Hope

Romans 8:24-25

April 19, 1998

by Dave Wilkinson

On April 5th, 1943, a German pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo for activities against the Nazi regime. He had been speaking out against the Nazis, and eventually his words caught up with him. He saw that the church of Jesus Christ was being persecuted and that his country was heading toward the abyss and he decided to do something about it.

Two years later he found himself facing the death sentence. On the day when the sentence was to be carried out, a Sunday, he led a service in the prison which housed men of various nationalities. One prisoner, a British army officer who was also facing the death sentence but was later set free, wrote these words describing the last day of Bonhoeffer's life:

"Bonhoeffer always seemed to me to spread an atmosphere of happiness and joy over the least incident and profound gratitude for the mere fact that he was alive -- He was one of the very few persons I have ever met for whom God was real and always near -- On Sunday, April 8, 1945, Pastor Bonhoeffer conducted a little service of worship and spoke to us in a way that went to the heart of all of us. He found just the right words to express the spirit of our imprisonment, the thoughts and the resolutions it had brought us. He had hardly ended his last prayer when the door opened and two civilians entered. They said, "Prisoner Bonhoeffer, come with us." That had only one meaning for all prisoners--the gallows. We said good-by to him. He took me aside: "This is the end, but for me it is the beginning of life." The next day he was hanged in Flossenburg.

"This is the end, but for me it is the beginning of life." What was it that so possessed this man that at the very moment of his death he could say that? What was the Easter hope that he possessed? Why was he able to cling to it? Why could not even the sentence of death take it away?

As we look at our passage in Romans 8 this morning we will discover that the Christian's hope is placed in our hearts by a living Savior, Jesus Christ.

Now in a general sense, whether you are a Christian or not, hope is what holds us together.

Hope is what gives us the power for life. In the words of Professor Lewis Smedes, "Hope is to our spirits what oxygen is to our lungs. Your spirit dies when hope dies. They may not bury you for a while, but without hope you're dead."

An African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in a zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall.

Impalas need hope. For hope gives us the ability to move forward when we cannot see. Hope is an appetite for good things -- things we don't have yet but we believe are possible.

Now in a general sense, as Smedes points out, we need two things for hope. First, we need a dream. Nobody ever seriously hoped for anything who did not first imagine or dream of what he or she hoped for. I keep a picture of the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge on my office wall as a reminder that every accomplishment starts out as a dream -- whether it is building a bridge or building a church.

On June 28, we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of our chartering as a congregation. As a part of the celebration of that day we will plan to have a congregational meeting for the congregation to vote on a recommendation from the Session that we will start to move ahead on our permanent Christian Education buildings. The Session has been looking at this for several months, has prayed it through, and believes that it is time to move forward. With you help, we will can do it.

Hope requires that we believe that what we dream about is possible. If we don't believe it's possible, we stop hoping, and the dream dies. Hope gives people power to achieve what they hope for.

A well-known Jewish philosopher asked this question about his own people: "How can we account for the survival of the Jewish people through all the exiles and all the persecution?" This was his simple answer: that the Jewish people have survived by the power of hope. In fact hope -- Hatikvah -- is the Israeli national anthem.

Our own nation was also built by the power of hope. No painter ever set brush to canvas, no writer ever set pen to paper, no builder ever set brick on brick, no enterpriser ever built an enterprise without having hope that he or she could do what they were dreaming of doing.

But there is another aspect of human hope and that other aspect is pain. Because there are limits. In real life, human hope can let us down. High hopes can crash on the rocks of reality. And the higher the hope, the deeper the pain.

In fact, many people are prisoners of hope.

For example, consider the high hopes that many people have when they fall in love. They cherish the illusion that they can change the basic personality of the one whom they love. Some people invest a lifetime always hoping that tomorrow is going to be a better day.

You may remember the story about a bride who displayed unusual nervousness at her wedding rehearsal. Afterwards her concerned pastor took her aside to try to calm her. He counseled, "tomorrow afternoon when you start down the aisle there's not all that much to be nervous about. It's a familiar aisle to you; you and your family have been walking it for years. Think about that familiar aisle and it will help get rid of your nervousness. Then when you're halfway down that aisle, look up at the altar and concentrate on it. It also is familiar. You've taken communion at it many times and it's been the central part of your worship. Just think about it as you come down the last part of the aisle. And then when you get all the way down front, look over to your right a bit and you'll see him, the man you're going to marry. Think about him. So there’s really nothing to worry about. Just concentrate on the aisle as you begin your journey down it; then look up at the altar before which you will recite your vows and think about it, and then, when he comes into view, center your attention on him."

