The nomination of Abbot Hugh Gilbert of Pluscarden as bishop-elect has raised many expectations and hopes among the clergy and lay people of the diocese. The problem is that because they are so many and so different it’s not possible to fulfil all of them. The new bishop like every new boss will have to make up his mind and set priorities. Inevitably it means that some expectations will be fulfilled, some will not, and some will drop somewhere in between. Quite likely some people will be upset or embittered that their requirements are not met by Bishop Hugh. He will not be the first for this to happen, and not the last.
In today’s gospel Jesus puts a question to his apostles: ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They present many different views: ‘some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets’. These are not only names – each one carries a particular story and more importantly a particular way of dealing with problems. In other words these names express people’s expectations about Jesus as the messiah. We know that most of them weren’t fulfilled. Jesus didn’t turn out to be a great warrior or political leader; he did not wipe away all the sinners from the face of the earth; he did not confirm the Jewish people to be a special nation. In the eyes of all the observers he turned out to be a loser, who failed and disappointed so many.
But did he really disappoint them? When we look carefully at his teachings and deeds we can see clearly that he’d never given any reason for such expectations. Rather he tried to disarm all of them – but he wasn’t listened to. It’s an amazing feature of the human mind that we can filter out everything contrary to our expectations and keep even a hint of anything that confirms them. Our expectations can make us blind and deaf to everything contradictory. But when they are not fulfilled who do we blame for it? Everyone but ourselves. We can blame the spouse, parents, teachers, priests and so on. But in fact first of all we should check our own expectations.
The answer given by Simon Peter in today’s gospel has a stroke of realism: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’. He sees Jesus as someone special, extraordinary, different from all the prophets. Someone with a different mission to fulfil. At this moment Peter doesn’t know anything about it; but on account of the mission he abandons his expectations. He will struggle against them, but eventually he’ll be victorious, not disappointed.
Our lives can be more joyous when we cut down on our expectations about other people. A realistic view of them can make us more understanding and forgiving. If we don’t raise enormous expectations we will not be enormously disappointed or embittered. So let me add one more blessing to the Beatitudes: ‘Blessed are those without expectations because they will not be disappointed’.