Expectations: Real and Unreal

When we picture Jesus riding the donkey down into Jeru-

salem surrounded by praises and blessings and hosannas -­-

this apparent moment of triumph when it seems that Jesus'

years of patience are beginning to pay off -- we need to

view the whole scene against the background o: Jesus'

word to the twelve when he first sent them forth:

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of

wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves...."

Matthew 10:16

Now Jesus Himself is a sheep in the midst of wolves - a Lamb

surrounded by the ones who are going to slaughter Him.

So while Jesus accepts their acclaim He does not allow

Himself to be carried away with all this apparent success.

At no point does Jesus pin His hopes on these people.

- He is wise as a serpent.

Nor does Jesus take advantage of their enthusiasm and start

manipulating the crowds for His own ends, as modern evan­

gelists are forever doing.

- He is innocent as a dove.

There is a lesson in this that we all need to learn, be­cause

there are moments in our lives when we are tempted

to believe that big things are just around the corner for

us. If we fail to be wise as serpents and innocent as

doves we invariably get sucked up with unreal expec­tations -

expectations that are inspired by a lie and that take us far from God.

How Jesus' expectations could have soared that day if He had pinned

them on this joyful crowd!

... if He had seen success in their terms

and allowed His mind to be inflamed with

this apparent victory.

Instead Jesus, wise as a serpent,

innocent as a dove, keeps His heart fixed

upon the real goal.

"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,

and everything that is written of the Son

of man by the prophets will be accomplished.

For he will be delivered to the Gentiles,

and will be mocked and shamefully treated

and spit upon; they will scourge him and kill

him, and on the third day he will rise."

Luke 18:31-33

- that's what Jesus expects!

A few days later when things start going bad, the disciples

fall apart. But Jesus keeps right on going

because His expectations are based on reality. He's

not on some success trip ... but on His way to a cross.

When Jesus describes Satan as the father of lies what

does this mean but that Satan inspires in our minds

unreal expectations.

... he said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You

shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?"

And the woman said to the serpent, "We may

eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;

but God said, 'You shall not eat of the

fruit of the tree which is in the midst of

the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest

you die."' But the serpent said to the

woman, "You will not die. For God knows that

when you eat of it your eyes will be opened,

and you will be like God, knowing good and evil,"

So when the woman saw that the tree was good

for food, and that it was a delight to the

eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to

make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate;

and she also gave some to her husband, and

he ate. Genesis 3:1-6

So Eve pins her hope on something that will never be. She

eats the fruit and gives some to her husband and disaster

follows.

Every downfall that we've experienced in our lives began

with false expectations. Instead of being wise as serpents

and innocent as doves we allowed ourselves to be lured

into expecting our fulfillment to come from another hand

than God's.

- "When I achieve success I will be fulfilled."

- "When I make it in my profession I will be fulfilled."

- "When I marry this woman, this man, I will be fulfilled."

- "When I finally own my dream house I will be fulfilled."

- "If I have an affair with so-and-so I will be fulfilled."

- "If I have that drink, or take those-pills, I will be fulfilled."

God knows the obsessions that consume our minds while we

go about our business looking quite normal ... and every

one of them is unreal!

Suppose we achieve the coveted goal,

we accumulate our million,

we have the affair,

we get good and drunk,

... we got what we wanted so badly. Now what?

Four inevitable fruits follow:

The first is disappointment.

Now Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful

sister, whose name was Tamar; and after a

time Amnon, David's son, loved her. And

Amnon was so tormented that he made himself

ill because of his sister Tamar; for she was

a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon

to do anything to her. But Amnon had a friend

whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah,

David's brother; and Jonadab was a very crafty

man. And he said to him, "0 son of the king,

why are you so haggard morning after morning?

Will you not tell me?" Amnon said to him,

"I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister."

Jonadab said to him, "Lie down on your bed,

and pretend to be ill; and when your father

comes to see you, say to him, 'Let my sister

Tamar come,and give me bread to eat, and

prepare the food in my sight, that I may see

it, and eat it from her hand."' So Amnon

lay down, and pretended to be ill;

.....But when she brought them near him to

eat, he took hold of her, and said to her,

"Come, lie with me, my sister." She answered

him, "No, my brother, do not force me; for

such a thing is not done in Israel; do not

do this wanton folly. As for me, where could

I carry my shame? And as for you, you would

be as one of the wanton fools in Israel. Now

therefore, I pray you, speak to the king; for

he will not withhold me from you." But he

would not listen to her; and being stronger

than she, he forced her, and lay with her.

Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred;

so that the hatred with which he hated her was

greater than the love with which he had loved

her. And Amnon said to her, "Arise, be gone."

