Rev. David Holwick N Easter 2015
First Baptist Church (adapted from April 11, 1993, sermon)
Ledgewood, New Jersey
April 5, 2015
Luke 24:13-33
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I. Expectations and reality do not always mesh.
A. Tragedy at the supermarket.
Linda Burnett, 23, had gone to a nearby supermarket to
pick up some groceries and put them in her backseat.
Several people noticed her sitting in her car with the
windows rolled up and with her eyes closed, and both hands
behind the back of her head.
One customer who had been at the store for a while became
concerned and walked over to the car.
He noticed that Linda's eyes were now open, and she looked
very strange.
He asked her if she was okay, and Linda replied that she'd
been shot in the back of the head, and had been holding
her brains in for over an hour.
The man called the paramedics, who had to break into the car
because the doors were locked and Linda refused to remove
her hands from her head.
When they finally got in, they found that Linda had a wad of
bread dough on the back of her head.
A Pillsbury biscuit cylinder had exploded from the heat,
making a loud noise that sounded like a gun shot, and the
wad of dough hit her in the back of her head.
When she reached back to find out what it was, she felt the
dough and thought it was her brains.
She initially passed out, but quickly recovered and tried to
hold her brains in for over an hour until someone noticed
and came to her aid.
This story appeared in mainstream media a few years ago.
Alas, further research shows that this is an urban legend,
invented by a comedian, but the point still stands --
Our perception of reality will always affect our response to
reality.
#16778
B. How do you perceive your life right now?
1) Career - expect to be where you are now?
2) Spouse, kids - turn out the way you wanted?
3) Many people have that yearning feeling, "If only...."
It is not just where you are, but where you want to be.
C. Expectations have an awesome influence on us.
1) We can set them low, or set them high.
2) You only have one life - are your expectations worthy?
II. The first Easter was a clash of expectations.
A. The two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus were defeated.
1) Their faces were downcast. 24:17
2) "We HAD hoped he would redeem Israel." 24:21
B. There is a hint of other possibilities.
1) They mention it is the "third day" since the events happened.
a) They must be thinking of the prediction made by Jesus.
b) It is normal to view it as two days. (Friday to Sunday)
1> Literally, it was one whole day, part of two.
2> In Jewish reckoning, that counts as three.
2) Some women had reported a bizarre experience. 24:22
a) They had come to an empty tomb.
b) Angels were said to have given them a message.
C. The reality was more than they could expect.
1) God's power had raised Jesus from the dead.
2) Death was conquered.
3) The lives of these men, and millions of others, were
changed forever.
III. What can we expect of God?
A. You can expect nothing.
1) Then there is no letdown.
Poet Alexander Pope wrote in a 1727 letter:
"Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never
be disappointed." #1481
2) No disappointment, but no thrills, either.
B. You can expect great things.
1) Christianity is all about the awesome power of God.
a) Jesus wants us to have an abundant life, not a
narrow, confined one. John 10:10b
b) He says the more we expect, the more God will do.
2) Expect even more than you think you can expect. Eph 3:20
a) Paul says God has greater things for us than our minds
can conceive:
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than
all we ask or imagine, according to his power
that is at work within us..." (Ephesians 3:20)
b) A missionary who believed this from his heart.
Perhaps you have heard the saying, "Expect great things
from God; attempt great things for God."
It came from a sermon preached by William Carey more
than two centuries ago.
Carey lived in an era in which no one had attempted to
reach the whole world for Christ since the first
century.
His supernatural dream was to see the church send
missionaries in every direction around the globe.
After 17 centuries of spiritual inertia, could one man,
whose formal education ended at age 12, make a
difference?
He could if he "expected great things from God", and
"attempted great things for Him."
As Carey began to meet with various pastors urging them
to consider sending missionaries, his words seemed
to fall on deaf ears.
One elderly pastor impatiently told Carey that when
God wanted to reach the nations, He would do it
without consulting Carey or the pastor!
Carey sought out like-minded believers.
In no time he raised enough support to be able to sail
to India.
Sometimes he had to fight the Indian caste system;
sometimes the British government.
In 1812, his printing plant burned to the ground, along
with years of translation work.
Carey's wife and two of his children tragically died on
the mission field.
But despite the great personal costs, he never gave up.
His organization translated the Bible into 34 Asian
languages.
It founded a college, began countless churches and
mission stations, started 100 schools, many newspapers,
and succeeded in tremendous social reform.
More importantly, Carey single-handedly launched a
movement of world evangelism which continues today.
