This is Advent, a time of expectation.

It is easy to confuse the expectation which characterizes Advent with the expectation which characterizes Christmas.

For Christmas, we expect gifts. Many of us look forward to something good to add to the pretty good we already have. There is an anticipation that we will get something which will make us feel better, be more fulfilled.

Advent, on the other hand…

…hmm, how do I explain this…

…maybe with a story.

John is in jail. Herod locked him up for personal reasons. And with a person like Herod, personal reasons could be deadly. John, age thirty, has every reason to believe that his life is nearly done.

And so he sends some of his followers to Jesus with a simple question: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Matthew 11:2-3).

John has been clinging to an expectation that his whole life has been about paving the way for someone. He has been devoted. He created a reputation of having no reputation in expectation that his life mattered.

And now, in jail, facing whimsical death, he wants to know whether he screwed up.

He’s not alone, of course, with his question of Jesus. You’ve wondered, too. You’ve wondered whether it’s worth looking like some madman in the desert eating grasshoppers and fighting bears for wild honey. You’ve wondered whether the Jesus you have been hearing about from other people doing interesting magic tricks in response to incantations known as prayers is actually the real God that you desperately want to know. But only if you can be sure that you won’t be disappointed.

John’s question about expectation grew out of an aching heart, out of his deepest identity.

That’s the expectation of Advent. Not getting presents, getting whole.