Unmet expectations can anger us. Unmet expectations in social settings can set friend against friend. Unmet expectations in work settings can destroy good rapport between colleagues. Unmet expectations in family (or church) situations can shake the very foundation of relational life.

And the only thing that makes it worse is when we put our expectations of each other onto God when "God" doesn't come through for us the way we wish or want. It happens all the time. We expect great things from God, but: we still do poorly on the exam. We expect great things from God, but: we still lose the football game. We expect great things from God, but we still miss out on the job opportunity. We expect great things from God, but: the marriage still falls apart. We expect great things from God, but: our worse fears about the sickness still come to pass.

I keep thinking about John the Baptist in prison. In prison John is eagerly awaiting the Messiah. He has clear expectations. Remember how John described the Messiah in last Sunday's Gospel text? This is what John said: "one more powerful than I is coming after me...He will baptize with fire...His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, and...the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." This is John's expectation of the Messiah.

We can only wonder what John has heard from his prison cell about the activities and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth who he had baptized at the Jordan. From prison, he asks if Jesus is the one who is to come, or should they be looking for another? I often wonder what it was that John was longing to hear. I wonder what report could have been given that would have assured John that Jesus was the One? And notice...Jesus does not give a clear answer as to whether or not He is the Messiah for whom John waits. Rather, Jesus describes what he is doing. "Go tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them." And we never hear John's reaction!

I just think that expectations can be tricky things, and when we get God involved, it can be more than tricky-it can be dangerous. Most of the time, our expectations for God have to do with our wanting God to "fix" something in our lives. Human nature tempts us to make God into the "Fix-it" person for our daily living. And, of course, we want God to fix it the way we want it fixed. Maybe what we really expect from God is magic.

Most especially in Matthew's Gospel, "Messiah" is connected to the Kingdom of Heaven. Last week we heard John proclaim, "the Kingdom of heaven has come near." This morning we hear Jesus say, "the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he [John]." We are only the third week into hearing Matthew's Gospel, and already we've heard talk of the Kingdom twice. Matthew mentions the "kingdom of heaven" 21 more times in his Gospel.

But too often, when we hear "the Kingdom of Heaven has come near," we think Jesus is talking about the Magic Kingdom. Too often we make God into a God of magic, and Jesus into a magician Messiah.

John's confusion is the same confusion with which we still struggle today. They expected a Messiah who was going to fix everything the way they wanted: to take care of the Romans, to restore the temple religion to its rightful level of prestige, to do away with all injustices as they perceived them. They wanted a Messiah to come to abolish all evils. They wanted a magician Messiah no different than what we very often expect. I can understand John's question: "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"

You know, especially when we expect better from God, maybe that is our question, also, at some level, although we don't phrase it exactly with those words! That's why Jesus' answer back to John is so important. We need to hear Jesus' answer in order to confront our expectations as to what the Messiah and what the Kingdom of Heaven is really all about. Maybe another way to form the question for us is: What kind of God do we want?" "What are our expectations of God?" "What kind of God are we waiting for during this Advent?"

Miracle or Magic. There's the issue, and there is a big difference. Miracles engage us and draw us into a deeper faith, into a dialogue with God. When we recognize a miracle, we become part of it and the miracle becomes a part of us. It affects us. It demands a response from us.

Magic is very different. If I knew how, I could do a magic trick right now in front of you, and you might be awed, amazed or astounded. You might even be impressed (if I were good enough!)-but you would not be changed. And there's the difference. Magic simply demands applause. A miracle demands a transformation.

Maybe the Advent question, the Kingdom question, on this Third Sunday of Advent is: Who is the God we are expecting? Are we awaiting a God to impress us? Or are we anticipating a God to engage us? Do we want to follow a Messiah? Or do we want a Messiah to follow after us and fix up all the messes in our lives and in our world? As Kingdom people, what should we expect from God? Absolutely nothing! As Kingdom people what should we believe God can do? Absolutely everything! Absolutely everything--even the surprise of God's Son in a stable in Bethlehem.

Can we believe that Jesus has come, that the Kingdom of Heaven has come near, but not to create some winter wonderland of a world; rather, to free each one of us from our slavery to sin, to enable us to live our vocation as God's daughters and sons of a new creation? For us to believe in such a miracle is to become engaged and transformed. That's a miracle worth getting involved in! Amen.