A reading and some thoughts prepared for Wine Before Breakfast. Wednesday’s early morning church on Campus at the UofA.

Matthew 11:7-30 – NIV

⁷As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? ⁸If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. ⁹Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰This is the one about whom it is written:

“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’

¹¹Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹²From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. ¹³For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵Whoever has ears, let them hear.

¹⁶“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
¹⁷“‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.’

¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”
Woe on Unrepentant Towns

²⁰Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. ²¹“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ²²But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. ²³And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. ²⁶Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

²⁷“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

²⁸“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

This morning’s Gospel addresses really one of the key questions that we must address in our lives. Here is God, what are you going to do about it? It’s a question that is posed in many different situations and probably if we sat around the breakfast table long enough we’d be able to come to the realization that it’s a question we will address in our lives today, that we answered yesterday, and the day before.

It could be in small everyday blessings. The sunrise on the way here to Wine Before Breakfast, an opportunity to encounter God and put on an attitude of gratefulness to approach the day. It could be seeing a friend for the first time in a few weeks, an opportunity to recognize that God is love, that relationship and community are vital to our existence and then to seek those things in life. An encounter with God doesn’t always feel nice, perhaps there is a breach of trust in your life, there is a sense of being shaken, the opportunity arises to encouter God as the unfailing one, trustworthy, reliable. Or we read scripture prompting is to go and spread the good news but feel guilt or failure as we’ve kept to ourselves about our faith in recent days, weeks, or months. The opportunity presents itself to respond to this encounter with God by refocusing us on the joy that our lives gain through him and then feeling it is natural to want to share that faith.

I start with these positive examples of simple encounters with God because they aren’t the ones that we read in Matthew. Hopefully at least they sounded possible, even if not potentially likely. Perhaps we can have a look at the encounter that Israel has with Jesus Christ and see where it falls short. Hopefully the difference between the two would give us some direction on how it’s possible to respond more appropriately to the question:

The gospel story tells us about a situation where Jesus is addressing the masses and talking about John the Baptist. John had clearly got the attention of some people, he was loud, dressed to kill, likely aromatic, and slightly eccentric, and told a message of the imminent arrival of a new kingdom. People were excited about him and he got a following… probably assisted by the fact that he had a charisma about him but mostly because the Jews were excited for a new kingdom to come. This brings us to Jesus, the embodiment of that new kingdom that Israel is excited about, at least in theory. How does Israel miss out on him? They just can’t believe that what they dreamed up for themselves is incorrect. Jesus, although he is exactly what has been promised, and described by John, is not leading a battle charge against Rome. The Jewish cities, Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum are deaf to anyone not saying what they want him to say. Jesus is so bold as to say that anyone who looked and listed at all, even the Gentiles, could fare better than the people who were prepped and ready and waiting for something specific.

Is it possible that this trap still catches us today? How can my readiness and patience for something specific from God shield my eyes from responding appropriately to daily encounters with him, his people, and his creation? Going back to a couple of the examples from earlier. If I am certain that God doesn’t want me to feel guilt I’ll respond to a passage in scripture that brings on that feeling by dismissing it as probably not important to me in my circumstances right now. If I’m hurt by trusted individuals failing me and I believe that God’s watching out for me leads to a life of no pain I’l slowly drift away from faith that God is at work in my life.

What expectations we have on God restricting us from responding to his influence in our lives is a question we each need to address for ourselves, but I think it’s possible that we can also learn from eachother so I’ll share a few thoughts that have been rolling around in my head about my expectations of God to wrap up these thoughts this morning:

• God is going to use this specific skill to further his Kingdom.
• God needs me to be better friends with this select group of people.
• God is pleased with all of my big decisions.
• God would make it easier to stop doing certain things if he really wanted me to stop.

In this context, maybe it’s easy to identify them as poor expectations, but from day to day perhaps they’d seem like good expectations of where God is working and that is the danger.