1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,233 Christ is risen. Our text is from Luke chapter 24 verse 41 and also at the end 2 00:00:11,233 --> 00:00:16,400 of the chapter where Luke writes, and while they still disbelieve for joy and 3 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:21,466 were marveling, he said to them, do you have anything to eat? And they worshiped 4 00:00:21,466 --> 00:00:25,566 him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple 5 00:00:25,566 --> 00:00:31,566 blessing God. So I want to dive right into the text here at the beginning and 6 00:00:31,566 --> 00:00:38,333 ask you this, how do you disbelieve something or someone because of joy? 7 00:00:38,333 --> 00:00:42,966 Because you're happy. You know I've always been confused by this verse in 8 00:00:42,966 --> 00:00:48,533 Luke's Gospel, then again maybe I'm just dense, I don't know. The ESV translates as 9 00:00:48,533 --> 00:00:53,366 and while they still disbelieve for joy and were marveling, he said to them, do 10 00:00:53,366 --> 00:00:58,333 you have anything to eat? And I suppose that works but I'm still not sure what 11 00:00:58,333 --> 00:01:05,266 it means. Why would Jesus cause, why would joy cause them to disbelieve? And the 12 00:01:05,266 --> 00:01:10,633 most obvious explanation for the meaning of this verse is that they were happy, so 13 00:01:10,633 --> 00:01:14,000 happy to know that Jesus was not dead that they couldn't believe it was 14 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:20,333 actually true, that Jesus had actually risen from the dead. I mean have you ever 15 00:01:20,333 --> 00:01:24,366 had such good news that you find it hard to believe that it actually could be 16 00:01:24,366 --> 00:01:31,200 true? I think disbelieving is a natural tendency of ours though especially for 17 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:36,866 Lutherans. You know my wife says that I'm a Dark Lutheran. For those of you who 18 00:01:36,866 --> 00:01:40,433 don't know what the Dark Lutheran is, a Dark Lutheran is someone who believes 19 00:01:40,433 --> 00:01:46,833 that the worst is always gonna happen. Yeah and by the way that belief is rarely 20 00:01:46,833 --> 00:01:51,600 disappointed you know so being a Dark Lutheran is a pretty safe bet actually. 21 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:57,000 You know when I travel for instance if I've checked my luggage I assume the 22 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:02,933 airline is going to lose my luggage and my assumptions are usually correct and 23 00:02:02,933 --> 00:02:07,633 actually based on experience. I used to have this ritual you know that I would 24 00:02:07,633 --> 00:02:12,933 go through once my plane landed. I would go to the carousel and I'd offer the 25 00:02:12,933 --> 00:02:21,933 baggage carousel prayer as I call it which for me was Kyrie Eleison and I'd 26 00:02:21,933 --> 00:02:26,600 repeat it three times actually you know and then after every last bag from the 27 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,766 flight was on the conveyor belt I would still hope that maybe one more bag would 28 00:02:30,766 --> 00:02:35,966 be disgorged from the bowels of this airport luggage handlers only to end up 29 00:02:35,966 --> 00:02:39,366 heading over to the baggage claim people and filing a claim for my lost luggage 30 00:02:39,366 --> 00:02:44,200 and the last time I performed that ritual I was in Cairo and yeah I did get 31 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:48,866 my luggage back the day that I left to return to the States but on more recent 32 00:02:48,866 --> 00:02:52,933 trips I've tried to avoid the ritual by not checking luggage at all but 33 00:02:52,933 --> 00:02:57,733 sometimes you just have to. Anyway I don't think I'm alone in this pessimism 34 00:02:57,733 --> 00:03:03,033 I've always thought that original sin is one of the most observable doctrines we 35 00:03:03,033 --> 00:03:08,933 have. We see it crop up everywhere it's if something can go wrong it will go 36 00:03:08,933 --> 00:03:14,033 wrong. Original sin is like the law of gravity it always tries to pull us down 37 00:03:14,033 --> 00:03:20,133 always getting us to lower our expectations we expect the worst in 38 00:03:20,133 --> 00:03:23,733 others we expect things to go wrong and our expectations yeah they're usually 39 00:03:23,733 --> 00:03:29,233 met. Now