Don't Miss the Extraordinary

Easter Announcement

Next weekend is a big weekend for us here at Lighthouse, and we all know why. It’s Easter Sunday. This is important for the church, and I hope that it is also important to you. There are three things that I want to ask you to do as we get ready for Easer next weekend:

Pray - would you pray for me as I prepare a message, would you pray for our church as our Dream Team gets ready, and would you pray that next weekend would be a weekend that many people encounter and surrender their lives to Jesus?

Invite - Would you invite someone who is either unchurched or far from God? And when you invite them, don’t just throw out a service time, but would you invite them and let them know what service time you’ll be coming so you can sit together? That has a far better return than just giving them dates and times. Let them know you’d like to sit with them.

Participate - Here’s what you need to know. Many of you are going to make an impact on people who are coming. It’s not going to just be about the sermon, but they’re going to see a team of people who genuinely love God, and love them. You can make a difference by being a part of our team that day and participating. But in addition, participate in the singing, and in the sermon. All of us together are going to make a difference in the life of someone next weekend.

Reading

Matthew 21:1–11 NIV

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Introduction

Do any of you remember watching the Minnesota Miracle?

Here’s the short version… the Louisiana Saints were the heavy favorites to win the Super Bowl that year, and in their playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, they were all but done disposing of them. There was 10 seconds left on the clock, they were winning 24-23, and the Vikings had the ball, but they had 61 yards in front of them to try and magically make something happen.

It was at that point in watching the game that I decided to turn off the TV downstairs and walk upstairs to my bedroom.

During that time, all I missed was 22 yards pass, and a 39 yard run by the receiver to miraculously win the game!

Later that night when I turned on Sports Center in my bedroom you could imagine my disbelief as I’m watching that they won the game!

I had missed one of the most unpredictable finishes in sport history becuase I didn’t have time to wait for 10 seconds.

Have you ever missed out on something happening by just a few seconds? Have you ever left just a bit to early to catch something pretty awesome?

Transition

That’s what I see here in our text, and what I want to talk to you about today.

God is ALWAYS doing the extraordinary

We’ve been in this series that we’ve called The Long Shots, where we have looked at how God used ordinary people to do extraordinary things. While this play on words hopefully drew you in, I want to ask you the question, “does God ever do anything ordinary?”

I start to think that anything ordinary ceases to be ordinary when God touches it. When God touches it, it becomes extraordinary.

So if that’s the case, God is doing extraordinary things all the time. Maybe, becuase he is always doing the extra ordinary we have normalized it.

So how do we make sure that we don’t miss the extra ordinary?

How do we make sure that when God is at work, we are at attention? What. Am we do to make sure we don’t miss the moment?

There’s a few things that I think lead to missing the extra ordinary.

False Expectations

So here’s the first thing that I want you to write down.

How do we miss the extraordinary? False Expectations.

False expectations are usually at the root of our happiness. I’ve heard it said that expectations create happiness. If you had high expectations that were unrealistic, then it’s very likely that you are going to be disappointed with just about anything. If you have low expectations, then whatever happens will probably make you happy, because your expectations weren’t high.

My kids are Spiderman fans and MJ has this line in the newest movie, “If you expect disappointment , then you can never really be disappointed.”

Now, I’m not trying to convince you to set your expectations low, but I want to ask you, what is setting your expectations?

For most people it’s culture. It’s what is “in” today. It’s what is going viral. It’s what is trending. It’s what our news is feeding to us.

Our expectations are the results of what we are hearing and what we are seeing.

So when we allow culture to set our expectations, we will have expectations that are completely misaligned with His expectations.

God is faithful to His word, not your expectations.

Let’s apply that to the text. Jesus comes into town riding on the back of a donkey and we have one group that is here for it. They are throwing down their garments. Others are cutting the palm branches and throwing those onto the ground. It got loud! The bible records that they rejoiced and cried, “Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

But then the Bible also records that there was another group that was mad. They were mad, mad. As a matter of fact, this becomes a tipping point for them and they’re done with Jesus and they’re about to start their plans to arrest and kill him.

Why were the responses so different?

Both groups were waiting for a Messiah, and yet the Pharisees had expectations that when the Messiah would come he wouldn’t be riding on the back of a donkey.

He wouldn’t disciple a group of fishermen.

He wouldn’t be a friend of sinners.

He would come and validate their religiousness and not rebuke them and ask them to repent.

And we kind of do the same...

We expect God to answer our prayers, even when they aren’t good for us or even aligned with his plans for us.

We don’t really want God, we want a genie in the sky, and if he doesn’t do that we decide that we don’t want him.

Really, you make your expectations your god.

For the Pharisees, they didn’t worship God, they worshipped their righteousness.

Jesus had a problem with it then, and he has a problem with it now.

So Jesus comes on Palm Sunday on the back of a donkey and some people saw the extraordinary! Sadly, the ones who didn’t were very, very influential. And this set off the last week of Jesus which ended in his death.

