When Jesus Fails Our Expectations

[00:00:00] It's a blessing to be here today with you. We always enjoy coming to visit you here at Faith Community Chapel. We feel at home here and we sense the Spirit of God here. We sense your love for God and His Word. That's a blessing. The devotional this morning touched me. My mind was drawn, this is not what I want to speak on, but my mind was drawn to Luke 7. [00:00:36] If you would, just turn to Luke 7 with me for just a thought or two. I have to admit, my notes are organized this morning, but my mind is not. My mind is really going. And in part from what we shared this morning earlier on, I thought of Luke 7, and you know, Christ sometimes fails our expectations. He doesn't come through in ways we think he ought to come through. [00:01:10] John the Baptist was a man. Imagine a man who gave his entire life to the ministry of Christ. And I'm not sure what he expected Christ to be like, but Christ was not what he thought he was going to be. Christ came through in a way that John the Baptist was not expecting him to come through. And he had questions about this Messiah. [00:01:45] He ended up in prison, John did, and in prison he listened to the rumors coming through. When was this man going to overthrow the Romans? After all, that's what he was supposed to do. When was he going to give the Jews their freedom? After all, that's what he was supposed to do. But instead, he heard the rumors came back about a humble man who went around, not in a chariot, but just on foot, went around and he taught. [00:02:16] Rumors came in about the miracles he did There was no stories of conquest In fact, he seemed more intent on How could you say? Irritating the religious people than the Romans Where was this Christ? In Luke 7, verse 19 And John called unto him two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? [00:02:56] And so these men came and asked Christ this. You would think the least that Christ could do is to just tell John, I'm the one. But instead, but instead, verse 21, it's almost as if Christ said, just sit down a while and watch what happens here, okay? He said, in the same hour, he cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits. And to many of them that were blind, he gave sight. [00:03:29] And then Jesus answered and said unto them, Go your way, tell John what you heard and saw. That's all the answer he gave. That's all the answer he gave. And I love verse 23. Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. And Christ has not come through as we think he ought to have come through. [00:04:00] Blessed are those who are not baptized, but still find the faith to go on. The Lord has given us four beautiful children. The one that we thought should be number eight. A week and a half ago we found out It's not going to be [00:04:33] Blessed is he Whosoever shall not be offended in me Trust and obey Brother Jim, will you come forward please I have to admit my mind is mixed up this morning. Dear God in heaven, thank you. [00:05:11] God, I pray that we would hear you when men don't know what to say, that we would hear you. And God, I pray this morning that you would anoint men's lips again. I pray that God that you would convince us that your arm is not short. [00:05:52] You're the only one that convinces or convicts God in heaven. I pray that your Holy Spirit would convict this morning. It is claimed by you to be your work to convict. God convince us that your arm is not short. and that you still comfort and that you have a word for us this morning and that by divine providence that his spirit would hear deep calling to deep God [00:06:33] that he would hear you speaking to him and that it would only be your word flowing through him to us And I pray God that you would hear our prayers to hear your voice and hear our prayers for Michael, the prayers of the people sitting this morning. I thank you God that you're saying to us, you're not a little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. [00:07:08] I pray that your kingdom would move forward and that our only prayer would be our Father in heaven. May your name be hallowed and may your kingdom come at our expense, God. In Jesus' name, Amen. God bless you. John 11 [00:07:39] Turn to John 11 please Let's wait for some other day John chapter 11 When Christ Fails Our Expectations What do we do? Verse 1 [00:08:10] Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary, and his sister Martha. It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. [00:08:45] Now Jesus loved Martha, his sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard, therefore, that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Then after that, saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judea again. Time was getting on, but he just didn't move. His friend was dying, but he didn't move. Verse 17 [00:09:18] Then when Jesus finally came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. The Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. And Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know that even now, whatsoever thou wouldst ask of God, God will give it thee. [00:09:54] Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord. I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which shall come into the world. [00:10:27] When she had so said, she went her way and called Mary her sister, secretly, saying, The Master is come and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha had met him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily, and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth into the grave to weep there. [00:11:07] Then when Mary was calm where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, the Jews also weeping which came with her He groaned in the spirit and was troubled And said, Where have you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see Jesus wept Then said the Jews, Behold, how he loved him! [00:11:38] And some of them said, Could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind And calls that