Great Expectations
Sometimes we have certain expectations of how things will play out, but they actually play out differently, and often in a better way. So, when I was a little kid, we lived in Fort Wayne Indiana for a while. There was a local park, Franke Park, that was one of my favorite places to go. Sometimes we would take weekend trips to Indianapolis as a getaway. You know life in Indiana is exciting when Indiana when Indianapolis is an exciting trip! But, they had a good children's museum and as a train-obsessed 4-year-old, I loved Union Station, a shopping mall made out of an old train depot.
One weekend my parents said, “want to go to Franke Park?!” Of course, I was excited! They said we were going to take the expressway to get there, which was even more exciting. Imagine if we still got excited about things in the same way 4-year-olds do! Well, after about 15 minutes, I knew something was wrong. We should have been to Franke Park by now! My parents then said they were surprising me, we were actually going to Indianapolis. Unexpected to my parents, I was not happy but started crying because I wanted to go to Franke Park. I was expecting Franke Park. My expectations were not met. Nevermind that they were actually exceeded, but that wasn’t comprehensible in the moment, especially to a 4-year-old. In the end, I was happy.
Often in life, we have expectations and we do not always know how to handle when things go unexpectedly. So in this story in 2 Kings, we have Naaman, who was the commander of the army for the king of Aram. He had leprosy. When the Israelite prophet, Elisha, found out, he offered to heal Naaman. Naaman came to Elisha, but Elisha did not see him in person, rather he sent a messenger to tell him to wash seven times in the Jordan River, and he would be miraculously cured. This was NOT what Naaman expected!
But Naaman went away in anger. He said, “I thought for sure that he’d come out, stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the bad spot, and cure the skin disease. Aren’t the rivers in Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than all Israel’s waters? Couldn’t I wash in them and get clean?” So he turned away and proceeded to leave in anger.
Naaman had an expectation of how this miraculous healing would take place. It was going to be showy. After all, he was an important person and Elisha should come out and do a big ordeal. God had something different in mind. God was taking him to Indianapolis rather than to Franke Park. For one, it would humble Naaman. God is pretty big about that whole humility thing. Often with God, and my personal experiences can reiterate this, God works in ways different from our expectations. Jesus, was not the messiah the ancient Israelites were expecting, but Jesus is the Messiah the world needs, especially to understand and know the heart of God. Theologian Jon Huckins has this to say about expectations:
After hundreds of years, exile had become Israel’s primary reality when Jesus, their deliverer, finally arrives. For Israel, the Messiah was to bring about three realities: 1. Restoration of the Davidic throne through military conquest, 2. Rebuilding of the Temple and 3. Reoccupation of the Holy Land. While Jesus comes bringing a message of hope in announcing the reality of the Kingdom of God, such hope wasn’t always realized in the way they would have anticipated. In fact, because Jesus didn’t bring about any of these three realities in the way Israel expected, the majority of God’s people considered Jesus a failed Messiah. He had moved into the neighborhood of humanity with the hope of the Kingdom of God, but rather than establishing God’s reign through military conquest, he established it through suffering and selfless sacrifice. For Jesus, the common good of the human neighborhood required that he make himself last in order for others to be first.
We often expect to be first, or at least important. But, Jesus made himself last. We often expect triumph. But, Jesus submitted to defeat (although triumphed in an unexpected way through resurrection). Even the most mighty military in the world could not keep Jesus contained. It was like God’s way of saying to such might: “silly people, I’m not impressed with your supposed might!” This might be a good thing to remember as new world conflicts are brewing. We often expect front and center religion. But, God’s religion is caring for the least, the oppressed, the walked over, the passed by, the nerd, the sick, those with disabilities.
We expect our faith to be center stage. But, God’s way, is backstage.
Naaman expected this kind of treatment, but rather, God, through Elisha, offers an alternative that is subtle. In the end, Naaman is healed and offers gratitude. In the end, I was happy with the trip to Indianapolis.
What went unexpectedly for you? What are ways that you are frustrated because your expectations were not met? God’s voice is most often subtle, and if you make the most of the unmet expectations, you just might see God at work.
