LET GO OF EXPECTATIONS


Three friends are being interviewed to become detectives. To test their skills in recognizing a suspect, the police officer shows the first man a picture for 5 seconds and then hides it.

"This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?"

The first man answers, "That's easy; we'll catch him fast because he only has one eye!"

The police officer says, "Well...uh...that's because the picture shows his profile."

Slightly flustered by this ridiculous response, he flashes the picture for 5 seconds at the second man and asks him, "This is your suspect, and how would you recognize him?"

The second man says, "Ha! He'd be too easy to catch because he only has one ear!"

The police officer angrily responds, "What's the matter with you two? Of course only one eye and one ear are SHOWING because it's a picture of his profile!! Is that the best answer you can come up with?"

Extremely frustrated at this point, he shows the picture to the third man and in a very testy voice asks, "This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?" He quickly added "... think hard before giving me a stupid answer."

The man looks at the picture intently for a moment and confidently says "Hmm...The suspect wears contact lenses."

The answer catches the police officer by surprise and speechless because he really didn't know himself if the suspect wore contacts or not. "Well, that's an interesting answer... wait here for a few minutes while I check his file and I'll get back to you on that."

He leaves the room and goes to his office, checks the suspect's file in his computer, and returns with a beaming smile on his face. "Wow! I can't believe it...it's TRUE! The suspect does in fact wear contact lenses. Good work! How on earth are you able to make such an astute observation?

"That's easy," the man replies. "He couldn’t wear regular glasses because he only has one eye and one ear."

Christmas is coming. We see signs of Christmas celebration everywhere. Christmas decorations are beautiful; Christmas sales are appealing. Christmas spirit is joyful. We are busy setting up Christmas trees, buying Christmas presents, writing Christmas cards, sending Christmas wishes to friends. But have we identified who is at the center of Christmas celebration? Of course all of us know that Christmas is about Jesus Christ. But is he the center of our celebration?

Today, the Gospel reading invites us to identify who Jesus truly is.

In Doubt

John the Baptist sends his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” John the Baptist knows who Jesus is. He recognizes Jesus even when he is still in his mother’s womb. But now he is in doubt about whether Jesus is truly the Messiah.

Have you ever been in doubt or have second thought about someone?

Do we have any couple in the congregation who are dating or engaging? (Look for a couple).

You are dating each other. You are engaging to your fiancé. You might feel just right for each other. You just feel matched. You belong to each other. You have no doubt that you love each other. You believe in each other, and you trust each other. You cannot imagine not being together.

Now I want to ask those of you who have been married for a long time. Have you always felt that way about each other throughout your marriage? Of course not. Sometime you might wonder about each other’s behaviours and you might have doubt about your love for each other. How do you overcome the doubt?

Here is another observation. When your first baby was born, you looked at the baby and said, “Oh! Wow! My baby is so beautiful. He is so precious! He is adorable! He is so cute!” He is the joy of your life. And you have big dream for him. You have lot of hope for him. He will turn out to be wonderful. You believe and hope.

Your baby also cannot stay away from you. He cries for you. He wants you to hold him. He sleeps in your arms. On his first day of pre-school, he refuses to let go of you, because he only knows you and wants to be with you. You are his security. Then one day, he begins to run away from you. He begins to assert his independence. He begins to say no to you. He begins to lie to you. He wants to hide from you. When he becomes a teenager, he seems to treat his friends better than he treats you. He seems to trust his friends more than he trusts you. He sometimes shows disrespectful attitude to you. Someday you begin to wonder and question, “who is this “alien?” You begin to have doubt. You feel hurt; it seems that he is no longer yours. He does not turn out the ways your expected him to be.

Expectations

This is happening to John the Baptist. John the Baptist is a chosen messenger for the Messiah. He jumps with joy in his mother’s womb when Jesus’ mother comes to visit Elizabeth, his mother. He is the herald preaching and calling people to prepare the way for the Messiah. He preaches with strong conviction. He calls people to “repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He is not afraid to speak truthfully to religious leaders and royalties. He demands that people must produce good fruits as evidence of their repentance to make ways for the Messiah. He talks highly of the Messiah: “The Messiah is much greater than I am.I am not good enough even to carry his sandals. He must become more important while I become less important” (Jn 3:30).

He baptizes Jesus in the Jordan’s River. He witnesses the Spirit coming upon Jesus. He informs people that God sends him to baptize with water, but they will see the Spirit comes down and stay on a man; he is the one who baptises with the Holy Spirit. He testifies, “I have seen it, and I tell you that he is the Son of God.” (Jn 1:33). He hears the voice speaking: “This is my beloved Son with whom I am pleased.” He introduces Jesus to the people: “There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This is the One I was talking about whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me, but he is greater than I am, because he existed before I was born. (Jn 1: 29-30).” It is so clear that John knows who Jesus is. So why is he having doubts?

All of his observations and saying and preaching about Jesus, the Messiah, are true. But his expectation of the Messiah is not becoming true. In his prison cell, he begins to sense that he is in trouble. Speaking strongly against King Herod is leading to his death. If the Messiah does not take any action to free him soon, he would be dead. He speaks the truth with courage because he believes that the Messiah is on his side. He has the right message. On the contrary, he is hearing stories about the peaceful behaviour of Christ which do not fit his own expectations of a stern, strong and powerful Messiah. He expects the Messiah to do some extraordinary things, to turn the world around, but it does not happen that way. He has risked his life for the sake of the Kingdom and for the coming of the Messiah, but it seems that the Messiah does not turn out to be the one he expects. The Messiah is not acting the way he expects. Herod is still in power. Injustice and sins are still everywhere. So he begins to have doubts.

It is the same with us. When everything is going well, and according to our expectations, our faith is strong. Our relationships are wonderful. But if suddenly we are laid off, out of works; our children misbehave and get into troubles; our business is in crisis; relationships and communications at home become difficult, or suddenly we get sick . . . When things begin to happen not according to the ways we expected, we begin to question God: Why me? What do I do wrong? Why is God punishing me? Why is he abandoning me? Is there a loving and understanding God?

Letting Go of Expectations

How could John be convinced that Jesus is the Messiah? How can he find peace and trust again?

Jesus tells John’s messengers: Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind recover their sight, cripples walk, lepers are cured, the deaf hear, dead men are raised to life, and the poor have the Good News preached to them. These are the signs to recognize Christ as the Messiah. The Messiah is the Healer. John and his disciples become believers again because they hear and see what Jesus does. He is going around healing people. They come to a different view and understanding of the Messiah. They let go of their old expectations. Actually, they stop to expect and begin to act like Jesus, the Healer. And their doubts disappear.

The Messiah is the Healer. He is showing all the healing signs. His message is not condemnation but salvation, not cutting down the trees but patiently waiting for the fruits. Yes, Jesus wants to change the world, but not with weapons and mighty military power. He wants to change the world with love, compassion, forgiveness and healings. He comes to heal the sinful world.

To overcome our doubts in God and in others, we also need to learn to let go of our own expectations and begin to act like Jesus. Our doubts will disappear, and we will be at peace if we drop all our expectations of God and of others, and begin to act on healings and be a healer!

Fr. John Kha Tran