IRREPRESSIBLE HOPE
I. “The Source of Hope”
4-6-08
Ken Peterson
1 Peter 1:1-5
TEXT:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade —
kept in heaven for you,
5 who through faith are shielded by God's power
until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)
INTRODUCTION
I heard Dr. C. Kenneth Hall preach while he was moderator of our General Assembly in 1988. He told of driving through a valley in Idaho in his travels, a place he’d never seen. For about 10 miles along the road, he was struck by the seediness of all the homes. These looked like they had been nice homes, but the yards were a mess. No one was cleaning anything up or trimming anything. The houses were in obvious disrepair– porches falling off, fences broken down, paint peeling, and even houses with some shingles missing. He was puzzled by the sudden change in the condition of houses. Stopping for lunch in the next town, he said he asked as tactfully as he could manage, if there was something wrong in that valley. He was told that a dam was soon to be constructed at the end of the valley, and the road and all those homes would be under water. In fact, the homes the people were living in no longer belonged to them– they’d been purchased by the government. That explained it. These houses had no future, so why bother fixing them? Then he made this statement:
Without a hope for the future, there is no power for the present.
We know the truth of that, don’t we? When we don’t believe there is a good future, we cease to hope. And there is probably nothing that drains our energy for life faster than hopelessness. We just feel like giving up. If someone is convinced they are a lousy student and can’t do well no matter what, they have not motivation to even try. If you lose your job and feel there is no hope of finding employment, why put forth the energy to apply for jobs and face further rejection? There are people in marriages who have given up. Our economy has spread a sense of hopelessness for some in their personal finances. Some feel like they are drowning in debt and have just given up on ever trying to get out of it. Maybe a major health battle you face has you feeling like giving up.
Theologian, Dr. J. I. Packer observes, “Today we are surrounded by people drowning in the raging waters of hopelessness.” We know the proverbial saying, “Where there is life there is hope.” But isn’t it a deeper truth to say, “Only while there is hope is there life?” When the light of hope goes out and there really seems to be nothing to live for, life itself becomes a killing burden. Some of you here this morning have accumulated enough disappointments to be afraid to dream, to stretch, to hope for something better. Nothing seems worth the effort. There is no energy, no vigor, and no joy in living.
On the other hand, have you noticed the incredible energy people invest when they buy a new home? They get busy fixing things up, redecorating, landscaping– all driven by hope of what they envision it to be. You see it with the birth of a first baby. Planning, preparing for a major trip or vacation you’ve longed for, is energized by hope. Hope is powerful.
This morning we’re beginning a series of sermons from Peter’s first letter. Hope is an important word in this letter. He is writing to Christians who are scattered and suffering great persecution. This is a letter of encouragement as he weaves the message of hope into the tapestry of faith. Our text today I consider the key verse of the whole letter. Don’t you love Peter’s exuberance in this opening declaration:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead....
THE SOURCE OF HOPE (vs. 3)
Peter roots hope solidly in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That fact enables us to experience a new birth into a living hope. This hope is a gift from God– “a new birth”– supernaturally imparted. It is not something we generate in ourselves through positive thinking. And this is an important point for us to realize at the beginning. Hope is a very important word in the Bible, but it is not used as an expression of wishful thinking like, “I hope we win the game.” It is rooted in solid reality– that reality being God. It is more like expectation in what God is going to do– an expression of faith oriented toward the future. There is no “iffy” quality to Biblical hope. It is based upon the promises of God. We may not know when or how, but there is no question it will happen because God is behind it.
The image of “new birth”(NIV) or “born again” (NASB) gives us the foundation of hope. The proclamation in the New Testament preaching is that Christ’s resurrection means our resurrection right now, in this world– we have brand new life. Paul puts it succinctly in Col. 2:13,
When you were dead in your sins... God made you alive with Christ.
This is where true hope begins. We must come alive to the kingdom of God– a whole new world. Until we receive the risen Christ into our lives, we are all spiritually dead. While we may relate to this world, we are oblivious, unresponsive to the spiritual world– what God is up to. This is not just an extension of this world, it is a totally different world. We must be born into it. Hearing God and knowing what God is doing is not learned merely by study and developing certain skills. It requires a new birth. Our spirits need to be made alive to God’s Spirit. Otherwise it is like trying to listen to a radio broadcast without a radio. The radio waves carrying information are all around you but you are unaware of it and can’t hear the message until you have the right equipment to receive it. That is why Jesus had to come and die in our place to give us new life.
Last Sunday, we worshiped with our son and family at their church in Everett. Their pastor, Nate, shared an interesting story of when he was in East Africa about 15 years ago. He happened to sit next to a man who was Caucasian, and began a conversation thinking he might know English. He found out the man was from the U.S. and had been working in East Africa for three years with the Peace Corps. The man seemed like he was totally discouraged, ready to give it all up. He’d come for noble humanitarian reasons, to try to change things and make a difference. But his hope was gone. He felt betrayed by some of the organizations he was working with. His sending organization had failed him. The corruption in the government was overwhelming. He was heading home dejected, feeling hopeless.
