Great Expectations
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Great Expectations
Great Expectations
Great Expectations is another novel written by Charles Dickens
coming of age story
Great expectations refers to the main character Pip’s hopes and dreams for a better life
How many of you saw “The Kid” with Bruce Willis
it asks a profound question to us: “If your 8yr old self were to meet you now, what would they think of you?”
Bruce Willis was successful and rich, but his younger self saw him as a loser.
We all have such big dreams and great expectations when we are young.
Some of those expectations are expectations that we inherit from our parents as they influence who we come and curb our wants and desires.
Things that the world wants us to aspire to be are famous, wealthy, and powerful
These are aspirations of things that we lack;
we want to be wealthy, to have things that we are often denied: especially when we are young
we want to influential, and for people to recognize us when we feel unheard or unseen. We want to change things and to get our way
We want power when we feel weak. It makes sense that superheroes are so popular. They allow us to escape into a reality where our powerlessness can be changed suddenly and dramatically.
Jesus addresses some of these expectations when he talks to the Rich Young Ruler, and more importantly, Jesus points out some of the Expectations that God has for us.
Talking about Great Expectations, as a follower of Christ, one of the goals of discipleship is for our desires and wants to be replaced and be aligned with God’s desires and wants.
As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
“You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ”
And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”
Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”
The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?”
Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
God’s Expectations for us include:
Righteousness
Relationship
Renovation
Righteousness
Righteousness
“You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ”
And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”
Defraud- Covet
First four of the Ten Commandments are missing from Jesus’ list:
You shall have no other God’s before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy
The first three are how we love God, the last six are how we love our neighbour. The fourth sits in the middle as keeping the sabbath is how we love God and our neighbour. All of them together show God’s love for us.
The first four are the base. From them, we learn how to be loyal and true, not abandoning those who need our love and support. We learn where to focus our energies and spend the time we need with those we love, not forsaking them for other worldly distractions. We learn that harming people for the sake of others or in God’s name is not the way to create a better world, and we learn to appreciate what we have, accepting ourselves and being grateful for
others. This is the ground work for the other six commandments, for all other commandments, that help us to love our neighbour, love ourselves, and bring more love into the world.
“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’
“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’;
but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.
Jesus said you could sum up the law into two commandments: Love God, Love People
But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.
One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him,
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
“This is the great and foremost commandment.
“The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Be Holy for I am Holy
“Holy” and “holiness” occur more than 900 times in Scripture, and both the Old and New Testaments speak more about his holiness than any other attribute. Because of this characteristic God is not able to tolerate our sin.
Holy Spirit helps us to be Holy
Holy, Sanctified, set apart
Relationship
Relationship
Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Sub Point; God want us to render sacrifices unto him
one sided relationships are unhealthy.
God did more for us than we can ever pay back.
He doesn’t ask everyone to give up the same things:
Our relationship with God affects our relationship with God
“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
“But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
We love, because He first loved us.
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Righteousness and Relationship are not separate.
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
Renovation
Renovation
But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”
Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
God wants us to change, but to specifically change for the better.
The Kid
Great Expectations
Scrooge
Conclusion: New years is a time to make those decisions to change for the better. What changes do you feel God asking you to make?
to read your bible more
to take care of you body better
to take care of your family better
to cultivate that skill He has called you to
to give more consistently
It is OK to be motivated to do something to better yourself, but allow God to guide you to the decisions and changes that will lead you there.