Good News For Sunday Seekers

Lonely Nation

Listen, I believe we were created for so much more than what this world offers.

A study was released this week by the Surgeon General that says that Americans are lonelier than we been in 20 years And that study ended before COVID brought even greater loneliness.

Over the past 25 years 40 million Americans have left the church

Is it a coincidence that loneliness is on the rise with the primary means of social interaction historically within our country abondonnded?

Drug abuse is one the rise.

Suicide is on the rise.

Moral authority is doubted.

"In recent years, about one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness," Murthy says in the advisory. "And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic cut off so many of us from friends, loved ones, and support systems."

Research has showed that loneliness and isolation are linked to sleep problems, inflammation and immune changes in younger adults. In older people, they're tied to symptoms such as pain, insomnia, depression, anxiety and shorter life span. In people of all ages, they may be associated with higher risks of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, addiction, suicidality and self-harm, and dementia.” From a report on Apple News

The Surgeon General outlined 6 Pillars to help fix the problem of loneliness..

Again from Apple News “The framework is rooted in six pillars.

The first, strengthening social infrastructure in communities, involves boosting programs like volunteer organizations or religious groups, policies like public transit or education, and physical elements like libraries and green spaces.”

Our own government recognizes the need for America to return to church.

I’m going to call this group Sunday Seekers.

Sunday Seekers are people longing for connection - human connection but ultimately spiritual connection.

Because we have come to know is that while we long for human connection we also find a greater sense of purpose when we connect with our Creator.

So Sunday Seeker

Let me define what I mean by the term seeker.

A seeker is someone who believes, or at leasts wants to believe in God, but hasn't yet come to saving faith in Jesus.

Another way to define it would be someone who is open to God, but is still trying to figure out what that means.

Listen Church, lets be a people who offer hope and connection to a lonely world.

We have what a lonely nation needs.

The church is a place of connection - human and spiritual.

Lets point these lonely seekers to Jesus.

A Sunday Sorrow

Its that definition that I want us to use as we look at 2 people who had been keeping up with Jesus ministry but weren't sure about exactly who Jesus was or what Jesus came to do.

Luke 24:13–14 CSB

13 Now that same day two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 Together they were discussing everything that had taken place.

In Luke 24, we are introduced to 2 men walk on a road to Emmaus, they don’t yet know that the tomb is empty, they don’t yet know that Jesus is risen from the grave, that Jesus lives.

They were discussing everything that had happened.

They were discussing the life and the death of Jesus.

They were thing they believed about Jesus but they didn’t yet believe in his resurrection.

Many people believe Jesus to be a great moral teacher.

Many people believe Jesus to be a great prophet.

Many people believe Jesus to be a great miracle worker.

Many people believe Jesus to be a great model of sacrificial love.

Of course, Jesus was all of those things.

Jesus was a great moral teacher.

The moral teaching of Jesus took the history and law of Judaism and and applied if more strictly.

Jesus would often say things like, "You've heard it said don't murder, but if hate someone you are guilty of murder in your hearts"

His moral teaching was stricter that Moses and the law.

His teaching upset those looking for loopholes in their own morality.

His teaching still upsets those looking for loopholes.

Who want God to be ok with their sin.

He was the perfect moral example.

The perfect moral teacher.

Jesus was a great prophet.

The prophecy of Jesus, his preaching was one of repentance, self-denial, judgement for the self-righteous, mercy for the poor in Spirit.

His prophecy that he would destroy the temple and then rebuild it in three days was considered blasphemy.

His reading of the prophet Isaiah that he was the Anointed One was exciting for the weak but enraging to the powerful.

His prophecy that he will return on the clouds with the angels caused hope for the hopeless and fear to the disobedient.

He was more than just a great prophet, he was the Messiah the prophets prophesied about.

Jesus was a miracle worker.

Jesus did amazing miracles.

He said if my teaching won't convince you that I am the Messiah from heaven than be convinced because of the miracles.

He healed the sick.

He raised the dead.

He did financial miracles.

He performed miracles over nature, like walking on water, and feeding over 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

He claimed storms.

He cast out demons.

He did them so they would listen to him.

Jesus also was a great model of sacrificial love.

He turned the other cheek.

