Expectations

Today I am thinking about expectations,

What do you expect when you come to worship on Sunday morning?

What do you expect when you visit someone’s home?

Yesterday Ian and I went to a family gathering, we were expecting 30 people. One of Ian’s cousin had gone to the hall and set up a long table with 30 chairs … and 50 people turned up.

Many families have expectations about behaviour and involvement in activities.

The people of Israel had expectations of the Messiah, the one who would come and save them, just like Moses, but this time from the Romans rather than Pharaoh. The one who would be king, like David.

The people were waiting for the one who would rid them of the Romans and lead them as King and Shepherd.

John the Baptist is also waiting for the Messiah, and we hear in this passage the kind of Messiah he is looking for; the one who will come with judgement and condemnation.

Jesus does judge and condemn, but he condemns the self-righteous, not those who did not fit in the religious structures of the time.

I wonder what we expect Jesus to be like?

At times in my life I have been told about Jesus and God who has judged and condemned me

Who keeps track of my failings.

For many years I thought God only loved the me I could be, if I was better and like Jesus, not the person I am.

I know better now.

[picture 1]

When we look at the expectation we have of Jesus and then listen to John the Baptist calling for repentance and calling the religions leaders of the day ‘a bunch of snakes!’, I can understand why for some people judgement is a big part of their view of Jesus.

When we look at what Jesus did, and how Jesus lived and died, which we will do over the coming months, I wonder if the image we have will still be one where judgement predominates.

In many ways, John sounds like an Old Testament prophet,
repent,
go back to God,
live in ways that show God is in charge.

We have looked at some of the prophets in the past few months, and we have heard that God looks for justice,

For care for the poor, the widow, the traveller in your land, and

make sure justice was done.

‘He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

    and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

    and to walk humbly with your God?’ Micah 6:8 NRSV

When John called the Pharisees and other snakes, he tells them: Do something to show that you have really given up your sins.

John is saying here, that repentance is not just a word. Repentance leads to change and is shown by the fruit in our lives.

“What God really wants from all of us: to bear fruit. To live lives that bear fruit in this world, and in the world to come.”[i]

That will show

In the way we offer hospitality,

In the way we show care for people who are grieving

In the way we think about others before ourselves.

I am guessing many of you have heard the phrase, God has no grandchildren, in the reading we heard this morning, John reminds people that just because they can prove they are descendants of Abraham, doesn’t mean anything in the kingdom of heaven.

Then we get to the part where John and Jesus talk about baptism.

[picture 2]

While in the gospel of Luke, John is identified as a cousin of Jesus, Matthew makes no connection between them.
John sees something in Jesus
John recognises the one he has been waiting for, or at least hopes Jesus is the one, later we will read how, when in prison, John asks if Jesus really is the one that Israel has been waiting for.

John is baptising people in the Jordan, and Jesus asks to be baptised. John says no-way, you are more important than me.

Jesus talks about fulfilling righteousness, doing what is ethical.

Jesus choosing to be baptised, for me, is a wonderful sign of the incarnation. The divine became human, and experienced life as we do.[ii]

[picture 3] and as Jesus comes out of the water, this wonderful declaration that Jesus is beloved and pleasing to God.

[picture 4] here is an image of the story so far today, but I want us to also be aware of what happens next; being pronounced as God’s son and being loved, does not mean an easy life.

[picture 5] just after the section we heard today, Jesus goes into the wilderness for forty days - which sounds like Moses in the wilderness for forty years.

He is sustained by God

[picture 6]

So, what does this all have to do with us?

I wonder what we expect of Jesus.

Do we expect to be loved
cherished?

Forgiven?

Condemned?

Do we think God is impressed by-

our religious pedigree?

        Our Biblical knowledge

        Or our love for others

What will be condemned for?

        Swearing?

        Eating too much chocolate?

        Injustice and lack of mercy?

In Mathew 25 we hear about Jesus separating the nations, the sheep and goats, those who met Jesus in the people around them, and those who ignored Jesus in the people around them.

         

….

This morning we will baptise Siale, and in baptism God says

you are loved,
you are cherished,
you are mine.

God already loves Siale, already cherishes her. Baptism is a sign.

One thing John was railing against was people paying lip-service to faith.

Yes, I believe in God

Yes, I will follow Jesus

When their lives showed otherwise.

Now none of us is perfect,

In this passage I hear a call for us to be honest,

with ourselves and with God.

A call to be real about our lives.

About our priorities

How we treat people.

Baptism is a sign, leading to a life of love and service.

where is God challenging you today?

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[i] http://www.rickmorley.com/archives/2877?fbclid=IwAR34MXzLydFYpOGNHgbm9xbOXRyvfJVSTz6Qz5ymy3MQ4XgZeeZYCx6fCNg

[ii] http://johndobbs.com/you-brood-of-vipers/?fbclid=IwAR29uQQR1fOG9ht3VV2Ilv2aZHx04_f00LV6eUeAOlXS6v3-b7z7zFbqlVo

we need the whole chapter

Matthew 2

We are people of story, not for the sake of the story, or for entertainment, but because our story is bound up in God’s story. 

