The God of Hope

Based on Jeremiah 31:31-34

Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr

            As you know, Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day. This day has become an excuse for people to drink an excessive amount of alcohol, wear green, and celebrate all things Irish. No Irish person in America back in the 19^th century would have had any idea how much Irish culture would be celebrated in this country. Back then, Irish people were fleeing Ireland which was being ravaged by the potato famine. For survival, they risked the trip across the Atlantic Ocean to come to America, a place where they hoped they would be able to carve out for themselves a better life.

            I am sure that it was better for the Irish over here than it was over there. But that doesn’t mean it was a great life for Irish people. The bigotry they experienced from the English didn’t magically disappear on this side of the Atlantic. The Irish in America were widely discriminated against. They were driven into ghettoes, prevented from anything other than menial labor, and stereotyped as drunks, crooks and disease ridden. It was a brutal existence.

            But the Irish that came over to America kept carving out a space for themselves. They clung to the hope that one day their children and grandchildren would have a better life. I doubt if anyone told their kids that one day an Irish Catholic would be president, or that the Chicago River would be dyed green and there would be parades celebrating Irish culture all over the country. But there was hope that one day the Irish would claim their place in the American experiment. There was hope that future generations would thrive in this land of promise and possibility. Hope is what kept them going during those times of turmoil in 19^th century America.

            There was a time several years ago when Kim and I were facing financial ruin. We took advantage of access to easy credit, loaded up our credit cards, and then found ourselves struggling just to make the minimum payments. We seriously contemplated filing for bankruptcy. It was stressful. All that debt weighed very heavily on us. But we had hope that eventually we would claw our way out of this mountain of debt. Slowly but surely, and with the surprising windfall we received from my mom’s sister when she passed away, we were able to get out of that hole. It was hope that our finances would some day recover that kept us making the sacrifices necessary to get to a better place.

            This is the power of hope. In times of struggle and turmoil, when it seems everything is against you, the obstacles are too great, the breaks never come your way, that despair is lurking to pull you down into the abyss. But hope…hope is what has the power to lift you up and pull you forward. Hope is what keeps us believing that one day things will be better.

            Israel found themselves in a terrible situation. They were in need of some hope. Jerusalem had been razed to the ground. The Temple, the center of Israel’s religion, the place where God dwelled, had been torn down stone by stone. The best and the brightest had been herded to Babylon to live in exile. Everything was in shambles. God’s chosen people had lost the land God had given them. It appeared they were a God forsaken people. It was a time of unspeakable loss.

            Israel knew it was their fault. They knew that as a people they had failed in their loyalty to the God who had once delivered them from slavery in Egypt. They didn’t keep God’s commandments. They worshipped other gods. They oppressed the widows and orphans that lived among them. They knew that God was punishing them for their overall failure to be faithful and obedient.

            But this was bad. I mean they were decimated. Their future looked really grim. The question had to be asked; has God forsaken us? Do we have a future? I imagine that there was a real concern that a line had been crossed. Perhaps there was no return. Maybe God was through with them. They would die off in Babylon. God would go choose another people who would be more faithful. It was just a matter of time before Israel would fade away into the dustbin of history.

            So Jeremiah went into action. He offered his people a word of hope, a promise that Israel does have a future. Jeremiah told the people that God has not given up on them. God is faithful. God’s love is steadfast. And this is what God will do at some point in the future. God will write the law, not on tablets of stone but on the tablet of the heart. In that day everyone will know God, not just in their heads but in their hearts. Israel will intuitively know what is the right thing to do. Their hearts will be in the right place. And God will forget the sin of Israel. It will be a fresh start. God will see to it that the people will know God and live the right way. Never again will the people be punished for their rebellious hearts because God will make their hearts right. God is bound and determined to have a people who will love, be faithful, and obedient to God’s commandments.

            Now Jeremiah tells them this is what God will do in those days. That’s an open ended time period. He didn’t give a specific time of when God would do this. And to be honest what Jeremiah said would happen still hasn’t come to pass. God hasn’t written the law on the heart of Israel. The future society that Jeremiah described was a vision of utopia, a perfect society that has not been realized. Utopia doesn’t exist.

            So did Jeremiah give Israel false hope? I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right to say that a prophecy from God would in any way be false. Maybe this vision that Jeremiah presents to Israel will some day come to pass. Sure, this vision was given to Israel perhaps 2500 years ago. Who’s to say that this vision won’t become reality 2500 years from now?