When the organ began the processional march the next afternoon, the young bride started down the aisle, her forehead creased in grim concentration. And the people within earshot on either side of aisle were shocked to hear her say over and over again to herself as she walked; "Aisle, altar, him; aisle, altar, him; aisle, ...."

That’s a common hope. But human hope disappoints.

It also happens in business. A person has always dreamed of having his own business. The business is not making it, but he can't quite give up. He can't simply turn his back on the money and time the business has already cost.

Max Gunther writes in his book The Luck Factor:

"I once met a Swiss banker and self-made millionaire who summed up his investment philosophy thus: "If you are losing a tug-of-war with a tiger, give him the rope before he gets to your arm. You can always buy a new rope." There are times in life when you must take a small loss to escape a big one. "You have to know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em." Everyone knows that’s true. But only the lucky seem able to act on it regularly. The businessman can't walk away -- even when his brain tells him "it’s time." The problem is that hope springs eternal. Or as one man put it, "Hope springs infernal."

So what do we do when earthly hope lets us down?

It doesn’t mean that hope is wrong. It means that we have put our hope in the wrong place. Sometimes when hope crashes down and crushes our spirits, we need to find another hope, a deeper hope, a hope that outlasts our broken hopes, a hope beyond all human hoping.

This brings us to the wonderful word, "promise". Because once God gets inside of our hoping, the odds change because now we're talking not only about a focus on what is possible. We’re talking about knowing and applying what the Maker of heaven and earth has promised.

The whole Bible story has really one theme -- the Creator and Redeemer of the world has come and made us a promise, And with his promise, he brings in a new dimension of hope. We hope for a happy ending, for a happy ending to the world, for a happy ending to our lives--which is what we all want. We all want a happy ending, which is why we love fairy tales so much.

Next Sunday during the church school hour Dr. Paul Ford will begin a two week series on the Chronicles of Narnia. I hope you plan to come. The Narnia books are so powerful because they are fairy tales -- but true fairy tales. They are Biblical Fairy tales.

For the tale in the Bible is a tale come true. In Christ there is a happy ending. Jesus is going to win; he's going to make our whole world work right again. Life is going to win. Peace is going to win. Love is going to win because God is going to win.

This promise is what believers hope for in the future. In Ephesians 4 Paul calls this the one hope that belongs to our calling." This is the promise referred to in the funeral service when we speak about the "sure and certain hope of the resurrection from the dead."

Now in Romans 8 Paul has been talking about groans. He says that the creation groans while waiting for our revealing as the sons and daughters of God -- for when we are glorified, the non human creation will share in the blessing. He says that we ourselves groan while we wait for the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to us including the resurrection of our bodies.

But groaning is not the only thing Paul says we do. He also says that we hope -- "for in hope we have been saved."

Hope is one of the really great words in the Christian vocabulary. In 1 Corinthians 13:13 Paul says that only three things will last when everything else collapses. The "big three " are faith, hope and love. Earlier in Romans, chapter 5, Paul connects hope to suffering "... we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

What is different about the Christian hope is that it is what Hebrews calls "sure and certain." It’s not mere wishful thinking. It is sure and certain. As Christians we hope in confidence -- a confidence that is not grounded in the strength of our emotional outlook but on the sure Word of God, who cannot lie.

Let me use an illustration from a pastor named Thomas Terwell to illustrate the certain nature of our Christian hope. Terwell writes: "I spoke in Edmond, Oklahoma, to a conference. One morning at a breakfast meeting, I was surrounded by high school seniors. I turned to the one on my left and said, "Well, how are you doing in your senior year in high school?" The young man said, "Well, I'm not doing so well. I failed several courses, and if I fail one more, I won't graduate. I'll have to repeat my senior year."

I said, "What's ahead for you?"

He said, "Well, I'm hoping to graduate in June, and then I'll go on to junior college,

Then I turned to the one on my right. I said, "Well, how are you doing your senior year?"

He said, "Well, I'm doing all right."

I said, "Are you thinking about college?"

He said, "Yes. I've been admitted early action to Yale University. I'm now waiting to hear from Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology."

I said, "You must be a very good student. Would you mind telling me where you rank in your high school class."

He said, "Out of 600 students, I'm second."

I said, "Boy, you must be a very good student. Do you mind telling me how you did on your Scholastic Aptitude Test, your SAT? (Remember 800 is a perfect score.)

He said, "Well, I got a 780 in math, and I got a 760 in English -- a 1540 total."

I said, "Gee, that's almost as well as I did on my SAT test!" Then I looked at the young man and said, "What's ahead for you?"

