It's up to me to trust him and to keep stepping forward one foot at a time with the light from his lantern that only gives me enough [light] to see the next step. It's not about understanding Him, it's about trusting Him. No matter what.”

 

In 1970 Simon and Garfunkel wrote Bridge Over Troubled Water. Here are some of the lyrics: When you're weary, feeling small, when tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all. I'm on your side, oh, when times get rough and friends just can't be found - Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down; Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.

Who is a bridge over troubled waters like Jesus? Who but He ever laid down His life to span the tumultuous gulf between where we were, where we are, and where we can be? To paraphrase what Jesus told us: “In this world you will have troubled waters. But be of good cheer – I have overcome the storms.”  (paraphrased John 16:33)

 

During the Last Supper, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials.” (Luke 22:28) He knew what was about to happen to Him in just a few short hours. I’m certain His voice was rich with the emotions of gratefulness, even of thanksgiving for their faithfulness.

 

But one day when I read that passage, my mind shifted direction. I imagined Jesus looking at His 21st century disciples – you and me and all who still follow Him – I imagined Him looking at us and saying with equal emotion: “You are those who have stood by Me in your trials.”

 

Please don’t miss the subtle – but important – change: “You are those who have stood by me in YOUR trials.”

I don't think it harms that Scripture if we for a moment alter that one word. Think for a moment of the emotional and physical traumas you’ve faced in life – and through which you have persevered. Those trials aren’t anything to be glossed over, are they? They represent your life, your blood, your sweat, and your tears.

 

At any time, you could have given up. You could have walked away. But you didn’t – and even if you did at one time walk away – you’ve returned. Thanks be to God – you’ve returned.

Our journeys are almost over. And here’s the thing: When we come at last to that celestial City, we know we have God’s unchanging promise – a promise which can never fail for the true child of God – we have God’s promise, the promise that rightly fuels our biblically-based expectation of being received into His eternal Home.

The season of Lent should be more than just a time of preparation for Easter Sunday. It should be a reminder that life is not about us and OUR expectations of Him; Life – around the calendar – must be about Christ, and HIS expectations of us. It’s about serving Him, living for Him, obeying His commandments. As the psalmist wrote: “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name give glory.” (Psalm 115:1)