The Tomb is Empty - Easter Sermon

Copyright by Chris Mullis March 30, 2015
John 20:1-18

John 20:1-18

¹Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. ² She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. ⁴ They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. ⁸ Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— ⁹ for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then they went home.

¹¹ Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. ¹² She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. ¹³ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.

“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

¹⁴ She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. ¹⁵ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

¹⁶ “Mary!” Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

¹⁷ “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

Opening

            We begin our conversation at a tomb.  A place where they keep dead people is not the happiest place to begin a conversation, but our text requires it, so here we are.  There are all different types of tombs.  You've seen them.  There is that old dilapidated graveyard with the weeds growing through the neglected and cracked tombstones.  There is that small, crowded cemetery at the old, country church.   There are the spacious, well maintained graves at the perpetual care cemetery.  There are those places where people of great fame lie buried in historic cemeteries.  I even read once about a pauper’s graveyard that was full of unmarked graves.  There is something mysterious about a tomb—something that awes us and commands deep respect.

            Once I visited a confederate civil war cemetery in Marietta.  It was a place of mysterious beauty.  The grounds were well maintained; but because of the sheer age of the graves, many of the tombstones were old and worn.  Some were very hard to read.  I walked slowly from one grave to another, reading the names of those who had been born, had lived, and died.  There was a great variety of lives represented—men, women, and (most strikingly) the graves of little children who may have only lived a short time.  In one section, about a hundred plain white markers were lined up in straight lines—as if in military formation.  These were the graves of a whole company of confederate soldiers who had given their lives in battle—fighting for what they believed.  In another place, there was a tall monument—about 5 feet tall, shaped like the Washington Monument.  At one time it must have been a regal headstone, but now it was old and rough and gray.  It was the marker of a prominent Marietta family.  The names of each of the family members were engraved on the front of the marker; the dates of death ranged through the early to mid-1800s.  A few feet from this old, worn monument lay four roughly hewn stones.  A sign on a post explained that these stones were the unmarked graves of four of the slaves that worked in the family home; some speculation was made as to what their names may have been.  I continued on, captivated by the memorials to the lives that had been lived and had ended—as life always does. 

            And of course, there are those familiar tombs, where we have buried our loved ones.  My Grandma and Grandpa lie side by side in a cemetery in Macon, GA.  They died six years apart.  I attended both their funerals.  I saw their coffins a few years apart standing poised above freshly dug graves, waiting to be lowered and covered.  I have visited their gravesites a few times.  I've read the simple, metal markers seated in the ground that honor their lives.  I have placed flowers on their graves in loving memory of them.  I have stood above their burial plots remembering their faces and the good times we shared. 

            There's an eerie aura that surrounds a cemetery.  Cemeteries are the setting for ghost stories.  I mean, who would want to visit a cemetery all alone in the dark?  Yet this is where we find Mary Magdalene in our passage from John.  

Movement One – Dark Sadness

It's still dark.  There is a chill on the air that cuts to the bone.  And here comes Mary, eyes swollen and red from grief, walking all alone down the path that leads to Jesus' tomb.  In John, it doesn't say why she came and before we can find out, she discovers that the stone—which was meant to keep the tomb securely locked—has been rolled away, leaving it wide open and unprotected.

The first thought that came to Mary's frantic mind was, "Oh no!  Someone's stolen the body!"  Can you imagine showing up to visit the grave of your loved one, only to discover that someone had dug up the body and stolen it? 
          Jesus was a famous man.  He'd worked many miracles.  He'd healed the sick, brought sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, even raised the dead.  Mary, herself, had seven demons driven out of her by Jesus.  Maybe someone had stolen the body, hoping to steal its power.  Or maybe some religious fanatic had stolen it, hoping to propagate the rumor that Jesus had risen—just as he said he would.  Or maybe some sick soul just wanted an exotic souvenir.  But Mary wasn't looking for any of those things.  She was just looking for the body of her beloved Jesus—her Lord, who just days before had been brutally murdered by the religious establishment.  She was looking for a sealed tomb, with a marker to remember the wonderful man she’d known, but what she found was and empty tomb and all she could think is, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"

