“Where Hope is Found”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God the Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, thru the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I hope all are doing well this morning, as we celebrate “Father’s Day” together. A day when we celebrate many dads with a phrase not unlike this one – “Hey dad, ‘Happy Father’s Day!’ I’ll take my burger medium, please!” Right – we honor dad by allowing him to illustrate a particular skill-set the male species is alleged to possess.
Again, to all the dad’s, allow me to reiterate a “Happy Father’s Day.”
And, whether a dad is a biological father, a step-dad, foster dad, even a “Big-brother” kind of fatherly image, one thing is for sure – when the ones you are helping to usher thru life now, you give all the hope in the world for them. Hope that their lives would somehow be better than the one you are currently living, even if you can’t imagine having a better life than the one you’re currently living.
We hope.
We hope all the time. And, personally, I have done a lot of hoping in my lifetime. Not just wishing or dreaming, but hoping. You might ask, “What’s the difference?”
I wonder where are we today with our Hope. Do you remember the day you first met God? The first day you made a commitment to always follow Jesus – God in skin. I have heard so many lovely testimonials of “first day chills” as faith began to take root in the Crucified and Risen Christ. More – many times more than not, I heard Hope expressed.
And what might be a definition of hope? Most, if not all of us, have said something to the effect of, “Gee, I hope it won’t rain today…” Then we give a reason why, like I need to mow the lawn, or I have a 9 AM tee time, or we’re having a cookout with the neighbors…” Simply stated, that is worldly hope. You know, a desire or wish that we want for a certain thing to happen.
Biblical hope, on the other hand, is an expectation with certainty that God will do what the Creator has said. Repeat – “with certainty.” That sounds a lot like faith, doesn’t it?
The first verse from Hebrews 11 might ring a bell: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Note the words confidence and assurance. As Christians, I don’t believe we can have hope without faith.
Would you agree that hope should be based on the fact of who God is and nothing else? I mean if God is not the object of our hope then we don’t have true biblical hope because the certainty has been removed.
And the hope we Christians hold began with what Paul discusses in the first verse. It’s what helps us better understand Paul’s boldness and conviction for the rest of the passage. He reminds us that through justification we are given peace.
Justified…justified is one of those theological terms, along with righteousness and sanctification that can leave many of us out in the rainy cold. As simply as I can put this, justification is this – God has declared us sinful humans no longer sinful.
(Pause)
Hold on!
Before we get too big for those britches of ours, we must remember, this is not on our personal merits, but on the merit, or work, of Jesus. Justification is based on our undying belief and trust in the One who died for us – Jesus.
Paul reminds us that through justification we are given something quite elusive during these difficult days. We are given peace. If we agree that peace is the absence of hostility, we would be right; however, in this manner, peace is shalom. Remember us talking about shalom recently? It is much more positive, emitting a general sense of harmony and well-being. Shalom is wholeness, if you will.
Then in the next verse (verse 2), Paul states we now have access to God’s grace. Let that percolate for a moment, OK? In this case, grace is a state in which the believer lives. In John’s gospel, Chapter 1:16, 17, the author takes the grace of Christ even further: “From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” In other words, we are showered with grace. Why would that in itself not give us Hope?
And that’s today’s message. It’s about the Hope our God offers us through the Savior. That is the beauty of Romans 5. Although we may be suffering today, the more we get through suffering, endurance builds, and this endurance, which we might not even be aware of, according to Apostle Paul, will build character. Now, that in itself could be wonderful, but to get there can be more than a challenge, am I right? However, the Apostle continues to build on this chain reaction of “Suffering plus endurance plus character.” That’s not the end, is it?
No.
He completes his thought by saying that in this chain reaction of suffering, endurance, character, we receive Hope. And Hope does not disappoint or put us to shame, as God’s love has been poured in our hearts thru the Holy Spirit given to us. Yes, a promise from God. And God does not go back on God’s promises. Ever. God just continues to give.
Reading this passage earlier in the week, I was reminded of a lady named, Teri; a resident at one of the Bethany Village long-term care units, dying from multiple forms of cancer riddling her body. The journey on which she allowed me to accompany her was filled with pain and distress; seen and heard with each visit I made. Her family could feel the pain as well. Without a miraculous healing from the Master Healer, she was depositing her hope in the words of Jesus that there is Life Eternal following our life on earth. And prior to her cancer, what I heard from Teri, we might have thought her life was pretty nice. I’m not sure I have ever seen a person exhibit that much faith, especially with the pain she endured.
Suffering sometimes makes even Jesus’ most loyal followers question whether God will keep all God’s promises to us. Even our patience wears thin. Sometimes our character wobbles. But hope in Christ never lets us down. Why do you think that is? Not just because God is utterly faithful, but because it’s the very Spirit of God who plants hope deep within God’s adopted children. And you know who some of those children are – you…and me.
Thanks be to God.
AMEN