#64813
100 years ago, 66 percent of the world's Christians were
Europeans.
Today, 74% of the world's Christians are outside of
Europe.
During that century, the Christian population of southern
Africa went from 1% to 24%.
Asia's percentage of Christians tripled.
How much of this is because William Carey, a lowly Baptist,
refused to limit his expectations of God?
[1]
He served the God who says in Jeremiah 32:27,
"I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world.
Is anything too hard for Me?"
3) Even undeserving people can receive great things from God.
Westley Allan Dodd was executed by hanging at the
Washington State Penitentiary twenty years ago.
If anyone deserved it, Westley did - he was a serial
murderer of children.
Dodd has been called "one of the most evil killers in
history."
Moments before the death sentence was carried out, he was
given the customary opportunity for last words.
Here was a man who had viciously abused and mutilated
three young boys.
He final words came as a shock: "I was wrong when I said
there was no hope, no peace.
There is hope. There is peace.
I have found both in the Lord Jesus Christ."
According to an eyewitness, the father of two of the boys
murdered by Dodd "hissed quietly" when Dodd invoked the
name of Jesus.
No one can fault this father for his contempt and
skepticism.
Until then, Dodd had shown no remorse.
He would mutilate and murder again, he had said, if not
put to death.
Hearing that a notorious criminal has professed to find
forgiveness, hope, and peace in Jesus Christ should not
surprise us.
Instead, it should cause us to rejoice, as we reconsider
the miracle of God's mercy and grace - wide and deep
enough to cover everyone's sin, mine especially.
#2485
IV. What do you expect from God?
A. Your presence here today indicates something.
1) Perhaps you were dragged here.
2) Perhaps it is your family's custom.
3) Maybe you really love God.
B. We need to determine what we REALLY want in life.
1) We mistakenly think we need:
a) A new relationship that will fill our emptiness.
b) A new job that will satisfy our restlessness.
c) A new experience that will transport us to new heights.
2) But nothing ever fills the void.
a) C.S. Lewis: "We err not by desiring, but by desiring
too little."
b) What we really seek, if only we knew it, is God.
C. We must experience Jesus directly.
1) The two guys on the road to Emmaus did not have real
insight until Jesus revealed himself to them.
2) Has Jesus revealed himself to you?
a) Seek him until he does.
V. Trust God for something big in your life.
A. Believing is just the beginning. Do something!
Years ago, before the iPad and iPhone, Apple Computer was
having a tough time.
They realized they needed a seasoned business veteran to
get them back on track.
Apple's young chairman, Steven Jobs, traveled from Silicon
Valley to New York City.
His purpose was to recruit the Pepsi Company's president
John Sculley to move west and run the struggling company.
As the two men overlooked the Manhattan skyline from Sculley's
top-floor office, the Scully started to decline Jobs' offer.
"Financially," Sculley said, "you'd have to give me:
a million-dollar salary,
a million-dollar bonus,
and a million dollar severance."
Jobs was blown away by these demands, but he agreed to the
terms - if Sculley would move to California.
But Sculley would commit only to being a consultant from
New York.
At that, Jobs issued a challenge to Sculley:
"Do you want to spend your life selling sugared water, or
do you want to change the world?"
Most people don't recognize a chance to change the world.
In Jesus Christ, that is exactly the opportunity we have.
#2020
B. Expect great things from God!
1) Then attempt to do something that will last.
2) Last not in this world, but the world to come.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] “Christianity Declines In Europe, Increases in Africa and Asia, Says
Survey,” Setrige Crawford, Christian Post Reporter, December 23,
2011, <http://www.christianpost.com/news/christianity-declines-in-europe-increases-in
-africa-and-asia-says-survey-65619/>
# 1481 “The Advantage of Expecting Nothing,” David G. Myers & Malcolm A.
Jeeves, Christianity Today magazine, April 22, 1988, page 27.
# 2020 “Sell Sugared Water, Or Change the World?” Greg Asimakoupoulos,
Concord, California, Leadership magazine, April 1991, page 44.
# 2485 “Notorious Conversions,” Luis Palau, Christianity Today magazine,
March 8, 1993, page 20.
#16778 “Almost Killed By An Exploding Biscuit Tube,” Rev. Chris Vogel,
Internet Sermon - “Seeing Success In Sinners,” July 25, 1999.
#64813 “Expect Great Things From God,” Bill Bright, February 9, 2009,
<http://dev.discovergod.com/edevo/2009-site.html?id=887>,
derived from Bright’s book “Supernatural Thinking.”
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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