what are you looking for
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WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
SCRIPTURE: LUKE 24:1-12/MARK 16:3/JOHN 20:14-16CONCEPT: WE MUST LOOK FOR A LIVING AND ALL POWERFUL CHRIST
IT WAS A DAY LIKE TODAY. EARLY ON A SUNDAY MORNING, WHILE THE
DEW WAS STILL UPON THE ROSES. IT WAS LIKE TODAY, WITH THE SUN
BEARLY PEAKING ABOVE THE MORNING HORIZON. JESUS THE CHRIST
HAD BEEN CRUCIFIED, JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO AND LAID IN A
BORROWED TOMB. AND HIS DISCIPLES WERE IN HIDING AND IN GRIEF.
THE ONE THEY HAD FOLLOWED AND BELIEVED IN WAS DEAD AND
THEY WERE IN GREAT FEAR OVER WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THEM.
SOMEWHERE DURING SATURDAY EVENING, THE WOMEN DECIDED
THAT THEY WOULD GO AND PROPERLY PREPARE JESUS’ BODY. IT WAS
CUSTOM TO ANOINT THE BODY WITH HERBS AND SPICES. AS THEY
PREPARED TO GO TO JESUS’ TOMB, MARK 16 TELLS US THAT THEY
WORRIED ABOUT HOW THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO GET INTO THE TOMB.
THERE WAS A LARGE STONE THAT HAD BEEN ROLLED IN FRONT OF
THE TOMB TO COVER AND SEAL IT. AS THEY WENT TO THE TOMB,
THERE FOCUS WAS NOT UPON WHAT THEY WENT TO DO, BUT ON
WHAT WOULD PREVENT THEM FROM DOING IT.
SO MANY TIMES IN LIFE, WE TEND TO HINDER OURSELVES BY LOOKING
AT THINGS THAT PREVENT US FROM DOING WHAT WE BELIEVE WE
NEED TO DO. THEY WORRIED ABOUT A STONE. THIS STONE
REPRESENTED A STUMBLINGBLOCK. IT WAS A HINDERANCE.
SOMETHING THAT WOULD KEEP THEM FROM BEING ABLE TO DO WHAT
THEY BELIEVED THEY NEEDED TO DO.
SO MANY TIMES IN LIFE, WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES NEEDING TO DO
SOMETHING. WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO BECOME FOCUSED UPON WHY
WE CAN’T OR WHAT WE ARE UNABLE TO DO, OR WHAT WILL HINDER
US FROM ACHIEVING SUCCESS. THEY WERE LOOKING FOR A PROBLEM.
BUT WHEN THEY GOT THERE, THEY DISCOVERED THAT GOD HAD
ALREADY TAKEN CARE OF WHAT THEY WERE WORRYING ABOUT. GOD
SENT ANGELS TO ROLL AWAY THE STONE.
WHEN THEY GOT TO THE TOMB AND SAW THAT THE STONE HAD BEEN
ROLLED AWAY. LUKE 24 TELLS US THAT THEY WENT INTO THE TOMB
AND DIDN’T FIND THE BODY OF JESUS. AS THEY STOOD THERE
PUZZLED, TWO ANGELS APPEARED IN DAZZLING ROBES AND THE
WOMEN WERE TERRIFIED. THEN THE MEN ASKED THEM, WHY ARE
YOU LOOKING AMONGST THE DEAD FOR SOMEONE WHO IS ALIVE. HE
ISN’T HERE. HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD. REMEMBER WHAT HE TOLD
YOU. THAT THE SON OF MAN WOULD BE BETRAYED INTO THE HANDS
OF SINFUL MEN AND BE CRUCIFIED AND THAT ON THE THIRD DAY HE
WOULD ARISE. AND THE BIBLE SAYS, THEY REMEMBER HIS WORDS.
THEY REMEMBERED THAT JESUS HAD SAID IT.
THERE PROBLEM WAS THAT THEY DIDN’T COME LOOKING FOR A
LIVING, RESURRECTED CHRIST. THERE FEAR WOULDN’T ALLOW THEM
TO REMEMBER HIS WORDS. THERE GRIEF, PREVENTED THEM FROM
REMEMBERING HIS WORDS. THEY DIDN’T COME LOOKING FOR A
LIVING SAVIOR. SO OFTEN IN LIFE WE FIND OURSELVES LOOKING FOR
A LIVING CHRIST, AMONGST DEAD THINGS.