          So she ran and told Peter and John.  Why she told Peter I don't know.  Maybe she didn't realize that just the other night he had adamantly denied even knowing Jesus.  But she told him nonetheless.  And Peter and the John ran to verify the news.  They even looked inside the tomb where the body had lain.  Sure enough, the body was gone.  Only the linen body wrappings remained—folded up neatly in the corner.  Didn't the thieves who stole the body realize that the linen shroud would be worth a lot of money? 
          Peter and John looked around, verified that the body was gone, and went back home.  The scripture said that the Messiah would rise.  They now knew that the body was indeed gone, but they hadn't put two and two together yet. 

          But poor Mary remained at the tomb.  Weeping for the dead.  They’d robbed her of her Lord.  Now they had even robbed her of his memorial.  How would she ever be able to get on with life, now that her beloved Jesus was gone?  She was so distraught that when she stooped and looked into the tomb, it didn't even register that she was speaking with white-robed angels.  

Why are you crying, Mary? 

The Sun is beginning to rise.  The tomb is empty and the stone is rolled away.
Why are you crying, Mary? 
The body is gone but the grave clothes are still here—for Christ has no need of earthly coverings!
Why are you crying, Mary, as though you've lost the one you love? 
Look, you don't even know you are speaking with angels!
Why are you crying, Mary?  Why are you looking for the living among the dead? 
You will not find the living in a tomb made to hold the dead!

Movement Two – Darkness to Light

          Mary is in such a spiritual fog, she doesn't even care that she's speaking with angels.  She can't recognize the truth that should be coming to light, just as the sun is beginning to rise above the horizon—bringing light to the world.    

          There's a funny thing about light in the gospel of John—it always has two meanings.  On the one hand, it is the physical characteristic that makes it possible to see.  But light also has a deeper meaning in John—it symbolizes the light of Christ:

8:12 Jesus said to the people, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."

12:35 Jesus replied, "My light will shine out for you just a little while longer. Walk in it while you can, so you will not stumble when the darkness falls. If you walk in the darkness, you cannot see where you are going.

12:46 I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the darkness.

          In the same way, darkness has a metaphorical meaning in John.  Remember when Nicodemus approached Jesus in John chapter 3, trying to understand about being born again, he approached him at night.  When Judas left to betray Jesus into the hands of his enemies in John 13:30, it says, "he immediately went out; and it was night."  The darkness of night in John represents more than just the absence of sunlight-S.U.N.  It represents the absence of the Son's Light-S.O.N.

          And when Mary Magdalene visited the tomb that first Easter morning, she visited, "early, while it was still dark…" And even as time wore on, though the sun may have begun to rise above the horizon, the darkness in her mind continued to cloud out the Light of Christ's Truth—he was not dead, there was no body to find.  Yet she was seeking a dead Jesus, not a risen Lord.

Why are you crying, Mary? 

The Sun is beginning to rise.  The tomb is empty and the stone is rolled away.
Why are you crying, Mary? 
The body is gone but the grave clothes are still here—for Christ has no need of earthly coverings!
Why are you crying, Mary, as though you've lost the one you love? 
Look, you don't even know you are speaking with angels!
Why are you crying, Mary?  Why are you looking for the living among the dead? 
You will not find the living in a tomb made to hold the dead!

