Expectations for an Adultress

Suggested Reading: John 8:1-11

Not long ago, I introduced my children to the movie Mr. Holland's Opus. One of the great things about that movie are the stories of how Mr. Holland, as he invested time and energy into his students, expected things of students who had never really had anyone expect anything from them before. One red-headed student in particular grew up in a family where all of her older siblings were high achievers but no-one ever expected anything of her. Mr. Holland kept pushing her, expecting her to achieve, and eventually she did, not only musically but also by becoming the state governor. 

Previously, we looked at how Jesus refused to play the Pharisees' game with the woman caught in the act of committing adultery, but the story didn't end there. After Jesus turned the tables on them, agreeing to stone her only if the first stone was thrown by someone who was sinless, Jesus was left alone with the woman. He asked her if anyone had condemned her and she responded that no one had. Jesus then added, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on do not sin anymore" (John 8:11, HCSB). Having just saved this woman and having refused to condemn her himself, it is easy for me to hear the tone in Jesus's voice in my imagination. Jesus does not speak to her in disgust or in disappointment but in expectation. "Go and from now on do not sin anymore." With that statement Jesus gave this woman caught in adultery something no one else seemed willing to give her: expectations.

In my work with students through the years, I have learned that students tend to give you what you expect of them. There are always exceptions, but in general students behave the way you expect them to.  If you expect them to be disrespectful, they behave disrespectfully. If you expect them to behave like responsible adults, they eventually do. Expectations are a statement of belief in a person, one way or another. Jesus understood this and he gave this adulteress high expectations. Without condemning her, Jesus expected more from her.

Sometimes we are really good at expecting things from people; we just expect the wrong things. Too often, we expect people to fail. We expect people to let us down. We expect people to go on with their lives, never living up to their potential. And we normally get what we expect. What would happen if we expected more from people, without reminding them of their failures by flavoring our expectations with condemnation? How would people change if we expected more from them? Who in your life desperately needs the gift of expectations?

I'm a Miracle Worker, Not a Bloody Engineer!

Suggested Reading: Acts 9:32-43

One thing I enjoy that runs through a number of science fiction shows is the "miracle worker" scientist/engineer trope. These miracle workers solve so many problems with minutes to spare so often that people begin to expect the miraculous of them. Despite Star Trek's Scotty proclaiming, 'I'm an engineer, not a bloody miracle worker!" everyone thought he was. Despite Stargate Atlantis's Rodney McKay always whining about how unrealistic it was to assume that he would come up with some scientific mumbo-jumbo to save the day, he always did. True, these science geeks were the writers' way of creating a solution to an impossible problem they had written themselves into. But the characters always expected the miracle workers to come through, and so did the audience. We always knew when there was a difficult situation that seemed impossible to surmount, these miracle workers would find a way to overcome it.

What would our lives be like if we had that same mindset with regard to God? What if, when impossible difficulties confronted us, we immediately assumed the attitude, "My miracle working God will save the day"? This attitude pervades scripture. When the Israelite spies returned from the Promised Land, knowing how powerful its current occupants were, Joshua and Caleb responded, "Do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them" (Number 14:9, NIV). When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood before a tyrant who was about to cast them into a fiery furnace for failing to worship his idol, they said, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up" (Daniel 3:17-18, NIV). When the wedding in Cana ran out of wine, Mary conscripted her son, Jesus, telling the servants, "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5, NIV) before Jesus had even agreed to deal with the problem. When the woman Tabitha died and her friends heard that Peter was in a nearby town, they immediately urged him, "Please come at once!" (Acts 9:38, NIV), knowing that Peter could do something about her death.

All throughout scripture people expected the impossible of God and they were rewarded for their faith. The same God who answered prayers and performed the miraculous then answers prayers and performs the miraculous now. But we often miss out on those miracles because we don't expect them and don't ask for them. Is God always going to perform a miracle? No, he made that clear to Paul when he refused to take away the thorn in the flesh that tormented him (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). But, often, God is simply waiting on us to ask.

We have a God who designed and controls the laws of the universe. Isn't about time that we respond to the impossible by remembering to call the real Miracle Worker?