Untitled Episode

Expectations - Rev. John nelson

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:35

Welcome to worship. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. I'd like to welcome all of our guests and visitors. If you're here in the sanctuary with us, please put your name on the friendship pad as it circulates. And for those of you who are visiting online, make a comment so that we know that you are here. Following worship, all are invited to the lounge for refreshments. It will be happening. It's the Mr. Rogers Messy Church. And all friends and neighbors and parents would like you to invite yourself and have them come from 4.30 to 5.30 with dinner. Also, this week the spring Abrahamic religion study continues. We had a very good session last week and we had some good discussion. This week we will be talking about Judaism with Rabbi Rob leading us. There was a pack event yesterday, and it was wonderful attendance, and everything worked out beautifully. Thank you for all who helped with that. And just a reminder that next Saturday there is a cleanup here at the church.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

Even when we become lost and disoriented. Even when our hearts are touched by the frost. Even when all light has faded to black, here in this house of worship, enter, rejoice, and come home. Let us join together in asking God to forgive us our translation.

SPEAKER_03 8:06

We all the God who tests our mind and listens to the words of our hearts is the same God who came to earth to save us from all unrighteousness and injustice. God the Judge is also God the Redeemer. Friends, believe the good news of the gospel. In Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Testify to us, O God, by the voice of the Spirit. Let us listen to the word of God. But Peter, standing in the 11, raised his voice and addressed him. Therefore, let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, brothers, what should we do? Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone but the Lord our God. And he testified with many others.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, What are you discussing with each other while you were walking along? They stood still and looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him. He asked them, What then? They replied, The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty indeed and word before God and all the people. And how our chief priest and the leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him. Then he said to them, Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had declared. Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into glory? Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted the scriptures to them. And all the things about him himself in all the scriptures. But they urged him strongly, saying, Stay with us, because it is almost evening, and the day is now nearly over. So he went in with them to stay. When he was there at table with them, he took bread, left, and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road? That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found that the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, The Lord has risen. They were saying, The Lord has risen indeed. And he has appeared to Simon. And they told what had happened to them on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of bread. This is the gospel of our Lord. And try to think of things that's happening that you were actually there with them. They were just a couple of men. They were not leaders in the movement of Jesus. They were not disciples. They were just regular ordinary guys. But they actually represent in this story all of us who were just regular ordinary people. They were troubled by Jesus' absence. They were extremely troubled by his crucifixion. They thought that he was the Messiah sent from God to save Israel from domination, from the nasty rulers of Israel, and an even nastier ruler. They were just absolutely convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. But they didn't understand exactly what the Messiah was. Or who the Messiah was there for. When they first met Jesus, Jesus kind of appeared and he just walked up to them on the road. And they didn't recognize him. Actually, they didn't recognize that Jesus didn't meet their expectations as a Messiah. So maybe that's why they didn't recognize him earlier. But then Jesus takes the scriptures and from the beginning to the end, he explains them to those men. He explained the role of the Messiah. He explained that it wasn't some earthly ruler who was going to bring them freedom from oppression. But the Messiah is a spiritual person who would come and give them true freedom. It wasn't until Jesus broke the bread that they recognized it. And if you think about that. When we look back on Jesus' ministry, oftentimes we see Jesus breaking bread. He broke red to eight thousands of people on a couple of days in the holy woman. And then in the upper room, he broke red. But as soon as he broke the bread, they read the immediately they believed. No hesitation. They knew right then and there. And at that point, Jesus disappeared. They knew what they had to do. They had to go back to Jerusalem to tell the others. Now think about that. If you were in that on that walk with those people, and then Jesus broke bread and then immediately vanished, how would you feel? Shocked? Upset? Maybe sad, confused, maybe empty, maybe even a little bit angry. I think my first reaction would have been reach out and try to grab where Jesus was. But he was gone. Maybe sad that I didn't understand what had happened in Jesus' ministry. I didn't understand what Jesus' true mission was. And maybe a little bit angry. Not with Jesus, but with myself. For not seeing this earlier. That morning they had heard stories of what had happened around Jerusalem. The women went out to the tomb and it was empty. And then they had visions of angels. And then his disciples went out. A couple of his disciples went out to the tomb. And they found it just like the women had said. Nobody said anything about seeing him yet. All they knew is that the tomb was empty. But now they knew. So they had to go back and tell the others. Today I want to talk to you about expectations. Expectations that we all have when we encounter something new. I think about when I was in grade school, I went to a Lutheran grade school relatively small. And then after I graduated eighth grade, I went to a high school that was several times larger. And lots of bigger kids. And I had all kinds of expectations, apprehensions, and fears, all rolled into one. But think about a time when you did something new. Perhaps you started a new job, decided it was time to buy a new