II Samuel 13:1-15

Amnon's expectation was unreal. It was sick. It was

all in his head. When he gets what he thinks he wants

he's bitterly disappointed.

Some of us labor for years to achieve a goal we think will

fulfill our lives apart from God, and when it comes, oh

the disappointment!

Wrecked marriages - because the man and woman expected a

fulfillment from each other no human

can ever give.

Devastated minds - because people expected a fulfillment out

of their work or their career that was

utterly unreal.

The next fruit of unreal expectations is self-pity....

"Now his elder son was in the field; and as

he came and drew near to the house, he heard

music and dancing. And he called one of the

servants and asked what this meant. And he

said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your

father has killed the fatted calf, because he

has received him safe and sound.' But he was

angry and refused to go in. His father came

out and entreated him, but he answered his

father, 'Lo, these many years I have served

you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet

you never gave me a kid, that I might make

merry with my friends. But when this son of

yours came, who has devoured your living with

harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!'"

Luke 15:25-30

The older brother had pinned his expectations on his own

righteousness. He had no conception of the father's mercy.

What a disappointment when he sees mercy welcoming his

wayward brother ... mercy that was waiting for him all these

years. Now self-pity sets in.

"I did all these things for you. You never gave

me a goat to celebrate with my friends."

How we can wallow in it! Some of us have been doing it

for years and we don't even realize it!

The next fruit of unreal expectations is bitterness.

King Saul followed his own way and lost his anointing as

king, disappointment and self-pity gave way to a long

season of bitterness. He was bitter toward David,

bitter toward his own son,

bitter toward his people.

His attitude was sour and morose because his heart had

long since forgotten to find its fulfillment in the God

of Israel.

We have tasted what it's like when the aroma of peace

is gone, along with all kindness and mercy ... nothing

left but smoldering bitterness which is the prelude to

the final fruit: hell itself - separation from God.

Such is the journey of the soul that pursues its satis­faction

in the unreal, in anything apart from God,

whether it be money,

romance,

religious fame,

or kinky pleasures. The end is always the

same - disappointment,

self-pity,

bitterness,

hell.

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst

of wolves, so be wise as serpents and inno­cent

as doves."

- Wise enough to keep your eye on the true goal....

- Pure enough never to compromise.

Jesus' goal was not the admiration of the crowd,

or to conquer the Temple,

or to take over the throne.

- He had come to Jerusalem to lay down his

life.

His goal was a cross. So is yours,

so is mine!

Let's get it clear: the goal of following Jesus in this

world is a cross. Don't let anyone mislead you into

thinking it's "prosperity" or spiritual thrills. The

cross that waits for us at the end, and sanctifies every

moment of our lives along the way, is our only source of

joy.

- It never disappoints us.

- It delivers us from self-pity.

- It heals our bitterness.

- It floods our lives with heaven.

- Our cross ... the cross Jesus bids us carry.

Let the rest of the world pursue "success" - whatever that

means. And let "celebrity Christianity" chase after the

crowds and make a name for itself before men. We have

been sent as sheep in the midst of wolves to follow the

Lamb of God to the cross ... to lay down our lives with Him

at the time and place of His choosing.

"If any one would come after me let him deny

himself take up his cross and follow me."

"Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground

and dies it remains alone. But if it dies it

bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses

it, and he who hates his life in this world

will keep it for eternal life." John 12:24-25

God help us get our eyes on the one real expectation He

offers us in this world: a cross.

"By this we know love, that he laid down his

life for us; and we ought to lay down our

lives for the brethren." I John 3:16

There is a death waiting for us at the end of our road

too. And on the way a thousand deaths to self. And from

this death and these deaths we can expect, from God,

rivers of divine mercy to flow.

Every time we lay down our life, spend ourself,

lose ourself, give ourself,

we taste the glory of God,

we touch the throne of mercy,

we know Jesus in the power of His resurrection, the

fellowship of His suffering, and the likeness of His

death.

Every time we lay down our lives for others we experi­ence,

instead of self-pity, overflowing thankfulness.

"0 give thanks unto the Lord for he is good

and his mercy endureth forever."

...and instead of bitterness, unspeakable joy

...and instead of hell, heaven.

What are you expecting out of life? Some unreal success?

Or a cross?

If we have denied ourselves, taken up our cross, and are

following Jesus we need to remember that we are sheep

in the midst of wolves that seek to destroy us by luring

us to expect fulfillment in the wrong place.

God help us to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

That with Jesus we may keep right on going past

- false success,

- false glory,

- false peace,

and not quit until we come to the place where we drink

the cup He drank and receive the baptism He was baptized

with ... faithful unto death, even death on a cross.

God help us to expect nothing less,

to settle for nothing less.