Movement Three – He Calls My Name

          Mary was still lost in a dark fog of despair.  She didn't see the Truth; she didn’t recognize the angels; she didn't even recognize Jesus standing behind her.  From the shadowy entrance of the tomb, she mistook her Lord for the gardener.  Therefore, Christ called her out of the darkness by name, "Mary!"  He called her out of the darkness, just as he once called Lazarus out of the darkness of a tomb, "Lazarus, come out!"  You remember Lazarus.  At the sound of Christ's voice, Lazarus, dead for four days, came stumbling out of the tomb still wrapped in his grave clothes. 
          In the same way, when Christ called her by name, Mary came stumbling out of the darkness of the tomb and into the light—recognizing that her Lord was not dead, but alive!  Immediately, as he spoke her name, she knew that Christ her Savior had risen!  He took everything the evil of this world could dish out; he died on the cross, was buried in a cold dark tomb and yet, he rose from the dead and he is alive!  At his command, she ran as fast as she could to proclaim the Truth to the other disciples, "I have seen the Lord!"
          Often we are like Mary.  We get lost in the dark fog of despair.  We don’t recognize the Truth—even when it’s right there in front of us.  We grope around in the darkness and don’t see that Christ our risen Lord is right there with us.  But sometimes he calls to us—calling us out of the darkness, calling us by name.  Do you hear his voice calling?
          Christ is risen!  You will not find him in a tomb.  You will not find him among the dead.  He is not there.  He is here with us.  He is calling us by name.  John!  Bobby!  Scott!  He is calling us by name!  Do you recognize his voice?  Sara! Joanna!  Kaye!  Who are we looking for?  Are we looking for a body or are we looking for a Risen Savior?  We will not find the living among the dead!  Jack! Kelly!  David!  Turn around and recognize him in light of his resurrection!

Why are you crying? 

The Sun is beginning to rise.  The tomb is empty and the stone is rolled away.
Why are you crying? 
The body is gone but the grave clothes are still here—for Christ has no need of earthly coverings!
Why are you crying, as though you've lost the one you love? 
Look, you don't even know you are speaking with angels!
Why are you crying?  Why are you looking for the living among the dead? 
You will not find the living in a tomb made to hold the dead!

Closing

          Christ is alive!  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."  He offers this eternal life to you.  You need not stumble along in the darkness anymore.  Turn to the Light.  Recognize the risen Savior.  Believe in him and be saved.  For this is the glorious message of Easter Sunday!

Easter Sunrise - A New Beginning

Copyright April 2, 2015 by Chris Mullis
Romans 6:3-11

Read Romans 6:3-11

³ Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? ⁴ For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

⁵ Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. ⁶ We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. ⁷ For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. ⁸ And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. ⁹ We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. ¹⁰ When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. ¹¹ So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. 

A Sunrise is the Symbol of a New Beginning

Every time I see a sunrise, it reminds me of the possibilities of a new day.  Whatever happened yesterday is over.  It’s a brand new day.  Anything can happen!  And I think that the core of the Christian message.  Because of what Christ did on the first Easter, we can make a brand new start.  The old has passed away.  We are no longer controlled by what happened before.  We can start over.  Just as Christ died and was buried in a tomb, our old way of thinking and acting can be buried if we let it.  And just as Christ rose from the dead, we can rise with him to a new life with new and better ways of thinking and living.  This si the glorious good news of Easter! 

The Story of Tom’s New Beginning

            I met a new friend when I lived in Lithia Springs, Georgia.  His name was Tom Kaznicki.  I was serving in my first appointment and also in seminary.  We lived in an apartment next to Tom’s parents and Tom was living with them.  We thought it was strange that Tom—who was in his 30s—was living with his parents, but we never asked about it.  We would say hello as we saw him from time to time—just being friendly neighbors. 

            When I found out Tom liked the outdoors like me, I invited him to go on a hike with me at Sweetwater State Park.  As we were walking and talking, Tom asked me what I did and I told him I was a pastor and was in seminary and shared how I was working as a chaplain at a drug rehab center.  Tom got quiet and I thought, “Great.  I ruined it now.  He thinks I’m some sort of religious nut.”  (Tom had never attended church as a kid or an adult.  This often happens to me when people find out I’m a pastor.  People start to treat you different; they stop seeing you as just a person and then only see you as a “pastor”.) 

After a few minutes of silence, Tom said, “You know it’s really strange that you said you work in a drug rehab center.  That’s the reason I’m living with my parents.  I was living in Michigan, but I relapsed in my drug addiction and lost my job and had to move back in with my parents.”  It turned out Tom had been struggling with an addiction to methamphetamines since he was 17.

