Easter Sunday, Dial 1-800-Easter 4 U

Pull out the little teaching insert that says Easter Wake-Up Calls on it, right? And there's scriptures referenced there that I'll be pointing you to in the coming moments here today. You know, speaking of our children and the family series and so on, I guess my favorite story of all time about Easter and kids has to do with when the children's pastor, like our pastor Jeff Small, was on Easter Sunday morning going around and visiting the classes throughout the church. And he showed up with a five-year-old there. And, you know, it was just kind of a moment. The kids were excited to see the teacher and to be able to say, look, here comes Pastor Jeff, and they were all excited about that. And he said, well, kids, let's interact a little bit. Let's talk about what Easter is all about. And he said, who can tell me what Easter is really all about? Why do we celebrate Easter? And one little five-year-old girl just dressed beautifully, little dress and little hat and everything was beautiful. She said, I know, I know. Easter is about Jesus' birthday, and we carve pumpkins to celebrate. You know, the teacher kind of winced a little bit and said, oh, man, what do they think I'm doing back here? Well, the children's pastor said, well, how about another person? The little boy put up his hand and said, I know. Easter is the day that God sent George Washington and we sent off firecrackers. This time now the children's pastor is like, hmm, we've got real problems here. And everyone was a little bit relieved when one little boy said, I know, and put up his hand and he said, Easter is the day that Jesus rose from the grave. And then they were all in shock as he continued, and if he sees a shadow, he goes back in. The reason I selected this passage today, Luke chapter 24, is because I love how real it seems, don't you? I love how these two men are just living life. They're walking along facing the most incredible questions that one could imagine. This was a seven-mile walk from Jerusalem, where Jesus had been crucified, to Emmaus, a little-known village. They're not really even sure where it was in reference to Jerusalem. These two men, one named Cleopas, and the other a person who is not even identified in Scripture. And by the way, I had to chuckle when I read that. How many think that would be your life, you know? Your great moment in biblical fame, and they don't get your name in there. But, let's name this guy. What's a good name for him? Give him a good American name. Barney. So, Cleopas and Barney are walking along the road, and they're discussing, the Bible says, all the events of the previous week, and then suddenly, from nowhere, we don't know where, Jesus Christ comes up and walks alongside of them. Verse 17 says that they were downcast, and as he came, they were kept from recognizing him. I don't know what that means. I don't know if that means that Jesus took a different form, you know, I don't think that was it, or it may have been they were just so preoccupied with their thoughts, they just didn't see him, didn't know who he was. But, it's intriguing to me, that on the day that Jesus was raised from the dead, the very day, what would you have done, the day you came back from being in the grave? I know what I would have done. I would have called, you know, a news conference. I would have gone to Mount Washington. I would have gone out in one of those little parapets over there, and I'd have had CNN and CBS, and I'd have had cameras, and I'd have said, you know, I'm back. I'd have gone to the Pharisees and to Pilate. I would have said, I'm back, and I'm your worst nightmare. Okay, here I am. What are you going to do about it? But, seriously, Jesus chooses to come alongside of two ordinary people. Catch this now. Ordinary men. Cleopas and Barney. People like you and me. And then he begins to ask them questions. What are you talking about? Haven't you heard the news of Jerusalem? And then he goes on and says to them, what things was that? And, folks, how many of you know this? When the Son of God asks you a question, it's not because he doesn't know the answer. Right? I mean, if God asks you how you're doing, he already knows. So what was he trying to do here? He was allowing these men to speak their deep, authentic feelings and beliefs about what had transpired. And might I say to you today here in this service, my greatest prayer is that you would just touch your own personal, deep feelings about all this. That you'd be honest and authentic with God. That if Christ were to sit down in your chair next to you and ask you what things, you'd be honest enough to relate to him what you're dealing with. What he says to them is what he says to us. He tries to communicate. He wants them to know what he's all about. And there's three very clear ways that the Lord communicates what I want to call this Easter morning, wake-up calls. Things that come in and invade our everyday lives, in the middle of our roles and responsibilities and