We are en route to our Thanksgiving destination. So far, thanks to multiple electronic devices – especially those with Internet connections – the backseat has been free of general conflict and grumpiness. (Thanks be to God!) I drove the first leg of the journey and my expectations of a smooth and quick start were quickly disrupted by not one, not two, but three traffic slow-downs and stops in the first sixty miles. After a three mile segment that took almost thirty minutes to traverse, I was happy to let someone else drive. As I write we are about 5 hours into what was supposed to be a 5 1/2 hour drive and will run about 8. My expectations for the evening have had to be adjusted. (Hopefully, my expectations for a clean and pleasant hotel night will be met.)
Thanksgiving week – like most holidays – comes with its own expectations, good and bad. If you think about what you expect from Thanksgiving, it may be quite the proverbial “mixed bag,” depending on your traditions, family, and other activities. There could be some combination of wonderful food, a plethora of dirty dishes, abundant football games, board games, and even a dog show, I’ve heard. Some people choose to spend at least part of their day serving others at shelters, hospitals, or other places where care is needed. In other families tension and stress make the gathering strained. As you think through your planned activities and relationships for tomorrow it may be quite a mix. If “the distance between expectations and experience is measured in disappointment,”* having realistic expectations can go a long way toward a more peaceful experience.
On the other hand, sometimes it’s good to have high expectations. There is a story of a community that had been experiencing severe drought and decided to have a prayer meeting and entreat the Lord to send rain. Curiously, only one person must have had high expectations of God: he brought an umbrella to the meeting!!
The Bible tells another story of a man with huge expectations. A blind man who spent his days begging near Jericho heard Jesus of Nazareth was nearby. He started yelling above the noise and crush of the crowd, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47 NIV) Another translation says, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me now in my affliction. Heal me!” (TPT) Evidently this man truly expected Jesus to hear him and to heal him because he didn’t quit seeking Jesus’s attention. The story continues: “Those in the crowd were indignant and scolded him for making so much of a disturbance, but he kept shouting with all his might, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me now and heal me!’ Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him here.’ So they went to the blind man and said, ‘Have courage! Get up! Jesus is calling for you!’ So he threw off his beggars’ cloak, jumped up, and made his way to Jesus.“
Let’s pause for a moment and notice something that doesn’t seem to be central to the story. “He threw off his beggars’ cloak.” This cloak was a uniform, of sorts, announcing that this man was a legal beggar in the community. If he needed this uniform to beg to support himself, why would he cast it aside? Did he truly believe that Jesus would heal him? Was his faith in Jesus so deep that he believed his sight would be restored and he wouldn’t need the beggar’s cloak any more? Imagine how radically his life would change if he had his sight! **
“Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’
“The man replied, ‘My Master, please, let me see again!’
“Jesus responded, ‘Your faith heals you. Go in peace, with your sight restored.’ All at once, the man’s eyes opened and he could see again, and he began at once to follow Jesus, walking down the road with him.”
Talk about high expectations! Much more than an umbrella at a prayer meeting, this blind beggar had so much faith that he could leave his beggar’s cloak behind and boldly approach Jesus for radical healing. He expected to be healed!
As we prepare for this week’s holiday, for interactions with family and friends, for seasonal activities and travel, may our expectations of God be high and our expectations of each other be reasonable. May the distance between our expectations and experience be brief and pleasant. And may we have deep and abiding faith in what God can do.
Amen.
*h/t Chip Ingram
**h/t Tim Cross