Great Expectations

 Are you an optimist or a pessimist?  Is the glass half full or half empty?  In response to a question like that I once heard someone say cleverly that they were a realist: that there was a half a glass of water there – the full or the empty part could be left off…. 

One fairly accurate way to determine if someone is an optimist or a pessimist is to look at their expectations.  Expectations are mental pictures of the future, and they are very powerful influencers of actual future events. It isn’t uncommon to look at the life of an optimist and see very positive things going on.  In the same way, the life of a pessimist appears to be full of negative events and negative emotions about those events. 

I think that people generally get what they expect.  So if that’s true, are optimists just the lucky people to whom good things happen all the time because they expect it and pessimists those with the bad luck following them around like a shadow?    Though some outlooks are influenced by the temperament we’re born with, I think most of us begin life with great expectations.  Have you ever met a pessimistic toddler?  I think that we start out believing that we live in a sane and just universe and believe that folks will usually do what is right, and that we will ultimately be safe. 

The older we get, however, the scarier the world around us becomes.  We’re let down by the people in our lives, and events don’t unfold the way we think they ought to.  Do any of you remember the first time someone said to you, “Well, what did you expect?”  Whoever asked the question was beginning your reorientation to a world of changed – in other words, lowered expectations. Don’t count on things to work out.  Don’t count on people to come through for you. Don’t get your hopes up. 

It’s true, that if you’re counting on events to transpire the way you want them to or people to never let you down you’ll probably be disappointed. All kinds of unexpected and unwelcome things happen every day, and others will certainly fail to live up to our expectations.

I know that I sound a little like I’m contradicting myself by saying that I believe people generally get what they expect and in the next breath saying that events will likely not transpire the way we plan.  But is there a way in which both things can be true?  And could an active understanding of and participation in this truth be the secret to optimism and ultimately, happiness?

I think that David’s life is a terrific example of someone who lived an incredible adventure of faith.  Alan mentioned in last week’s sermon that David’s behavior was not always exemplary, and that’s true.  David made many bad choices.  But the Scriptures tell us that David was a man after God’s own heart. What was it about David that made him a man after God’s own heart despite his flaws?   I suggest to you that David’s implicit trust in God and surrender to God’s will is the answer.

Throughout his lifetime, David understood three important things about God and about life as one of God’s children:

1.      God is truly in control of every situation. 
2.       God is moving His plan forward in history.
3.      God is in control of David’s life.  His plans are good and can be trusted.

Our Old Testament reading this morning is a brief excerpt from the speech that David gives Goliath right before he kills him.  The entire Israelite army has been encamped before the Philistines for weeks, shaking in their boots because of the giant who comes out to taunt them daily.  When David hears about it he says, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”  David doesn’t get it.  Why are the soldiers afraid?  They serve the living God.  David eventually faces Goliath.  Before he kills Goliath, he wants him to know exactly what’s going to happen and why.  God can fight his own battles and he can use a boy to do it.

David answered, "You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel's troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I'm about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes. The whole earth will know that there's an extraordinary God in Israel. And everyone gathered here will learn that God doesn't save by means of sword or spear. The battle belongs to God—he's handing you to us on a platter!"

Throughout the rest of his life David demonstrates an unwavering trust in God and in God’s plan.  The entire time he is on the run from Saul, David exercises amazing restraint and faith.  Several times he has an opportunity to kill his pursuer, but he trusts God to work out His plan in the right way and at the right time.  David realizes that God is both working out his plan for history and working out his plan for David’s own life.  As he humbly submits to how God is at work in both places, he is able to rest and enjoy the adventure.  The Psalms are full of David expounding on the amazing love, power, and plans of God.  Even the Psalms that are prayers for help or the laments contain assurances of God’s loving care.

In Christ, we can be even more certain of God’s ultimate victory in history and His tender care for us.  The final verses of Romans 8 paint a beautiful picture of what those who follow Jesus can expect.  There Paul assures us that everything that happens is used by God for our good.  In fact, the Father has our greatest good in mind: we will be conformed to the image of his Son.  Can you imagine anything better than looking like Jesus?  Neither can the Father.  Every resource in the universe will be used to make us like Him. 

 Nothing can separate us from God and his love.  Whatever happens, we can rest assured that God has us and has the situation under control.  If you’re like me, the nightly news is often a doorway to dark imaginings of what terrible things could happen.  The folks who went to the Batman premier in Aurora Colorado were not expecting to do anything but enjoy a movie that they’d been anticipating.  The night held something very different for them.  

                                                 

 All of us have known people who have faced incredibly difficult challenges that they had no idea was coming, and certainly would not chosen for themselves.  Some of us have been that person.  The difference between someone broken and bitter about their experiences of pain and those who are joyful and victorious in the midst of them is an understanding that God is in control and can be trusted to work His good plan.  Their eyes are watching for how God is blessing them in the midst of the struggle.  Paul says that in all of these things we are more than conquerors!  Those who are looking for blessing will perceive the blessing they’re being given in every situation.  Those who aren’t looking for it may only see hardship or suffering.  Which would you rather see?

            There’s a great hymn entitled Anywhere With Jesus.  It says:

Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go,
Anywhere He leads me in this world below;
Anywhere without Him dearest joys would fade;
Anywhere with Jesus I am not afraid.

Anywhere with Jesus I am not alone;
Other friends may fail me, He is still my own;
Though His hand may lead me over drearest ways,
Anywhere with Jesus is a house of praise.

So what do you expect?  Is the glass half empty or half full?  Do you envision a future full of hope and glory - or fear and dread?  I expect great things of God.  I’ve noticed that events rarely turn out as I expect.  I have no idea what will happen tomorrow - whether it will be pleasant or difficult, whether I’ll feel happy or sorrowful.  I cannot say that my life will go as I would plan it.  But what I do know is that God is in control, that He’s moving his plan forward in history, and that His plans for me are for my good.  We can go anywhere with Jesus, and expect a great adventure.