Hope or Wish?
I'm extremely sorry to start us off with bad news, but according to science, 100% of people who get the Covid vaccine will die. It's true, every single one of us, unless Jesus returns first, will all eventually die. And that was actually true even before the pandemic. Yes, there are things we can do to lessen our risk of death - eat healthy, exercise, get the vaccine - but I don't think it's a shock to any of us that death is a part of this life.
I wanted to again share some words I shared almost exactly one year ago. They're written by Christian author C.S. Lewis in 1948 when he was addressing the crisis facing his readers - the new threat of the atomic bomb. He wrote...
"How are we to live in an atomic age?" I am tempted to reply: "Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders ... might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer,... an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents."
"In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. ... It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty."
"If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things - praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis... - not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies but they need not dominate our minds."
I truly appreciate his perspective. But with all these risks threatening our personal security every day - how do we go about life with a smile on our face? Many people are talking a lot about 'hope' lately. So I want to take some time to...
I. Define hope
'I hope we get good weather today'. 'I hope you feel better'. 'I hope traffic is decent on the way home'. This type of hope is kind of like an optimistic wish - dictionary definition, 'to cherish a desire with anticipation'. But that's not really the kind of hope I'm talking about. Another definition is - 'to expect with confidence'. Now that's closer - but still not exactly there. For those who follow Jesus - we have a different hope than the rest of the world. It's the Hope revealed in God's Word; the kind of hope we are talking about is...
A. Based in fact
The hope we have is not some silly, childish wish - hoping that God is real, hoping that what we do here matters. Our hope is not simply in circumstances - in getting a good job, or a big government check or even a vaccination - our hope is based on the truth of God's Word. The writer of Hebrews says, in Hebrews 11:1-2 (NIV)...
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (2) This is what the ancients were commended for.
We don't physically see Jesus standing here with us - but we have seen His power in creation, we have read the facts of His life in God's Word. We have the testimony of those who have gone before us. Our hope is not based on some wish pulled out of the air - but based on fact. The Apostle Paul, one appointed by Jesus Himself, wrote in Romans 8:24-25 (NIV)...
For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? (25) But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
This hope that we have, that has saved us, that is saving us - is a hope that preserves us; that holds us up in the tough times because of our confident expectation in the truth of what is to come. Our hope does not change based on our emotions, on any events around us - no matter how challenging or even tragic...
B. Our hope is secure
That's because our hope, the hope that we can have as Believers is not based on a wish - but on solid, secure truth. Yes, we will have bad days and our emotions may tell us otherwise. Yes, we will have hard times, physical pains and aches, difficult situations and frustrations. Yes, we will even have circumstances that may devastate us; grief and loss and heartache. But it is exactly in those times when hope, based on facts, will carry us through.
We don't have to sit around and wish, "I hope things in the world get better soon". They may - or they may not. And I'm not trying to be negative - but even when things seem really bad; we know it can always get worse. It's been my experience that when one thing goes wrong - everything seems to pile on. But even the worst events of this life do not change the hope that I'm talking about. Our real hope is secure... (Hebrews 6:19-20a NIV)
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, (20) where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf."
Our hope is secure because it is based solely ...
II. Only in Jesus
That is the hope about which I've been talking. My feelings and circumstances will change day to day, year to year - but what Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection does not! Our hope is not based on wishes and dreams - our hope is in the person, the power of Jesus Christ and only Jesus Christ!
There are those who hope they are 'good enough' to get to Heaven someday. There are those who hope there is no Heaven or Hell. There are those who place their hope in different religions, various religious leaders, in religious acts or traditions. Those hopes aren't much more than optimistic wishes. The facts that we have been told in God's truth... (John 14:6 NIV)
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Without Jesus - you have no way, no truth and no life - no hope. Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NIV)...
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (6) who gave himself as a ransom for all men - the testimony given in its proper time.
And this hope in Jesus wasn't just a surprise that came along with the New Testament. This is the Hope that was always there. Jesus referenced an Old Testament prophecy written hundreds of years before His birth from the book of Isaiah in Matthew 12:20-21 (NIV)...
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. (21) In his name the nations will put their hope.
Even King David knew of this hope, from Acts 2:25-27 (NIV)...
David said about him: "I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (26) Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, (27) because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay."
Our Hope is and always has been only in Jesus!