            Whether or when this vision becomes reality, maybe the more important point is that God will not give up on Israel. This is what Israel needed to hear in their time of turmoil, that all was not lost, that God still loved them and had not written them off. Israel needed to hear a word of hope so that they would not fall into the depth of despair. And God, through Jeremiah, gave them that word of hope. They had a future. Things will get better. God will make a way for them.

            Skipping ahead about 500 years, Paul was writing his letters to the churches, sometimes while sitting in a jail cell. He wrote about faith, hope, and love. We talk a lot about faith. We talk a lot about love. But let’s not forget about hope. Sometimes hope is what we need to get through tough times.

            In life we sometimes find ourselves in terrible situations and wonder if there is any hope. All the options are bad. The goal you set for yourself appears way out of your reach. As you lay awake in the middle of the night and run through your mind all the conceivable possibilities to get out of the jam you’re in, nothing seems to work. The problem is so big, so much out of your control, there’s nothing you can do to fix it. There’s no hope.

            Maybe there are times when we are in hopeless situations. If you are Alabama and you are down by 20 points against Villanova and there’s only 2 minutes left…you are not going to win that basketball game. If you have a D grade in English and the last assignment for the class is a final essay, I don’t see how that essay will be good enough to get you an A if that is your goal. Toys ‘R Us discovered that their business model of big box stores to sell toys in an era of online shopping was hopeless. If you are supposed to be in San Diego this afternoon to attend your friend’s wedding but all the flights at Boston Logan, where you are, have been cancelled because of a blizzard…you aren’t going to make it to San Diego that day.

            But just because we find ourselves in hopeless situations does not mean there is no hope at all. God is known by many names. And one of the names for God is hope. God is a god of hope. God is always with us. So we always have hope, even in hopeless situations. God is always engaged, opening up new possibilities for our lives. We are sometimes in hopeless situations. But in life there is still hope because there is still God making a way out of what appears to be no way. With God there is always hope.

            When Jeremiah gave to Israel that vision of hope, he didn’t tell them that everything would go back to the way it used to be. He didn’t say there would be a rebuilt Temple and a restored Jerusalem. He said that what God was up to was establishing a new covenant. Now in some ways the covenant is the same. God is still the one who initiates it. God is still committed to Israel. God still has commandments that need to be followed. But in other ways the covenant is different. The law will be written on their hearts. All their sins will be forgiven and forgotten. No one will have to teach them to know God because everyone will intuitively know God. God will still be their God. They will still be God’s people. But it will not be the same. You might even say that what God is up to is establishing something better. God is establishing greater possibilities for covenant faithfulness. There is where the hope rests, not in the repeating of the past but the establishment of something different, something new, something better.

            This is what hope is about. Hope is about trusting that things will be better some day. Being better means they won’t be the same. Things will be different. Not a copy of the glory days of the past. Not the realization of some utopian fantasy. But things will be better than they are now. Some how and some way God is going to work it out, open up new possibilities that brings about better outcomes, life that is more flourishing, community that is more aligned with God’s desires. This is what hope is about, trusting that tomorrow will be better than today.

            Jerry was living a good life. He was working in management, making a six figure income. He had a family. He was achieving his life goals. But then he got tripped up with addiction. He lost his high paying job. Then he lost his marriage. Then he lost his car. He kept losing until he found himself without a safe place to lay his head. He had spent time in the city’s shelters. It was in those shelters where he had to deal with people who were not properly treated for their mental health issues, where he had his stuff taken, where he caught some weird illness that compromised his lungs and put him in the hospital for a few months. He would have nothing to do with the shelters anymore. So at night he would slip over to the public library and get between the outside walls and the hedge to bed down for the night. In the morning he would rise, gather his things and slip away before the library opened.

            Jerry was hurting. He had lost so much. From living well to struggling on the streets in such a short period of time was incredibly hard to adjust to. It was the way people looked at him, or, more accurately, didn’t look at him, that hurt the most. It was humiliating. His will to keep going on was severely tested. He wondered if his life even had any meaning. There were nights he wished he didn’t wake up the next morning.

            Nevertheless, Jerry didn’t forsake the faith he learned as a child. He didn’t understand why this had happened to him, but he didn’t give up on God. Over time, he began to appreciate the little things. He became a humbler person. And one day he came across a pastor who didn’t just blow him off. The pastor took him to Wendy’s where they could have a bite to eat and begin to build a relationship. The pastor helped Jerry any way he could. Someone in the pastor’s church had a spare bedroom and was willing to take Jerry in. As the weeks and months passed, Jerry’s life stabilized. His life on the streets had taken a toll on his health. He still was having to work through some of the trauma he had experienced during his time of spiraling down. But he was in a different place, a better place. And Jerry gave the glory to God, who he believed watched over him and kept him alive during his most difficult times. God had brought him to a better place.