WHAT’S DEAD REV? DOUBT IS DEAD. WORRY IS DEAD. FEELINGS OF
DEFEAT AND FAILURE ARE DEAD. WE CAN’T LOOK FOR JESUS IN THE
MIDST OF WORRY AND DOUBT. NO WE CAN’T FIND OUR GOD WHEN WE
DON’T BELIEVE THAT HE IS. THE ANGEL HAD TO REMIND THEM OF
WHAT HE HAD SAID. SOMETIMES WE FORGET THE WORD OF GOD AND
WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED BECAUSE OF HOW WE SEE THINGS IN OUR
LIVES. AS BELIEVER, WE HAVE TO REMEMBER, THAT AS A MAN
THINKETH SO IS HE. YOU GOING TO ONLY BE ABLE TO SEE WHAT
YOU’RE LOOKING FOR. THEY WEREN’T LOOKING FOR A JESUS WHO
KEPT HIS PROMISES AND ROSE FROM THE DEAD. THEY WEREN’T
LOOKING FOR A CHRIST WHO HAD ALL POWER IN HIS HANDS AND WAS
ABLE TO MAKE A WAY OUT OF NO WAY. THEY WERE LOOKING FOR A
CORPSE. A DEAD CHRIST. A CHRIST WHO WASN’T ABLE TO SAVE AND
DELIVER. A CHRIST WHO COULD NO LONGER HEAL THE SICK AND CAST
OUT DEMONS.
SO OFTEN WE ALLOW OUR FEELINGS AND OUR CIRCUMSTANCES TO CAUSE US TO LOOK FOR A HELPLESS AND DEFEATED CHRIST. WE WORRY AND ALLOW DOUBT TO CAUSE US TO NOT LOOK FOR THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD. LOOK AT JOHN 20:11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are
you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him,[a] “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
WE SEE IN THIS TEXT MARY AT THE TOMB OVER WHELMED WITH
GRIEF AND ANXIETY. FEAR HAD BLINDED HER AND HER TEARS
PREVENTED HER FROM SEEING CLEARLY. AS SHE CRIED OUT TO THE
MEN OR THE ANGELS WHO WERE IN THE TOMB, SHE ASKED THEM
WHERE WAS JESUS AND WHAT HAD THEY DONE WITH HIM. WHEN SHE
HAD SAID THIS, SHE TURNED AROUND AND LOOKED RIGHT AT JESUS,
WHO ASKED HER, WHY ARE YOU CRYING AND WHO ARE YOU LOOKING
FOR. AND THINKING THAT HE WAS A GARDENER ASKED HIM, SIR, IT
YOU HAVE CARRIED HIM AWAY, TELL ME WHRE YOU LAID HIM AND I’LL
TAKE HIM A WAY.
THIS NARRATIVE MAKES THE POINT I BELIEVE I’M TRYING TO MAKE.
BECAUSE SHE WASN’T LOOKING FOR A RESURRECTED JESUS, A LIVING,
RISEN CHRIST, WITH CHRIST RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER. SHE COULDN’T
SEE HIM. HE WAS THERE, BUT NOT SEEN. AVAILABLE, BUT UNAWARE
OF HIS PRESENSE. ALL BECAUSE SHE WASN’T LOOKING FOR HIM.
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR BELOVED. I KNOW YOU HAVE HAD MORE
THAN YOUR SHARE OF DISAPPOINTMENT AND DISCOURAGEMENT. I
KNOW THAT LIFE HASN’T BEEN A CRYSTAL BALL AND FLOWERY BED
OF EASE. BUT DON’T GO LOOKING FOR JESUS AMONGST THE DEAD.
YOU WON’T FIND HIM AMONGST WORRY AND DEFEAT. YOU WON’T
FIND HIM WHERE YOU FAITH CAN’T GO OR WHERE THE WORD OF GOD
IS NOT SEEN.
