So far through Advent we’ve looked at the key word ‘RELUCTANT.’
How the prophet Habbakuk is edging towards reluctance as he asks God, ‘how long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?’ (Hab 1:2)
He complains, he laments, he’s crying out for help even though he’s waiting, he feels like God hasn’t shown up yet.
And we’ve seen RELUCTANCE in the story of the dodgy tax collector Zacchaeus as well, last week we heard his story and how the RELUCTANCE came from the people who were there, witnessing all this. They were the reluctant ones, they didn’t believe Jesus was who he said he was as they grumbled among themselves, ‘he has gone to be the guest of sinners.’
And today we’re into the 3rd week of Advent now, less than 2 weeks to go until Christmas is upon us!
Today in our series things start to take a bit of a turn, a turn from being RELUCTANT as we’ve spoken about to something else… our other key word > EXPECTANT, being EXPECTANT.
What does it mean to be EXPECTANT, what are we talking about here? What’s the difference between being RELUCTANT and being EXPECTANT??
Let’s compare the two, what does it look like to be RELUCTANT and what does it look like to be EXPECTANT…
‘RELUCTANT’
Might be a bit tired, worn out, we’ve tried in the past and it hasn’t worked out.
Not sure what could happen, so the safest option is to avoid risk-taking and minimize damage.
Questioning God, doubting that he’s with us, doubting that he’s even there at all.
And even resignation, being unconvinced that God can have any meaningful impact in our lives
And then it can get worse, we start to not only distance ourselves from God but we go against him, this Jesus who ‘associates with sinners,’ this God who it seems is not there when we need him most.
Now each of us probably has some awareness of these different examples, these different states of being, and we’ve probably been in some of these positions – if not all of them – at some point in our life, maybe you’ve been through all of these in the past year alone! It happens, we become reluctant at times as we’ve looked at.
So what about the other side of the coin here, what does it mean to be EXPECTANT >
‘EXPECTANT’
This is a whole different state of mind isn’t it!
Expecting God to be there when we call on him.
Expecting that he will help us as he says – time and time again – that he will.
Walking into church, even waking up on any given morning and expecting the presence of God in our lives, the Holy Spirit walking alongside us, the prayer we prayed just before > EXPECTING that ‘God’s word will do its work on our hearts and minds,’ whenever and however it happens to reach us.
The difference here is that to be RELUCTANT is to doubt that God is even there, but to be EXPECTANT is to believe that Jesus is going to show up.
Doubt and belief, cynicism and trust, rejection and faith > other words that describe this.
And if we think about the source of these things, where does RELUCTANCE come from and where does EXPECTATION come from??
We could say RELUCTANCE comes from the world, but EXPECTATION comes from God.
Habbakuk 2:1 says this: ‘I will stand at my watch… I will look to see what he says to me.’
Where Habbakuk was more reluctant when he was calling out for help but it felt like God wasn’t listening, here there’s a tone of EXPECTATION > Not saying the feeling or state of reluctance has completely gone away, he might still be reluctant about what God’s actually going to do, but there are two – very simple but very telling – acts of faith going on here in this verse.
He stands, and he looks.
Simple as that. He stands, and he looks.
He waits on God’s word, God’s action. Instead of ‘throwing in the towel’ and rejecting God, he leans in – we might think it’s subtle but it’s there! What have I got to lose, how we might describe this today, why not give it a go and see what God does.
Simply ‘standing and looking,’ doesn’t sound too hard, does it?
Positioning ourselves to hear what God says to us isn’t hard is it? Sounds pretty easy doesn’t it!
But we know what can get in the way of expectation, of living with EXPECTANT HEARTS about what God’s going to do > it’s reluctance.
What other voices might say, what the world says.
We can easily find ourselves listening to the loudest voice in the room, even if that’s not the voice we really need to hear.
Today we’ve already had three voices worth hearing, I wonder what you picked up there…
Three voices: Isaiah, James, and Jesus.
What does Isaiah say today? (Isaiah 35:1-10)
Some amazing things!
‘The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.’
‘[Those who enter Zion] will enter with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.’
If you’re looking for the reason for the season this Advent, if you’re wondering what to expect, if you’re not sure if any of this really means anything for your life > here it is! And there’s plenty more where that came from!!
Don’t we know it means something for little Eloise and her family today! Serious good stuff going on there, a new child welcomed into God’s family.
Isaiah says the ‘wilderness will rejoice, everlasting joy will overtakes us, sorrow and sighing flee away. Incredible words, that is something to be EXPECTANT about right there.
What about James, what does he say today? (James 5:7-10)
He says a bit about how to be EXPECTANT >
‘Be patient, until the Lord’s coming.’ Easier said than done that one!
‘Don’t grumble against one another… or you will be judged.’ What NOT to do there, while you’re being patient don’t start grumbling! A good reminder that this is God’s world here, he’s in charge, he will do the judging not us.
We can take this as a warning against RELUCTANCE, which leads to judgment. But EXPECTATION, that leads to what Isaiah was talking about, that leads to JOY.
And finally what does Jesus say today, what does he say about John the Baptist > a man who was certainly not RELUCTANT! He was EXPECTANT, expectant of the power and the greatness and the love of the one to come after him (Matthew 11:2-11)
Jesus says even ‘the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than [John],’ this man would prepare the way for the Lord, ‘more than a prophet’ as Jesus says.
What sort of place the kingdom of heaven is, where the least are made great, where what Isaiah talks about is happening, where the Lord has come to be with his people!
So let’s take up the posture of Habbakuk as we head into the last few weeks of the year, through the build-up to Christmas, as we reflect on the year that’s been and where we find ourselves this time around.
What is that posture? Stand and look.
Simply stand where we are and look for Jesus, look for a sign that we know is coming, with EXPECTANT hearts, despite the RELUCTANCE of the world around us. Lean into the JOY we’re hearing about today, the joy that comes for us if we’re feeling it or not!
Trusting in the one who can take us from reluctant and resigned, to expectant receivers of everlasting joy. Amen //
Tom Kitson 