More than Expected (1)
Lectionary, Year C, Epiphany 1
Christopher B. Harbin
Luke 3:15-22
How do we expect God to show up? What do we expect God to do when God shows up? Perhaps the better question is whether we expect God to show up at all. All too often, it would seem God does not figure much into our calculations. We make our plans, go through our days, and maybe hope God might step in to lighten the load in some way, though we never really give a lot of thought to it. Perhaps we consider we might be the hands and feet of God in some or another instance, but do we have any real expectation of that? Would it be heavy lifting for God to surpass our expectations?
Luke is clear there was a lot of expectation in Israel. Much of it concerned John the Baptist. Luke hardly unpacks it for us, though. We are not clear at a glance what the people were expecting, what they were hoping for. Well, they were obviously expecting Messiah, but it is unclear what they expected of Messiah. Even a cursory read, however, gives us a good idea it did not match up with what God had in mind. They were looking for a human actor who would become a national hero of some kind. John had that same assessment, he just did not think he was that human actor God had in store. God had something else in mind, altogether, something more.
John pointed to someone of much greater importance than himself. John knew he had a role to play and it was secondary. That did not mean John truly understood what God had planned with greater clarity than the crowds who came out to him. John simply knew he was not the one they were awaiting. His role was different. He was a herald, not the main attraction. His task was important enough to get him cast in prison for calling out Herod's failures. He was a prophet like so many who had come before him, however, he was nothing more than that. He did not call the shots. He made ready for what was to follow after him.
Luke's account seems to take a break mi ...
Lectionary, Year C, Epiphany 1
Christopher B. Harbin
Luke 3:15-22
How do we expect God to show up? What do we expect God to do when God shows up? Perhaps the better question is whether we expect God to show up at all. All too often, it would seem God does not figure much into our calculations. We make our plans, go through our days, and maybe hope God might step in to lighten the load in some way, though we never really give a lot of thought to it. Perhaps we consider we might be the hands and feet of God in some or another instance, but do we have any real expectation of that? Would it be heavy lifting for God to surpass our expectations?
Luke is clear there was a lot of expectation in Israel. Much of it concerned John the Baptist. Luke hardly unpacks it for us, though. We are not clear at a glance what the people were expecting, what they were hoping for. Well, they were obviously expecting Messiah, but it is unclear what they expected of Messiah. Even a cursory read, however, gives us a good idea it did not match up with what God had in mind. They were looking for a human actor who would become a national hero of some kind. John had that same assessment, he just did not think he was that human actor God had in store. God had something else in mind, altogether, something more.
John pointed to someone of much greater importance than himself. John knew he had a role to play and it was secondary. That did not mean John truly understood what God had planned with greater clarity than the crowds who came out to him. John simply knew he was not the one they were awaiting. His role was different. He was a herald, not the main attraction. His task was important enough to get him cast in prison for calling out Herod's failures. He was a prophet like so many who had come before him, however, he was nothing more than that. He did not call the shots. He made ready for what was to follow after him.
Luke's account seems to take a break mi ...
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