Unleashing Hope: Raise Your Expectations
John 14:5-14
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing,
and they will do even greater things than these…” vs. 12
Gorilla Glass
Story of Steve Jobs and his idea for his new invention, the iPhone with no edge or frame. His R and dept. told him something like that is pretty much impossible and that it could not be done. They had produced a phone with a plastic front. Now this is typical Steve Jobs. Just before the iPhone release, Jobs put a halt to the production and release of the phone. He didn’t like it. Then, he remembered gorilla glass.
In the 1960s, Corning Glass had developed a very durable type of glass they called “gorilla glass”, because it was so tough. They had stopped making it, but in 2005 the CEO of Corning, Wendell Weeks, explained the material to Jobs, who immediately wanted to use gorilla glass for the first iPhone. “[Jobs] said he wanted as much gorilla glass as Corning could make within six months. ‘We don’t have the capacity,’ Weeks replied. ‘None of our plants make the glass now.’
‘Don’t be afraid,’ Jobs replied. This stunned Weeks, who was good-humored and confident but not used to Jobs’ unrealistic expectations of people. He tried to explain that a false sense of confidence would not overcome engineering challenges. Jobs stared at Weeks unblinking. ‘Yes, you can do it,’ he said. ‘Get your mind around it. You can do it.”
This also is Steve Jobs. You see, he is a visionary. Nothing was off limits or too hard or impossible. He would ask more of people than was reasonable, more than they could reasonably give, more than what seemed possible, and he would get them to do it. Now the way he went about it came with a price. People hated him. He was a tyrant, he was unreasonable, and he didn’t care about things like family, friends, or relationships.
As Weeks retold this story, he shook his head in astonishment. ‘We did it in under six months,’ he said. ‘We produced a glass that had never been made.’ Corning’s facility in Harrisburg, Kentucky, which had been making LCD displays, was converted almost overnight to make gorilla glass full-time. ‘We put our best scientists and engineers on it, and we just made it work.’ In his airy office, Weeks has just one framed memento on display. It’s a message Jobs sent the day the iPhone came out: ‘We couldn’t have done it without you.'”
Weeks is a brilliant businessman who knows how to make glass, but his initial inclination was “it can’t be done”. It was only by confronting Jobs’ challenge (and I mean really confronting it) that he and his company were able to make it happen (to his own surprise). Of course, we can’t just ignore real physical constraints, but most of the time constraints are self-imposed and say more about us than they say about actual limitations on our actions
Read Passage – John 14:5-14
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
When Things Don’t Go The Way You Want
Last week we looked at recharging our batteries and when we do that it helps unleash hope. Another issue that can stop us from unleashing hope is the difficulty we have when things don’t go the way we want. Notice verse 56:.
“Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’” vs. 5
What’s going on here is the Israelites have been waiting a long time of the Messiah. This is something that is taught to them as young children and it’s the hope of their nation. During Jesus time it was a very low point in their history. Over the last 400 years they had been taken over by four different nations, they had been manipulated, abused, and treated like second class people. They now lived under Roman rule and they were oppressed. They really want their Messiah more than ever. Their idea of the Messiah is that he would establish a military rule and overtake the Romans and re-establish Israel as a nation. He would once again make Israel prominent and important in the world. Thomas is confused here. He thought he was going to do all these things and now he is talking about going away. What do you mean going away? This was really confusing and not at all what they thought would happen, not what they wanted to happen.
That’s like life. We have our ideas about what should happen, how things should go, and dare I say it, how God should work. When it doesn’t go the way we want, when we hit stumbling blocks or obstacles, it can be deflating, confusing and stop us in our track. It stops us from moving forward.
Ex. Losing weight. We do well for a while, hit a stumbling block and we get frustrated and upset and go back to what we were doing that isn’t good for us.
How To Raise Your Expectations
We can also lose hope. How can we change that? What can we do to unleash hope and keep us moving forward? This morning, let’s look at what we can do to raise our expectations so we can unleash hope and continue to move forward.
- Believe Impossible Things Are Possible
First, we can believe that the impossible is possible. Let me challenge you with a question on this: What is the impossibility in your life? Is it a relationship that needs to be restored? A job? A marriage in turmoil? A financial situation that seems overwhelming? Many things in life seem impossible. You can choose to look at them in a different way. Jesus said in Matt. 19:26:
“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26
Now the key comes in the middle of the verse. It’s a little prepositional phrase right in the middle…”with God.” When we choose to put our trust in God and what he can do, all things are possible. This is not a false hope for things that we desperately want to happen. This is choosing not to limit God. This is giving up our ideas and goals for what we want to happen and trusting and believing in God that his plan will work and that he will provide what is best for our lives.