the bright side and all this I suppose is that when things do go well 40 00:03:29,233 --> 00:03:32,433 it only makes things that much better because our expectations have been 41 00:03:32,433 --> 00:03:37,566 exceeded and I'm thinking this is where the disciples are when Jesus appears to 42 00:03:37,566 --> 00:03:42,666 them they had already seen him at least twice but I think that they had a hard 43 00:03:42,666 --> 00:03:48,200 time getting past those scenes of the beatings the mockery the denials and 44 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:52,233 then the actual crucifixion I mean seeing someone go through that along 45 00:03:52,233 --> 00:03:56,866 with taking the body down wrapping it up in linens and then sealing it in the 46 00:03:56,866 --> 00:04:04,633 tomb how can anybody come back from that and sure enough when Jesus appears among 47 00:04:04,633 --> 00:04:07,866 them He still has to chide them for their troubled minds and doubts that 48 00:04:07,866 --> 00:04:12,866 they're still swirling around in their hearts. The resurrection appears 49 00:04:12,866 --> 00:04:17,366 initially the appearances are not met with faith you know they're met with 50 00:04:17,366 --> 00:04:21,866 doubt these appearances the disciples are plagued with doubt their minds are 51 00:04:21,866 --> 00:04:26,033 literally dialoguing back and forth debating whether this could actually be 52 00:04:26,033 --> 00:04:32,433 true that Jesus actually did rise from the dead and is standing there body and 53 00:04:32,433 --> 00:04:37,633 flesh in front of them after all that happened. I mean it is too good to be 54 00:04:37,633 --> 00:04:41,866 true plus this is not the kind of thing that happens every day and mind you this 55 00:04:41,866 --> 00:04:48,166 is after they've already seen him twice as I said. Unbelief, disbelief is part and 56 00:04:48,166 --> 00:04:53,766 parcel of our fallen condition the gravity of sin lowers our expectations 57 00:04:53,766 --> 00:04:58,133 of our fellow human beings of this fallen world and even of our 58 00:04:58,133 --> 00:05:03,566 expectations about God even though we know that every good and perfect gift 59 00:05:03,566 --> 00:05:08,466 comes from above we lower our expectations of what God is going to do. 60 00:05:08,466 --> 00:05:14,266 You know Call Day is only a little over what is it three weeks and 15 minutes and 14 61 00:05:14,266 --> 00:05:19,233 seconds whatever way you know. I'm sure many of you are wondering what is going 62 00:05:19,233 --> 00:05:24,333 to happen as the reality of that day keeps getting closer and closer. I have 63 00:05:24,333 --> 00:05:29,866 to tell you I can't say I know how you feel. My Call Day here took place in the 64 00:05:29,866 --> 00:05:36,333 late fall of 1991 back in the Stone Age and I only had one interview there was 65 00:05:36,333 --> 00:05:40,400 only one call available at the time as a mission developer something I had 66 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:47,833 totally not prepared for I didn't take a single class in it. And guess what it 67 00:05:47,833 --> 00:05:52,233 worked out just fine because I knew the Holy Spirit was in charge and that I had 68 00:05:52,233 --> 00:05:58,666 been called to this work by none other than the chief Shepherd of the flock. But 69 00:05:58,666 --> 00:06:04,733 we still worry we still wonder and how is everything gonna turn out okay? Well 70 00:06:04,733 --> 00:06:09,033 Jesus himself talked about those expectations in his great discourse in 71 00:06:09,033 --> 00:06:14,766 John 16 he told his disciples that they would have trouble in this world he told 72 00:06:14,766 --> 00:06:18,433 them to look at how he would be treated as a foretaste of how they would be 73 00:06:18,433 --> 00:06:23,600 treated and he wasn't wrong. The disciples first calls started out with a 74 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:29,633 major evangelism event and only he had later ended up with them in jail. Not an 75 00:06:29,633 --> 00:06:33,600 auspicious start to their ministries but God worked through even those events for 76 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:38,533 the good of his church and the spread of the gospel. But here in our text the 77 00:06:38,533 --> 00:06:44,200 disciples are still disbelieving but this time as I said it's because of joy 78 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:51,633 and bewilderment. And how