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF UP
AGAINST THE WALL AND CAN’T SEE YOUR WAY THRU. WHAT ARE YOU
LOOKING FOR WHEN LIFE GETS HARD AND THINGS DON’T SEEM TO BE
WORKING OUT. WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR WHEN EVERYTHING
SEEMS TO BE FALLING APART AND DOESN’T SEEM TO MAKE SENSE.
LET ME TELL YOU WHO TO LOOK FOR.
OFTEN LIFE HAS A WAY OF NOT MAKING SENSE OR BEING FAIR.
SOMETIMES LIFE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE GOD CAN’T HEAR YOU OR
DOESN’T CARE. SOMETIMES WE CAN HURT SO BAD AND HURT SO LONG
THAT WE STOP LOOKING FOR A LIVING CHRIST. AN ALL POWERFUL
LORD, AND SETTLE FOR ONE WE HOPE WILL COME. A GOD WE WISH
WOULD MAKE A WAY. OFTEN IN THE MIDST OF OUR FEAR AND
FEELINGS WE MISS CHRIST STANDING RIGHT THERE.
GOD IS RIGHT THERE SAINTS. RIGHT THERE TO HELP YOU, RIGHT
THERE TO BLESS YOU. RIGHT THERE TO GIVE YOU THE PEACE YOU
NEED, THE COMFORT YOU’RE SEEKING THE HEALING YOU ARE
WAITING FOR. HE’S RIGHT THERE. BUT YOU’VE GOT TO LOOK FOR HIM.
LOOK FOR HIM IN THE MIDST OF YOUR DEEPEST PAIN. LOOK FOR HIM
WHEN NOTHING IS GOING THE WAY IT OUGHT TO. LOOK FOR HIM.
GOD SHOWED US BY THE CRUCIFIXION AND DEATH OF CHRIST THAT
HE’S GOT ALL POWER IN HIS HANDS. HE SHOWED US THRU THE DEATH
OF JESUS THAT NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS TO US. NO MATTER HOW
BAD IT GETS OR DARK THINGS MIGHT SEEM. GOD WILL REACH WAY
DOWN TO PICK US UP. THEY CRUCIFIED HIM. NAILED HIM TO AN OLD
RUGGED CROSS AND PLACED HIM IN A TOMB. THEY DID TO HIM THE
WORSE THINGS IMAGINABLE. THEY TOOK FROM HIM WHAT THEY
THOUGHT WAS THE LAST THING HE HAD. AFTER THEY TOOK HIS
CLOTHES AND TOOK AWAY HIS DIGNITY, AND TOOK AWAY HIS
DISCIPLES AND TOOK AWAY HIS MINISTRY AND TOOK AWAY HIS
FREEDOM. THEN THEY TOOK AWAY THE LAST THING HE HAD LEFT.
THEY TOOK HIS LIFE. AND HAVING TAKEN HIS LIFE, IT SEEMED AS
THOUGH THEY HAD TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM HIM. BUT LET ME
TELL YOU SOMETHING. PEOPLE CAN TAKE YOU THRU HELL AND HIGH
WATER. THEY CAN DESTROY YOU AND DISCOURAGE YOU. THEY CAN
EVEN KILL YOU. BUT ONE THING THEY CAN NOT DO. IF YOU’VE GOT
JESUS, THEY CAN’T EVER TAKE AWAY YOUR SALVATION. GOD SHOWED
US THRU JESUS. THEY AFTER THEY HAVE DONE THE WORSE TO YOU
THAT CAN BE DONE. NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF
GOD THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS.
AFTER THEY HAD DONE THE WORSE THAT COULD BE DONE, GOD
SHOWED THE WORLD, THAT NOTHING COULD KEEP HIM DOWN. HE
ROSE. HE LIVES. HE IS LORD.
DON’T EVER STOP LOOKING FOR GOD TO MAKE A WAY. DON’T EVER
STOP BELIEVEING THAT HE’S GOT YOUR BACK. DON’T EVER GIVE UP ON
GOD. LOOK FOR HIM TO FIX IT. LOOK FOR HIM TO GET YOU THROUGH
YOUR PAIN, THRU YOUR SICKNESS, THRU YOUR DARKEST MOMENTS.
LOOK FOR HIM. HE’S THERE. LOOK FOR HIM, HE’S THERE.