even this man should not have died? Jesus, therefore, again groaning in himself, cometh to the grave. It was a cave and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh. We have been dead four days. Jesus said unto her, Said I not unto thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? [00:12:13] Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me And I knew that thou hearest me always But because of the people which stand by, I said it That they may believe that thou hast sent me And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice Lazarus, come forth He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. [00:12:49] Jesus saith unto him, to them, Loose him, and let him go. And many of the Jews came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. Stop with that. When Jesus fails to meet our expectations, you have a man here, dying, got sick, and sicker, and sicker. [00:13:24] Sisters, they knew where to go. They knew where their life lay. They knew where their hope lay. In Jesus. And so they sent for him. And there they are through the bedside. Lazarus is going to be okay. The master is coming soon. It'll be okay. The day goes by and Christ does not show up. [00:14:02] It'll be okay. He's coming soon. They go out the next day, look down the road, he's got to come soon, surely, we sent for him, surely he'll come soon, and he didn't come, and Lazarus continues to get worse, the fever gets worse, Christ had better show up sooner or it's too late. [00:14:36] We can't wait forever. We've got to have help now. But it has to come. It has to come. Lazarus, Lazarus died. He died because Christ did not care enough to be on time in their mind. He had stayed at their house. [00:15:12] He was their friend. They had served him meals. When it came down to it, he wasn't there for them. though they have been there for him. Lazarus died. And dead people stay dead. He died. The funeral was held. Grave was closed. [00:15:44] Chapter on life was closed. Where was Christ? We don't know. But he wasn't there when we needed him, that's for sure. Anabaptist, Anabaptist, Anabaptist [00:16:24] Israel, Christ is coming, finally. Martha came, went out to meet him, and she didn't even, she had no expressions of faith left. She just said, Lord, if you'd been here, he wouldn't have died. But obviously, you weren't here, he died. But you know what? Look at verse 25. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. [00:17:00] He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And it happened then as happens now. The greatest revelation of who Christ is often comes after a period of seeming silence. After the valley is when we see the light. After the valley is when we see who God is. If Lazarus had not died, Martha would not have received that knowledge of who Christ was. [00:17:41] It took the darkness to bring the light. It took the silence to bring the answer. But she still wasn't real sure how it was all going to come out. Mary went out. She just had the same thought. She fell at Christ's feet. Lord, if you had been here, he wouldn't have died. And I'm not sure, verse 35, not sure why Jesus wept. He wept. [00:18:11] We know those around him took it as tears of love. Yes, there was love there. Maybe he wept because of the lack of knowledge in those he loved. Maybe he wept because he loved Lazarus and he hated to bring him back. That could be too. But he wept. He wept. [00:18:44] And then he raised Lazarus from the dead. Without the silence, without the pain, without the darkness, they wouldn't have received this revelation of who Christ was. And that's how it is. That's how it was with John the Baptist. Because it wasn't quite the same with him. John the Baptist sent a note, as I mentioned earlier on. Are you the one? Are you the one? Christ never answered him. [00:19:18] The day came when John kept hearing stories about this man, this teacher. And after all, he didn't prepare the wife for a teacher. He prepared the wife for a Messiah, a deliverer. But the Jews were still groaning under the Romans. John was still in prison. Had no hope of getting out of prison. The day came when Herod and his soldiers lead Christ, lead John, excuse me, from the prison out to the courtyard. [00:19:54] John, today you're going to die. Today you're going to die. I don't know what John thought as he looked up at the sky. One last time, nailed to the chopping block, the sword was raised. I don't know what he thought, but John died. As far as we know, he never knew. He never knew, as far as we know. But Christ knew, and that was enough. [00:20:29] Christ knew and that was enough. We think of Job. We think of Job and how he went through his pain, trials. You would think after the pain, after everything went through, When God finally opened up and talked to Job again, you would think the least he could do is explain why. [00:21:04] That's the least he could do. Job, here's why Satan and I had a contest going on. You're the battlefield. Here's why, Job. It's okay. He never, as far as we know, he never told Job why. We never read that Job ever learned why. What did God tell Job? Job, he said, Job, were you there when I created the world? Job, can you do this? Can you do this? All he did, he said, Job, look at me. I'm God. Look at me. That's all you've got to know, God. It's me. [00:21:39] You don't have to know the wise. Know me. Because, you see, our hard times in life, when we struggle in life, Knowing why would not be the answer These are not head questions These are heart questions And Christ didn't come to give us head knowledge He came to meet our heart's need And that is bound to be in a person [00:22:11] The person of Christ Of God Knowing the answers would not satisfy our heart's cry Why? And so God meets us where we need help in our hearts. He said, Job, learn to know me. Learn to know me. I am almighty. Rest in that. And somehow I believe that Job learned to rest in that. I know a missionary, a pastor in a church here in the States, gave quite a number of years of his life on the