does Jesus meet their joy their bewilderment? He asks if 79 00:06:51,633 --> 00:06:56,600 they have anything to eat. Now that's about the most mundane thing he could do. 80 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,266 You know I can see your lives have been turned upside down I can see you're 81 00:07:00,266 --> 00:07:07,033 still having trouble believing all this so how about some food? Well of course 82 00:07:07,033 --> 00:07:11,066 that food further proved he was still the same human being they met before he 83 00:07:11,066 --> 00:07:16,466 had flesh and blood that they had seen and touched. But the part about him just 84 00:07:16,466 --> 00:07:19,333 appearing in the midst even with the doors locked I mean that had to be 85 00:07:19,333 --> 00:07:25,866 difficult to reconcile so he explains it to them. Actually the text says he opened 86 00:07:25,866 --> 00:07:32,533 their minds which implies that their minds were previously closed. Closed to 87 00:07:32,533 --> 00:07:37,266 the possibilities that they were witnessing. He opens their minds to the 88 00:07:37,266 --> 00:07:42,000 fact that the Old Testament Scriptures themselves prophesied that these things 89 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:46,566 would take place. He would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead the 90 00:07:46,566 --> 00:07:51,966 exact words that would later be included in the Nicene Creed. And they actually 91 00:07:51,966 --> 00:07:56,266 you know got to see all this. They were witnesses of it even if at the time they 92 00:07:56,266 --> 00:08:00,000 didn't understand the meaning of what they were seeing but they would 93 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,533 understand. And I'll give the disciples credit even though they did not 94 00:08:04,533 --> 00:08:08,566 understand what was happening at the time they still knew that it was 95 00:08:08,566 --> 00:08:13,833 something significant something worth remembering. And as we turn to the end of 96 00:08:13,833 --> 00:08:19,333 the text we see their unbelief and amazement turn into worship. I mean 97 00:08:19,333 --> 00:08:25,166 that's only natural since you only worship someone you believe is God. So 98 00:08:25,166 --> 00:08:29,133 after Jesus opened their minds they not only understood but they also believed 99 00:08:29,133 --> 00:08:34,866 and they also worshiped Him. Where before they disbelieved for joy they now worship 100 00:08:34,866 --> 00:08:39,233 him and returned to Jerusalem it says with an even greater joy spending all 101 00:08:39,233 --> 00:08:45,766 their time in the temple blessing God. So what does all this mean for you today? 102 00:08:45,766 --> 00:08:51,266 Well let me leave you with this thought. I think some things are actually too 103 00:08:51,266 --> 00:08:55,633 good to be true don't be fooled. My Dark Lutheran tendencies have been right 104 00:08:55,633 --> 00:09:00,633 more than wrong. But then there are those other things those things where God is 105 00:09:00,633 --> 00:09:04,433 doing something amazing something wonderful where God is truly calling you 106 00:09:04,433 --> 00:09:09,533 to trust him to believe him and to hope in Him despite all evidence to the 107 00:09:09,533 --> 00:09:15,233 contrary. You have these promises of God that I'd like to leave you with today. 108 00:09:15,233 --> 00:09:21,000 First of all from Hebrews never will I leave you never will I forsake you. Call 109 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,566 upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you will honor me David 110 00:09:24,566 --> 00:09:29,433 says. I lift up mine eyes and the hills from whence cometh my help my help 111 00:09:29,433 --> 00:09:36,566 cometh from the Lord the maker of heaven and earth. And finally Romans 13 Romans 8 112 00:09:36,566 --> 00:09:41,366 sorry it is says God if God is for us who can be against us he who did not spare 113 00:09:41,366 --> 00:09:46,000 His own Son but gave Him up freely for us all how will He not also with Him 114 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:52,366 freely give us all things. To Him be all honor and worship with the Son and the 115 00:09:52,366 --> 00:09:59,233 Holy Spirit want God forever and ever amen. And the peace of God which passes 116 00:09:59,233 --> 00:10:02,866 all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus 117 00:10:02,866 --> 00:10:24,933 unto life everlasting. Amen.