Great Expectations

"And because of their unbelief, he couldn't do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them."  (Mark 6:5)

   Where did the time go?  As I get older, I'm finding myself asking that question more and more. It's a bit disturbing to be honest with you.  My  father always talked about how quickly time went by and I used to roll my eyes when he said it.  Never in front of him mind you, I was smarter than that.

  However, sometimes the question is pretty legitimate.  All of my kids are back in school. 2 are in college and one begins her sophomore year in High School. And the summer has, prepare to roll your eyes, flown by.  Yes , I know, but it's a legitimate thought,. School does begin much earlier today than it ever did when I was in school.  

  So some of the speed is the result of the school calendar year.  But it's also a result of the power of expectation.  The sense of expectation carries with it  several abilities. It can make us happy when we are expecting a joyous event, such as a wedding or the birth of a baby.  It can fill us with dread when we are expecting, or anticipating an unpleasant event such as a surgery or a confrontation.

  Expectation even has h power to effect time itself. When we are expecting a happy event expectation seems to slow time down. Remember what is was like a as a child waiting for Christmas? Or for those unpleasant events time seems to speed up "It's time for my wisdom teeth to be pulled already?"  Expectation  can even do both at the same time. The anticipation of the birth of a child can seem both long, as we wait to see this blessed child face to face, and simultaneously fast as we wonder who we will ever get everything ready before the child joins us.

  Expectation can even effect God Himself. We began this blog with one of the most singular moments in the lie of Christ.  And when you consider the life Jesus lived, that's saying something.  Jesus returns to His hometown and he is unable to perform many miracles. Why? Mark says it is because of the unbelief of the people. You can her the whispers as Jesus walks through town. "Isn't that little Jesus, Joseph's boy?" "I remember chasing him out of my olive trees when he was a kid, such a climber." "Who does he think he is saying He is the Messiah? Why I've paid Him just three years ago to fix my mother's front steps"  And because they couldn't get past this Jesus could not perform many miracles.

  There are a couple of things we see here. God has chosen to bind i His ability to work in our lives to our expectations.  The people didn't expect Jesus to do much and so He didn't.  We easily recognize how this works on the other end. We see over and over in the Gospels that Jesus does miracles because the people believe He can. The woman with the issue of blood, the blind man, the lepers, the paralyzed man, The centurion.  Their level of expectation, or faith was high and Jesus works a great miracle in their lives. But this Scripture tells us it also works in reverse.  Little expectation, little miracles.

  However it also shows us that even low expectations cannot completely stop Jesus. He does perform some healing. We can never completely stop God's plan or purpose for the world. But we can hamper it in our own lives.  Think of it as a straw. You can easily draw air in through it.  Now crimp it closed. You'll still get some air but perhaps not enough to sustain you. 

  It seems today that many of us, certainly many churches, are sucking the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit through a crimped straw. We don't expect God to do anything. We lower our expectations. And w get exactly what we expect.  Little power, few life changes certainly very few miracles.

  What might happen if you began to expect great things from God? What might happen in church next Sunday if you expected The holy Spirit was going to be poured out on the congregation? What might happen if you expected Jesus to get intimately involved in your relationships? To show up at work or school?  What might happen if we began to have some Great Expectations?  Let's find out, shall we? 

In Christ,

Rev. Dr. Brian Jones <><