routines. The Lord shows up and says things to us on Easter Sunday morning. And folks, we would do very well to take the receiver of our heart and tune it into the frequency upon which God is transmitting today. Because listen, wake-up calls don't come every morning. In fact, I'll just go on record in telling you that if you're getting a wake-up call from God, cherish it because it may not come again. And I want to describe these three calls. And by the way, these are things that God might be saying to those of you who are here today who are not Christians, not convinced about God and all of this, as well as to those of you who have been Christians a long time, who are part of the family of God. A wake-up call, a sort of an unexpected message from the Lord. And I hope it doesn't get lost on you that God pursues those of us who are not even interested in Him. Those of us who have been kind of distant, those of us who have been sort of even disobeying God. Maybe you're here today under duress because someone in your family said, you've got to go to church with me today. Listen, God loves us enough that He pursues us, if we will but slow down enough and listen. And how many of you know we live lives that are very fast-paced? Three days ago I had a call from my son Jonathan to pick him up at Pine Ridge High School. It was early in the afternoon. It was a full day. I was getting ready for the weekend. Oh man, it was bad timing, but I said, John, I've got to go get him. So I hopped in the car. I had my dictaphone in one hand because I was doing some letters and stuff and picked up the cellular phone on the other hand. And I've said that on the car. I said, this isn't going to work. Put the cellular phone down. So I'm taking the dictaphone and I shoot over here, zigzag over to English Road and notice out of the corner of my eye that there's a sign or two that says, construction ahead, delays likely. I always love those. Delays likely. And I turn that real sharp corner over there and I look ahead and I see the construction lady out there with her little pole that says slow on one side and stop on the other. And I see this line of cars kind of off the side of the road and maybe just a little bit in the right lane. Basically little construction kind of vehicles and bands and stuff. And I just go zipping down the left lane because I need to get over there. And so I drive right up to this construction lady. And I look at her like, would you please turn your sign from stop to slow so I can get going. And I'm holding my dictaphone, looking like Mr. Executive. And she stares at me. Then stares turn to glares. She peered from that hard hat. And then she kind of rolled her head back and said, look behind you. And in my mirror I realized that what I thought was a line of construction vehicles and bands and cars of the workers that were parked all had people and drivers in them. And they were all gesturing to me, if you know what I mean. And I'm here with this, and I, you know, that's why you'll never see my car with a bumper sticker on the back that said, you know, God is my co-pilot or something. Or, you know, follow me to North Way Christian Community. I'm there and, you know, this lady's loving it now because she has me, see. All these people are like, you know, and then so she lets the other line of cars come at me. So I'm in the left lane, cars coming, and there's nowhere to go. And I just kind of finally back off to the side. And see, all this happened because I was too preoccupied, too busy just to see all the signs. I missed the flags. I missed the delays likely. I missed the people lined up. I thought they were... And folks, much of life can go by us just like that. Let me just share these three ways that God gives us wake-up calls. Number one, if you're taking notes in that outline, the first way is through crises and confusion. These two men walking on the road to Emmaus were in a crisis of faith. Maybe you're in a crisis of faith today. You don't really know what you believe. And the Bible says, as Susie read, they were confused about these events. Look at verse 21. It says, We had hoped, we had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel. Is it possible today that those words capture your feelings? How many of you are here today, and you had hoped, you had hoped that you'd get the promotion and it didn't come? You had hoped that the doctor's report would have been better. You had hoped that it would have been a way to restructure the loan and not go bankrupt. You had hoped for reconciliation and not the court papers. You had hoped that your son or daughter would call for Easter. You had hoped. And you see, our lives on occasion confront trials and struggles and hardships and pain. And they shake us up and they turn us upside down. And all along, God wants to use those things to open our eyes to His presence, to His purpose, right alongside of us in the midst of what we're going through. He's not the author of these things, but He does use