Dec 1 - Expectations

Expectations

Thursday, December 1, 2022

by Hattie Patillo

Scripture Reading: Luke 1:26-38

Key Verse: Luke 1:31-33
You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel[c] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Expectations are found everywhere. They can be big or small and can cause both good and bad emotions to sprout from the people they affect. The key to making them come with good emotions is to make them achievable. That doesn’t mean you have to set easy goals and lower expectations for yourself,  but you should consider if it is something that is going to better you as both a person and as a Christian. I have found in most cases the expectations I have for myself are often the hardest to meet and for some of you, I am sure this is similar. The truth is that in the long run, it will not matter if you did the best on your test or placed the highest on your contest or said and did everything just right, because we are all human. We are going to mess up and fail; it is unrealistic to think otherwise. That is okay, though, because as long as we are serving God in what we are doing and trying to become, and hold Him as the priority in our lives, He will guide us and set our paths straight. What you think is a requirement to meet your goal might not even be in the plan that He has for you. Fear and expectations that are cast on us by the world have caused society to create an inaccurate picture of what success really looks like. The truth is that success can look so many different ways and is unique for each individual. Your path and your success is never going to look like anyone else’s. It is not about having the most money or the highest job or the best social status. We can all be successful in our own ways, on our own paths. Is it not better to listen to what Jesus is telling us now about what success looks like than listen to what the world is telling us to be and do, only to figure out later that we went the wrong direction? Without listening to what your purpose should be, you may climb all the way up your ladder only to realize you are on someone else’s wall. When expectations cause us to want to stray from our God-given path, then it is time to seek God and realign ourselves with His plan.

And that leads me into the Scripture I’d like to share with you today, which comes from Luke 1:31-33. Just prior to those verses, Mary, the mother of Jesus, was greeted by an angel and told she had found favor with God. And then in verses 31-33, the angel says: 

“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And He will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” 

If you want to talk about some pretty high expectations, these verses lay them out. I obviously want to talk about the expectations placed on Jesus, but can we start with Mary? Can you imagine being the mother of the Son of the Most High? God had entrusted her with this amazing responsibility and she had to have known that He had His own expectations in how she would perform, but also, she had to know that those around her would be watching her, as well. What is a bigger responsibility than birthing and raising the Messiah? Every parent makes mistakes under the pressure of raising their own child, but to be told that you are to raise the Son of the Most High is a whole new level of expectation and pressure. She had to keep him safe, keep him healthy, and help prepare him for the great things that he would accomplish in his time on Earth. And did she always get it right? Absolutely not; she was human, and she made mistakes. She even lost Jesus, once, when he was 12; she lost him for days and had no knowledge of his whereabouts. In Luke 2: 41-46 we can read that Jesus’s parents even became separated from him. They lost him for days and had to travel back in order to find him.

Even though she faced challenges and made mistakes like this one, she was successful in the mission that was given to her by God because she listened to his instruction and prayed about her worries. When the angel brought the message found in Luke 1: 31-33 she listened to the instruction given and was willing to accept the task. She responded to the angel in Luke 1: 38 with these words, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” She continued to work to fulfill her duties all the way until Jesus’s crucifixion, where Jesus said to her “Woman, here is your son” (meaning John) and to the disciple “here is your mother.” Jesus used the disciple whom he loved (John) to protect, care, and love Mary even when he knew he would no longer be with her in person. This was because of the great loyalty that she showed to him and the Father. So although she did not always get it right in raising her son, we can say that completed her task with great, unique success.

But while Mary had a pretty big job, no one on earth had greater expectations placed on them than Jesus himself. Sometimes, I think we take for granted the fact that Jesus was fully God AND fully man; he faced every single trial and temptation we could ever imagine, but he never failed.The time that Jesus spent on Earth was filled with expectation and he met every single one that held importance. Notice I did not say every expectation; I only said those that hold importance. This is because some of the expectations that were placed on him by humans, be that the Roman government or false prophets or even community members, would have caused him to stray from his purpose. 

In Luke 1: 32 & 33 it says 

“He will be called great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 

These were expectations listed by God. Before Jesus was even born all of these expectations were being placed upon him by the father. Even the name Mary and Joseph were instructed to give him brought expectations with it. In Luke 1: 31 it states “you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.” Jesus, coming from the Hebrew name Yeshua, meaning to deliver or to rescue. Not only did he have so many expectations placed upon him before birth even but he came onto earth already fulfilling the prophecies and expectations that the people had been told would happen with the coming of their messiah. He continued through his time on earth to meet the expectation of being “great” and “Son of the Most High.” He performed miracles and taught to not only those who could come to him but to those that he could go to. He worked to advocate and share the word of the Lord like he was expected, even through persecution. He even willingly allowed himself to be crucified in order to fulfill the purpose that God had given him during his time on Earth. He was able to fulfill these expectations because they were achievable, and they were achievable because they were on his God-given path.

As Christians, we have to understand that the only expectations that hold true importance are those placed on us by Christ. Our biggest priority in life should be to maintain a healthy relationship in our faith. We have to fulfill the expectations given to Christians as a whole and the ones that God uniquely speaks to us. We are all going to have at least one time in our lives where we are called on by God to speak up or act, but we have to be willing to prioritize him over everything else and push past judgments, fears, and socially accepted “norms.” When we finally surrender ourselves to him, our expectations become more achievable because we are finally able to see the ones assigned by Him.

This does not mean that we will not face fear or obstacles because nothing that comes easy is ever truly beneficial and fulfilling, but God is there to listen and guide us when we ask for it;we can find peace knowing we are on our God-given path to success and fulfillment. 

God of hope

God of hope,

we cling to you,

for your renew the face of the earth. 

Through the gift of your Son,

our Lord Jesus,

we follow you on the path of dawn.

Enlightened by your love and wisdom,

help us to lead each other

and all creatures

back to your open arms.

Amen.