Tom and I stayed friends over the years—even after I moved away to another town.  Tom and I would talk on the phone every so often.  Sometimes, Tom would call me confide in his struggles with the addiction.  Once, he called me and was so disappointed and frustrated he had relapsed yet again.  He said, “Chris, I just wish I could die and start over.  I wish go back to when I was 17 and just never try those drugs.”

The Holy Spirit gave me the right words to say.  I said, “Tom, that’s what Jesus did for us.  Because of what he did on the cross and the way he rose from the grave, we can die and start over.  That’s what it means to be a Christian.  There’s a scripture that says, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lived in me (Galatians 2:20).  So you see, if we give ourselves to Christ, we can die and be reborn as a new person.  We can have a brand new start.”

About a year later, I received a letter from Tom.  He thanked me for being his friend and for my advice.  Tom was in a Christian drug rehab program and had given his life to Christ and had been clean for over a year.  Tom thanked me for planting the seed that had helped him come to Christ.

A few years later, Tom died.  When I heard the news I thought, “Oh no.  Tom relapsed again and overdosed.”  But to my relief I found out it wasn’t so.  Tom had remained drug free.  However, the years of drug use had taken their toll on Tom’s body and he had a heart attack even though he was still relatively young.  But I am not sad for Tom, because I know he is in heaven now.  And I know I will see him again one day on those streets of gold, because I believe in what Jesus did for us all on Easter. 

Conclusion

Because of Jesus, you no longer have to be trapped in your sin.  You no longer have to be chained to your past.  Christ has set us free to make a brand new beginning.  And just as the sun rises each new day, you can make a fresh start again and again if you have to.  But don’t go on in your sin on purpose.  Don’t waste the power Christ gives you.  Take hold of your New Beginning and let your old sinful self die forever.  Step into the new life of your new day and choose to walk in the light forever, never going back.  Burry your old sins forever in a tomb and rise to the new life Christ offers you.

Maundy Thursday - Wondrous Love

Copyright by Chris Mullis April 1, 2015

John 13:1-17, 31-35

 John 13:1-17, 31-35

13 Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.^{[a] 2} It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas,^[b] son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. ⁴ So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, ⁵ and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

⁶ When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”

⁸ “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”

Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”

⁹ Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

¹⁰ Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet,^[c] to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? ¹³ You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. ¹⁴ And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

³¹ As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man^[h] to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. ³² And since God receives glory because of the Son,^[i] he will give his own glory to the Son, and he will do so at once. ³³ Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. ³⁴ So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Introduction

            Love.  Wondrous love.  It’s an amazing thing.  I’m not talking about the warm, fuzzy kind of love that is merely a feeling you get.  I’m talking about the deep, authentic love that God has for us and that we are called as Christians to share with one another.  This kind of love is wondrous; it is a challenge to offer and it is a challenge to receive.  Jesus spent his whole ministry offering this wondrous love to the people of the world—this love, which even took him down the road to Calvary.

            On our own power, we can’t offer this kind of love because it is not in us.  We are like an empty glass that can offer no refreshment until it is filled with thirst quenching water.  We must be filled with God’s love before we can offer this wondrous love to others.

            Jesus was full of God’s love and God’s love shaped everything about who he was and what he did; and on the final evening with his disciples before he was arrested, Jesus demonstrated who he was in a dramatic way—by washing his disciples’ feet.  This foot washing was more than simply a cleansing of dirty feet.  It is an act of self-revelation.  By his actions, Jesus says to his Disciples—this is who I am:

1.     I have enough confidence in myself that I can be humble and serve you.

2.     I care about you and your needs.

3.     And I am not afraid to be intimate with you 

Confidence

Look at John 13:3.  Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.  Jesus knows who he is.  He is the Son of God and his Father loves him.  He knows he is about to be betrayed, and crucified, but he is full of love because he knows who he is.  And he demonstrates who he is by what he does next.  He gets down and performs the humble task of washing the dirty, smelly feet of his own Disciples. 