them. C.S. Lewis, the great British author, says this, God whispers to us in our pleasures. Isn't that true? He speaks to our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It is His megaphone to rouse a sleeping world. And I've seen it over and over again. When someone encounters the loss, a trial, a deep disappointment of some kind, we're opened up a little bit. Our pride dissolves a little bit. We become aware of our limitations. Our feelings of invincibility evaporate. And we are willing to be just a little more vulnerable and open. And in the stillness of our quiet contemplation, usually in our beds late at night, we have the courage to listen to God and hear Him say something like, Hey, I'm here for you, and I care about you, and I ache for your loss, and I can help. You know, if you're not a believer, and something like this happened, God is simply reminding you of what you've known all along but sought to deny, and that is that you need Him, that you cannot handle everything in life without Him. But oh, as the Scripture said, how thick-headed we can be. You know, in 20 years of ministry, I've come to this conclusion. Once a person puts God far off in their life, once they have pretty much steeled themselves from the ordinary ways of approaching God, they will not yield to Him. They will not come to faith. Until they get the stuffings knocked out of them, they get beaten over the head by something that life delivers from an unexpected source. Tim Johnson is a friend of mine in this congregation. He played football for the Pittsburgh Steelers for several years, now with the Washington Redskins. And he leads studies with the athletes that he's, he did that here in Pittsburgh, he does in Washington, other football players. And he said to me, you know, one thing I've noticed over the years, he says, when a guy's on the top of his game, I mean, when the accolades are coming and the big contracts are coming in, he usually doesn't have time for things like Bible studies. But let him suffer a career-threatening injury. Let him blow out a knee. Let his game go down for a year or two and he gets put on waivers or has some kind of contract cut. And all of a sudden, that invincibility evaporates and they show up because they realize that they don't control everything. And I've seen it in business people all the time. You know, when opportunities are flowing in and the clients are calling and the deals are being made, the franchises are going out and the sales are skyrocketing, everything's great, no time for God, but then something happens. Then a major competitor comes in and steals their number one client. Then somebody comes along and the financing that you thought was a short thing falls through and you're left holding this enormous debt. Suddenly, now they're not flying so high anymore and the only sound that you hear is the thud of their bird of prosperity hitting the ground. At that moment, that moment, God seems to say, hello, I love you. I love you even if you don't make it big. I'm here for you. I wonder if there's some people here today who've suffered a loss, a loss of mobility, a loss of health, a loss of a loved one through illness or aging or rebellion or maybe even divorce or even death. Maybe something's rocked you to the foundations of your neatly planned little life and you don't know what to do with it. And folks, may I say, it will happen sooner or later to all of us. That thing that says to you, this could never happen to me and it happens to you, right then, shh, listen. It's right then that you'll hear God's wake up call. I'm here. I love you. I have a plan for your life. When will you trust me? Anyone here today just tired of pretending that you don't need God? Can I give you permission today, even if you're at the top, to go to God and say, I do need you? And may I say just quickly to the believers that might be here, I know firsthand how perplexing it is for those of us who are Christians who think somehow God should shield us from those kinds of things, shouldn't he? He should protect us from those accidents and those trials and those painful heartbreaks. But what if they happen anyhow? Oh sure, for some of us, we know we've been on a flat, some of you have been on a plateau for years and you know that what's happened in your life is directly from God to shake you up and get you on. But you know what, there's also some of you who've been very faithful. You've been like Cleopas and Barney. You've been walking through and just doing the right things and something still has struck your life that you never dreamed would happen. What is God doing in the middle of all that? Well, I want to submit to you he is taking you where blessing and prosperity can never take you. He's taking you deeper into the heart of God. When I talk to Christians whose faith has really taken off, it almost always began with a setback, with a disappointment, with a pain, with a loss, with a sin that stumbled, caused them to fall. And over the past couple of