NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED

Dear friends in Christ, grace and peace be to you from God our Creator, Our Savior Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

I’ve heard people refer to themselves as marinated Lutherans.  That’s what I am. 
I think I know Jesus pretty well.
I still have a hard time separating Him from the picture in the chapel.
Sometimes we get too comfortable.

1. Then we read a scripture like the gospel for this morning.
1. Jesus has harsh words for the people who experienced Him when he was on earth.
1. He compares that generation with children
2. Nothing is good enough for them
1. They played the flute, they got John the Baptist
2. They wailed, and they got the grace-filled words of Christ
3. John was not good enough for them, because he didn’t eat or drink, and they said he had a demon
4. Yet Christ came and ate and drank, and they called Him a glutton and a drunkard.
5. Jesus just couldn’t win in that equation.  Nothing was good enough.
3. The people expected something.
1. They expected the Messiah to come in with a sword
2. They expected something more spectacular
3. They expected instant results

1. We too have expectations of Jesus
1. Sometimes we forget that He is not necessarily the Jesus in the pictures we see
2. Sometimes we forget there are harsh words to be spoken
3. Where do we expect to see Jesus?
1. In Church, ready to listen to our confessions
2. In baptism, ready to bless our children
3. In funerals, ready to bring us to heaven
4. In marriage, ready to bless our unions
5. We expect Jesus to show up when we show up
1. We expect Him to fit into a liturgical box
2. And to understand when we’re not able to show up

1. Jesus is unexpected
1. Even John the Baptist, right before our reading for today, even being the one who leaped in Elizabath’s womb when he felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, had to ask if Jesus was really the one they were waiting for
2. No one expected the Messiah they received
1. No one expected Him to come as a tiny, helpless baby
2. No one expected Him to spend time with tax collectors and sinners
3. No one expected Him to allow himself to experience the pain and suffering of the cross
4. And NO ONE expected him to rise on the third day

1. Jesus shows up in our lives unexpectedly as well
1. We expect to get what we deserve, yet we receive grace, and forgiveness, and love
2. Grace is showing up unexpectedly
1. It’s the phone call we didn’t know we needed
2. It’s the hug we gratefully accept on a hard day
3. It’s the assurance of salvation when we didn’t even know we were questioning it
3. We think of Jesus as strong, and powerful, and of course He is
1. But he finds His power unexpectedly—in weakness
2. In giving Himself away
3. In the same reading we hear His harsh words, and yet He describes Himself as gentle and humble in heart
4. Strength in gentleness.  Strength in humbleness.  And I don’t think He’s talking about passive aggressiveness here.  It’s true gentleness.  TRUE humbleness.

• Jesus calls us, all of us who carry heavy burdens (which is ALL of us)
• Take my yoke
1. Learn from me
2. Find rest for your souls
3. What a blessing to receive such grace!
• We exchange our burden of sin and guilt and receive a burden of hope and peace and assurance and the ability and opportunity to work for God
• Watch for God in the unexpected
• Look for God in the places you don’t think God will be
• Look for Him in the eyes of people you don’t normally pay attention to
• Look for Him in the places you don’t normally go to
• Look for Him during the times you are not expecting God
• Jesus is unexpected, and thank God for that.  Amen.