Sermon April 21, 2019 PastorBryon – This Easter service we took our congregation and held service at the old First Baptist Church building on Main St Buchanan.

Introduction

There is a little book, long out of print, called Expectation Corner, tells of a king who prepared a city for some of his poor subjects. Not far away he constructed a large storehouse where everything they needed would be supplied if they would only send him their requests. There was one condition, however: they should constantly be on the lookout for his messengers so that when they came with the gifts in answer to their urgent pleas, the petitioners would always be found waiting and ready to receive them. One faithless subject, not actually expecting to get what he asked for, never watched for their delivery. One day he was taken to the king’s storehouse; and there, to his amazement, he saw scores of packages that had originally been made ready for him. The messengers had come to his door, but because he was not looking for them, the king’s gifts never satisfied his needs. Sometimes God makes us wait for things, simply because we are so unbelieving and wishy-washy in the way we ask for His heavenly favors. Many miss out on desired blessings because they close themselves in the gloomy chambers of doubt. Or their real expectations are that while they would like to trust God, the reality is that they don’t, so they just go through the motions

[READ] Scripture: John 14:6-12

This scripture is what has become known as the upper room discourse. It was in fact, the last time Jesus would teach His apostles before His crucifixion. If you remember last week was Palm Sunday and it represented the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the coming king. It was the time when the Jewish community traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover Feast. This upper room discourse is taking place during that feast.

Our scripture teaches us that one of the final lessons Jesus taught was about who He was, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the father, He said I and the father are one. God in the flesh. This wasn’t a new message, merely a continuation. However the Apostles still weren’t getting it. Phillip asks Jesus to show them the father. I often wonder if Jesus just stood and shook his head? Was he ever tempted to be condescending or sarcastic? I know for me It would have made me frustrated. Jesus replied by stating, I just told you if you see me, you see the father. So why ask me to show you the father? He ends this portion of the lesson by letting them know that they will do greater things than he has done.

We also know this event has come to be known as The Last Supper. However the apostles didn’t know it would be called that even though Jesus had been telling them about His crucifixion and resurrection for some time now. You see even though they were being taught by Jesus and He was teaching them truth, their minds were clouded by their own expectations. See they had their own ideas of who Jesus was and where they were to Jesus. They had their own expectation of what the future looked like and how God would work things out for them.

Recall the Triumphant entry – They walked into Jerusalem with Jesus as members of the kings court (in their minds). Their expectation was that Jesus was going to conquer Rome and take His place as the King.

The last supper:

Can you imagine what it must have been like that final night as those closest to Jesus gather for what they thought to be a celebration, a new day, the rise of the Kingdom of Christ only to learn that there was a traitor in their midst and it was one of the 12.  They didn’t even know how to respond. Maybe they weren’t hearing Jesus right? Maybe they misunderstood. Certainly he must be mistaken. However, the traitor knew and soon departed to do his bidding.

This is also the night that Jesus told them that he was going away and where he was going they couldn’t go. Remember Peter’s reaction? What do you mean I can’t go? “I’m going where ever you go Jesus”. Peter said, I will follow you even unto death. Jesus responded, really? Really Peter? He told Peter tonight you will deny me three times before the cock crows. But Peter wasn’t going for it. Peter said, maybe some of the other apostles because I know some of them are weak but not me! I’ll never deny you. Have you ever been there? You thought you knew how you would respond in any given situation but it turns out your not the man you thought you were, your not the father you thought you were, your not the mother you thought you were, your not the husband or wife you thought you were, your not the Christian you thought you were. You thought you had stronger faith but here you are face down in the mud.

So it happen just like Jesus said, Judas was off betraying peter was off denying and the apostles were scattered. Zachariah called it didn’t he? “Strike down the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered (Zachariah 13:7)

 What can we take away from our scripture today?

1. Trust God even when things don’t seem to be going the way you think they should.
2. As followers of Christ we are to carry on His work.
3. There is only one way to the Father, that’s through belief in Jesus Christ.

~Amen