But it's easy to sit here and listen to some guy preach about the 'greatness' of hope. And in one sense, it's even easy to preach about hope. But out there 'in the real world' ... as if somehow 'that', everything outside of the Church building was somehow more real than what we do here. Or that we have two separate lives - 'in the Church' and 'in the world'... I suppose the more accurate way to put that would be - what happens when 'the Church' - us - when we go out and live the rest of our lives in the world?
Do we hold onto and carry this hope that we profess to claim? Or, do we occasionally forget, and place our...
A. Hope in things?
'Of course not - we wouldn't do that - I wouldn't do that...'
But what happens to our faith sometimes when 'things' fail us? What happens to our attitudes when our health fails us? Personally, I'm not good at being 'sick' - I am not a good patient. Even though what Jesus did for me on the cross remains exactly the same - even though my hope of Heaven remains - even though I am still blessed far more than I deserve - I pout. Do I place my hope in things...? Sometimes...
What happens to our faith when we lose a job? When a car breaks down? When a basement floods? When something happens to our kids or grandkids that we can't just fix? What would happen to our faith if everything we worked so hard to save, all of our retirement funds, all of our family, our house, all of our 'stuff' - even our health - what would happen if it all just went away? Would our hope in Jesus be enough for us?
And for some of you - that's not all that far from being theoretical. Do we sometimes put much more hope in things than in Jesus? (1 Timothy 6:17 NIV)
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
A musician by the name of Gavin Bryar was working on a film back in 1971 in London about the plight of homeless people. He said, "In the course of being filmed, some people broke into drunken song - sometimes bits of opera, sometimes sentimental ballads - and one, who in fact did not drink, sang a religious song..." I wanted to play you a bit of the original audio recording but because of copyright law, we'd probably get booted from Facebook.
Gavin Bryar - "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmkC_leNM7M
I'd encourage you to look this up this song on YouTube, "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet" and listen to the long version - it's haunting and beautiful. I won't be able to do it justice, but it goes like this...
"Jesus' blood never failed me yet, Never failed me yet, Jesus' blood never failed me yet, This one thing I know, That He loves me so..." (repeat)
And keep in mind, this unidentified homeless man who sang this had nothing - he'd lost his youth, his home, everything he had... This man lost everything - but his hope in Jesus. I've met a few people over the years that have had that kind of faith - but not many. We usually don't think of ourselves as rich, but compared to the vast majority in this world, we are the richest nation in the world. And I don't say that to make any of us feel guilty. It's not a sin to work hard and prosper or to live in a prosperous nation. I only mention it to remind us of the reality of the temptations with which we are surrounded.
Do not place your hope in things - things will fail you. Our hope in Jesus is real - and when kept in the proper perspective, it makes an...
B. Awesome difference
This hope that we have is supposed to make a genuine, practical difference in how we live. And it's a hope that goes beyond just this life... (1 Corinthians 15:19 NIV)
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
Our hope in Christ isn't just to help us live a nice life here. It's not solely about being a blessing to us - it's not about helping us live a safe, carefree, comfortable life - it's not even about keeping us alive. Many times this hope we have in Jesus will cost us dearly. But it is intended to make a huge, practical difference. (1 Thessalonians 4:13 NIV)
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
We are not to grieve like those who have no hope. We can grieve our losses - but as a people who have a hope that goes beyond this life! In scripture, when Jesus' friend Lazarus died - Jesus was speaking to his sister Martha... (John 11:25-26 NIV)
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; (26) and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
Our hope in Jesus gives us life beyond this life! Even death loses its power! Our hope in Jesus means - Christians don't stay dead! And Paul says (Romans 15:4 NIV)...
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Our hope in Jesus is based on fact, it's secure, and it gives us strength for today and the promise of life even after death! Hope in Jesus makes all the difference! We are a people of faith. We are a people of hope - and hope that goes far beyond just this life.
So What?
Do I always live like I have the hope of Jesus in me? Do you live like you're hoping for Heaven, wishing for Heaven - or do you live with the very real presence of the hope of Jesus in your life? Do you live like you believe in the coming resurrection?
One way you can tell if you have the hope of Jesus in your life...? Do you talk to others about that hope? If you can manage to never talk about Jesus with your family and friends - you may not really understand just what the hope we have in Christ is all about. There is nothing that matters compared to the hope of mankind found in Jesus! Every other hope, every dream, every desire, every wish - nothing matters without Jesus.
Easter is just a few short weeks away. Perhaps it's the perfect time to start a conversation about hope with someone who needs to know Jesus. Take the time to share your hope in Christ! Go SHARE Jesus with someone.