years, I've suffered a couple of really difficult personal trials, one relational and one physical. You know, people walk into this building and they say, oh man, and they see our ministry thriving and they say, boy, that old Jay, he's really flying high. But see, they don't know the questions I've asked God over the last two or three years. They don't know the times that I've slipped down to the bottom and I've said, God, why do you let this happen? Why am I feeling this way? And when I've hit the very bottom, do you know what I've heard God say? When I've asked the deepest questions, I've heard him say, son, I want you to trust me with the things that you were never created to carry on your own. And I've had no choice but to transfer those burdens over to him. And you know what? My faith, my trust, my relationship with God has never been better. And you say, well, Jay, what does that mean? I mean, does that mean should we pray for problems? I mean, do I wake up in the morning and say to God, you know, more pain, I would like more pain in my life. Now, I mean, that's a sick person. I don't want any more pain. I don't want any more struggle. But may I say this, when that pain and struggle drive us toward God, it's a wake-up call that I thank him for. I hate the darkness of the pain, but I love the light that it produces in my soul. And I want to say, believers, if you're going through a painful time, thank God for the wake-up call. Listen to his voice. And now the second way that I see the Lord speaking to us is interestingly through other convincing Christians. Is it fascinating to you as it is to me that there were two people walking on this road? Two people walking on this road? You know, it could have been one person on the road to Emmaus. But here's what I think might have happened. Had Jesus appeared to that one person, well, let me ask you this. Have you ever personally had something that you thought might be the Lord talking to you? Something in nature? Something in circumstance? Some kind of experience? And you said, wow, that might be God. But you talked yourself out of it? Ever have that happen? I think there's two here because these two were interacting back and forth, sharing the experiences that they were going through. And you see, God, by His sovereignty, will plop down into your life a convincing Christian to remind you of what it is that God wants of you. It's a wake-up call. If you're like me, those people have been placed in my life in critical times to help shake me up a little bit and realize that what I had in mind may not be exactly what God had in mind. I remember so clearly when I was a freshman in college and I got established and met a guy that I kind of liked. We were in the same fraternity together. We played on the freshman basketball team together. And I guess I would have classified myself a Christian back then. But one day after a basketball practice, he came up to me afterwards and kind of started talking and talking about his walk with God. And in about a half hour's time, and I could tell he was a little uptight at first, he uncovered to me the difference between what I believed about God, which was, yeah, I had right doctrine, but I didn't have the personal relationship. And I remember thinking at the end of those 30 minutes, I'll never forget this, maybe it was 20 or 30 minutes, he walked away, and I remember feeling the mist in my eyes and thinking, he has something that I don't have. And I didn't know if I wanted what he had because I didn't know what it meant. I didn't know. Maybe it meant I'd have to quit my fraternity and get off the athletic team and become really a nerd or something like that. I had all these fears. But you know what? In fact, his name was John White. I took some go-away John pills. And I'd avoid him when I saw him in the campus. And I'd tell him, I'm going to this place, I'm going to that place. But he relentlessly just kept sharing. And over the next few months, God changed my life through John White. And can I say, I'm convinced that every one of you here today has someone in your little area, your vicinity, that God's put there, and you probably don't even like them. It might even be your spouse. We're always talking about this God stuff. Maybe it's your neighbor, the guy down the street. Maybe it's the guy you work with or the gal that you do aerobics with. But it's somebody that represents God to you. And the fact that your life needs to change. And if they're a trustworthy, non-judgmental, authentic Christian, they are a wake-up call to you every time you see them. I'll tell you folks, it's an incredible thing. It's part of the mystery of God. He sends people into our lives. And if you're a non-believer today, just listen to what you're hearing from that person. God might be trying to transmit a message to you. I have a friend at the gym where I work out. Every time I get an opportunity, I invite him to service. I asked him this week, I said, are you going to church in Easter? He said, no, I'm