What Are Your Advent Expectations?

3rd Sunday in Advent, 12/11/16
Matthew 11:2-11


What Are Your Advent Expectations?
I. From John’s point of view
II. From Jesus’ point of view


From our world’s point of view, we’re in the middle of the Christmas season. We’re two weeks past Thanksgiving weekend and there’s two more weeks until Christmas. And that means that expectations are high. Christmas wish-lists have been created and shared. You expect to receive at least some of the items on yours. Family members, relatives and friends have, by now, confirmed their holiday plans. You know who you’ll be spending Christmas with and for how long. Expectations. And it won’t be long before you have your Christmas menu nailed down. You know what you’ll be eating and drinking. Expectations.

But, as a Christian here in worship this morning, you’re aware that, according to the church year, the Christmas season is actually still two weeks away. We’re in the season of Advent and the Advent season calls for our focus to be spiritual, not material. And it’s a blessing if we also have our expectations in Advent, just as we do for Christmas. But what are they? What do we expect in this Advent season?

The text before us this morning helps us answer those questions. It does so from two different perspectives. May God the Holy Spirit lead us to expect what is good and pleasing to our Lord Jesus. What are your Advent expectations?

Part I.

I’m pleased that you’re here in God’s house this morning to hear a message based on the word of God. In fact, I hope you expect it. It’s what you’ve called me to do as your pastor.

But you’re wise enough about our world to know that you can’t expect that same thing outside these walls. In fact, with a tap on your favorite internet connection device, you can hear and see just about any spiritual message you want. You can hear people tell you anything and everything about God. That’s one of the perils of modern communication.

Obviously, that wasn’t the case in the days when Jesus walked this earth. The Jews of Jesus’ days here on earth were fairly limited as to what was available in the way of spiritual messages. The message of the self-righteous Pharisees seemed to dominate among the Jews. There were endless arguments over the small details of Jewish life and which of God’s laws were pertinent. In the minds of many of the common Jews, it was tiresome to say the least. Just as bad, the teachings of the day tended to keep the rich and powerful rich and powerful.

But then along came John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. John was no respecter of persons. In other words, he didn’t care how much money you had or didn’t have. He didn’t care whether you were among the who’s who in Jewish society or not. He didn’t care about where you lived, what kind of clothes you wore or what you did for a living.

That’s because John saw people the way God saw them. John saw things from God’s perspective, not from the skewed view of sinful opinions. John became known very quickly for calling a spade a spade, and not overlooking things. He hit people right where they were: common Jewish person, Jewish religious leader, Jewish civil leader, even Roman soldiers.

And he refused to bow or bend to anyone but his God. Listen to Jesus’ description of John’s ministry. “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.” John’s preaching to the people was not swayed by public opinion. He wasn’t going to tell the people things that made them comfortable with their lifestyles. Nor would he preach in such a way that he could line his own pockets and be able to afford fine clothes. Do you recall what he wore? A coat of rough camel hair and a leather belt. Hardly fine and comfortable.

John knew his ministry was not about pleasing people. It was about calling them to repent for all the ways they daily violated the holy will of the holy God. John’s ministry was to make spiritually comfortable people uncomfortable. His goal was not to tell them what fine folks they were. His goal was to convince them they deserved eternal hell for their sinful rebellion against God. His focus was not to use behavior modification to make them better people. His focus was to share God’s truth that their behavior actually filled their God with holy anger.

And when God used John’s words to convince people of the sinful truth about themselves, then John pointed them to their Savior. Some months prior to this event, before John was in prison, he pointed to Jesus and told his listeners, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). That was John’s highest goal—to lead people to Christ. He wanted them to know that the blood of Jesus would wash all their sins away. He wanted them to recognize every day of their sinful lives that they had a Savior in Jesus Christ. That was John’s Advent perspective.

So, what are your Advent expectations from John’s perspective?

Let’s talk about that for a minute. It’s likely that December is the most cheerful month of the year. People, even non-Christians, go out of their way to be nice and loving toward others. It’s the most charitable time of the year. We’ve come to expect that. And that’s fine, as long as we’re not bowing and bending to curry favor, as long as our charitable attitudes and activities aren’t an avenue to receive something in return. It’s fine if we make an extra effort to be loving and accepting of others, just as long as we don’t give them the impression that what is obviously sinful in their lives is OK too. While God has not called us to have a ministry like John the Baptist, he has called us to help others prepare for Christ by repenting of sin and trusting in Christ for forgiveness. But before you engage in that soul-saving activity, make sure your own spiritual house is in order. Offer your Lord Jesus a heart that is daily sorry for your sins and trusts in him alone to forgive them. If that’s what you expect this Advent season, then you’re spot on!

Part II.

It’s just human nature to take notice of what important and popular people are doing. People want to know what such a person is doing and why. It’s what makes the tabloid industry billions of dollars a year.

John the Baptist certainly didn’t have access to the tabloids or even a reliable media outlet, but he knew what was happening on the religious scene regarding the most important person in all of history—Jesus Christ. Our text informs us, “When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?’” In other words, John had his doubts about the way Jesus was carrying out his messianic ministry. The fact that John was currently behind bars for carrying out his ministry no doubted added to his spiritual dilemma.

So, why would John question the way Jesus was carrying out his ministry? Do you recall the words of last Sunday’s Gospel in which John foretold the ministry of Jesus? One of the things he said was this, “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. [He will] burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Mt. 3:10, 12b). But John didn’t see any ax or any fire in Jesus’ ministry. From John’s perspective, the most likely target for the Lord’s judgment would be King Herod who had locked John up. But at this point, any acts of judgment on the part of Jesus would have gone a long way in building John’s confidence in Jesus’ ministry. But he didn’t see any.

That’s because at this point Jesus’ ministry wasn’t focused on judgment. Listen again to Jesus’ reply, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” Jesus makes a reference to the prophecy of Isaiah which we heard earlier. He’s carrying out his ministry exactly as foretold. The time for judgment would come later, most decidedly on the Last Day. Until then it’s time to preach the gospel to people who are aware of and confess their sins.

Jesus concludes his reply with these words, “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” The Greek words are more dreadful than the English words. Literally, they imply being killed spiritually because of Jesus. How could that be? It happens when people reject Jesus for what he said and did. They don’t like the way he did things. They want him to do something else. They want him to be a different kind of Savior. Jesus would urge such people to read the Scriptures and realize what kind of Savior they should expect.

And that leads us to our focus question: “What are your Advent expectations? What should they be from Jesus’ perspective?

Many are the times we feel like John did. We feel like we’ve suffered some terrible wrong, like we’ve been taken advantage of, like we’re the ones doing what’s right but we’re suffering because others are doing what’s wrong. And we want justice. We want God to do something about it right away. We want our God to come in judgment. But what our world needs right now, according to God’s plan, is not judgment, but a change of heart. And that’s what Advent is all about. The Lord calls on us first of all to make sure our own hearts are repentant for all the times we’ve doubted and even rejected the way our God deals with evil in our world. The rest assured that the blood of Jesus washes all our sins away. And then our God uses us to proclaim his law which condemns the sin in our world and his gospel which announces his forgiveness and which alone changes hearts. That’s our God’s Advent expectations. What are yours? Amen.