The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Matthew,

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”

Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’

“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”( Matthew 11:2-11)

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Can you believe it, it’s almost Christmas?   

I’m not ready!  I  am not ready in terms of the usual Christmas stuff  – buying gifts, planning dinners, or visiting friends, and here it is December 15 th.

I am not ready in terms of my spiritual preparations. Christmas is barreling down the road and I haven’t really thought about it.   And I am not ready in terms of what I expect this Christmas to accomplish in my life.

We have had plenty of warning, haven’t we?

In the market place, Christmas selling began almost before Hallowe’en was over.

In the church, we have already had three Advent Sundays counting today so I ought to be ready.

And I don’t want Christmas to go by in a rush, a rush of spending and eating and driving from here to there and there to here. 

I would hate to think that when it was all over, all that had happened was that I was deeper in debt.

I wonder if maybe it is time to rethink what I expect to get from Christmas.

What are you expecting from Christmas?

I heard a story about a little girl who sat on Santa’s lap, and when he asked what she wanted for Christmas, she said,” Another ten megabyte of ram.”

When Santa asked why, she said,” So I will have enough memory to be able to play the game my dad is getting me.”

It’s a time when children think their dreams will be fulfilled. They can ask for the thing dearest to their hearts, and Santa will bring it.

But what are you expecting? 

To be more exact, what do expect from the Coming of Christ, this year?   The usual?

A warm feeling when you sing the carols?  An enjoyable service? It will be good to see the church full, won’t it?

It really is special to be in church Christmas Eve. But that special atmosphere, or ambience, shouldn’t be all that we expect.

One of the  things I tell couples when I am preparing them for marriage is that when they leave the church after a beautiful wedding, and after the three or four hours with the photographer, and the reception and all the flattering toasts, and after the honeymoon in  some tropical paradise;  after all that I tell them, they will come home to real life. They will see each other first thing in the morning, she with no make-up, and he, unshaven, and hair uncombed. They will have to wash the dirty dishes, do the laundry – even pick up after each other.

So although the magic of the wedding day is fine, there had better be something else there, for when it wears off. 

And as a wedding is just a beginning, and right afterward, comes life, Christmas is also a beginning,  and right after comes life.   So for us too there had better be something else there for when Christmas wears off.    

Because otherwise, there will be a big let down when you stuff all the wrapping paper into a garbage bag, and eat what is left of dried out  turkey.

If you have expected the wrong thing, that is. 

John the Baptist seems to have expected the wrong thing from the Messiah.  

He sent his disciples to ask,” Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

He wasn’t sure.

He had prophesied the coming of a judge with a winnowing fork in his hand  someone who would sort the wheat from the chaff and throw the chaff into the fire.  A stern judge.

But this Jesus was a man of mercy.  He brought news of a loving and forgiving God.   He didn’t sound like a Messiah  when judged against John’s expectations.

Jesus didn’t sound like a Messiah when judged against the expectations of the religious rulers either.  Or of the people.

The people wanted someone who would  be strong enough to overthrow the Romans,  and the religious leaders wanted someone  quiet enough not to cause trouble.

Jesus didn’t do what the church leadership expected a Messiah to do, and he was unwilling to be what the people wanted him to be, so he was rejected.

They didn’t want the real thing, did they? They wanted a Messiah who fit a certain image, and if they couldn’t have that, then they didn’t want in. 

I saw a television presentation once that looked at the life of Lana Turner. Does anyone here remember her? She was the original  sweater girl. Her picture graced the locker of many a soldier during the Second World War. She was a movie star if ever there was one.

Miss Turner was married seven times.  One of the men she married was a mobster by the name of Johnny Stampanato. He was abusive to her.   See,  Stampanato had fallen in love with the movie star, Lana Turner – not the person, Lana Turner. 

He wanted the Hollywood image, not the real thing.  

That story is a perfect illustration of how, how if someone  – even God – doesn’t fit our expectations, then we reject them.

Next week, there will be a lot of people here who do not normally attend. I am glad. I am glad that once more God gives us the opportunity to minister to them, and to welcome them.

What do they expect from this church? 

What do you expect from Jesus? 

Is he just a part of the mythology  of Christmas? Or is he real to you?

What do we   –   people who are here every week – or close to every week – what do we expect to find in Jesus?

Does what we know of Jesus fit our expectations? 

I guess that the determining fact of Jesus is that he doesn’t fit anyone’s expectations.

He doesn’t fit to the extent that over the centuries, people have had to find ways to present him that fit what they want. 

Like paintings of Jesus that show him as a Caucasian  sometimes even with blond hair and blue eyes.

Like when ambitious leaders used his name to conquer and oppress.

Like when a long line of Inquisitors from the 12th to the eighteenth century used force to make people follow their particular expectations of Christ.  

It’s very tempting to make Jesus into something that suits us, rather than looking at the real man, the real Christ.

I remember seeing a television program that looked at the phenomenon of a faith revival in the United States. The camera and interviewer went to a service and spoke to a woman who, it transpired, had been brought up by an abusive father.  In Jesus she saw the loving father she wanted her own father to be.  

Somewhere, I read about a sister in a convent greeting a newcomer  to the order by saying,” Imagine, we are in love with a two thousand year old man.”

We can look to Jesus for many things. 

And that’s alright, provided we don’t take our bat and ball home when he doesn’t do what we want Him to do.

The Bible presents Jesus to us as a man who went against the rules  when the rules became oppressive.    So don’t expect to find Jesus where everybody has to obey the rules, or else! 

The Bible presents Jesus as a man who had compassion for those with needs.     So we shouldn’t expect to find Jesus where compassion is in short supply.

The Bible presents Jesus as a man who healed the wounded.   

So we can’t expect to find Jesus among those who hurt others.

The Bible presents Jesus as one who talked about a loving and forgiving God.      So we would not expect to find Him  where condemnation and non-acceptance of others is the order of the day.

But the Bible presents Jesus as someone who loved children, so God help those, who lead little ones astray.  It would be better for that someone to have a  millstone tied around their neck and to be cast into the sea.

And the Bible presents Jesus as someone who sees us as the precious children of God, and gave His life for us.    So don’t expect to find him among those who use others as objects. 

The Bible presents Jesus as saying,” I will be with you, always, to the end of the age.”

All these things we can expect of Jesus.

And if we expect all these, then we will not be disappointed.

So come Christmas, let’s celebrate His birth, let’s sing His praises, let’s welcome Him into this world  – God knows he is needed  – and let us have a loving, wonderful, Christ – filled Christmas, and  amidst all that, let us look with joy toward the coming of the real Christ……… the Messiah.

Amen.