Jesus is God’s Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords.  You don’t expect to find him washing dirty, smelly feet.  But Jesus is confident in who he is.  He doesn’t need to prove anything to himself or anybody else.  He’s not worried about what people think.  All he cares about is what his Father thinks.  And his Father loves him.  Therefore, he is free to abandon ordinary etiquette between master and disciple and wash his follower’s feet.

            We often fail to have this confidence.  We want things done our way.  We want people to serve us—to prove we are important.  But we have nothing to prove.  We are God’s children!  He loves us.  He loves us so much he sent His own Son to redeem us.  Be filled full of that love—overflow with that love and you will begin to act as Christ acted.

I care about you and your needs

            The second thing Christ tells us about himself by washing his disciples’ feet is that he cares about our needs.  You know, you’ve got to really love someone if you’re going to mess around with their feet.  Feet aren’t the most appealing part of the human body.  My own wife doesn’t like to mess around with my feet!  But the disciples—who walked around all day in sandals on the dusty roads of Judea—had filthy feet that needed to be cleaned and cared for.  Jesus cared enough about the disciples and their needs to set aside his rights as their master and stoop down and wash their feet. 

            You learn all kinds of spiritual truths as a parent of small children.  When I was a teenager, I was appalled to see parents cleaning the snotty noses of little children.  I couldn't imagine doing that; it just grossed me out.  Then I became a parent and suddenly I was not only cleaning the snotty noses of my children, but also changing dirty diapers, cleaning up vomit, and doing various other common and disgusting duties of a parent.

Parents tend their children’s needs because of love!  And that’s how God loves us.  He loves us enough to cleanse us when we are the most unclean.  He loves us enough to touch us when we are the most untouchable.  And he says to us in verse 14:  And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet.

             Do you realize that Jesus already knew that Judas would betray him in a few short hours?  Yet Jesus stooped and washed Judas’ feet the same as he washed the rest.  Not because he felt like it, but because he loved him and cared about his needs.

We too have been cleansed by God.  We have been filled with His love.  That’s why we reach out and demonstrate God’s love to others—with our neighbors, with our co-workers, and especially with those whom no one else seems to care about.  Even when the task is not easy or when it makes us feel uncomfortable, love compels us to stoop down and wash the dirty feet of those in need.

 

Intimacy

            The third thing Jesus tells us about himself by washing his disciples’ feet is that he is not afraid to be intimate with them.  You don’t get much more intimate than washing someone’s feet.  It’s personal.  But that’s who Jesus was.  He got personally involved.  He ate with sinners.  He touched the lepers.  He hugged the children. 

            And Jesus is intimately involved in the struggles we face.  He cries with us; he laughs with us; he walks with us.  And at the end of the day, when the dirt of this world is caked on our tired, aching feet, he is there to humbly bend down and wash our feet.

            Are you willing to let God wash your feet?  Are you willing to set aside your preconceived notions of who Jesus is and allow him be intimate with you—perhaps in a new way that makes you feel a little uncomfortable?  Are you willing to accept God’s wondrous love for you?  Or are you like Peter who said:  “No, you will never wash my feet!” 

            Sometimes it is very difficult to be that intimate with God—to grant Him access to the most private areas of your life.  But just as Jesus replied to Peter, he replies to us:  “If I don’t wash you, you won’t belong to me.”

            It is a challenge to accept God’s wondrous love, but we must accept it.  Are you willing to let God wash your feet?

4. Get Rid of False Expectations

Copyright March 25, 2015 by Chris Mullis
John 12:12-19

Introduction

            I really don’t like to clean up.  The hardest part of cleaning up for me is getting started.  Sometimes when I look around at a dirty house or a dirty office, the job just seems too monumental I’m afraid to start.  And I’m a great procrastinator so I start thinking of all sorts of reasons to put it off.  So getting started is half the battle for me.

            Some people put off cleaning up their house or their room.  Some people put off cleaning up their life.  If you’ve been putting it off, it’s time to get started.  We’ve been talking about ways to clean up our lives for the past few weeks.  I encouraged you to start reading your Bible more.  Then, we talked about getting rid of false motives.  Last week, we discussed getting rid of distractions.  Today, I want to encourage you to get rid of false expectations about God.