Misinformation

So if God is faithful to his word, and we are not consuming his word, then we are sadly consuming bad information.

How do we miss the extraordinary? Misinformation

One of the reasons the church has been hit with some very hard times in 2020 and beyond is because the amount of biblical illiteracy was exposed. The church has gotten good and having church, but we haven’t done a good enough job of teaching people how to really engage with their bibles. We lean in to what celebrities or influencers say about the bible more than we do actually read the bible.

I got this sponsored ad in my story where a preacher was blasting what he calls the “woke church”. He went on to say that the “woke church” gets one verse on justice, and then uses it to justify their involvement in social justice issues. He actually quoted the verse under the pretense that there is only one verse that deals with justice.

I think a lot of people would watch that story and without having engaged with their word, they would believe him because the video was very well produced from the point of capture to the point of publish, and because the speaker is passionate and he has a lot of followers.

I dismissed it very quickly becuase the Old Testament speaks more about justice than just that one verse.

There are 28 mentions of the word “justice”, and 94 mentions of the word “just”. So if the bible speaks 122 times about justice and being just, I think we need to listen. And, while I don’t agree with that language, “woke church,” I certainly don’t agree with preachers saying, “it’s just one verse.”

But do you see how misinformation can quickly disguise itself?

So what is the antidote to misinformation?

The solution to misinformation is truth.

Notice I didn’t say information. You don’t need more information, you just need the truth.

Do you want to know what your bible is full of? Truth.

You can either live off of the influence of others or you can live off of the truth of God’s word.

So back to the triumphal entry, while one group is rejoicing, there is another group just in their feelings. They are in a mood! And the group that is in a mood is a group of religious experts. They are scholars of the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets. And yet, they missed this...

Zechariah 9:9 NIV

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Somehow these religious experts had the truth in front of them, and here comes an extraordinary moment, and they miss it! They miss it because they wanted their King to come riding in on a Stallion, or a chariot. But the truth said he’s going to come in lowly and riding on a donkey.

How many times do we miss God doing something truly extraordinary in our lives because it shows up dressed as “work”?

How many times do we miss God’s way of developing us because it shows up in a way that is outside of our comfort zone?

I want to see this church grow in their knowledge of God’s word. That’s why we have Connect Groups. We don’t just gather becuase we need friends, but we gather because we are collectively searching the truth for wisdom for our life, for our marriage, and for our children.

This is why we have the Leadership College. I know how important it is for people to be equipped in the word of God and prepared for ministry and leadership.

Some of you want to be used by God, and you keep missing your chance because because God shows up in the form of the Dream Team.

I think one of the greatest rewards for the Christian is to be involved in a life being changed.

It’s not the big platform, it’s not the big stage, it’s not more followers… but it is in the extraordinary moment of walking with someone long enough and deep enough to see them transformed by the grace of God.

And that is what truth does. The world, and the culture offer a counterfeit, and here’s Jesus, full of grace and truth.

A Broken Value System

And that’s my segue into my last point.

How do we miss the extraordinary? A broken value system.

I asked this question the other day on a story. I was just curious about what type pf responses I would receive.

Is fulfillment on the other side of experiencing more or doing more?

The operative word is “more”. There is a value we have placed on more. We want more experiences, more things done, more businesses started, more side hustles, work more hours, etc. We live at a frenzied pace that does not allow us to slow down and value what we have in front of us. Right here, and right now.

This moment will never come back to us. Don’t look over it, and to the next moment.

People will look at life in two ways, and I think this first way is where western culture is: You Only Live Once! So cram it all in, full gas, leave nothing in the tank!

I think the life Jesus invites us into is this, You Will Only Live Once, and because life is a gift that we have been given, let’s steward it well, and grab meaning, significance and learn to find value in the every day moments that Jesus gives us.

Church, I’m still wrestling this one to the ground. But, our moments are gifts from God that we should embrace.

Making breakfast for your children, is a moment. Making dinner for your family, is a moment. Taking a walk, going out to dinner, sporting events, family events, whatever it is… it’s a moment. And you overlook this moment in pursuit of the big moments. The big memories. The expensive memories. You might miss the things that matter most.

Jesus was always busy, but he was never in a hurry.

Our hurriedness is an enemy of our soul. It robs us of moments. Moments, where we find the extraordinary.

Conclusion

As I come to a close, I want to give you some more reflection. Every Sunday I get up here and I start my sermons with a story. Why? Because I want to draw you in. If I can get you to laugh, I can get you to listen.

My wife and my parents have noticed that 90% of my stories involve them. And I think to my parents surprise, I remember the events that they didn’t think were very significant. But they are significant to me.

What if in all of the effort we’ve leveraged to create these awesome and amazing memories for our kids, we overlook the ones that they will remember most?

And I think in our walk with God this is the same. What if in our desire to see the big and the bold we miss the extraordinary hand of God in the small ordinary task. You see, if God is in the ordinary, it’s no longer ordinary; it is now extraordinary.