Expectations, expectations.
In the days before Christmas, I was part of several conversations about expectations. Expectations for family and gatherings. Expectations for gift giving and using the proper recipe for cranberry sauce. Expectations of growing old with friends, kids finding their way, people being reasonable. And, of course, the expectation and anticipation of the Christ child.
Pastor Rich gave a beautiful sermon at the Celebrating Seniors event in December where he reminded us that the coming of the Christ child promises something brand new. And he asked if we might look to Christmas with the expectation that something new is coming.
And now here we are, Christmas behind us. Some of us have new sweaters or e-bikes, new poundage packed around our waistlines. We have feasted and “fested” and worshipped and sung all the carols. We might consider expectations fulfilled. Or not. But when the new year dawns, the expectations that sustain us in Advent seem to get packed away with the Christmas decorations.
But what if? What if we moved into this new year with the same level of anticipation as we do Christmas? When God came to dwell with us, the God-with-us-ness didn’t end there. God continued to surprise us in Jesus Christ. Surprised us by upsetting the expectations of some and fulfilling expectations that others had long since abandoned. Jesus was so very human and so much more. He was courageous and adventurous and reached far past the rules and boundaries that gave people the illusion of safety and control. He surprised lepers and women and little girls and centurions and the demon-possessed and paralyzed and blind and poor and bleeding and broken. He surprised them by healing their bodies and restoring their lives and relationships—often by upsetting long held expectations for decorum and belonging. What a surprise was Jesus.
The coming of the Christ child is a great festival of light and hope and expectation. But it is not the fulfillment. It is the beginning of the fulfillment of expectation. God’s work is never “complete” as long as mammals draw breath and planets orbit and fish splash and creepy things crawl and humans struggle to remember who we are. God continues to show up and surprise us and fulfill expectations we didn’t even know we had.
So let the visions of sugar plums keep dancing, keep your eyes on the night sky, keep lighting candles and singing songs and eating together. God is not done with us yet.
Thanks be to God for that!
Happy New Year!
Pastor Chris
