Sunday, December 20, 2009

Expecting

December 20, 2009 - 4th Sunday in Advent

"Expecting" - Luke 1:39-45

Ginger and I sit and wonder sometimes at the bundle that we hold in our hands. We were saying just the other day that, a year ago, we weren’t even daring to imagine that the following Christmas would include this gift of life. I mean, weren’t we just on the couch, watching Ginger’s belly roll and move just the other day, watching and waiting for this?

And not just us, but our family and you, our church family, also waited in excitement and joy-filled anticipating the miracle that God was knitting together. For many, expecting a child is a beautiful, exciting, wonder-filled thing.

But it’s not so for everyone.

Having a healthy child makes one keenly aware of those who, for whatever reason, do not get the opportunity. For others, inconvenience or shame covers up the joy of expecting life. Tragically, others choose to rid themselves of it at all costs, like the woman in Campbell County last week.

Believe it or not, Mary was part of this latter category. We like to think that expecting a baby is always a beautiful thing, but sometimes, it’s the beginning of a difficult season. Essentially, Mary finds out that she, an unwed teenager, is pregnant.

Mary’s obedience to God’s plan (as laid out by the angel) is a tremendous demonstration of raw, unfettered faith and trust in the Lord, to be sure! She is an example of godly trust that we should all aspire to live up to.

But can you imagine going to your mother and telling her, “No really, Mom, it’s the Holy Spirit that got me pregnant!”? Who’s going to buy that? Mary’s faithfulness doesn’t change what other people are bound to think about "her and that Joseph boy". “She was always so sweet, that Mary. A shame she threw it away in a reckless moment of passion.” No one else saw or heard the angel! And they’re supposed to take the word of a young woman, whose gender wasn’t allowed to testify in a court hearing.

There was no joyful expectation here. No dreaming up names (esp. since the Holy Spirit already gave her one!) No playful wondering who he’ll look like more. She’s been faithful, yes! And we know she’ll be rewarded for it. But still, bewilderment, fear and a maelstrom of other emotions are sure to have been at work in this young woman. The only thing she could expect in her "expecting" was criticism, shame and disappointment from her community.

Today's Gospel story says she got her stuff together and “hurried” off to hide with her family out in the country-side of Judah. Indeed, she needed to get out of the way of prying eyes before the baby-bump becomes visible and the gossip chain gets going. Perhaps this is as much to protect Joseph’s reputation as anything.

And yet, something very UN-expected happens. Upon meeting Elizabeth (also pregnant in her advanced years by divine intervention) is flooded with the Holy Spirit. And John (who is to become the Baptist), jumps in recognition of the Savior of the World (just as he'll jump for joy when he sees Jesus while preaching in the wilderness).

In the last situation either would have expected, these two women share a moment of pure joy. It says:

“In a loud voice she exclaimed,
‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!’”

This was no small “yippee”. This was an indecent, eye-turning overflow of celebration, with jumping and shouting and glee!

Elizabeth, overcome, is surprised herself at this amazing event:

“But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

In other words, “Why am I the lucky one?”

A season of uncertainty and fear are turned to joy and dancing. Mary did not get what she expected.

We should look to these women for an important lesson for joy in these holy days. For Advent and Christmas is meant to be a time of joyful expectation at the arrival of Life, Jesus our Savior.

But for many, we've come to expect something else: perhaps the same old family arguments, the same old stress and weariness at the holiday schedule of events and shopping. Some people (even folks who do not believe in God) expect Christmas to have a magical quality to transform hearts and minds. But maybe you've seen one too many Christmases come and go to believe that any real transformation could take place. You know better than to expect much at all.

An expectation is an expression of "how things are supposed to be." Disappointment comes when we expect something to happen but it doesn’t. Marriages are sabotaged because one person expects things from another (“You’re supposed to do this for me! You're supposed to make me happy!”). Christmases get ruined because it is "supposed to be family time" without open hostility. And when things are not "how they're supposed to be", we get hurt and disappointment. Mary, worried and uncertain, finds no joy in God's plan (although she makes faithfulness more important than her feelings, which is the crucial first step toward joy!)

The problem is, certain expectations can cut-off joy before it has a chance to bloom. However, joy is always found when we are part of God's plan for the world. But even when we act faithfully, we can cut ourselves off from the joy He has for us by our expectations about how He is supposed to act ("God, why didn't you do it more quickly!) or in what form that joy is supposed to come ("God, why didn't you give me with what I asked for!). But there is no ultimate joy apart from participating in God's plan and having the humility to receive the joy in whatever form it comes. For Mary and Elizabeth,being part of God's plan began with some uncertainty, but suddenly, the Holy Spirit explodes on the scene and transforms the situation into a moment of unrestrained joy. Mary even breaks into song upon hearing Elizabeth's cry of joy! For the community around Mary, there would certainly have been severe disapproval at her situation. However, we know that it was all a glorious and beautiful part of God’s plan to bring salvation to the world.

What if we let go of our expectations? Of how we think people need to treat us? Of what we think we're owed by others? Of the kind of gift we deserve? What if we let go of our idea of “how things are supposed to be”, in our relationship with God, in our marriages, in our Christmas season and simply strive to live as God has called us to live; to invite the Holy Spirit to guide us to the will of God and be surprised by joy when it comes? (Because it will come!)

In the search for joy, we can sabotage the joy God has for us by expecting something else. The believers of Jesus' day were expecting a glorious king to free them from Roman tyranny. What they got was a baby boy, born to back-woods Galileans; born to an unwed teenage mother; who is revealed to far-off Magi and smelly shepherds instead of the religious establishment; a humble carpenter who doesn't stir up a revolution but tells people to repent and dedicate themselves to serving the poor, naked, hungry and each other. And because Jesus wasn't what they expected, they killed him. And in so doing, they cut themselves off from God's plan and God's joy.

Friends, God wants joy for you. Real, explosive, unrestrained joy! And it comes when we align ourselves to God's plan in Jesus Christ. And it comes when we stop expecting it to look a certain way and let it come as it comes.