            This is our hope, that God never gives up on us. No matter what we go through in life, God never forsakes us. We don’t know how things will work out or when things will turn around. But if we can just hold on and trust that God is with us, then there is hope. And to have hope is not a small thing when everything around you is falling apart and you have lost so much.

            Please join me in prayer with these words from Paul’s letter to the Christians living in Rome: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13) Amen.

The Healing Power of Christ on the Cross

Sermon

March 11, 2018

Fourth Sunday in Lent – Year B

Based on John 3:14-21

The Healing Power of Christ on the Cross

Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr

            Have any of you been snake bitten before? How about a spider bite? Bee sting or wasp sting? Those hurt don’t they. The sting is painful enough, but as the venom starts working its way through your body, the pain gets worse and worse. For some, the body reacts to those stings and bites so badly that if they don’t get medical treatment quickly they may die. The sting is bad enough. But that poisonous venom, that’s what really hurts.

            Sin is sort of like getting snake bit. I believe that’s what Jesus has in mind when we hear these words from John 3. Jesus compares his saving work to when Moses lifts up a bronze serpent in the desert. Sin and being snake bitten go hand in hand. You see, sin is more than just doing something bad. Sin is more like poisonous venom that lingers in you and will harm you, even kill you, if an antidote isn’t applied. Sin is like snake venom coursing through your veins.

            When Jesus talks about Moses lifting up that bronze serpent in the desert, he’s referring to this story we find in Numbers 21:4-9:

            From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” Then the Lord sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live.” So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

            We can see how Jesus takes this story from Israel’s past as a symbol for what happens when Jesus is lifted up on the cross. The bronze serpent, when gazed upon with faith, brought healing. Just so, Jesus, the one who took on himself all the sin of the world when lifted up on the cross, brings healing to those who look on him with faith. They receive healing from the poison of sin. Yes, Jesus was lifted up on the cross so that no one might perish, but have everlasting life.

            This is the good news of the gospel! We can be healed from the corrupting poison of sin by looking upon Jesus and believing in faith that he can heal us. There is healing for our sin-sick souls. All who look upon the crucified Jesus in faith will be healed.

            Yet, so many people refuse to do this. So many people refuse to acknowledge the depth of their sickness and their need for healing. They know their lives aren’t right but they don’t realize how messed up they really are. They think that if they just try harder, that somehow everything will work out all right. Most of you have heard of Alcoholics Anonymous. The program has twelve steps toward recovery. The first step in the program is to acknowledge that you need help, that you don’t have enough power to help yourself. Many people acknowledge that their lives are a mess. But they will not acknowledge that they need help. It is hard to admit that you are helpless, that you can’t do life by yourself. We don’t have all the answers. We don’t have enough strength. We can’t make it through life on our own. We need help. The first step toward healing, whether it be from addiction or from sin, is to admit that you need help.

            What today’s scripture teaches is that those who admit that they are powerless over the effects of sin, and are humble enough to stand in the glaring light of God’s truth, warts and all, trusting in the healing power of Jesus, that they will receive healing from the poison of sin that is ruining their lives. This is such a crucial step, to humbly stand before Jesus, completely vulnerable, aware of how sick you are, hoping that Jesus won’t reject you but will heal you. John Wesley spoke of the “almost Christian.” An “almost Christian” is one who believes that Jesus saves us from sin. But the “almost Christian” has not become humble enough to stand before Jesus, fully aware of how much they need to be saved, and trusts that Jesus can heal them. An “almost Christian” believes Jesus can heal. A true Christian believes that Jesus is healing them.

            It is hard for us to admit how bad it is, how sick we really are. It is hard to let the light of God’s truth shine on us, in those dark places where we try to keep things hidden. We try to avoid being honest about how messed up we are by thinking to ourselves, “I’m not that bad a person.” We wouldn’t say we were as pious as Job but we are good people. But let’s look at Job for a minute. Job was so pious even God was bragging about him. But when the time of testing came, eventually, Job grew angry with God. The testing revealed in Job the sin of pride. Job could not understand why God was letting this happen to him. He didn’t deserve it. He demands of God to explain Himself. Then, God finally answers Job by blowing him away with a string of questions that reveals to Job how arrogant he was. The light of God’s truth shined brightly on Job. But instead of being defensive, Job recognized he had messed up. Job said to God, “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. I had heard of you, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” In spite of how pious he was, so pious God himself was bragging on him, the glaring light of God’s truth made him realize that he was not well at all.