He carried his cross.

About those crucifying him, He said Father forgive for they don't know what they are doing.

He died.

He offered himself as a sacrifice.

It was death by love.

He understood the sacrifice.

He told his disciples that he was the sacrifice, his death, would institute an new covenant between God and humanity.

Jesus died to make us right with God.

Sometimes folks say they believe Jesus was a moral teacher, a prophet, a miracle worker, a model of love, but they don't understand the fullness of what that means.

Jesus wouldn't, Jesus couldn't, be all of those things unless He was who he said he was.

He said he was fully God.

It's only seeing Jesus as God does any of the moral teaching, the prophecies, the miracle working, the sacrificial love make sense.

So these 2 disciples of Jesus were trying to make sense of Jesus.

They were talking about his moral teaching.

They were talking about his prophetic speech.

They were talking about his miracle working.

They were talking about his sacrifice.

Here's what we know.

A Sunday Stroll

Luke 24:1–14 CSB

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. 5 So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men. 6 “He is not here, but he has risen! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘It is necessary that the Son of Man be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?” 8 And they remembered his words. 9 Returning from the tomb, they reported all these things to the Eleven and to all the rest. 10 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them were telling the apostles these things. 11 But these words seemed like nonsense to them, and they did not believe the women. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths. So he went away, amazed at what had happened. 13 Now that same day two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 Together they were discussing everything that had taken place.

These two folks were trying to make sense of the days events.

Mary had been to the tomb,

seen angels,

seen an empty tomb,

conversed with an angel,

ran back home,

and told the disciples that Jesus had been raised to life.

The disciples thought she was lying.

Peter runs to the tomb,

the stone guarding the tomb has been moved,

the roman guards are gone,

he goes in and see the linin clothes, the burial clothes of Jesus folded, and without a body.

Peter goes home marveling.

So these 2 seekers have heard the story from Mary, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Peter, John. They are amazed.

Verse 13 says they were talking about all these things that had happened.

They were trying to make sense of it.

They wanted to believe.

They were seekers.

The believed but they didn't fully understand.

They were searching for answers about this Jesus but weren't sure what to make of him.

Luke 24:15–24 CSB

15 And while they were discussing and arguing, Jesus himself came near and began to walk along with them. 16 But they were prevented from recognizing him. 17 Then he asked them, “What is this dispute that you’re having with each other as you are walking?” And they stopped walking and looked discouraged. 18 The one named Cleopas answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked them. So they said to him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet powerful in action and speech before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that he was the one who was about to redeem Israel. Besides all this, it’s the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women from our group astounded us. They arrived early at the tomb, 23 and when they didn’t find his body, they came and reported that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”

A Sunday Savior

Jesus shows up.

These two seekers were longing to know more about Jesus, longing to understand what was going on.

And Jesus just appears and begins walking with them.

They don't recognize him.

But he's there with them.

He's guiding their conversation.

He's guiding their seeking.

He's leading them closer to himself but they don't even realize it.

Listen, Seeker, Jesus is walking with you.

He's beside you.

He's guiding your conversation.

He leading you closer to himself.

You don't even realized that its him but it's Jesus.

He nudges your heart.

He whispers in your ear.

He tugs on your spirit.

Every time he does, he is leading you home.

Leading you to himself.

Jesus has joined your conversation because he wants you to know him.

You may not recognize that its him, but he's calling you.

He's calling you to hope, peace.

He's calling you to grace, mercy.

He's calling you to forgiveness, to reconciliation.

He's calling you to follow him. He's calling you to life and that life more abundant that this world offers.

He walks beside you leading the conversation, leading you to the Kingdom.

What do we know about these travelers?

Not much.

We know that the were disciples of Jesus.

They had hoped he would be their Deliverer.

We know that one of them was named Cleopas.

What's so great about this name is that it means, "The Glory of the Father" - The Glory of God.

Check this out.

Luke 24:25-27

[25] And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! [26] Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” [27] And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (ESV)

Luke gets it.

When he writes this, he gets it.

Jesus is like, Cleopas, if you want to see the Glory of the Father you have to believe in the Christ.

The Christ had to suffer and enter the Glory of the Father.

The Christ suffered and was raised so that you Cleopas, can enter into the Glory of the Father."