            Today is Palm Sunday, the day we commemorate Jesus’ triumphal entry into the Jerusalem Temple while people shouted hosannas and waved palm branches for their long awaited Messiah.  It was a day of great expectation.  It was also a day so many people misunderstood because they had false expectations of what the Messiah would be.  Let’s look at the story together.

John 12:12-19

¹² The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors ¹³ took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted,

“Praise God!
Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hail to the King of Israel!”

·       In Jesus’ day, it was common for well over 2 million people to flood into Jerusalem from all over the world for the Passover celebration.  They were already filled with expectations for their trip to Jerusalem.  Many of them had dreamed their whole life of traveling to Jerusalem—the same way many kids might dream of one day going to Disney world or adults might dream of taking a cruise. 

·       And then in addition, news that Jesus was coming swept through the city like a wildfire along with the report that he had just recently raised a man named Lazarus from the dead.  Can you imagine the hopes and expectations?  People are thinking, “This Jesus raised a man from the dead after he’d been in a tomb for 4 days?  Could this be the long awaited Messiah who will lead a revolution of freedom from the Romans?  And it’s happening while we are here in the city!”

·       And it was this jubilant throng of expectant people who cheered for Jesus as he entered Jerusalem.  They shouted a familiar chant from Psalm 118:25-26, which were verses they had shouted for conquering kings before.  Though Jesus came in peace, the crowd expected Jesus to come for war.

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:

¹⁵ “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem.
Look, your King is coming,
    riding on a donkey’s colt.”

•       Jesus knew the crowds’ false expectations for him.  They wanted a king marching to war.  There was no way for him to tell them they had it wrong.  There was no way for a crowd like that to hear him above the shouts of jubilations—even if they were willing to listen.

•       So Jesus chose a symbolic act to show his true intensions.  He rode a donkey’s colt.  You see, kings ride horses when they are going to war.  But when they come in peace, they ride donkey’s colt.  Jesus was symbolically saying, “I come in peace.”  But the crowd wanted Jesus to make war against their Roman oppressors.

¹⁶ His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.

•       Even Jesus disciples—his closest friends—didn’t understand.  They were swept up in the enthusiasm of the crowds’ false expectations.  Passion like this is contagious.

¹⁷ Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. ¹⁸ That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign. ¹⁹ Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!”

False Expectations

I struggle with the celebration of Palm Sunday.  On one hand, I love to see the children walk down the aisles of our church waving palm branches and I love the joyous festive atmosphere, which recalls the jubilant crowd that praised Jesus in Jerusalem in scripture reading.  On the other hand, it’s troubling to me because the crowd misunderstood Jesus’ purpose.  They had such high expectations for him, but they were the wrong expectations.  Some people in the crowd just wanted to see a famous celebrity.  The majority expected a conquering king to save them from the Romans and restore Israel’s prestige.  The political/religious authorities expected a trouble maker, a threat to their power that needed to be eliminated.  Each group’s false expectations about Jesus blinded them to the miracle that was before them.  The Son of God had come in peace to conquer—not the Romans—but their sinful hearts. 

False Expectations about God

            Two thousand years have passed since the first Palm Sunday, but we still struggle with false expectations about God.  I want to go over three common false expectations we have of God.

First of all, we expect God treat us all the same.[i]  We equate fairness with equality.  We trust  The problem is we are not all the same.  Each one of us is a unique masterpiece God is creating.  He is not working the same way in my life as He is in yours.  Therefore, He does not treat you the same as me. 
God to be fair and so we expect God to treat us all the same.

            My children often complain that I did not treat them all the same.  My 13-year-old daughter gets made when I punish her more severely than my 8-year-old for the same offense.  "Why aren't you as strict on her?"  Because a 13-year-old knows better and the 8-year-old didn't know any better. All my children are different.  I love them all the same, but I don't treat them all the same because each one is an individual with different strengths and weaknesses and different needs.  I treat each one how they need to be treated for their own good.