house, move to a new community. We have expectations of what we think is going to happen. Well, I was about 14 when I felt God calling me into ministry. While I was still in eighth grade. But then upon graduation from high school, I went to college at Concordia Lutheran Junior College in Ann Arbor, Michigan. On the outskirts of Ann Arbor, not very close to U of M. I became a U of M fan anyway. But when I went there, I didn't know anyone. I'd only been to the campus one time before, and had met a few people, but I didn't remember who they were by the time I got there in September. My brother dropped me off. He had had to take me to Ann Arbor and he had to get back to Crystal Lake pretty quick, so he just kind of dropped me off and said, bye. So I moved into the dorm and not really knowing what to expect, except that it was going to be new and different. So I met a couple guys that I had met the summer before. They were also in my dorm. We became good friends all the way through college and into seminary. And it was it was great. It was a place for new beginnings. As I said before, when I went into high school, there were the kids that I went to grade school with, they knew me and they knew what I was like, and they were gonna hold me to their expectations of what I should be. But when I showed up in Ann Arbor, I realized that nobody here knows me. I can use this as a fresh start. And so that was one of my expectations. To make myself into someone that I really wanted to be. And so I did. Now, of the expectations that you had when you had a new job or a new house or whatever, are those expectations fully met? Always? Probably not. We have expectations of a lot of things. We have expectations about God as well. Are all of our expectations about God met? Is God what we think God is? But you know, God also has expectations. He has expectations of each of us. Who we are to become, what we are to do. As I continued through college, um, things changed in my church body. And while I was um in my junior year, there was a massive disagreement in my church body that involved the one of the seminaries. They said that the seminary was teaching false doctrine. And it was a big argument. And the most of the faculty and most of the students did not believe that they were being taught false doctrine or that they were teaching false doctrine. And so they walked off of campus. There we go. And they moved into St. Louis, and with the help of a number of other divinity schools and seminaries in the St. Louis area, they started a new seminary. The first name that went by was Concordia Seminary in Exile, because that's what they felt like they did. They felt like they went into exile. And as people who go into exile, they expect to return. That was their expectation that the problems that were had been created would be solved, and they would be able to return to our mother church. That didn't happen. So later on, they renamed the seminary, Christ Seminary Seminex. Seminex was the nickname that they went by. So that was good. That was a sense of changing their direction and changing their expectations. Then eventually, Seminex went out of business. They didn't just close their doors and walk away, as some institutions do, but they divided themselves up. They divided the faculty up to go to other seminaries around the country. They divided the resources up in terms of library and other resources and used them to build up the resources at other Lutheran seminaries. And then they went out of business. Their expectations changed. Their expectations of going back were not realized. When I was a senior in college, I had a decision to make. Stick to my original plan. Finish college, go to the seminary that would guarantee that I would have a call upon graduation and that I would have a ministry probably for the rest of my life. Or did I follow those rebellious folks who denied that there was being taught false doctrine and take a chance? Take a chance that they would even be around in four years for me to graduate. Take a chance that there would be internships and first calls. Take a chance that just a chance, a step literally into the unknown. Well, Marsha and I decided to venture into the unknown. And it was a risk. We had no guarantees. And they were blessed with donations and support from people around the country, and I think sometimes even around the world. And they made it. I shared about that, I think the last time I was up here about the valleys and the mountains in Yellowstone. Not bad. 16, 17 months living in a national park. Not a bad internship. Certainly not what I expected when I was 14 years old. And then when we left, we I did another internship after graduation for another church body. That one didn't go so well. Probably one of the hardest years of our life. Didn't expect that. But that's what it was. But I learned, we learned, a big lesson in that year. As bad as it got for me and for us, God never left us. Even though we were living in territory that we truly did not expect, God did not leave us. And it's been over 50 years now since we made that decision. It was against the better judgment of friends and family. There was an expectation that God could take care of us. And God fulfilled that expectation. He has given me more types of ministry in my life than I ever would have gotten had I taken the comfortable way. And I believe I've enjoyed my life and my ministry far more than if I had been tied to a parish all my career. But what's most important is that to the good times and a really tough time, God was always there for us. And I don't know that we always lived up to God's expectations. But God certainly overwhelmingly blew away any expectations that I had for our life together. And our kids, our grandson, and our family. The divisions in our family have healed. And our life has been much richer and fuller than I ever expected. I want to leave you with a verse from our first reading from Acts chapter 2, verse 39. Luke writes, The promise is for you, your children, and for all who are far away. Everyone the Lord our God calls to him. That's the promise of God's expectations of us. God doesn't just expect that we're going to do something and let us go. God remains with us in the good times, hard times, and in the terrible times, in life and in death. God is always with us. And God's promise to love us is always there. God's promise to give us strength and courage is always there. So I ask you again about your expectations. Are your expectations always met? Maybe not. But I changed my expectations of my life several times. I changed them because God had changed me. And God was with me and helped me all the way. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

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