“Are you Full or Empty?”
4/8/2007 - Marsing, ID
5/21/2009 - Nampa, ID
Ricardo Rodriguez
pastor_rr@yahoo.com
Luke 24:1-12
We don’t normally associate positive feelings with emptiness or the fact of being empty. The truth is we usually feel satisfied and without worries when we are full. When our gas tank is full, when our stomachs are full, when our wallets are full of bills not the ones we owe.
Jesus showed us almost 2000 years ago, how we can be happy when we are empty.
THE GREATEST SYMBOL OF NEW LIFE IS FOUND IN AN EMPTY TOMB!
"But the angel answered and said to the women, ’Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead."
Matt. 28:5-7
"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
Rom. 8:11
An Empty Celebration [Easter] by Jerry Shirley
1. AN EMPTY LIFE.
v. 7 Jesus showed that THE WAY TO BE FULL IS TO BE EMPTY.
[tell that to my gas tank!]
Real ‘fulfill’ment comes when we’re empty of our own desires and make Jesus our heart’s desire!
Jesus’ Last Words before His Death:
IT IS FINISHED – CONSUMADO ES!
What does this Mean?
Fulfillment! That Everything that needed to be Done was DONE!
That Jesus has Literally Emptied Himself of Everything he had to offer TO ME/YOU, That We might Live LIFE ABUNDANTLY!
He Poured it all out – that it might be found within us!
When you Watch Him Live – you Know that His life was Consumed for Humanity – You & ME – and that He emptied Himself of all other cares.
Stepped Into Humanity at its Worst – Offered his Very Best!
EMPTIED HIMSELF of ALL LIFE –
To FILL Ours With HIS
If you are not experiencing God’s presence in your life, it may be that you’re not “empty” enough!
We serve a Lord that specializes in filling emptiness!
Jn. 6—empty stomachs (5,000 plus) - 4 plans offered:
1. Disciples said, let’s just get rid of the problem…tell them to go away
Jesus said, that’s not it, they’ll faint on the way home…they’re running on empty.
2. Phillip said, let’s raise the money. He did some figuring and found it would take 200 days’ wages to buy enough bread. (money’s not the solution to every problem…it can’t buy everything! House/not a home; bed/good night’s sleep; medicine/health; beautiful church bldg./power of God!)
3. Andrew found little boy w/ small lunch, and said, it’s not much, but it’s a start!
4. Jesus had the true solution as he took the little boy’s lunch and demonstrated that little is much when God is in it!
In all 4 gospels, Jesus gave thanks prior to even breaking the bread…showing the multitudes that only God can fill their emptiness!
We serve a Lord that specializes in filling emptiness!
God can take your emptiness and make it FULL!
Are you running on empty? If you’re not experiencing intimacy w/ Christ on a daily basis…it may be that, though you feel empty…you’re not empty enough! Make room for Jesus by taking some irons out of the fire and making Him a priority!
• We need to be emptied of sin.
God can’t fill a vessel that has no room to pour into. It is an impossibility if we harbor sin in our lives. Now, Christians aren’t sinless, but we SHOULD sin LESS! It’s all about desire. True repentance is not perfection, but turning from sin and doing our best to head toward God.
• We need to be emptied of self.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will never find intimacy w/ Christ until we stop bowing down to the shrine of self!
• We need to be emptied of substitutes.
Be careful, often we try to substitute service for surrender/work for worship…but Martha becomes Mary when she drops her “to do list” and falls at the feet of Jesus!
Serving is good and right, but don’t let yourself get so busy doing things for Christ that you neglect spending time with Christ!
Accept no other substitutes for the filling of the Spirit.
Don’t fill yourself up w/drugs/food / movies / music /relationships…
nothing less than Christ!
Empty yourself out on this altar (toxic waste dump)
Empty the sin, the self, all substitutes.
2. AN EMPTY CROSS
I’ve never appreciated the crucifix hanging on a mirror or a hospital wall. Jesus isn’t there anymore!
The cross is empty…and yet it is full of God’s promises!
THE EMPTY Cross Tells me that I Can BE Forgiven of ALL my SIN...
Cross was a Cruel place of Death...
Jesus was Beaten...Broken...Bruised...
HE TOOK it all on himself – that we might not have to!
v. 6 Jesus showed that THE WAY TO GO UP IS DOWN.
“When I couldn’t go where He was, He came to me”. He came down to my level when I couldn’t get up to His!
The Empty Cross – Tells me that I can be free from my past
Have a Great life in & Through Jesus
It is the place where he died – but today, it is empty. Empty of Jesus body, but full – full of God’s promises. Full of hope – for you and me. The promise of the empty cross is that you and I stand forgiven. Because it was on that cross that Jesus paid the penalty for our sins.
3. AN EMPTY TOMB.
v. 8-9 Jesus showed that THE WAY TO LIVE IS TO DIE.
Without The Empty Tomb –
There is No SAVIOR
No Salvation...Hope...
Nothing is Sure...
Tomb, You shall not hold Him longer, Death is strong, but life is stronger
Stronger than the dark, the light; Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and hope triumphant say; Christ will rise on Easter Day.
While the patient earth lies waiting; Till the morning shall be breaking
Shuddering beneath the burden dread Of her Master, cold and dead,
Hark! she hears the angels say; Christ will rise on Easter Day.
And when sunrise smites the mountains Pouring light from heavenly fountains
Then the earth blooms out to greet; Once again the blessed feet;
And her countless voices say; Christ has risen on Easter Day.
For, in the fact of the empty tomb is the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise to every one of us that we too will be raised to eternal life. To those who know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, death has lost its sting – it is no longer something to be feared. What fear is there when we have the promise that one day we will live forever with Him in Heaven?
• I recently came across this story, it was told by “Dear Abby” in a response to someone’s question.
A young man from a wealthy family was about to graduate from high school. It was the custom in that affluent neighborhood for the parents to give the graduate an automobile. "Bill’ and his father had spent months looking at cars, and the week before graduation, they found the perfect car.
On the eve of his graduation, his father handed him a gift wrapped Bible. Bill was so angry that he threw the Bible down and stormed out of the house.
He and his father never saw each other again. It was the news of his father’s death that brought Bill home again.
As he sat one night going through his father’s possessions that he was to inherit, he come across the Bible his father had given him.
He brushed away the dust and opened it to find a cashier’s check, dated the day of his graduation - in the exact amount of the car they had chosen together.
As I thought about this story, I couldn’t help but wonder how many people in this world have done the same thing to God. Literally tossed aside a wonderful promise, because they didn’t understand it, or they didn’t believe that it was possible.
The world gives us promises full of emptiness: God gives us emptiness full of promise!