            Second, we expect God to give us an easy life if we follow Him.  We often feel like God should reward us if we are doing all the things He asks us.  Well, God does take care of us (whether or not we are obedient).  Yet, God never promised He would give us an easy life.  It’s a good thing too, because an easy life often produces lazy, selfish, immature people.  God doesn’t want that for us.  He wants us to be strong, generous, and mature people.  He wants us to overcome some difficulties in life to develop our character, strengthen our faith, and teach us to endure.  Hardships actually bring us closer to God, while an easy life tends to cause us to drift away from God.  So hardships are not a sign that God doesn’t care; they are a sign that God cares deeply and wants to grow your faith and draw you closer to Him.

            Third, we expect God to protect the innocent from pain and suffering.  We might be OK with dealing with a little suffering ourselves, but it is hard to see others (often people we love dearly) suffer.  We cry out, “Lord, why are you letting—my child, my mother, my spouse, etc.—suffer.  What have they done to deserve this?”  Sometime we are appalled when we hear of exceptionally good people suffering.

            The first thing to note is, no one is innocent.  Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of God’s glorious standard.”  So if “innocent” is our standard that says, “God should not let ‘innocent’ people suffer, we have already made an irrelevant statement.  No one is innocent.

            “Ok,” you say.  “This is semantics.  No one is innocent.  But shouldn’t God protect those who maybe-aren't-so-innocent-but-not-as-bad-as-axe-murderers?”  I don’t want to give you some cliché as an answer.  There are some terrible things that happen in this world that I just don’t understand.  I don’t expect you to understand it all either.  All I know is that if God can take the ultimate evil of the crucixion—when the world took God’s Son, the only truly innocent man who ever walked the earth—and turn it into the ultimate good, God can take whatever evil befalls a person and turn it into something incredibly good.  I think the worse the pain or suffering that is endured, the greater the ultimate good will because it brings the greatest glory to God.

          Perhaps this is one more reason we will praise God so heartily in Heaven.  When we get there we will finally understand what God was doing.  We will look back at some of those instances of incredible suffering that we just couldn't understand and we will exclaim, "Now I finally see!  Now I get it!  I couldn't understand it before, but not I see clearly what it was all about, what You were doing.  And I am amazed!" 

What God Expects of Us

            We need to get rid of our false expectations of God.  Instead, we need to focus on what God expects of us.  He expects us to trust Him.  Even when we don’t understand, even when we don’t agree, even when we are afraid, God wants us to trust Him.  He is trustworthy.  He has done everything in Christ to show His love and power and that He is trustworthy.

            God expects us to obey Him.  Obedience is the outward expression of trust.  If we belive God is trustworthy and has our best and ultimate interest in mind, we will do what He says.

            God expects us to love Him.  God wants more than mere obedience.  God wants a relationship.  Just as your spouse or children or friends desire your companionship, God wants to be with you.  God wants you to come to Him like a small child climbs up in his mother’s or father’s lap.

Challenge - This week, I challenge you to get rid of your false expectations about God and focus on what God expects of you. 

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[i] http://blogs.bible.org/engage/sue_bohlin/why_our_expectations_of_god_are_unrealistic

The Truth As Far As I Can Tell...

Great Books to Read

Copyright March 24, 2015 by Chris Mullis 

 

Proverbs 18:15 – “Intelligent people are always ready to learn.  Their ears are open for knowledge.”

            I did not like school when I was a kid.  Even though I made good grades, it was boring to me.  I couldn’t wait to finish school so I didn’t have to go anymore.  However, my Mom told me, “You should never stop learning.  You should try to learn something new every day, even after you are done with school.”

            Now that I am grown and finished with my formal education, I find I still want to learn.  I enjoy science and history.  I like to learn new skills and understand how things work.  I also enjoy listening to audiobooks and find it is an excellent way to learn.  At the end of this article, you will find a list of some of the best books I’ve read that I recommend to you (in no particular order).