And this is what he said: "Well, I hope to graduate in June and then go on to one of the universities."

And I thought to myself "hope to graduate in June! The guy's got it made."

But do you see the difference? One was hoping beyond hope, but one guy was hoping in the sure and certain confidence that he had it made. That’s the kind of hoping we do as Christians who have received the promise of God.

A U.S. News and World Report poll of 1,000 respondents reported in the March 31, 1997 issue revealed which celebrities and public figures Americans think are most likely to go to heaven. Here are the results:

Mother Teresa 79% likely.

Oprah Winfrey 66% likely.

Michael Jordan 65% likely.

Colin Powell 61% likely.

Hillary Clinton 55% likely.

AI Gore 55% likely.

Bill Clinton 52% likely.

Pat Robertson 47% likely.

Newt Gingrich 40% likely

Dennis Rodman 28% likely.

O.J. Simpson 19% likely.

But the number one vote-getter with a whopping 87% is not listed above. Eight percentage points above runner-up Mother Teresa in the survey was the box marked: 'Yourself!" A Time magazine poll, however, found that only 81% believe in a heaven where we can be with God. If polls were gospel truth, then more people are going to heaven than believe in it! Don't count on it.

Some people are hoping beyond hope. But the kind of hope you and I have is the hope rooted and grounded in the cross of Jesus Christ and his resurrection, where we know that no matter what we face in life, God holds onto us.

This is the doctrine theologically that we call "perseverance of the saints." It is the doctrine of the gospel of grace, the doctrine that God holds onto us. Faith is not a matter of how strong we are or how much faith we have, but faith is really a matter of how strong God is.

Paul says, "in this hope we were saved." The words "we were saved" is in what is called an aorist tense in the Greek. It refers to a one time action that is an accomplished fact. If you are in Christ, you salvation is an accomplished fact. Your resurrection to eternal life, while still to come, is guaranteed. Paul says, "In hope we have been saved."

Hope is inseparable from salvation. Our salvation was planned by God in ages past, given in the present, and is now characterized by hope for its future completion. The believer's hope is not based on wishful thinking or probability,

but on the integrity of the clear promises of the Lord. We don’t hope that we might not lose our salvation but that, by our Lords own guarantee, we cannot and will not lose it. This hope cannot fail. It can no more pass away than the Living God can pass away. This hope is living, present, invisible, but as real as you and I are at this moment.

A woman asked a minister to come and pray with her father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. "I guess you were expecting me," he said. "No. Who are you?" "I'm the new associate pastor," he replied. "When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up." "Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?" Puzzled, the pastor shut the door.

"I've never told anyone this, not even my daughter, " said the man. "But all my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head. I abandoned any attempt at prayer." Until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, 'Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here's what I suggest: Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus in the chair. It's not spooky because He promised, "I'll be with you always." Then just speak to Him and listen in the same way you're doing with me right now." "So I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful, though, because if my daughter ever saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."

The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon. "Did he seem to die in peace?" he asked. "Yes, when I left the house around two o'clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour. later, I found him dead. But there was something strange. In fact, beyond strange -- kinda weird. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed."

This old man knew where to place his head. The Word of God is straightforward in declaring that everyone who is saved by Jesus Christ will forever belong to Him. Although it is quite possible for a sinful believer to struggle with the assurance of salvation and with the joy and comfort which that assurance brings, it is not possible to lose salvation itself.

But it is also true that the completion of our salvation is presently a hope and not yet a reality. Paul states the obvious truth that hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? In other words, in this life we cannot expect to experience the fulness of our glorification but only the hope of it. But since the believer's hope is based on God's promise, the completion of our salvation is more certain by far than anything we see with our eyes.

Some years ago, Keith Brown, pastor of a church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, saw a man after church at the coffee hour with a symbol on his lapel; it was the symbol of a bulldog. Not knowing that the bulldog was the symbol for Mack Truck, and not knowing that Frank, this man, worked for Mack Truck, he asked, "Frank, what does that bulldog symbolize?"

Frank got a twinkle in his eye and said, "Well, Keith, the bulldog symbolizes the tenacity with which I hold onto Jesus Christ."

Keith said, "Well, Frank, that’s a wonderful symbol, but you have lousy theology."

Frank said, "What do you mean?"

He said, "It should never stand for the tenacity with which you hold onto Jesus Christ. It should stand for the tenacity with which Jesus Christ holds onto you."

Today would you write in your mind the symbol of the bulldog? And would you remember that Jesus Christ is holding onto you with the tenacity of a bulldog, and he will never, ever let you go.

That’s why you have hope.