A Sunday Sermon

Jesus then went through all the scripture and preached about the Christ.

I'm sure he talked about the bronze serpent on the pole that brought healing from the vipers in the wilderness.

I'm sure he talked about the mercy seat.

I'm sure he talked about the stone tablets.

I'm sure he talked about the passover lamb.

I'm sure he talked about Day of Atonement and the scapegoat.

I'm sure he talked about the seed of Abraham.

I'm sure he talk about the eternal covenant of David.

I'm sure he talk about typology, and symbols, and covenants, and prophecies, and poetry that pointed to Jesus being the Christ.

I'm also sure I wish I had been walking with them.

In the book Christ From Beginning To End the authors help us see what Jesus preached to these two Sunday Seekers

The Seed of Abraham is About Jesus

Yes, it is through Isaac, the promised seed, that God’s salvation will come to the world. But God is also revealing that Isaac is not enough. Isaac, too, is a sinner in need of a savior. God’s promise will come through Isaac, but ultimately Isaac cannot save. The Savior must come outside of Isaac, by God’s own provision. This is the meaning of the ram that God provides. In sparing Isaac, a substitute must still take his place. (117–118)

Of course, that substitute ultimately comes through Christ. Hunter and Wellum explain:

God did provide a substitute for Isaac, hinting that God himself must ultimately provide the proper substitute to pardon human sin… Isaac needed a substitute to die in his place, and God provided. Abraham hears the voice from heaven say, “Stop! There is another to take his place.” Yet when the Father and Son walk to Calvary, there is no voice saying, “Stop. Here is another.” (123–124)

They go on: “As the Bible’s story unfolds, we learn that it is only through the true ‘seed’ of Abraham, Christ Jesus, that believers from all nations become children of Abraham(Galatians 3:9)”

The Old Covenant Is Points To Jesus

baked into the Law-covenant were “carefully designed limitations" that pointed toward something greater. As Hebrews 9:8 explains, “The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning.”

Christ from Beginning to End outlines several divine patterns that reveal past limitations and beautifully point us to Christ in God’s dealings with Israel through Moses and the Law-covenant. Here are a few of them:

A Greater Exodus. “Israel’s exodus from Egypt was more than a one-time event. It became the paradigm for all of God’s redeeming acts to follow” (143), culminating in ultimate liberation and redemption from sins. “In Christ, an even greater exodus from slavery has occurred” (144).

A Greater Rest. “Come to me,” Jesus said, “all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Through the Law-covenant "God structured foretastes of ultimate rest into the life of the nation” (144). But since it couldn’t deal with sin, the people couldn’t experience true rest; Jesus offers this rest which the Law-Covenant anticipated.

A Greater Prophet. “Moses was a great prophet, but Jesus is far greater” (146). Moses himself pointed toward him in Deuteronomy 18:15: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.” The people were still waiting for this prophet when Jesus came

A Greater Tabernacle. Post-Exodus, the Lord instructed Israel to erect a tabernacle for him to dwell with his people, which was “a copy and shadow of what is in heaven” (Heb. 8:5). “And just as the tabernacle symbolized God’s greater presence in heaven, so its priesthood and sacrifices symbolized the greater salvation to come” (149). Jesus was this greater salvation and tabernacle when he “tabernacled among us in his life” and when he “tabernacled among us as he hung on the cross” (149)

The Throne Of David Points To Jesus

In King David, all of God’s promises from Noah to Abraham to Moses converge. And yet, as with all parts of the Old Testament, the Davidic narratives look ahead to a greater future king. Psalm 72 explains how Jesus is found in this part of the Old Testament, which “helps us look ahead to a ‘greater’ David, a future king” (163–164).

