Expectations

It’s the time of year when we revisit one of our favorite characters, Clark Griswold from Christmas Vacation. Clark sets out on a mission to create a “good old-fashioned family Christmas” with extreme light displays, the biggest tree and a houseful of family guests. We laugh at the small truths in this modern classic because we can relate. We all want Christmas to be idyllic for ourselves and our kids.

But the reality is that Christmas is a string of unmet expectations — of us and by us. It brings complicated relationships to the forefront. It highlights how we cannot buy love with gifts and how we never are truly satisfied. We bump into others with expectations on our time, and we’re disappointed with their behavior. We sing of comfort and joy, but we’re cursing a defective strand of lights.

We get you, Clark.

What’s more concerning is that expectations distract us from Jesus. They cloud who He is and why He stepped into our human mess.

The Old Testament contains at least 300 prophecies that foretold the coming of a Messiah, passages first-century Jews knew well. But instead of understanding Christ’s eternal purpose of salvation and peace, the Jews were looking for a leader who would overthrow their oppressive Roman rulers and restore the glory of their kingdom. Their circumstances defined their expectations. And although Jesus fulfilled prophecies through His birth, His life and His ministry, He was rejected by His own people because He did not meet those expectations.

The apostle John writes, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to his own, and His own people did not receive Him.” (John 1:9-11)

The truth is, we are not so different as the first-century Jews. We miss the point that Jesus is our hope for salvation because somewhere, somehow He didn’t meet our little kingdom expectations. We forget that His purpose is far more beautiful and everlasting than anything we could ever fathom in our human flesh. He is better than our expectations.
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So what if we gave ourselves a gift during this holiday season? Let’s give ourselves the presence of the real, all-powerful Jesus, who is the Christ and Son of God, and leave behind our Ricky Bobby versions of baby Jesus. Let’s live in freedom from expectations through Jesus’ gift of grace. And let’s truly embrace peace and joy through Him.

Let’s pray.

Jesus, forgive us for putting our expectations on you and on others. Teach us to live in freedom from our own worldly ideations, especially during this Christmas season. Help us to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of your Kingdom, which will be perfectly whole and everything we long for in this broken world. Amen.