Empty
CCCAG, Easter 2022
Scripture: John 20:1-10
Intro-
This week, we lost a fairly famous author named Jack Higgens. He authored a best selling novel called “The Eagle has Landed” about a Nazi attempt to assassinate Winston Churchill.
In an interview, when he was asked about his career in being a successful author, he said he could summarize his feelings about it in one word-
Empty.
I thought that was very interesting- a man who has climbed to the pinnacle of success in his field- being on the NY Times best seller list for weeks, described his feelings about it as being empty.
Isn’t that interesting?
I was thinking about this and realized- I sometimes feel the same way.
For 3 years, I had my attention focused on a single moment in time- the pinning ceremony for nursing- that moment in time when you can officially call yourself a registered nurse. All the studying, all the clinicals, all the sleepless nights and long hours traveling and working for free doing clinical time were all going to culminate in that ceremony.
December 12th came and I stood on the stage with one of my best friends who is also a nurse reaching down on the table and taking the box with my name on it, removing it and attaching it to my shirt declaring I was now an RN.
Do you know how I felt afterward- not much. I felt grateful that school was over with, but other than that, it was not a mountain top experience for me.
There is a quote by Sir Edmund Hillary- the first man to ever climb Mt Everest. For years, he had dreamed of the moment he would stand on the highest peak in the world.
He planned for it
Trained for it
Practiced survival and advanced mountaineering.
Finally. he stood where his dreams had led him, and inn an interview after he had accomplished what no one had done before He said, “I got to the top, to the very peak, and found there was nothing there”
He felt empty.
This morning, I want to talk to you about being empty.
This is a subject that I believe will resonate with many people here.
Many people come into and out of church every week hiding the sense of emptiness inside of themselves.
Many of us might be placing our hope and sense of self in the wrong thing, and on this Easter Sunday, I’d love for Jesus to get ahold of our hearts and fix this condition within us.
Let’s read the scripture-
John 20:1-20
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.
4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen.
8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.
9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Prayer
This morning, I want to ask a few pointed questions-
I. What are we filled with?
What are we hungry for?
The answers to those two questions will tell us how and why some people may feel empty this morning.
The person in this story that most exemplifies the idea of feeling empty on the inside is Simon Peter.
Why do I think that?
Think about the week he has had-
Was instrumental in the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
Has seen miracle after miracle happen.
At the Last Supper, Peter proclaims his love for Jesus, only to have Jesus tell him that he- Peter the Rock, will betray him
Then Jesus is arrested-
Peter is, within about 10 seconds, guilty, then innocent of attempted murder.
He, along with the rest of the disciples run away
Peter then comes back, and watches as Jesus is beaten and flogged.
As we watches, three different times, he denies he knows Jesus to the onlookers, and the last time as Luke Records
The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”
Imagine for a moment the crushing guilt he must have felt in that moment.
This is a man who had his whole world turned upside down.
Every hope, every dream, every aspiration he had about Jesus coming into worldly power and him riding that train into a position in that kingdom are crushed, and not only are his dreams crushed- now he is a wanted man.
Everything has been taken away from him. Peter was thinking he was taking the final step to the mountain top, only to have the whole mountain swept away under his feet.
He is empty. As empty as the tomb that Mary tells him is empty.
Remember that as we look at the other person in the story- the Apostle John.
John is probably in his late teens here. He is the favorite of Jesus, and he unlike Peter followed Jesus along the entire road of suffering from soon after his arrest, to his trial, to the crucifixion. Jesus loved and trusted John so much that he put the care of his earthly mother in his hands.
John is also crushed- the man who he had pledged his whole life to is now dead. Then Mary comes with the incredible news- the tomb is empty.
John along with Peter runs to the tomb to look. The bible even records that John beat Peter to the tomb.
But I want you to see the difference when they got there-
Peter, being empty, ran right into the tomb knowing seeing Jesus alive again was his only hope
John, being much younger and not having that kind of soul crushing humbling that Peter had gone through, only looked in from the door.
What can we learn from these two men?
II. The primary lesson- We need to empty
A. “Jesus fill me” songs
To see this- Let’s talk about John first
John running to tomb- he made sure he noted in his Gospel that he won that race, probably smiling at the memory of his friend Peter who had been martyred decades earlier.
But he was very specific and honest about one thing- he paused and hesitated about not going right into the tomb just looking from the outside.
John represents many people in the church today.
I think many in our church’s today stop just shy of having the faith to believe in the resurrected Savior.
Why is that?
Because they are too full of their ideas, and the wisdom of this world to trust Jesus to empty them.
When I became a Christian, Brownsville and Toronto revivals were in full swing, and the music was full of songs speaking about Jesus filling us up with himself.
It was and still is great music, but it put the cart before the horse.
What do I mean by that? Let me illustrate this-
When I was a teenager, I was into competitive martial arts. I would do tournaments like you may have seen in the movie the Karate Kid- point bouts where you would fight until someone scored a clean hit.
In order to compete, you had to earn a spot by fighting your fellow classmates. I admit- I was a bit of a showboat- I love the fancy jumping kicks and movie style attacks that only work in the movies. I was a huge fan of Bruce Lee, and wanted to be as good as he was in the movies.