going trout fishing. Well, that's great. I hope you can find a place at North Park. Wall-to-wall people. But you're never closer to God than when you're in nature, right? I don't know. Why don't you come out and find out if the fish aren't biting. And he said, you got a deal. He might be here today. I hope he is. But you see, I think God's placed me in his life. I've seen him walk the other way when I've come into the club. And might I say, if you're a believer today, the reason why we urge you to get involved in a small group, the reason why we say get connected with other Christians is because you constantly need that other believer there to help just encourage you, to support you, maybe even at times to provoke you on in your faith. That's why we have that little paradigm. If you look in your notes there, you'll see that little baseball thing. We almost had to scrap that because of the baseball strike. We were going to go to a football paradigm. But we decided that that way you can see how easy it is just to get connected. And I want to urge you, if you don't have a church family, if you're here today and this is like, you know, you're just visiting and you don't really have a church home, then let North Way be a home for you as you take this journey. Or any good church that's proclaiming the gospel. But get connected. Get around other Christians. They'll help you. The third way that God gives us wake up calls is through the call of Scripture. You know, as I read this, I suppose this would be something that's maybe a little undramatic, but don't be fooled. The Word of God is a very powerful tool in the Spirit's hand to awaken us to God's will. Have you ever driven by a billboard and just seen a Scripture and it provoked something in you? Isn't it interesting how Scripture is still woven into the fabric of our culture? I find it amazing, you know, most of us here today have had some Bible instruction. Maybe Sunday school, maybe catechism, CCD, whatever. You know something of the Bible. Did you know that 100 million Americans have never read the Bible for themselves? 100 million. And they've missed out on the message of God to them. And yet we're always hearing about it. You know, we go to a wedding and the Bible is opened up. We go to a bedside of a dying person and there's someone there reading Scripture. We go to a funeral and Scripture is read. We go to listen to a speech from Mother President of the United States. She quotes Scripture. We go to the great monuments of our country. There's Scripture. Amazingly, 2,000 years after the Bible was completed, no one has found any real evidence to disavow the truth of the Bible. In fact, did you see this week's U.S. News and World Report this week, the latest one on the newsstand? It's called Solving the Mysteries of the Bible. I've got to be honest. I picked it up thinking, oh, I see, they're going to tell me in here they found Jesus' bones somewhere, you know. By the way, would you still believe that they did? But that's not what they said. They didn't criticize, or they didn't undercut the credibility of the Bible. You know what they did? They said the latest archaeological findings are supporting the testimony of Scripture, even to the places and the characters that previously had no other authentication. They're finding that, well, I'll be darned, the Bible is true. Folks, it is a trustworthy wake-up call. The Scriptures of God have been crying out. And in this story, Cleopas and Barney hear God saying to them what He'd been trying to communicate all throughout Scripture. I love you. Listen to me. I have a plan for you. You know, I love that, you know, the Lord's walking along. If you'd been the Lord, wouldn't you have done some pretty flashy things just to convince Him, you know, like, you know, here's this bush, and go, and it becomes a, you know, a house or something like that. I've seen too many movies. But, you know, it amazes me that the Lord chooses rather to open up the Scriptures. As we read earlier, He began with Moses and all the prophets and explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself. Oh, God, that I would have been there to hear Jesus talk. Have you ever wondered what He said? I wonder if in the book of Genesis He'd show them that He was the one that the Father was speaking to when He said, Let us make man in our image and after our likeness. I wonder if He showed to them that He was the fulfillment of Abram's prophecy there on Mount Moriah when Isaac said, Dad, we have the fire, we have the wood, but we don't have any sacrifice. And Abraham prophesied, Son, God will provide Himself a sacrifice. And I wonder if in the book of Exodus Jesus pointed out that He was the Passover Lamb that was slain. The blood put upon the doorpost. You see it, don't you? The lentils, the top and the post, the form of a cross. It was bespeaking the fact Jesus said that I, the Lamb of God, would die for the sins of the world upon the cross. I wonder if He didn't open up to them the