Defeating Disappointment

Luke 24:13–18 KJV 1900

13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 17 And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?

Luke 24:28–32 KJV 1900

28 And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

the defeat of expectation

Before we dive into this rich text that unfolds as two disciples walk on the road to Emmaus I would simply examine a word that has the potential to be a destructive force in the faith of a child of God. This word gives name to a giant, if ever there were a giant that stands as guardian before the inheritances of promised land. While scripture gives name the several giants that opposed the people of God, none possesses the form or the stature of the giant that I will identify this morning.

It is likely that when I speak of giants listed in the scripture your mind races the the giant names Goliath. A man of such stature and strength that an entire army hid when he spoke. Standing somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 ft. tall…the Bible giving us some reference point to Goliaths strength when it tells us that just the tip of the spear that he carried into battle weighed 600 sheckels or some 15 lbs....just the tip of the spear.

Other giants mentioned in the Bible are Saph , Lahmi, Ishbibenob, and an unnamed warrior whom the bible tells us had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. And then there are the giants that the struck fear into the heart of the 10 spies sent forth by Moses to the spy out the land that God had given them, causing an entire generation to forfeit the promises of God.

Yet, I assure you that or greater stature, power and prominence than Goliath, Saph, Lahmi, Ishbibenob and the giant with 12 fingers and 12 toes is the giant named disappointment. You might discount this declaration as a religious rhetoric or holy hyperbole…yet I assure yet that I’ve witnessed more forfeited promise lands at the feet of disappointment than most any other foe.

Disappointment. The study of this word would render its identity as “the defeat of hope”…or we might say “the defeat of expectation”.

when you consider that the currency upon which the Kingdom of heaven operates is faith…the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen…then you begin to understand the dreadful danger one faces when dealing with the defeat of expectation.

And such is the case of these two disciples that are walking on the road to Emmaus…Understand that this road that they are walking is not often called the road to Emmaus…rather it is called the road to Jerusalem. A roadway that was designed and constructed to provide a pathway for worshippers making their way to Jerusalem. That same roadway that stretched from Emmaus to Jerusalem would have been referred to as the road to Jerusalem, had these two travelers been heading in the other direction. This same exact stretch of road would be known as the ascent…a highway to worship…a pathway to the city of the Great King had they been traveling in the other direction…but today it is the road to Emmaus.

Can i tell you today that in this walk with God, there is nothing more important than direction. Its not just what pathway are you…its the direction that you are headed. You can be on the right road but headed in the wrong direction.

And these two disciples are on the road to Emmaus…they are on the road to Emmaus…there direction has been determined by the defeat of expectation.

Understand that there is nothing for them in Emmaus. They are returning to an old way of living. They are returning to an old way of thinking. They are returning to what they were before they had answered the call of the man from Galilee…They are not going TOO anything…rather they are running FROM the defeat of expectation.

You may still think that I am stuck in religious rhetoric…but if you haven’t yet, the day will come that you will stand toe to toe with the giant of disappointment. and then you will understand…the stature of this giant.

For when you are faced with disappointment…dealing with the defeat of expectation…Everything feels like it is headed in the wrong direction!

These two disciples leave Jerusalem and they walk the 7 miles Northwest to Emmaus…and they are walking downhill the entire way. When you are dealing with disappointment, even North feels South…Even up feels down...

And I recognize I’m painting with dark shades this morning…just give me a few minutes and we will turn this ship around…but before David ever defeated Goliath he sized him up…and if we are going to defeat disappointment, we need to understand the stature of the giant that we are fighting.

As these two disciples make their way toward Emmaus, Jesus comes alongside of them and begins to walk with them and Jesus asks them…what are you all talking about, that has you so sad!?!

And one of them named Cleopas, looks at Jesus…and you have to catch the irony of this…Cleopas looks at Jesus and says, you have to be the only person in all of Jerusalem who hasn’t heard what happened to Jesus!

Jesus…in case you haven’t heard…Jesus is dead!

Now that sounds foolish…but when we are dealing with disappointment, we can say some foolish things…I have to be honest…I’ve said a few foolish things…things Like God…in case you haven’t heard!

God in case you haven’t noticed!

Cleopas is speaking to a resurrected Jesus…wondering how resurrected Jesus could possibly have not heard that Jesus is dead.

and this is what the defeat of expectation will do to you…it will cause you to look past the resurrection and see death. It will cause you to look past victory to find defeat!

Vs. 19 Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 20 And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.

And vs. 21 holds the key to disappointment…how we become the casualties of defeated expectation...

vs. 21 the first 3 words…but we trusted!

How many times have we trusted that things were going to turn out a certain way…only to find that they didn’t turn out that way at all!

But we trusted!

Read the rest of what they trusted…we trusted that he had come to redeem Israel…we thought for sure that he was coming to overthrow the Roman Empire…we thought for sure that he was coming to deliver us from our oppressors and redistribute the power and the wealth!!!