Unfortunately, real life is not a movie, and people simply don’t stand still while you kick them with flying spinning heel kicks that make you look cool.
In my school, we had two tries with two different opponents to qualify for the tournament and you had to win both of them. I was on the verge of losing my second bout and my sensei stopped the bout and pulled me aside. He said, “I can’t keep teaching you if all you try to do is some stupid move you learned from watching martial arts movies- you are more worried about looking good than winning. If you go into competition like that, you’ll get killed on the mat if I let that continue.
You need to empty your mind of that junk, and trust in what I have taught you and you will win.
He repeated-
“Relax, empty your mind, and let the fight flow and you can easily take this guy.”
I took his advice, and all the sudden I had won the match with three unanswered points.
I trusted my teacher, and let his knowledge, skill, and experience guide me into victory.
If we apply that thought to our Christian lives, we need to trust our master in everything- but in order to do that, we have to rid ourselves off all the junk the world has filled us with that is contrary to the Gospel.
One of the biggest things that hinders us from being empty is that we are so full of ourselves. We worry way too much about other people’s opinions.
One of the obvious evidences of that is social media. What is our Facebook profile other than a fan page for ourselves?
Think about it- do you post pictures of how you look when you first wake up in the morning?
Do you show people your wrinkles or fat rolls? Do you show your scars and your mistakes?
No- most people put their best self out there, even though it’s not really you.
This is just a symptom of the greater problem- we are so filled up with the things of this world that Jesus had very little room to move.
If we pretend we are this bottle for a moment, 20 oz. If 19 of those oz are filled with ourselves, how much room can Jesus possible fill?
Instead of asking him to fill us, we should be asking Him to empty us first. To do whatever it takes to humble us.
Imagine praying a prayer like that to God-
Lord Jesus, do whatever it takes to humble me, so that you have my entire heart, my entire mind, and my entire soul.
Then we can be like Peter- he ran all the way, he didn’t stop short to make sure it was safe, even when it seemed he was losing the race he continued to run straight into Jesus.
My track coach once told us- you can’t think about running a 100 meter dash.
You need to be thinking you are running a 120 meter dash. You should still be at full speed 10 meters past the finish line. If you are not, you will lose every single time.
That’s how we need to treat our faith and relationship with Jesus.
Part of the American dream is a long a prosperous retirement. But that’s not the Gospel. That’s not the attitude we should have today.
(Emphasize) - We are not living in a time that you can retire in.
You need to run. You might be thinking I might only have 10 years left, you need to run like it’s 30 years to go.
You need to run into Jesus’ arms. You need to run and show the next generation how to live for God.
You need to run for your family
Run for your community
Run for your friends
Run for your church
Run, run all the way until your chests breaks that finish line tape, and then keep running until you find yourself wrapped in the arms of your savior!
We need to take a page from Jesus’ life- he didn’t stop hanging on the cross at 5 hrs and 45 min- he was there the whole six hours- he ran into the arms of his Father saying,
It is finished!
Let me give you one more example-
Paul the Apostle preached more, suffered more, did more, wrote more and traveled more than any other of the other apostles of his time.
At the end of his life, facing Roman execution, Paul wrote this to Timothy, his son in the faith -
2 Tim 4
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
I want to focus on that phrase “drink offering”.
The drink offering in the Old Testament was to be made of the finest aged wine. It was never performed during a burnt offering for sin, or a guilt offering, but during fellowship offerings with God. It signified the celebration of relationship with God in pouring ourselves out as Jesus poured Himself out for us.
It also showed an utter consecration to God almighty- that you accept no praise, no worship, and no adoration-
that belongs to God alone.
One of the best examples of the drink offering in the bible was the account of David in his desert stronghold after the Philistines had taken his hometown of Bethlehem.
Let me read you the story
2 Sam 23:14-17
14 At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. 15 David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” 16 So the three mighty warriors broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the Lord. 17 “Far be it from me, Lord, to do this!” he said. “Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?” And David would not drink it.
David, being the head of his army, would not accept this gift from his men.
David, being God’s appointed King, would not accept this act of worship from his men.
David instead poured it out before God saying, “Even though I strongly want and desire this water, I cannot accept this as it’s an act of worship from my men, and only you LORD are worthy of their worship.
I will NOT take praise but instead point them all to You who is worthy of all praise.”
Throughout all of his experiences in the wilderness prior to ascending to the throne, David had learned to be empty before Almighty God.
If you want to be a person after God’s own heart like David-
If you want to live a life that is empty of this world, you need to put away all desire
for fame,
being liked,
or popular in the ways of this world, and be willing to be emptied for your king.
Let your life be poured out like a drink offering and see what God will do in your life.
The final point, and the most important is this-
Landing Strip- there is one more thing that was empty- the tomb
What did Peter and eventually John run into?
An empty tomb.
Jesus has risen.
Hallelujah! He has risen!
Jesus is the ultimate example for us this morning- HE emptied HIMSELF of everything possible so we can be filled with the fullness of God
If we allow God to empty us of all the junk we have put before HIM, then Jesus last instructions to us will be made reality in our lives-
Mt 28:18–20.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
All rise
Let us commit this Easter morning to be empty vessels that he can fill. Free from the love of this life, and willing to be used by him, even onto death.
Altar call