mission field, came home, and he learned that his daughter had been violated in the worst sort of way. [00:23:12] She went through severe struggles. His home was shattered. His home was shattered. ministry in the church laid down I don't know, I don't know but I can't imagine him sitting on the rocking chair at night looking into the dark sky and saying God, why? I trusted you with my family why God? I don't know, I don't have the answer to those things [00:23:44] but we have God But we have God School teacher I know I teach school I know another teacher Taught for years Numbers of years Through some events that I won't even bother trying to understand His name was slandered Drugged through the dirt [00:24:14] He was forced to quit teaching. I don't know. I wonder if he didn't also sit there at night and wonder why. God, why? Why? Why? I don't know if he ever had an answer for that. But he had God and that was enough. I think of a pastor, pastored for years, used mightily of God. [00:24:58] His family, almost all of them, left the Lord, went out into, some into gross debauchery. He thought he gave the best of his time to God. I think he meant to do well. I've probably ignored his family too much, be that as it may. I've heard him say when I went out at night, face to the ground, say, God, why? Why? [00:25:31] We don't always know those answers, but we know God, we know God. Maybe, maybe. Maybe we will be like Martha and Mary at the end of the valley, experience revelation of God. Maybe. Maybe we will be like John the Baptist. Go to the grave not knowing why. [00:26:02] Are we content to follow Christ without knowing why? But just content with knowing Christ? Matthew, I can't, I'm not sure of the exact reference. But after Christ had fed the multitude and later on said some things that people didn't like [00:26:51] And disciples, it says after that point, Christ said, I am the bread of life It said many of the people left him and didn't follow him anymore. They didn't get what they expected from Christ. Then Christ said he turned to his disciples and said, Will you go away also? I think of that sometimes. [00:27:22] When life is not what we expect, Christ is saying, will you go away also? Or will you follow me? Is God who he says he is only when we understand it? Or is God who he says he is because he's God? God, see God as an entity of his own. His being, his truth is not dependent upon our understanding. He is. He is. And upon that we rest. [00:28:08] Turn to Psalm 18. I'm going to read the beginning of that psalm. This is written by David. I'm reading the heading in my Bible before the verses actually begin. [00:28:42] A psalm of David, a servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the words of this psalm in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, from the hand of Saul. David, anointed by God, but yet under the rule of another man anointed by God, Saul, but an anointed man gone mad. David's out there, how would it be to know you're the next king, you're anointed [00:29:16] And you're still dodging spears from the last man who was anointed Chased out of the palace, chased into the wilderness At night, you're wandering around, dwelling in caves You think you're safe, but here comes Saul again You don't understand this, Lord where are you? Where are you? Goes to Achish, the Philistine. And there, put in prison. [00:29:47] And there he's forced to act like a madman. To get out. Here he is, the future king of Israel. He knows that, he's been anointed. But there he is, scrabbling out the gate, acting like a madman. Spittle going down his beard, the Bible says. Acting insane, just to spare his life. God, where are you? Where is the kingdom now? After it's all done, it's all over, look at verse 30. [00:30:21] Look at verse 30. Psalm 18, verse 30. As for God, His way is perfect. As for God, His way is perfect. Can we rest in that? We can, but will we? As for God, His way is perfect. [00:30:57] There's one angle I want to bring out on this yet. Turn to Jeremiah 18, if you would, please. See, we are, we are on the potter's wheel today. [00:31:28] These things are his influence on our lives. Jeremiah 18 verse 1 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. And I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter. [00:31:59] So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Now, think of the potter, the clay on the wheel. I have never worked with a potter myself, but I understand as that clay turns, several things can mar that clay on the wheel. Several things can cause that clay to, the vessel being made to be ruined. [00:32:32] As that clay is placed on the potter's wheel, the wheel spins, the potter has wet hands, the clay is wet, and he takes his fingers, and as the clay is spinning, he shapes that clay. And he, inside and outside, he shapes that clay. There are several things can break, can mar that. One is, if there's any resistance in that clay, say a piece of stone or a stick that somehow is mixed in that clay, as it's spinning around, his finger will catch that and it tears a gash in that smooth side. [00:33:16] The same with us. We're talking about John the Baptist, we're talking about David, we're talking about us. Resistance. Resistance in our life will cause that vessel to also be marred. Resistance. And then as that vessel is taken off the potter's wheel, put into the oven to dry, that vessel can once more easily crack. And that is when, that takes place particularly when the vessel is not made of the same kind of clay. [00:33:54] Say you have impurities within the vessel, it's not a uniform clay mixture, and it doesn't all dry the same speed. And because of the different types of clay in there, you know, the bowl will crack, or maybe break completely. Get the idea? We are the clay in the potter's hand, and Christ wants a pure heart, a pure heart. You know, it's a pure heart. A heart that's all His. All His. [00:34:24] Stands up to the heat. Stands up to the pressure. And in the end, still says, as for God, His way is perfect.