The Expectant Church

INTRODUCTION

For the last few months we have been journeying through the book of Acts, exploring the stories of the church in action. Some of your Bibles refer to Acts as “The Acts of the Apostles,” as in, an account of the Twelve leaders of the early church. And yet it wasn’t until the Second Century that the book had this name. Until then, it had names like the Gospel of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel of the Resurrection, or just simply, The Acts. And honestly, the more we read, the more I’m coming to appreciate just how much the activity of the church is driven, not by a few important heroes of faith or a handful of cultural influencers, but by the grace of God, the power of the Spirit, and the resurrected life that flows through the “ordinary” folks of the early church. I think it is a profound and necessary; no longer is God’s presence located in the temple, in Jerusalem, mediated by priests and gatekeepers. God is found in you and me, in Cottonwood, CA, in homes and neighborhoods and schools; God’s presence is living and active in us, and as a result, we continue the mission to make all things about Jesus. It doesn’t end with Acts 28. It continues with you.

Today, I want to make a little detour in our journey—it’s not a full departure, just a little pit stop off the beaten path. Earlier this week, Bethany and I went down to Santa Cruz to visit with about 20 or so pastors and their spouses from different churches around Northern California. Our church is one of about a thousand churches spread throughout the United States, joined together by a common relationship and missional focus, known as the Venture Church Network, or VCN. VCN has four core values that bind these churches together.

Gospel Driven: VCN Churches are committed to an expanding gospel movement through strengthening local church pastors and the churches they serve to boldly and strategically advance the gospel in their communities.

Biblically Focused: VCN Churches believe that our missional movement must be shaped by the grace and truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ—that Jesus came as the “Word made flesh” at a specific time and in a specific place. This truth applies to every place in our life, culture and world.

Disciple Making: VCN Churches join together as a movement of believers and churches that multiply and empower passionate leaders to advance a clear and biblically rooted gospel message with a tenacious contextualization. We advance in the power of the Holy Spirit, despite context, risk, or danger.

Relationally Committed: VCN Churches hold to a conviction that a healthy effective local church is essential for the gospel to flourish. While locally self-governing, the church and its leaders serve best in generous and cooperative interdependent relationships with other like-minded ministries and leaders. We believe the Biblical directive to spur one another on calls us to a “fierce cooperation” with each other in order to advance the mission of Jesus.

VCN has six different regions of relational networks in the US. Ours is called VCN Northern California/Nevada, made up of about 120 churches overall. Out of that 120, about a quarter of the pastors leading those churches spent two days together resting and praying and singing and encouraging one another. I wanted to start by thanking you all for providing the space for that opportunity. Bethany and I were actually sponsored anonymously by someone within our network. We weren’t actually planning on attending this year, but by the grace of God and the generosity of others, we were blessed to meet with and share the hills and valleys of pastoral ministry with others. Some pastors there have been in ministry for over 40 years; others were just months in. All that to say, there was a broad scope of fresh courage and tested wisdom to glean from.

We got to hear from the President of Venture Church Network, Dr. David Whitaker, who spoke to us about the absolute need to follow Jesus first and foremost above anything else. He made the point that so many of the identities we give ourselves—pastors, ministers, disciple-makers, fishers of men—all are born out of the simple yet all-encompassing command to follow Jesus first.

We also got to hear from the Regional Director of VCN Northern California, Dr. Craig Hardinger. Craig is a good friend of mine and has recently become a great mentor to me. He pastored a small church in Corning for several years before moving to Sacramento and serving Arcade Church there. His wife, Debbie, has also become a great encouragement to Bethany. Debbie actually has a connection to our church here: her uncle is Lyndell Kuns, one of the former pastors of FBC. Craig gave a short message on Tuesday night, and it was such important word to our church that I felt it necessary to take a quick pause on our journey through the book of Acts to share it with you today.

PRAY

Open your Bibles this morning to Mark 4:35-41.

