Rev. David Holwick M Easter 1993
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
April 11, 1993
Luke 24:13-33
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I. Expectations and reality do not always mesh.
A. Has your life come out as you expected?
1) Job - expect to be where you are now?
2) Spouse, kids - turn out the way you wanted?
3) Most people yearn, "If only...."
B. Expectations have an awesome influence on us.
1) They can keep us going when times are tough.
2) They can also shatter us when they don't come true.
II. The first Easter was a clash of expectations.
A. Two disciples on road to Emmaus were defeated.
1) Downcast faces.
2) "We HAD hoped he would redeem Israel." 24:21
B. Hint of other expectations.
1) "Third day" since events happened.
a) Must be thinking of prediction of Jesus.
b) Normal to view it as two days. (Friday to Sunday)
c) Literal - one whole day, part of two.
2) Experience of women.
a) Empty tomb.
b) Message of angels.
C. The reality was more than they could expect.
1) God's power raised Jesus from the dead.
2) Death was conquered.
3) Their lives were changed forever.
III. What can we expect of God?
A. Expecting nothing.
1) No disappointment.
Poet Alexander Pope in a 1727 letter:
"Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be
disappointed." #1481
2) But never thrilled, either.
B. Expect great things.
1) Jesus wants us to have an abundant life, not a narrow,
confined one. John 10:10b
2) He says the more we expect, the more God will do.
C. Expect even more than you can expect. Eph 3:20
1) Wilson Goode, two-term mayor of Philadelphia and in ABC
church, describes God as coming out of nowhere.
"I've learned that God responds to us when we least
expect it and in ways that surprise us...."
MOVE tragedy almost destroyed him, but a pastor organized
prayer meetings and he was reelected.
(CT, 4/5/93, p.23)
2) God did more than Westley Allan Dodd expected.
Westley Allan Dodd was executed by hanging at the Washington State
Penitentiary earlier this year.
Moments before the sentence was carried out, the convicted serial
child killer was given the customary opportunity for last words.
Here was a man who had viciously abused and mutilated three young
boys.
He was a man who said he would do it again, who said there was no
hope he would ever be released from the hideous darkness within
his soul.
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 "hisssed 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 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
3) We need to be open to unexpected blessings.
D. Be prepared for things you cannot expect: Second Coming.
IV. Why our expectations can turn out unfulfilled.
There was an amusing story in the CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR.
It was about a young woman in New York who had been seeing a
great deal of a young man.
One day he called to say he had something special on his mind.
He would pick her up in his car, a memorable antique jalopy, and
they would drive to the country for a picnic.
They drove to Long Island.
The young man seemed preoccupied.
They drove along in silence.
Then they headed back to New York.
Back in the city, the young man broke his silence.
He spoke solemnly of the great and significant event that was
about to occur.
Central Park, he said, would be the appropriate place for it to
happen.
They drove through the park on that beautiful spring day; the
young woman's expectations soared.
Finally the young man announced that the great moment was at hand.
He slowed the car down, headed for a shady enclave.
This was it, he said, the climax had arrived.
He was sure that she would feel the same excitement as himself.
The car, in short, had at that carefully timed juncture, reached
the 100,000 mile mark.
The figures on the speedometer were turning slowly over as the
car came to a halt.
"Everything is back to zero," said the young man, caught up in
the rapture of the moment.
"Yes," said the young woman to herself, "Everything is back to
zero."
#1638
A. Unfulfillment provides us with opportunities for growth.
1) No one is totally fulfilled in their expectations.
Alexander the Great conquered Persia, but broke down and wept
because his troops were too exhausted to push on to India.
Hugo Grotius, the father of modern international law, said at
the last, "I have accomplished nothing worthwhile in my life."
Robert Louis Stevenson wrote words that continue to delight and
enrich our lives, and yet what did he write for his epitaph?
"Here lies one who meant well, who tried a little, and failed
much."
Cecil Rhodes opened up Africa and established an empire, but
what were his dying words? "So little done, so much to do."
#2484
2) Apostle Paul and "pressing on." Phil 3:12
B. We need to discover 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 spiritual 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.
1> His 200 proof love can fill us to overflowing.
C. Unfulfillment sharpens our relationship with God. Heb 10:23
1) Our efforts may not be acceptable in his sight. Haggai 1:9
2) God's grace is sufficient for us. 2 Cor 12:9
3) Unfulfillment generates hope, making us stretch forward
with expectation toward the time of fulfillment. #772
V. Choose your expectation.
A. If this life offers all the joy to be found:
Then by all means reach out and grab all you can and hold
tightly to whatever happiness you have managed to find.
-And get used to the feeling of despair when it slips
through your fingers.
B. But if fulfillment rests with God, with One who is bigger than
our life or even our dreams:
Then by God's sufficient grace lift your eyes beyond the
problems of the present.
And stretch your vision toward God's future.
C. Expectation is another way of describing hope.
1) Hope is described as an anchor for our souls. Heb 6:19
2) Hope provides power for endurance.
3) Hope helps us live with the reality of a half-empty cup.
VI. Live in expectation.
A. You cannot make an impact without expectations.
When Apple Computer fell on difficult days a while back, Apple's
young chairman, Steven Jobs, traveled from the Silicon Valley
to New York City.
His purpose was to convince the Pepsi Company's president John
Sculley to move west and run his struggling company.
As the two men overlooked the Manhattan skyline from Sculley's
top-floor office, the Pepsi executive 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."
Flabbergasted, Jobs gulped and agreed - 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. Churches need to have expectations, too.
1) We rarely set goals so we won't be disappointed.
2) We expect little of our people.
3) Kelly - churches that expect much and demand much, get much.
They are the ones growing.
a) Too many churches ask for a little more, and get it.
b) Jesus asks for everything. Pin your hopes on him.
C. Have goals and expectations.
1) Living dynamically for God here-and-now.
2) Expecting heaven and resurrection in the future.
3) You get more out of life if you don't fear death.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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