The next day, Nate was riding in a jeep and they saw another Caucasian along the road and stopped to offer him a ride. Nate said he seemed like the happiest, most joy-filled man he’d ever seen. He was a missionary and had been working there for 15 years to improve the living conditions of the people. But he exuded hope and joy. This missionary faced the same corruption, the same kinds of betrayals as the Peace Corps worker. But, his hope was in not in governments, organizations, or people. His hope was rooted in the Risen Christ and His call. And, his perspective was the kingdom of God– and that embraces the eternal. Serving Christ makes all the difference.
Also, the resurrection assures us that our sins are forgiven. Peter uses the phrase, in his great mercy, to remind us of that. In 1 Cor. 15:7, we are told,
If Christ had not been raised, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins.
But Christ has been raised from the dead. It is proof that the sacrificial death of Christ worked– that our sins are forgiven. We are no longer chained to the past, having to make up for what we did. We are forgiven. The slate is wiped clean. We don’t have to fear judgment for any of it. We are in right relationship with God, no sin standing between as we avail ourselves of the ongoing atoning work of Christ. Peter will talk more about this later in this letter.
AN INHERITANCE (vs. 4)
and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you (4)
We have a long-range view of things as believers. In the short-run, there is a lot of bad stuff in our world and lots of injustice. In the long-range, we are assured it will all be dealt with. In the short-run, viewed only from this life, our efforts can appear futile. We can wonder if we really are making a difference. In the long-run, we are assured it is all being kept track of by God and will be rewarded. This is wonderfully motivating.
A number of years ago, a millionaire named Eugene Lang spoke to a class of sixth graders at a school in New York’s East Harlem. It was an inner city school with a broken-down building and low morale. Statistics were depressing: within three years, most of these sixth graders would drop out, join gangs, sell drugs, and enter a life of crime. Many would end up in prison. Many would be dead before the age of 20. Eugene was there to motivate them. But, as he looked at them, his heart broke with the hopelessness and the feeling of despair on the faces of the kids. He put down his notes and made a spur-of-the-moment decision. “Stay in school,” he pleaded. “Stay in school, and I will pay the college tuition for every one of you.” Nearly 90% of that class graduated and went on to college. One boy described it this way: “I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling.”
For all who are in Christ, we have an unbelievable future awaiting us in heaven. That ought to fill our hearts with hope and energy, no matter how bad things look in the present. In fact, the worse things get in the now, the more important that hope becomes to us. It motivates us to live at our best, because it all counts. Paul closes the great Resurrection chapter in 1 Cor. 15 that promises us a bodily resurrection and eternity in heaven with these words:
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (58, RSV)
SHIELDED BY GOD’S POWER (vs. 5)
who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
The Greek word translated “shielded” is a military term which pictures a sentry standing guard as protection from the enemy. As we put our faith, our trust in God, we are shielded by God's power! Now that ought to bolster our hope. If God is shielding us, nothing can get to us to destroy us for nothing is stronger than God.
Certainly there is much in this life that threatens and intimidates. But because of the resurrection we have the opportunity to live the life of an overcomer. Romans 8:11, from The Message,
It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!
If the power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us– each day we can be filled with that life. It produces a living hope. Living things are supple, they are growing, they are adapting to the current conditions. That’s the kind of hope we have in the presence of Christ within us through the Holy Spirit. It can handle each new situation we face– keeping us expectant for what God will do.
I often feel that as believers we haven’t grasped what it means to live in Resurrection power. We know the truth of Christ’s resurrection and celebrate that. But applying that power to our lives through the Spirit remains elusive. As we sit under the teaching of Peter, I trust we will get a better grasp of just what that looks like in our every day living. I believe one of the first fruits of that will be a rekindling of hope in our hearts. Some of our spiritual houses are a bit seedy looking. We’ve sort of settled in for a mediocre status quo. We’ve tried to change some things we know God wants changed, but after a few failures have given up. And frankly, I think discouragement is one of the Devil’s favorite tools with believers.
Often our problem is that we put our hope into our efforts, into a reform program, or into what we think we ought to be doing. Instead, we need to put all our hopes in the Risen Lord and what He is able to do. As Mark Buchanan points out in that quote in the bulletin,
“Hoping for something is very different from hoping in Someone.” [capital “S”]
Fixing our hope in Christ– that Someone– is an active form of faith.
CONCLUSION
Take stock of your level of hope this morning. Are you low on spiritual energy? Do you need a new infusion of hope? You’re in the right place. As we come to the Lord’s Table, ask for a hope transplant in your heart if it is needed.
Two weeks ago, I was sitting here in the sanctuary praying for some people in our church. And, I found myself just praying on the surface of things regarding a couple of situations. The problems felt so overwhelming to me, I was just being rather general in my prayer. And of course, that feels rather boring to me. My mind wandered to what I’d preach on after Easter and I recalled our exuberant text from Peter. I realized I’d quit hoping for much regarding some of these for whom I was praying. I asked God for a new infusion of hope– new birth into a living hope. And, our Risen Lord did give me a new birth of hope as I opened my heart to it. I felt tiny embers of this living hope begin to glow again in my heart. I revisited those situations in my prayer, now with boldness, expectant, hope-filled prayers. And when we do that, prayer becomes much more exciting, interesting, and it opens us to Spirit-given insight.