They had constructed their own Messiah! they ignored what the bible said about the Messiah and they constructed their own Messiah....

We begin to construct a Jesus that has come to meet our expectations…

Look at what Jesus says to them in vs. 25....

You fools…Why didn’t you pay attention to the Moses and the prophets? Why didn’t you listen to what the scriptures said? They told you that Jesus was going to have to suffer. They told you that Jesus was going to have to suffer and enter into his glory…you are disappointed because you constructed your own Messiah!

Since the time of Jesus, Judaism has been guilty of 6 prominent times, being deceived by one that declared themselves to be the messiah…the deliverer of the Jews!

Im just going to touch on a couple of them…Around the year 132 A.D. a man named Simon Bar Kokhba led a rebellion against the Roman Government. His initial uprising was successful and for 2 1/2 years the Jews established an independent nation even establishing their own economy and currency. However The Roman army returned and crushed the uprising, the Talmud records that the Romans killed so many Jews that the blood seeped into the nostrils of the horses and flowed 40 miles to the sea.

Around 300 years later, another self proclaimed messiah appeared. This man was named Moses and promised that just like his namesake, that if the Jews would follow him into the water, he would part the seas and they would be freed from their oppressors. They did, but the waters failed to part, and many drowned in the waters.

There is danger in making your own messiah! There is a danger in constructing a Jesus that operates at your bidding.

You are constructing a giant that you can’t defeat when you make your own messiah!!!

I’m telling you right now, that the modern church is dealing with disappointment in part because we’ve tried to make our own messiah!

because Jesus didn’t do things the way that we wanted him to!

Because he didn’t do it when we wanted him to…and how we wanted him to....

But we trusted!!!

Jesus is saying…if your eyes were opened…you would understand…I am Jesus! Everything that I said in my word…I’ve done…You’re dealing with disappointment because you’ve created your own messiah!

Disappointment will rob you of your ability to recognize Jesus!

But…I’m not here to preach just about the defeat of Expectation…I’m here to preach to you that there is a victory over the defeat of expectation! There is a victory over disappointment!

This story doesn’t end with two disciples headed in the wrong direction on the right road!

This story doesn’t end with two disappointed disciples going back to live their old lives in Emmaus...

No…verse 33 says, “and they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem”!!

There is a victory over disappointment.

vs. 32…after their eyes have been opened, these two disciples say to one another retrospectively…did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way....

In the midst of it…both of them were to blinded by disappointment to see who this man was…both of them were too stunned by disappointment to declare what they were feeling…but later on…One looked at the other and said…man…while we were walking, I felt that familiar fire in my spirt.

there was something in my soul that was baring witness…that God’s not dead…He’s alive!

That familiar nudge in my soul…and even as I was wrestling with the disappointment of my self-made messiah…I recognized that familiar presence of the king! That touch that can only be found in the presence of the Lord!

I want to tell you today Living Hope…even as we sit in Living Rooms across this city as we wrestle with this pandemic and try to navigate our way through this crisis…There is a victory over disappointment....and that victory over the defeat of expectation is found only in the presence of the Most High God!!

I’ve got to admit, I was a little disappointed that we would have a little bit of an outbreak among us…A little disappointed that when we are coming together to worship…I guess I thought that maybe God would protect us and nobody would get COVID...

and I’m sure that some of you are wondering now…are we going to settle down now? Pastor are you going to ease up now....Are we going to have less church and are you going to preach a little more cautious....are we going to back down on the exuberant worship now!?! NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!

Because the only victory over disappointment is that familiar burning in my heart.

And I’m sorry…but I don’t get that in my living room!

Yes…I’m thankful for technology and at least we can stay connected…but there is only one remedy for the defeat of expectation…and is the touch of his presence!!!

IF I sit at home and try to reason it out…it will never make sense...

I’ve wrestled with disappointment the last few weeks…I thought for sure God was going to heal my father in law....it made sense to me!

But the only place that it makes sense is when I get in the presence of the Lord!!

That burning in my heart is the only thing that can defeat disappointment. That witness of the Holy Ghost!!

It lets me know that my God’s not dead, He’s still alive!

It reassures me that He is still in control!!

And I feel like David who declared in Psalms 51:11 “Take not your Holy Spirt from me”!

or like Moses in Exodus 33:15 who said to the Lord…Id rather die in the wilderness that to go into the promise without your presence!!!

Because your presence is the only victory over disappointment!!

church…I know that we are in perilous times. I understand that it is dangerous. I know that you can get sick. Im not discounting that....Our bubble has been burst. I understand that it is a risk.

But he’s been too good to me for me to go back to Emmaus!

We may need to tighten a few things up. We may need to ensure we do things a little better...

But after those two disciples acknowledged that burning in their hearts…the bible says they rose up the same hour and they returned to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem…that was the place that followers of Jesus were going to endure persecution! That was the place that believers were being martyred…in fact certain bible encyclopedia’s tell us that Cleopas of Emmaus was in fact martyred for his faith in Jesus Christ!