Living with Holy Expectation - Part 1
I’m afraid we are a people who don’t expect miracles. Miracles are considered rare occurrences reserved only for the very devout, the deeply religious, or even perhaps - for those naive enough, or superstitious enough to think that there is any “super power” out there willing and able bring about a miracle. Of course, that presupposes that one believes in a “super power”, or that if the “super power” exists, He or She would even care enough to intervene.
In our despairing world, we’ve lost our capacity for hope. I see it every day on social media, or in those I see on the streets, in stores and markets, sometimes in my own friends — those who are desperately seeking something to hold on to, but who’ve lost hope. We’ve become a cynical people, adrift in a sea of our own disappointments and betrayals, short-sighted, unable to see beyond our confining darkness to what is possible, to what just might happen… if we let it.
But I have a message of that very hope, a message that affirms what I know to be true: miracles are real. Miracles happen every single day, over and over again, to millions of people. Some of these people recognize the miracle; others have no clue. It’s all about the expectation. It’s not that God is failing to act; it’s that we have failed to expect it, to see it, to know it.
We don’t’ experience miracles because we don’t ask for them, we don’t seek them - in fact, we don’t even believe they are possible. We are too busy doing everything ourselves, attempting to fix it all, do it all, have it all - and the tragedy is that we don’t see how it’s failing us miserably. In our blind independence, we fail to see the sheer futility of our striving. We cannot see the absolute real-ness of miracles.
We don’t experience miracles because we don’t live in holy expectation that a miracle is just moments away, all day, every day. In our hopelessness, miracles have evaporated with morning’s dew, and we are left with the dry bones of disappointment.
We don’t experience miracles because we don’t believe we are worthy of a miracle. We’ve mistakenly reserved “the miracle” to the realm of the worthy, the religious, the pious. It’s what our religious rules about being good and deserving have taught us; and that is so backward! Jesus never, ever reserved a miracle for the worthy. In fact, just the opposite. For Jesus, it was those who ran after Him who got their miracle. It was the poor, the outcast, the beggar who got their miracles. Jew or Gentile, soldier or demon-possessed; it made no difference to Jesus. All were worthy for a miracle because all were beloved of God.
Let’s look at just a few:
the woman with 12 years of hemorrhaging, who was thus unclean and an outcast among her Jewish people, risked further rebuke by chasing after Jesus, skulking deep, running hard in the dusty road, grabbing wildly for his robe through the press of the crowd- anything to touch Him and receive a miracle. She had a holy expectation.
the Syrophoenician woman whose daughter was possessed of an unclean spirit, who- against all custom and rules - entered a Jewish stranger’s home, uninvited, and begged her “crumbs” from the table intended for the Jews; who dared to stand tall and sure before Jesus, knowing that her expectation would be met if she but persisted. She had a holy expectation.
the young paralytic who refused to be deterred by the crowds, probably arrogant and bold, but still desperate to see Jesus the only way he could see possible - through a hole dug into the roof by his friends, relying on them to let him through to the floor; and once there - helpless, captive, vulnerable to whatever Jesus chose to do. It didn’t matter. He had a holy expectation.
the Roman centurion who chased after Jesus on the road, who refused to allow their differences in culture and station to stop him from seeking after healing for his paralyzed servant; who risked censure by his superiors for dealing with the very ones they oppressed. He had a holy expectation.
Jesus brought miracles to those who asked; who called out; who ran after him. Ultimately, regardless of their status or station in life, without regard for their past lives or accomplishments, with no tallying up of rights and wrongs, Jesus listened and healed. Jesus listened and made the dead alive again. Jesus listened and loved. To those who had a holy expectation, Jesus worked miracles.
I don’t pretend that all prayers asking for miracles are answered, and I certainly don’t pretend to understand why. That’s not my point - I’m willing to let God be God. And I do know that it’s not easy to live in holy expectation, especially when one’s life is filled with challenges, with sorrows, with difficulties and disease and despair. But that is no excuse. It IS possible. Next week, we’ll explore ways to develop that holy expectation that will invite the miraculous into our lives, no matter our past, no matter our circumstance, no matter our present or future. Holy expectation is ours; we just have to know how to grow it.
Till next week, then.