The Bible – Whether or not you read any other book, please read this one.  Sadly, only 19% of church-going Christians report they read their Bible every day yet we watch an average of 5 hours of TV a day.  I challenge you to pick up your Bible and start in Matthew and read at least one chapter a day.  It will take about 5 minutes a day and you will read the entire New Testament in one year.  It’s time every Christian rediscovers the Bible and makes a commitment to read it.  Of course, I’m no expert and certainly don’t claim to know everything, but that’s the Truth as far as I can tell…

God loves you and so do I!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unlikely Angel by Ashley Smith – The captivating story of Ashley Smith, a recovering drug addict, who was abducted and held hostage in her apartment in 2005 by Atlanta courthouse killer Brian Nichols.  Perhaps you remember the headlines that gripped the world, but you need to read the amazing story of how God changed everything for Ashley.
 

As We Forgive by Catherine Larson – This is an excellent book that examines forgiveness and reconciliation.  Retelling the stories of survivors of the Rwandan genocide who learned to forgive and reconcile with the very people who committed the atrocities.  This is a book that everyone should read to understand the amazing healing available through Christian forgiveness.
 

Is God Anti-Gay by Sam Allberry – Everyone is talking about gay marriage and public opinion is shifting on the issue.  What does God say?  In this very easy-to-read and understand book, Allberry (a pastor who struggles with same-sex attraction) teaches God’s position on the issue according to the Bible.  This is an excellent book that almost anyone can read and it is very timely for what is going on in our world.
 

Heaven is for Real by Lynn Vincent and Todd Burpo – I did not like the movie very much, but the book is excellent and thought provoking true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven.  He survives and begins talking about his experience to his parents.
 

The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller – This book fundamentally reshaped the way I think about this famous passage from Luke 15.  Jesus told this story more for the “good” people of the world than for those who have strayed.
 

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis – This Christian classic is an intellectual read, but Lewis does a masterful job explaining what Christianity is at its most foundational level.  If you can handle a heavier reading, this is a great book to read.
 

 1493 by Charles Mann – This is not a religious book and it’s long and it may not be for everyone.  However, this is a great book if you love history like me.  The book examines the dramatic ways our world changed as a result of Columbus’ discovery of the new world.  Everything from our food to where we lived was forever altered by what Mann calls the “Columbian exchange.”  It shifted my understanding of how our modern globalized world came into existence.

Endurance by Alfred Lancing – Another history book, Endurance chronicles the saga of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's survival for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas.  The book made me think, “If this crew could survive this harrowing adventure, I can survive any struggle that may come my way.”
 

 Unbroken by Laura Hillderbrand – The riveting story of Olympian and WWII war hero Louis Zamperini’s life.  The book was recently made into a blockbuster movie, but the movie only scratches the surface of Zamperini’s life and leaves out critical portions of how Louis came to Christ at a Billy Graham crusade and latter spent his life facilitating a Christian Camp for troubled boys.  Do yourself a favor and choose the book over the movie.

 

More Great Books I Would Recommend:

·       Soul Detox by Craig Groeschel

·       The Peacemaker by Ken Sande

·       Words to Eat By by Ina Lipkowitz

·       Killing Jesus by Martin Dugard and Bill O’Reilly

·       Developing the Leader Within by John Maxwell

·       Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

·       Deep & Wide by Andy Stanley

·       The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

·       Dune by Frank Herbert

·       Deliverance by James Dickey

·       The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Bob DeMoss and Rebecca Alonzo

·       The Unchurched Next Door by Thom Rainer

·       When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box by John Ortberg

·       Alter Ego by Craig Groeshcel

·       The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

·       One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

·       Enough by Adam Hamilton

·       Radical by David Platt

·       The Pastor by Eugene Peterson

·       Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman

·       Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall, Denver Moore, and Lynn Vincent

·       Crazy Love by Francis Chan

·       Leaving the Saints by Martha Beck

·       Twelve Ordinary Men by John MacArthur

·       Patriotic Fire by Winston Groom

·       Plan B by Pete Wilson