Molding Our Expectations

Scripture:

Isaiah 64:1–9 NLT

1  Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence! 2  As fire causes wood to burn and water to boil, your coming would make the nations tremble. Then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame! 3 When you came down long ago, you did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations. And oh, how the mountains quaked! 4 For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him! 5 You welcome those who gladly do good, who follow godly ways. But you have been very angry with us, for we are not godly. We are constant sinners; how can people like us be saved? 6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. 7 Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins. 8 And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. 9 Don’t be so angry with us, Lord. Please don’t remember our sins forever. Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all your people.

Getting Ready for the Celebration

We are getting ready to celebrate the most important birth the world has ever known. This year, birthdays have been different than in the past. There have been smaller cakes, fewer people gathered around those candles, more video and phone calls, and lots more people honking and waving as they drove by our homes. Some birthdays probably got rescheduled and a few may have been skipped altogether.

Some of you have birthdays around other holidays and perhaps feel like it almost gets skipped every year.

I wonder if Jesus ever felt that way about the way we celebrate His birthday? Everyone having a good time and no one paying attention to the person who is the reason for the celebration.

I wonder what Jesus is getting for Christmas this year… What do you hear Him asking for?

Looking for Hope

We are looking for hope and light more than most winter seasons.

Our perspectives and priorities have been examined and perhaps changed this year.

The things we took for granted, we are no longer taking for granted.

Our need for God and for one another have been exposed.

We are looking for hope.

Hope - by Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.

Hope is a powerful force because it causes the strong to become weak and it makes the well-defended vulnerable.

It has been used and abused by many, which makes it hard for us to hold it for long.

Summary: Hope is as strong as the hands that hold and shape us.

It invites us to hand our lives over to One who can remake our world and remake us.

Come, Lord Jesus, Burst the Heavens

Isaiah 64:1–4 NLT

1  Oh, that you would burst from the heavens and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence! 2  As fire causes wood to burn and water to boil, your coming would make the nations tremble. Then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame! 3 When you came down long ago, you did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations. And oh, how the mountains quaked! 4 For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!

When do we call on God for help?

1. Not when we win the lottery

2. Not when we get a promotion

3. Not when those around us are telling us what a great job we are doing.

We call on God for help when...

New Baby on the way - friend made an announcement on facebook - Goodbye sleep

The bill collector is on the way!

The ambulance is on the way!

We call to God and ask Him to put us back in control of our world.

How often do we say we want Jesus on the throne, but we want to be the person approving the agenda?

We discover we have more in common with each other during hardship.

We focus on our differences less and our commonalities more.

Falling Leaves

Isaiah 64:5–7 NLT

5 You welcome those who gladly do good, who follow godly ways. But you have been very angry with us, for we are not godly. We are constant sinners; how can people like us be saved? 6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. 7 Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins.

A Pandemic of Sin

…and they didn’t even realize it.

Sin is far more contagious than than any other disease on earth, and no one is immune to it.

There’s no vaccine.

But there is a cure, and once you have the cure, sin become preventable.

John Wesley made disciples the way AA makes sober people.

In fact, alcoholism was one of the major diseases he fought in his day.

He showed people that, before they knew Jesus, they were doomed to die in their sin.

After they met Jesus, they got to make the choice every day.

Will I let go of what I want today and step into the light of Christ, and what He wants for me?

Or will I fall back into my familiar sinful ways?

If we really take the time to test and see if we have been infected by sin, we will rediscover our standards and realize we are falling short

We, like the summer leaves, used to be big and vibrant, and working hard to grow the tree that birthed us

But somewhere along the way, it got cold, and dry, and we got tired

And then there was a pandemic, and things started to break, and we couldn’t get them fixed

And we are doing our best to just hang on while we watch everyone else drop away

But that is how trees reproduce.

They drop away and plant themselves as new seed

in fact Jesus taught about this specifically when he said

John 12:24–28 NLT

24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. 25 Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. 26 Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. 27 “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! 28 Father, bring glory to your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.”

If we will not let go and put our trust in God, we don’t have real hope.

God is the Potter and We are the Clay

Isaiah 64:8–9 NLT

8 And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. 9 Don’t be so angry with us, Lord. Please don’t remember our sins forever. Look at us, we pray, and see that we are all your people.

Just like Jesus taught, Isaiah shows us that our Hope rests in letting God be our Father.

Letting him shape and mold us

According to His will, not our own

And if we stop ourselves long enough to remember what we already know He has told us and taught us, we might discover that leaves fall off trees on purpose, and you and I encounter our own challenges as an opportunity to shine brightly.

No one notices a light shining in the noonday sun, but in the deepest darkness, everyone can see where the light is coming from.

Making Disciples at “The Table”

Larry Stoess is a disciple-maker who has taken his light into the darkness around him.

He makes disciples not from a church pulpit, but from a kitchen.

While many ministries feed people, he invites those who cannot afford food to learn to become cooks, waiting staff, and dishwashers.

Larry shows them how to follow Jesus as they serve alongside him at “The Table” in Louisville.

In fact, his disciples have gone on to establish “The Table” style restaurants in other cities in Kentucky as well.

Larry makes disciples of Jesus by passing on what Jesus has given him, a heart for those in need of food, and a hope in Christ strong enough to be willing to love them as brothers and sisters and watch them become servants of God right beside him.

How can we make sure our light of hope shines bright in the darkness? How do we keep from falling down and getting stuck?

Barrel of Monkeys

Remember the barrel of monkeys.

Barrel of monkeys is a toy with a collection of plastic monkeys whose arms can be linked together into a chain. Because they stay connected, they can climb all over the place, even hang in mid-air, in a way that one or two monkeys alone could not do. What helps them do this is the position of the arms.

Arms Crossed hugging yourself

Open to Someone taking you

Open to Taking others

Open to Anything, slipping, and falling - Not taking, just high-fiving along… How many movies have you seen people slip when trying to hold someone up by the hands?

With one arm:

Are you connecting and growing deeper in your relationship with God?

Are you struggling with sin?

Who do you see God working through that you can reach out to and ask for help?

With your other arm:

Who is within reach that you can take with you as you draw near to God?

Who is just outside your reach that you can be praying for ways to connect?

Who is struggling in your arms that needs to be lifted a little closer to God today?

Hope makes us moldable. Hope makes us vulnerable. I think Emily Dickinson is a wonderful poet, but I think she is wrong about Hope. Hope asks everything from us. Where have you turned your life and trust over to in exchange for Hope?