We have been reading about the birth of Jesus, from Matthews perspective.

What do we hear from the story today?

We often only hear about the first half of this story, the magi, coming from the east, bringing gifts, paying homage. 

How did you feel when you heard about the birth of a child, a grandchild or child of a close friend?

How did you feel when you first heard about the birth of Jesus?

For many of us, we have heard the story so often, we don’t remember the first time we heard it, and we have lost the sense of excitement or shock or emotion of first hearing about the birth of Jesus.

The wise men, or Magi or astronomers, come from the East. The East is where typically the enemies of Israel had come from: Assyria, Babylon and Persia.

And then, the Magi return by another way, and Herod was very angry.

The Greek word: ταράσσω [tarasow] translates as trouble, disturb, upset or terrify.[i]

Why would anyone be terrified at the birth of a child?

Why would anyone be disturbed by the birth of a child?

But Herod is disturbed and terrified, of this potential rival, even though he is only a young child.

And when Herod gets angry, he wreaks havoc on the local population, ordering the death of all the boys under 2 years of age.

Joseph is warned in a dream,
escapes to Egypt and saves his family.
But not everyone is so fortunate.

Notice the Old testament references here, from Hosea (11:1) and Jeremiah (31:15) [refers to an image https://www.stevethomason.net/studies/the-bible-bookshelf-archive/loj/matthew/matthew-page-2/]

There are some other connections that the first hearers of this gospel would have made.

·    The political leader, Herod, orders the death of all the children under two, which sounds like; Pharaoh ordering the male Hebrew babies to be killed. And who survives; Jesus and Moses.

·    Egypt was a place of slavery, but this was not the first time we have heard of someone going to Egypt to stay alive. Joseph was taken to Egypt, after his brothers decided not to kill him; then years later Joseph brings all the family to Egypt during a time of famine.
Now another Joseph, with Mary and Jesus travel to Egypt looking for safety.

·    Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, and that is thought to be the birth of the nation; what might this coming out of Egypt bring to birth?

·    Joseph is spoken to in dreams, we have heard of another Joseph who was considered a dreamer.

Matthew is saying: look out, something amazing is about to take place. This baby is something special, even more special than Moses. God is doing something new, be prepared to be challenged, to be surprised.

I wonder if we would read this passage differently if we lived in a place where fear haunts our daily living, places like Syria and Afghanistan and the Middle east. I wonder how someone like Bana Alabed would respond to this story.

Bana was a 7-year-old when she started tweeting, with her mother’s help. She lived in Aleppo in Syria, her best friend was killed by a bomb, and she wondered if people knew what was happening to her and her family and village.

You can now read her story in this book: Dear World A Syrian Girl’s story of war and plea for justice.

At the end she writes of trying to choose one wish as she blew out the birthday candles on her eight birthday:

“I want to never have to see or hear a bomb again.

I want to be able to go home to Aleppo one day

I want a baby sister.

I want to go to school and to university.

But most of all, I want people to stop fighting with bombs and guns in Syria and all over the world.

I want there to please be peace.

I am now eight years old, and this is my wish.”[ii]

Now, as in the time when Jesus was born, life is fragile.

Unfortunately, there are still Herods in our world; people who live by fear, people who use their power to oppress, people who do not value the life of every person.

What can we do? It is such a huge issue, and there are no easy answers.

What can we do?

We can listen to the stories of people like Bana

And we can tell the stories of people like Bana, and the that are not pleasant, of violence and oppression.

We can join with people in the Thursdays in Black Campaign

A campaign was inspired by:

The Mothers of the Disappeared in Buenos Aires, Argentina who on Thursdays protested at the Plaza de Mayo, against the disappearance of their children during the violent dictatorship.

The Women in Black in Israel and Palestine, who up to now protest against war and violence.

Women in Rwanda and Bosnia who were protesting against the use of rape as a weapon of war during the genocide.[iii]

We may not be able to change their lives, but we can do something to make sure their story is heard, that they are not forgotten.

And we can refuse to participate in the oppression of others.

The story we heard this morning is about

people searching, and finding, the Christ child.

travellers following a star,

the giving of gifts

the wickedness of jealousy

the trauma of tyranny

the hope of obedience

this story tells me, that Jesus was born into a world like ours, a world where life is a mix of happiness and heartache, hope and hurt.

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[i] p 179The Greek New Testament Aland et al, United Bible Societies

[ii] Alabed, Bana; Dear World a Syrian Girl’s story of war and plea for peace, p205

[iii] https://www.oikoumene.org/en/get-involved/thursdays-in-black