Mark 4:35–41 CSB

On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

We’re going to come back to this in just a moment. Now, I need to say this right here at the outset. The ideas and truths I am sharing today are not my own; I am just a carrier pigeon today, bringing you a message from the overseer of our overseers, tied to my leg.

As a church, I’d like for us to explore today the difference between Expectation and Expectancy. Two very similar words, two very different outcomes. One will doom the church, and the other will transform it.

EXPECTATION

First, let’s start with Expectation. Expectation has become our default mode as human beings, and this has carried over into much of the life of the church.

Expectation can be defined this way: I have a particular outcome that I want to see happen. I’m hoping to see __________ take place. And so I’m going to work really hard to make that a reality, or give financially for that hope, or keep listening and learning and waiting for the leadership to accomplish the hope that I have. Because I see the ideal; I know what I want.

Expectation comes down to my view for how I see the world and what I want to get out of it. And it inevitably leads to discouragement and disappointment. Think through this just for a moment. When you started your marriage did you expect arguments, fights or divorce? When you started your job, did you expect frustration, pushback, downsizing?

When you joined a church, what did you expect? I can’t speak for you, but unfortunately, my own expectations have been well documented throughout the years. And I well tell you this, no pastor joins a church hoping for decline. No member joins a church hoping for feuds or disagreements or difficult financial decisions. And so we work, and we toil, and we fight, and we compromise, and we do everything we can not to fail, but to succeed on our terms. And sometimes it works, for a while. The church appears to thrive, people meet Jesus, ministries grow and expand. But it’s often short-lived, because expectation usually means that for my vision to succeed, it will be have to be accomplished by my own strength and capacity, out of my reserves. And that leads to exhaustion, burnout, frustrations, and lots and lots of questions, like:

What’s the point of the church?

Why are these leaders so terrible, and how come they aren’t there for me?

Why would Jesus want me to be so worn out and tired?

Is God even real, and if he is, why would he put me through all of this?

When the church is built upon and sustained by expectation, it will strain your faith in Jesus. Because even though you believe Jesus died for you, even though you believe Jesus is the Son of God, even though you believe he forgives your sin and he loves you and longs for you to be with him, somehow that is not enough when it comes to our fulfillment in our work, in our marriage and families, in our churches and ministries.

Go back to Mark 4. The disciples are taking Jesus over to the other side of the lake after a long day of ministry and teaching. He’s been sitting in the boat and teaching to everyone on the shore, and he’s wiped out and asleep. Then this huge storm rises up and fills the boat with water and threatens to sink it. So the disciples grab buckets and start bailing out the boat, but it is overwhelming and overtaking them.

So they run to Jesus, who has been asleep this whole time. And they shake Jesus awake, and then look what they say to him:

“Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”

Don’t you care? Expectation. Expectation says we know what we need. We will be safe if we don’t sink. We will be safe if the boat stays intact. We will be safe if we bail ourselves from the effects of the storm. And it leads to resentment, isolation, and self-deception. Expectation leads us ultimately to the same question the disciples in the boat asked.

Jesus, don’t you care?

EXPECTANCY

Now, Expectancy is different. Where Expectation leads to discouragement, Expectancy gives space for God to work. Expectancy is this: I believe that God will do something great, that he always works things out for his glory and for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes. So we work, we partner, and while we we work, we trust that God will do something great, and hopefully we get to see it. But even if we don’t, we still trust.

With Expectancy, you are not the agent of the outcome. God is, always. Something powerful that Craig said this week: Expectancy requires faith. Now, that may not seem very mind-blowing at first. We’re Christians! We’re supposed to have faith! But here’s the nuance. It’s more than having faith in Jesus. It’s having the faith of Jesus. And, if we are truly following after Christ, if we are truly being transformed into his likeness day by day, if we are given the mind and heart of Christ, then our faith in Jesus will lead to the faith of Jesus. By this, I mean that gradually, our conviction about the historical Jesus having died for our sins and risen again, our belief in the good news of a great savior, that brings about salvation, but then, as we grow in our intimacy with him, as we know him and are known by him, we become conformed to him image. We begin to see things the way he does. We are given his eyes to understand the bigger picture, to see the story of families, of our workplace, of the church, from the vantage point of heaven.