- Believe Better Days Are Ahead
Believing the impossible is possible with God helps look forward and that is the second way to raise our expectations: believe that better days are ahead. Many of us spend a lot of time with our focus in the rear view mirror. Ecc. 7:10 says:
“Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions.’” Ecc. 7:10
This passage is talking about looking back. You know, remember the good old days? Here is the problem with keeping our focus on the rear view mirror, we miss what is about to come.
Ill. Think about those people who live in the good old days, like high school. When you are 18 and you are remembering high school and the fun that’s okay. When you are in your 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s and your are still living your glory days of high school? Not good.
What if I told you better days are ahead? Listen to what Jesus promises us in John 10:10:
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
His words are meant as encouragement. He wants us to know that despite our circumstances, despite what we might see as limitations, despite what we feel is confusing and a struggle, we can still live a full and abundant life.
- Realize The Power Of Perspective
A third key to raising our expectations is to realize the power of perspective. If we only look at our perspective and our goals, we will be disappointed. We need to ask God for his perspective and choose to look at things the way he sees them. Let me relate this through a story from a guy in the Bible named Nehemiah. Nehemiah is a guy who was a cupbearer to the king of Babylon. So his job is to taste the king’s food, taste the king’s drinks, and make sure they are not poisoned. Kind of sounds like a cush job but you have to realize you could die at any time. Literally, your next meal could be your last. Now he is an Israelite. Jerusalem had been destroyed 92 years earlier. That’s 92 years of failure, 92 years of disappointment, 92 years of being enslaved to another nation. He is upset because of this and God comes to him and says he wants him to rebuild the city. How can he do that as a slave? One day he is standing before the king and this happens in Neh. 2:4-5:
“The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” Neh. 2:4-5
Notice a few things about this. First, Nehemiah wanted what God wanted. Second, when the critical point comes of talking to the king, first thing he does is pray. This wasn’t a long drawn out, go to your room and pray thing. It was a quick, under your breath, God be in this situation prayer. And his desire was to do what God wants.
One caution: I see a lot of people who desire something and then try to make it God’s will. God want s me to… Be careful with that. One way to test yourself on this is to think about where you want the glory to go. When you have God’s perspective you want him to have the glory too!
- Replace Fear With Faith
When we take God’s perspective on things, we begin to move forward and we replace fear with faith and that faith leads to action.
Again, let’s look at a story from the Bible on this. David is a young shepherd boy. His brothers are in the Israelite army and they are out facing the Philistine’s. The Philistines have this big old dude named Goliath. He’s huge. He is literally a giant and every day the Israelite army stands on one side and the Philistine on the other and Goliath issues a challenge for anyone to fight him. If the Israelite wins, they will become their slaves. If he wins, the Israelites become their slaves. So how do the Israelites feel about this? 1 Samuel 17:10:
“On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.”
1 Sam. 17:10
Fear grips them. They are terrified and it’s affected them mentally too, they are dismayed. That means they are demoralized and feel defeated already. Fear gripped them. Now some fear can be good. Some fear can cause us to run faster, be bolder, and challenge us to do better. David has gone to visit his brothers and he has seen what they are going through, what shape the army is in and that no one will stand up to Goliath. His faith is bigger than his fear. He takes that fear and gives it to God and faces that fear head on. Look down a few verses to verse 3454 and we see his faith:
“David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty…” 1 Sam. 10:45
David’s fear doesn’t paralyze him. Fear has a way of doing that. David’s fear drives him to a deeper faith in God and trust in God. Faith trumps fear. Faith drives us to action.
- Replace “What If?” With “Why Not?”
And finally, to raise our expectations we need to replace the question in our minds of “What if?” with “Why not?” This point is driven home in the passage we read today in verse 12:
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these…” vs. 12
Jesus promises that we will do these things. We have his spirit in us and his spirit fills us with his power. Too many times in life we are stifled by asking “what if” and we don’t act on things because we haven’t see the possibly of what we can do.
People who missed what was to come because they failed to ask “Why not?”
Lee De Forest – Inventor of the Cathode ray Tube, 1926
While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility, a development which we need waste little time dreaming.
Marshal Ferdinand – WW1 Military strategist, 1904
Airplanes are interesting toys but are of no military value.
Businessweek 1958
With over 50 foreign cares already on sale her, the Japanese auto industry isn’t likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market.
Recording Company Expert, 1962
We don’t think the Beetles will do anything in their market. Guitar groups are on their way out.
Raise Your Expectations and Hope Will Soar
If you find yourself with little hope or discouraged, a key to unleashing hope is to raise your expectations. Raise your expectations and your hope will soar.
Portions of this sermon are adapted from The Hope Quotient by Ray Johnston