Levitical sin offerings and what that all meant, the sacrifices, how guilt was placed over animals and then they were sacrificed to atone for sin, that He then prefigured His sacrifice once and for all. I wonder if in the book of Numbers He didn't point out that He was the rock that was smitten from which the water of life flowed freely unto people that they might live and not die. I wonder if in Deuteronomy He didn't point out that He was the prophet of which Moses spoke that should come to which the people would give heed. I wonder if He didn't show them that in Joshua He was the captain of the Lord's host that came to meet Joshua and to lead them in the conquest of the land. And I wonder if He didn't point out that He was the angel of the Lord that came to poor Gideon down in the old winepress and declared to him, I will bring deliverance through you to my people. And I wonder if He didn't show them that in Psalm 2 when the Father promised the Son to give Him the heathen for His inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth is His possession that He indeed was that Son promised the whole earth. Or in Psalm 22 where the psalmist speaks of the death on the cross 1,000 years before it happened He said, My God, my God, why hast Thou? I wonder if He didn't go through the 22nd Psalm and point out all the things that transpired in that day that He was crucified and His garments were parted and that lots were cast. And if He didn't show them that it was all speaking of Him Jesus, the one that walked beside them. That He was the wisdom that was extolled in the Proverbs by Solomon. And that in the Song of Solomon He was the altogether lovely one that was extolled by the bride. And that in the book of Isaiah He was the child that was born the Son of God that was given. And that the government would be upon His shoulders. And His name would be called Wonderful Counselor Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. And that He would point out in Isaiah 52 that He was the one whose face was so marred that He could not be recognized as He was beaten before the cross. And that Isaiah 53 He was the one cut off from the land of the living. His soul made an offering for sin and by His stripes we were healed. I wonder if in Jeremiah He didn't point out that He was the righteous branch that was raised unto David. The king that should reign and prosper and rule over the earth. And He was Ezekiel's plant of renown and the shade and the fragrance that was to come from Him. And Daniel He was the stone that was not cut with hands that would smite and destroy the governments of man and would establish God's kingdom and everlasting kingdom upon the earth. He was the promised Messiah and He came 483 years after the commandment as prophesied to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. And I wonder if from Hosea He didn't point out that He was the one growing as a lily casting out His roots as Lebanon. And He was the hope of whom Joel spoke. He was the only son slain on the feast day that caused the sun to go down at noontime in the book of Amos. And He was the true experience of death for three days and then resurrection of which Jonah was just a type. And He was the one that Micah declared that would be born in Bethlehem but who had existed forever before. That He was the one on the mountains publishing peace that Nahum had predicted. Or He was the anointed one of whom Habakkuk sang who was going forth for salvation. Or as Zechariah said He was the one who was sold for 30 pieces of silver. And yet He was the king coming to Jerusalem lowly riding on a donkey. Or as Malachi declared of Him He was the son of righteousness who rose with healing in His wings. And the Bible says going through He opened up all the scriptures that pointed to Him as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Wake up calls. Through crises through Christians through the call of scripture. Are you hearing one today friend? You know God has so designed our life that He'll never force His will into your heart. You must make that choice. You must decide will you be tuned in to God or will you tune Him out. You can take a go away God pill even this morning if you want to. But I pray that won't happen. I pray as we close this service you will see that you'll do what these two men walking on the road to Emmaus did they went from we had hoped we had hoped He was the one to verse 34 it is true He has risen from the dead but it's your decision. We had hoped it is true. My closing words are these for whatever reason you came today if you came just to make your spouse happy if you came because your family was going you're not here by accident. The Lord doesn't require you to clean up your life or change your habits or get religion He just wants you to acknowledge that you're hearing Him today and that you want your life to change. That you're willing to take one significant step of faith toward Him. And interestingly God has made it very simple He said all that you must do is ask.