“Encountering the risen Jesus in the midst of our disappointments”
Sermon Title: Encountering the risen Jesus in the midst of our disappointments
Scripture: Luke 24:13-35
The Message
All of us will face and experience disappointment at some point in our lives. Whether it is with our family situation, our health, in relationships, in career, or any other area - we face disappointment when the expectations of our reality do not match up to our vision for our future. In particular, we may be greatly disappointed when we face failed dreams or failed visions. In today’s passage, we see an instance of when the disciples faced immense disappointment as the one (Jesus) they had great hope and trust in, had just died. Similarly, we look at what we can do when God disappoints us or when the vision we have for our life does not come to pass.
As the disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus, they encountered Jesus, though they did not recognize Him. Similar to how disappointment may obstruct us from drawing near to and recognizing Christ, we may also not realize the dissonance in how we fail to acknowledge Christ in our heart in relation to the head knowledge we may possess.
Why could the disciples not recognize Jesus?
The disciples may have had a certain expectation of how Jesus would look like when He was resurrected, but Jesus didn’t come in a way that the disciples were anticipating. We may fail to see and experience His power when it doesn’t fit our hope or expectation of how God works.
Similar to the disciples, we may not expect Jesus to show up if our reality doesn’t align with the possibility of an encounter with Him. Jesus just died - how is it possible that He would be walking around? Yet, as we see in the passage, He was present and alive!
We ought to remember the central narrative in the Scriptures that Jesus continuously comes back to: “Glory comes out of disappointment and suffering” and “Resurrection comes not in the absence of disappointment, resurrection comes through it!”.
We should not limit how God can show up. Instead, in our openness to experience Him in a new way, in repentance, trust, and hope - our faith in Him will grow and we can visibly see the resurrection power available to us.
We are assured that disappointment will surely come before the experiential witnessing of God’s power as we live in this fallen and broken world.
Part I Questions:
For this week, how can you be specific in asking God to reveal to you His purposes in your times of disappointment? How will you position yourself to encounter God?
Part II Questions:
How much do you trust God to be sovereign and in-control of your daily life? When is this belief challenged the most?
How did God work in a way that was unexpected and unrecognizable in the moment? When and how did you realize God’s grace? How did this encounter change your life?
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