Every time we encounter change in our lives there are expectations, written and unwritten. It is the unwritten ones that can get us into trouble. The written ones, the ones that are directly communicated can definitely make us feel uncomfortable, but if they are put on the table at least we know where each other is at. It is much easier to deal with expectations that are communicated.
I can be an exuberant person with many ideas. Unfortunately, that can put people off as I may not have fully stated my expectations. I want to state that I will make suggestions and there will be few times that I expect those suggestions to happen. I give you permission to ask me what my expectations are. This is the only way that we will be able to get to know each other and work together.
In our Gospel lesson today people had many expectations and they were not met. The church and governmental leaders had expectations to maintain the status quo as it benefited them. Those who oversaw the keeping of the law were the Pharisees. Jesus addressed them in our Gospel lesson.
Jesus compared this generation to children playing in the marketplace and calling to one another, we played the flute for you, and you didn’t dance, we wailed, and you did not mourn. Could it be that the expectation was not stated? Even if it was stated, one group was asking the other to do what they wanted them to do. This of course erases the ability to be themselves.
After giving this example, Jesus got into the meat of the matter, the people’s criticism of neither Jesus nor John meeting the Pharisees’s expectations. John the Baptist was a strange person compared to others, clothed in camel’s hair, a leather belt around his waist and he ate grasshoppers and wild honey. Today we may think he is a homeless person. The question is could we see him as a prophet, a proclaimer of God’s word?
The Pharisees in the Gospel lesson could not see how someone like John could be proclaiming God’s word, let alone be prophetic. They said he must have a demon. Because he did not meet their expectations, they wanted to discredit him. They did not like his message and could not accept that it was from God and that John was only a vessel.
Jesus did not make the cut either. He ate and drank too much with the wrong people. They said “Look, he is to be the chosen one, but he is really just a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Neither John nor Jesus met the Pharisee’s expectations.
Jesus goes on to say that wisdom is vindicated by here deeds. This is an allusion to Proverbs 24:12-14
12 if you say, “Look, we didn’t know what they were doing”—
does not the one who weighs the heart see the truth?
Does not the one who keeps watch over your soul know what happened?
And won’t everyone be paid according to their deeds? 13 My child, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb will be sweet to your taste.
14 Know that wisdom is sweet to your soul; find it and you will find a future,
and your hope will be forever.
For me this says that the sweetness of wisdom for our souls is being able to not have expectations for everyone else, except those that are discussed and agreed upon. It is easy for us to think that we have all the wisdom we need and our culture does teach that. Even though we think what would be best, doesn’t mean everyone else thinks that way.
The Pharisees thought they knew how to keep the law and John and Jesus were not meeting their expectations in keeping the law. The even more difficult part for the Pharisees is that people were following John and Jesus, thus John and Jesus were leading people astray according to the Pharisees. Jesus was trying to tell them that wisdom doesn’t come from placing expectations on other people unless they were mutually agreed upon.
When people do not follow through on things the way we want them to, we get frustrated and burdened. Jesus tries to tell the Pharisees, take a time out and reassess how and who God works through. It is not about our individual expectations being met. At least in the church, we are a community and wisdom about God can come through many different people. I believe sometimes we have to step back and realize that we are not responsible for everything.
Jesus says to us today: 28 If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. 29 Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest. 30 This yoke is easy to bear, and this burden is light.
Moving is tiring and filled with a lot to do. I have found some things just happen and I need to adjust. I can have all of the expectations for others, even I believe that we have agreed upon them, it may not be set up to happen that way. The only thing I can do, that I have learned, is to try and let it go. Allow God in Jesus Christ to take it off of my shoulders. Unpacking was taken off of my shoulders by so many of you. Thank you.
As we begin our work together, communication of expectations is extremely important for us to do the best ministry that we are called to do together. I have a great deal of experience in working with many different kinds of people. We are all different and have different stories. Where we have come from and what we are experiencing now makes a difference in how we react or respond to people.
God in Jesus Christ can work through every person in this room and any human being. Our challenge is not to place our expectations on how God in Jesus Christ works through people and may be speaking to us. Part of putting this yoke on is letting God in Jesus do the work of communicating with us without us getting in the way.
There will be times that each of us has to step back and listen to each other and communicate expectations. Acknowledge our anxiety and turn it back to God in Jesus Christ. You will hear me say time and time again if it is not on paper it doesn’t exist. When we are able to step back and be open to God in Jesus Christ is when we will find rest for our souls.
Just as the Pharisees had their expectations of keeping the law, we also have our thoughts on how things should be done. This is normal and human. In our Gospel Lesson today, Jesus and John took the brunt of the Pharisees criticism’s in trying to discredit them.
I will be the first to tell you that I do not have all of the answers. My questions and suggestions are not mandates, but they may sound challenging and create anxiety. This is when I need to hear from you. To do the work that we are called to do together in Jesus’ name we need to share what we are feeling. Then we need to give each other space to process.
I believe that God has new things for Faith to do, our challenge is to communicate with each other our expectations and discuss them. The burden is light when we are all under God in Jesus Christ’s yoke working together for their purpose.