            Dorotheos, a great spiritual teacher from many centuries ago, taught from experience that the closer we draw to God, the more evident it becomes to us of how sinful we truly are. We all live with blinders on, even those of us who have given our lives to Jesus. We have heard and believed the gospel, but have we seen God? If we did, would we not realize just how corrupt we still are? Surely, like Job, we would despise ourselves and repent in dust and ashes if we stood before the glaring light of God’s truth. We would beg to look upon the cross of Christ and be healed from the poison of sin coursing through our veins.

            We have to let the light of God’s truth shine upon us. It will be painful. Like all of you, I believe in Jesus. I trust in Christ alone for my salvation. But when the searchlight of God’s truth gets flipped on, I join Adam and Eve and run for cover! Am I the only one? How hard it is to be completely honest before God and acknowledge how sin sick we are, even as believers. In Psalm 26:2, the psalmist sings, “Prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and mind.” How many of us would want to endure that kind of test?

            For many of us, including me, we have to increase our trust in the power of Jesus to save us from our sin. We have to trust not in our own goodness, but rather trust in God’s mercy, who sent Jesus to be the one who can draw the poison of sin out of us. This is the good news for us: we can’t save ourselves, but God can save us. God has provided the remedy for the sin sickness that is killing us. We can look upon the cross and be healed, believing that if we look on the cross and trust in the healing power of the cross of Christ, that we will have everlasting life. The poison of sin is drawn out of us when we gaze upon the cross of Christ. That is what Jesus taught. And it is a mystery. We don’t know how it works. But it is what God has revealed to us. The cross of Christ is the means by which we are healed from sin. The more we can truly believe that with all our heart, the more we are able to let our lives stand before the bright spotlight of God’s truth and be able to say, “Do not look on my many sins, but have mercy on me, O God, in your loving compassion, and save me.”

            I know it can be scary. It’s scary to acknowledge that we are hopelessly messed up. It’s scary to confront the painful truth of ourselves. It is scary to acknowledge that our lives, which may last seventy, eighty years, even longer, are but a puff of wind, a flower that blooms during the day but at night dries up and withers away. It is scary to admit that all our hopes and dreams, our successes and disappointments, our goals and plans, are but a flash in a pan. The years of pain, rejection, and abuse we are inflicted with, the wearing away of our bodies, all leads to death. It’s scary to admit that we are going to die.

            Sarah Foulger offers a powerful perspective on this. She finds it interesting that God has Moses make a bronze serpent, that which the people feared most. The people didn’t want to see poisonous snakes. They were frightened of them. Those poisonous snakes were the source of so much death. But, if they could muster up enough courage to gaze upon what they feared, the poisonous snake, then they would be healed. If they could confront their fear, and realize that the power of God can overcome what they fear, then they will be healed.

            Foulger makes the connection for us. We fear rejection. Christ was rejected. We fear pain. Christ suffered. We fear being abused. Christ was abused. We fear death. Christ died. As we gaze upon Christ on the cross, we realize that our fears of abuse, pain, suffering, rejection, even death, can all be overcome because we can know that God does not condemn us. God does not condemn us, God loves us. God does not reject us, God forgives us and claims us as one of His children. We come to realize that God’s love for us is steadfast. Nothing can separate us from God’s love except our own choice. We discover that the poison of abuse, suffering, rejection, and death, has lost its sting in Christ who conquers. We need not be afraid of anything, because perfect love casts out fear. And to live without fear is to live a full and abundant life.

            This is the gospel. We can stand in the glaring spotlight of God’s truth, and allow our life, our thoughts, our deeds, be tried by God. And we can be assured that we will flunk that test. Yet, God loves us anyway because God knows of what we are made. God knows that we are but dust and ashes. We can be assured that God loves us, in spite of our many shortcomings. We can always look upon the cross of Christ and be healed.

            I invite you to pray with me:

For God alone my soul waits in silence;

From him comes my salvation.

He alone is my rock and my salvation.

My fortress; I shall never be shaken.

On God rests my deliverance and my honor;

My mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

Trust in him at all times, O people;

Pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us.

            - portions of Psalm 62