The Gospel according to St.

Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22

15 And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their
hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not;

16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water;
but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not
worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and
will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire
unquenchable.

21 Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus
also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,

22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him,
and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in
thee I am well pleased.

This is the Gospel of Christ.

Praise be to Christ our Savior.

SERMON: TO WHOM SHOULD WE EXPECT?

Good morning, Church!

Great Expectations:

I had the great pleasure of conducting orchestral music which consists of a

masterpiece called “A Christmas Festival” by Leroy Anderson and this was a huge
task of rehearsals and instrumentation. I knew the Police Band would enjoy
playing this peace and my expectations were great. All I wanted was success at
our annual Christmas concert.
Charles Dickins, the great English novel writer, wrote several books. His greatest
masterpiece was Ä Christmas Carol”. Otherwise, known as the Ebenezer Scrooge
Story.

Great Expectations follows the childhood and young adult years of Pip a
blacksmith's apprentice in a country village. He suddenly comes into a large
fortune (his great expectations) from a mysterious benefactor and moves to
London where he enters high society.

He thinks he knows where the money has come from but he turns out to be sadly
mistaken. The story also follows Pip's dealings with Estella, a young woman he
adores but who cannot return his love. All Pip wanted was to be rich and in love.

Let us pray! For what we are about to receive, we give you thanks Lord. And may
the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy site.
O Lord, my strength and redeemer. Amen.

In recent message prepared for the advent season, we learnt about:

• Christ the Babe.
• Christ the Child.
• Christ the Adult.
• And now, Christ the deliverer.

Luke 7:19-20, John himself, sent them to the LORD to ask, "Are you the one who is
to come, or should we expect someone else?"

20When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask,
'Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?"

The Savior did not at once answer the disciples’ question. As they stood waiting
for an answer, “He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to
many blind He gave sight” (Luke 7:21).

At the end of the day, Jesus called John’s disciples to Him, and said, “Go and tell
John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the
lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel
preached to them.
And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (Luke 7:21-23).
The evidence of Christ’s divinity was seen in serving humanity.

In Matthew 11:11, Jesus responded to John’s question by saying, verily I say unto
you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than
John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is
greater than he.

Here we have the people who came to be baptize by John, seemingly perplex as
to whether John was the Jesus they were expecting to see.

Jesus began his ministry where John ended.

John Baptized Jesus. And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove
upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in
thee I am well pleased.
It is my belief that all our expectations were met at this point.

John received his answer. Jesus sanctioned all that John had done in asking
people to repent and then baptizing them in the name of the one who is to
come…Jesus.

The expectations of John’s disciples were met as they witness Jesus performing
many things.

I ask the question, To Whom should we expect?

Charles Wesley invited this same expectant Jesus to us when he wrote the hymn:
Come, Thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
 Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all-sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Everyday we are in the presence of Jesus, whether we believe in Him or not.

Everyday, He comes to improve our living conditions and many of us reject him.
Everyday, His hands are extended hoping that one of us might receive him unto
ourselves.
Everyday, while He is healing others, he can heal us too.
Just like the people came to John to be baptized, you and I can come to Jesus for
repentance.

I ask the same question like John, are we to expect another?

John 14:6 reads, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.
Are we to expect another? I tell you Church! This is it! Jesus is the real deal.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

There is only one God, one Son and one Holy Spirit.
• God talked directly to man.
• Jesus the Son, lived among us.
• The Holy Spirit dwell, is our present source of power.

These three, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit have made it possible for man to
have a right to the tree of life.
Among all the other Gods man has worshipped, these three reigned supreme
from time to eternity. They give us peace, hope and love.
If we receive the Son of God, he will receive us unto himself.
I ask the question: To Whom should you expect?

Let me ask this question another way. To whom should Christ expect? Jesus gave
John’s disciples his report by the mighty works he performed. What report you
have for Jesus?

From the time Jesus’ ministry started to the time He was crucified; He never gave
up hope to save this dying nation. He did all he could to ensure that everyone has
that right to the tree of life.

The expected one was treated inhumane. The expectant one was given a rough
time especially when He began to forgive sinners. We love getting our physical
needs met but delay the spiritual.

And, our expectations are that we would make it to Heaven. Yet! We deter our
ability to have a relationship with the one who can take us there.

John was preparing this way for us. Jesus is that way for us.
Our expectations from Jesus are so great. Yet! Many of us still hold back on
repenting from our sins.

Pretty soon, we will be celebrating:

• Christ the condemned,
• Christ the punished.
• Christ the crucified.
• Christ the resurrected.
• Christ the Ascended.

Jesus’ ministry is ours. “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on
earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this
world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands
through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
(Mother Teresa of Avila)
Come, Thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free;
 And to you, the disciples of John!
And to you, the members of Rhodes!
No more expectation. Jesus is here.

Are we to expect another? The answer is no.

The book of Acts 1:11 reads: Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come
in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

The expectant Jesus will come to gather all his children unto himself. He will
come to judge the quicken and the dead.

Lord! Not only do we expect you but we will worship you until you come.

To whom should we expect? The King of Glory.

So I encourage you to Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye

everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the
King of glory shall come in.

Who are we to expect? We are to expect the King of Glory. Jesus our Lord and
Savior. To the Glory of God. Amen.

Let us pray!

O LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it is this
day. Here we are before You, in our guilt, though no one can stand before You
because of this! Please forgive us our sins. We wait for your second coming to
take us to Heaven.