The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost - September 13

Misguided Expectations
Proper 19
Mark 8:27 - 38

The first part of the Gospel reading appointed for today is an event known as “The Confession of Peter.” Not confession in the needing forgiveness sense, but in the sense of professing. Peter professes, or confesses, that Jesus is the Messiah. Peter names Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah.

It’s an important event in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry. It occurs in all three synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke. It even has a holy day on the calendar for its commemoration: January 18.

At first glance it seems like a miracle. Peter actually gets something right. “You are the Messiah.” Peter correctly names Jesus as the Messiah. In Matthew Peter says: You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. In Luke Peter names Jesus as “the Messiah of God.” The Messiah.

What does it mean to you to name Jesus as the Messiah? We know the right answer. We know what to name Jesus. But what does the name mean to you? What does it say about Jesus to confess him as Messiah?

Maybe you know it means something about being God’s anointed. The one who was promised. But what does that mean in terms of who Jesus is, what Jesus does???

If you’re not sure, take heart. Peter didn’t know either. Peter got the name right, but he got pretty much everything else wrong. And, in the end, I think what he got wrong is more instructive to us than what he got right.

Peter confessed Jesus as Messiah, but Peter’s expectations of what the Messiah would do were totally off. We might do better to call this passage not the Confession of Peter, but rather “Peter’s Misguided Expectations.”

You’ve probably heard before that in Jesus’ day there was widespread expectation among the Jews that a big part of what the Messiah would be would be a powerful political leader, one who would fight for their cause and overcome those who opposed them.

Beyond that, and I’m definitely speculating here, I wonder if Peter wanted his Messiah to be a winner, a God of glory and power. Peter wanted to be associated with a Messiah who was acclaimed, not scorned, by the religious authorities. Peter expected his God to do him proud.

Peter clearly does not expect the Messiah to undergo suffering, to be rejected by the important religious leaders, to be killed…

Peter had strong expectations of God’s Messiah. Whether those expectations grew out of the religio/social expectations of his day for a Messiah who was a strong political leader and/or whether Peter’s expectations grew out of his own needs and hopes for who God would be in his life.

Wherever they came from, Peter’s expectations were his expectations and they were way off.

What are your expectations of Jesus or of God? In your own life, or in the world? What do you expect of God?

If God’s not meeting those expectations, then we need to question the expectations. That’s what this passage teaches me.

The problem wasn’t that God was absent or passive in Peter’s life. He was right there!! Jesus was as close to Peter and as active in his life as it’s possible to be. The disconnect was caused by Peter’s misguided expectations of “his” Messiah.

What are your expectations of your Messiah? That he will fight for your cause? Help you shine in the world? Affirm you desires?

If God’s not meeting your expectations, you need to challenge those expectations. And be open to God’s action in your life in unexpected places and ways. God is present; God is acting. But maybe not how you expect. Be open to God’s presence and care in unexpected places and ways.

The Messiah comes to us, not in power, but in weakness and suffering. Not in flashy glory, but in quiet hope. Not to meet our expectations, but to meet our deepest needs… the need for meaning, for joy, for soul-freedom…

If God is not meeting your expectations, put aside those expectations and look for him in new and unexpected places in your life.