SR • December 2015
17
Go back to the year 1985ish with me. Picture a boy named
Carl along with his brother opening Christmas presents
with their parents. Wonderful expectancy filled the room as
the boys dreamed of what was inside the packages. The
parents swelled with joy as the boys celebrated the good
gifts they received. Then, “it” happened. After all the gifts
were open, said boy named Carl exclaimed, “Aren’t there
any more?”
A quick side note is of importance here — now that I have
been through the ordination process this past year, I realize
that perhaps my response was not entirely appropriate?
What happened was that I had bridged the gap between
expectancy and agenda. Expectancy is looking forward to
what is being given. Agenda is when you have a certain
amount or type of loot you want to haul in. Expectancy
and agenda can be easy to distinguish with Christmas
gifts — but perhaps not so easy with mission and ministry.
Agenda has a way of pulling us off course to settle for
good, rather than God’s preferred best. Be honest. When
we get involved in ministry and mission — when we say
“Here I am” to participate in youth group, or worship
ministry, or Bible study, or whatever happens to be your
passion to serve — is it with expectancy or agenda? Is
your agenda a certain number of people, a certain level
of study, certain outcomes, that people will acknowledge
how great the group is, that you will achieve some sort of
success? Those are certainly not bad things in and of
themselves — but they are good compared to God’s best.
The “Here I am” phrase to make ourselves available
to God’s service is a dangerous one. In Genesis 22:1,
Abraham says “Here I am” prior to being told to offer his
beloved son Isaac as a sacrifice. In Exodus 3:4, Moses
says “Here I am” prior to God telling him to go to Egypt
and lead the people — even though he does not want to.
In 1 Samuel 3:4-8, Samuel says “Here I am” and God tells
Samuel a devastating message he does not want to have
to share with his guardian Eli. In Isaiah 6:8, Isaiah says
“Here I am! Send me.”— and God tells Isaiah to bring His
message to a people who are not going to listen to Isaiah.
In fact, their hearts will only be hardened as they hear the
message. In Acts 9:10, Ananias says “Here I am, Lord” just
before the Lord tells him to find Saul, the one Ananias
would rather avoid at all costs. Clearly, “Here I am Lord” is
a dangerous phrase — it boldly states that expectancy of
God being glorified trumps agenda success.
How often is it that we tell God, “Here I am”— merely to
serve out our own agenda? Here I am, God — for a bet-
ter job, receiving an award, accolades for the Bible Study I
lead, or maybe having friends come to church when I invite
them. I am here for that, God — but not uncomfortable
situations. I am more interested in agenda than dealing
with sin in my life, dealing with messy situations in my life,
confessing idols I place ahead of you, or working through
strained relationships with people around me.
Funny how agenda uses religious talk to justify wrong
motives. So how do I truly engage with expectancy as I
join God in His work through, in, and around me? Simply
stated, through education. Moving from a counterfeit
agenda to a God-glorifying expectancy requires knowing
His promises more than our circumstances — again, that’s
education. Deuteronomy 6 lays out an educational road
map for moving from agenda to expectancy. That is a
road map we’ll explore together at General Conference
2016.
Rev. Dr. Kenneth Chroniger
Alfred Station SDB Church, NY
President’s Page
Expectancy and Agenda
Rev. Carl Greene
SDB Church
Hebron, PA
SR