Hunter and Wellum identify four dimensions to this future king, Jesus Christ, unveiled in Psalm 72:

Royalty with Righteousness, Psalm 72:1–4. “This is the king our world needs. Our world cries out for justice, but because of sin, even our best leaders are dangerous if we give them too much power. A truly righteous kingdom awaits God’s righteous king” (164).As Long as the Sun Rises, Psalm 72:5–7. ”Despite the faithlessness of David’s sons, God’s promise of an eternal king through David is going to happen. The Lord will see to it” (166).A King for Everyone Everywhere, Psalm 72:8–11. “This is a picture of total dominion over the world… This king’s rule will achieve the universal rule that God first intended for humanity” (167). And in light of these Davidic promises, “Scripture tells us to look ahead to the coming of the Davidic son/king who will fully bring God’s rule to the entire world” (167).A Heart of Compassion, Psalm 72:12–19. “The rule of David’s future son would not conform to the patterns of this world’s rulers. He would not take from his people. He would only give!” (167) But at a cost: “As David did, he will suffer on his way to exaltation. He will bring about great reversals for others by means of a great reversal of his own” (168).

A Prophetic Portrait of Our Suffering Servant

The prophet Jonah reminds us, “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). And all along the way in God’s story, “the story of salvation advances a step further as the Lord takes the initiative to save. The prophets continue this message, carrying it forward” (180).

How do they reveal this salvation will be accomplished? “The Lord’s salvation is made possible through a sinless sufferer” (183), a concept Hunter and Wellum explain is tied to the traditional concept of substitute—“one cast in terms of the previous patterns, but who now, in himself, solves the problem of sin fully and forever” (183). The prophet Isaiah particularly speaks of this coming servant, “one who is from Israel but who is also distinct from Israel. A servant who represents Israel because he is Israel’s king and a truly obedient son” (185).

We have a problem: sinful humans need to be reconciled to a holy God. Isaiah reveals how this will be made possible: “the Lord will accomplish a substitutionary sacrifice for sin. He will do it through the suffering of his obedient servant… The servant who is our Savior is God’s answer to the tension we have highlighted time and again” (184, 186).

Hunter and Wellum explain that the Messiah-Servant, Jesus Christ will do two things in his substitutionary death:

“First, he will take what is ours—our iniquities. And second, he will give us what is his—his righteousness. He will provide an obedient covenant partner” (186).

In the prophet Isaiah, we find a vivid portrait of the future death of Messiah Jesus, our Suffering Servant.

And as Jesus explains the Law and the Prophets to these two seekers they don’t want to Jesus leave

They were longing for connection.

Luke 24:28–29 CSB

28 They came near the village where they were going, and he gave the impression that he was going farther. 29 But they urged him, “Stay with us, because it’s almost evening, and now the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

I Want To Know More About My Jesus

These 2 seekers don't want the conversation to stop.

When you start listening to Jesus, when you begin to understand the fullness of the goodness of the person of Jesus,

you want to know more,

you want to hear more,

you want to understand more,

you want to be in his presence more,

you want to know more.

I wanna know more about my Jesus.

I wanna know more about my LORD.

I wanna know more, I wanna know more. I wanna know more.

They still don't know the person they are talking to is Jesus, they just know they want to know more about Jesus.

A Sunday Supper

They still don’t know it’s Jesus.

But he goes to eat with him.

Luke 24:30–35 CSB

30 It was as he reclined at the table with them that he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us while he was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?” 33 That very hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those with them gathered together, 34 who said, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they began to describe what had happened on the road and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

There's something about the way he broke the break.

There's something about the way it tore in his hands.

There eyes were opened.

He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

(BREAK BREAD)

When he lifted up the bread and tore it, they saw something they hadn't yet seen.

They saw the holes in his hands.

They remembered the cross.

The blood.

The death.

They remembered the table - the promise of a new Covenant in Christ's blood.

They remembered all he had just revealed about himself, and it all clicked.

This Jesus is the Christ, the Promised One.

Jesus is both LORD and God.

Think about the joy, the amazement, the utter astonishment of seeing the nail-pierced hands of Jesus breaking the bread.

They were seekers, but when they realized who He was, that he was the promised one, the one who was dead, and is alive, when they recognized Jesus they went from seekers to tellers.

Their heart burned within them.

They had to share all he had told them and what the has seen when He broke the bread.

Have you seen the nail holes?

Not literally.

But have you come to the realization that Jesus is who he said he was.

The 2 started their journey full of questions.

They ended their journey with the one Answer to all of their questions. "Truly the LORD has been raised!"

Come Meet Jesus At The Table

Loneliness begins to end at the table

Gather with Jesus and the community of faith thus morning at the table