It’s about seeing things God’s way; it’s about turning over my will to God’s will. It’s believing that God leads my life, my job, family, my church. Regardless of the outcome, he takes the lead.

Go back to the boat. The disciples are freaking out they wake up Jesus and they say, hey, don’t you care that we are going to die? Grab a bucket and help us bail this thing out! Jesus stands up in the boat and tells the wind and waves to knock if off, and everything goes still and quiets down. Jesus doesn’t take leadership over the boat, he takes leadership over the entire chaotic event. Then he turns to the disciples, and listen to what he says:

“Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Why are you afraid? Expectancy. Expectancy says God knows what we need. We will be safe whether we sink or whether we float. The disciples have exhausted their reserves. Their buckets are full, but the wind and the waves are not relenting. So Jesus stands up and with an authority inherent to him since the dawn of Creation, silences chaotic waters with a word from his mouth. Trusting in the will of God does not mean that we have to carry out God’s will for him using our own reserves. It means God carries out his own will by his own infinite power, and because he is God, we know we can satisfied by the outcome.

But what happens if we sink? What happens if I lose my job or my family situation doesn’t get much easier? What happens if the church continues to shrink and struggle? Church, I’m in a weird place, and from my conversations this week from other pastors in our region, I’m not alone. Our community today is a third of what we had when I joined it. Our budget is right around the same. From an expectation point of view, this is not what I had in mind. Yet, we are seeking spiritual health. We are multiplying ministers. We are making disciples. And we are unifying the mission. And I no longer struggle with the same sense of anxiety and fear that I once had. Because I ran out of room in my bucket a long time ago. Periodically I pick it up again and start bailing out of habit, or maybe out of pride. But I have to remember that, if he decides that’s what is best for us, God can calm the storm with a word.

So as a church, we commit to a few things. We commit to making disciples, followers of Jesus who multiply. We commit to searching and knowing God’s word so that we might be changed by it, so that our chaotic hearts may be stilled. We commit to raising families that love and learn as one. We commit to generous lives that overflow to the needs of our neighbors. But most of all, we commit to Jesus. That’s our marker for “success”: The degree to which we live our lives by expectancy over expectation. If Jesus wants to close the doors of the church tomorrow? That’s his plan, and we can trust that it will work out for good. If Jesus wants to blow them wide open and fill our community with transformed souls? That won’t be because we are so good at bailing out the boat. It will be because Jesus lovingly yet firmly comes to us and says, Why are you afraid?

I was reading Jesus’ questions this morning, and in my head I turned them around a little bit. As questions, they put us on the spot and force us to come face to face with our lack. But underneath all of that, there is this encouragement that Jesus gives with Expectancy:

Do not be afraid.

Trust me.

As we close, Pastor Craig gave three tasks to the pastors in that room, and I would like us to consider taking them to heart today. I believe they are vital to the future life of this church:

Serve with a sense of expectancy. Do not try to build God’s church. Just be the church that God is building.

Protest isolation. Expectation, because of how much it burns you out, often leads to withdrawal and isolation as a way of self-protection. Resist that. Live your life in community. Be challenged by other voices who love you. Follow leaders well, learn to be generous again. Seek a reserve that is infinitely deeper than your own.

Be alert to your self-deception. The temptation with expectation is to play out the movie in your mind of how things are supposed to be that you become a victim and everyone else becomes the villain. Be wary of believing that you are always right, and be wary of being formed by any voice that is not God’s. It has been my experience that trusting my own voice only adds to the chaos of my own heart. Only Jesus has the authority to still the storm within you.

As a church, expectation, isolation, and self-deception will destroy us from the inside out. But if we have the eyes to see it, we will continue to experience real joy, peace, and hope, because it will not be found in us, but in him.

PRAY