Zephaniah 3:14-20; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 7:18-28

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We all have expectations for how we think people should act. It’s not just normal everyday behavior, but expectations for those who take on very specific roles. For example, we expect firefighters to be fit and strong in order to put out fires and rescue people. We expect teachers to be kind and caring for the nurturing of children. We expect pastors to be honest and upright to fulfill the role given to them. Because of the nature of certain roles, we expect certain types of people to fill them.

However, people don’t always live up to our expectations. This isn’t always a bad thing. Perhaps, our expectations are unrealistic or completely misguided. Or maybe certain people have found a different way to accomplish the same task. Or there’s those cases where indeed, someone isn’t fit for the role they’re given and it causes a scandal. Scandals often happen when expectations and reality don’t match. 

In our Gospel lesson, John the Baptist has been imprisoned by Herod. He had been preaching for so long about the coming Messiah and even gets the opportunity to point people to him directly. But now, all the expectations he had for Jesus aren’t matching up with Jesus’ ministry... and he begins to doubt. “And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Luke 7:19. All Israel expected the Messiah to come in power and might. They expected Jesus to come with an army to set them free. However, Jesus isn’t doing that. So, they’re left wondering, is Jesus truly the promised Messiah, or have we been fooled again?

What do we expect from Jesus and God? It’s no secret that many people are offended by the Church and the teachings of Jesus. Many are offended that the church says marriage is between one man and one woman. Many are offended that we say babies shouldn’t be killed in the womb. Many are offended when we say that Jesus is the only way to heaven. No, we shouldn’t expect that God will give us a million dollars. We shouldn’t expect that God will empty our life of all pain and suffering now. We shouldn’t expect that Jesus will only say those things that we agree with. This is why Jesus says, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me,” Luke 7:23. 

But this is what we call the very scandal of the Gospel. Everyone expected a savior to be a military leader. They all expected triumph to look like a heavy-weight boxing match and the victor to be standing tall over his fallen opponent. People still expect that God will work through strength, wealth, and power to bring his kingdom into our world. Yet, the scandal is that he doesn’t. Rather, God chose to send Jesus in the weakness of the flesh. God sends Jesus to be born as a little babe. God sends Jesus to win the victory, not by slaying his opponent, but by dying on the cross. Jesus is the messiah who scandalizes us because he comes not with power and might, but in weakness and lowly ways. Let us then not be scandalized when God doesn’t heal us, but rather uses our weakness, illnesses, and lowliness to glorify his name! Blessed is the one who isn’t scandalized by Jesus, but sees in the weakness of the cross, the true victory over Satan, death, and the grave!

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, we implore You to hear our prayers and to lighten the darkness of our hearts by Your gracious visitation; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen