"A New Hope"

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! The old is gone we can look ahead to a life of hope. As we turn our lives over to God and seek forgiveness for our sins we are cleansed. Let this be good news to those of us who are used to bad news, expecting to fail, and anticipating the same old same old to happen. The new creation of God in us brings great HOPE in our lives. Martin Luther said, "Everything that is done in the world is done by hope." Without hope we do nothing."

You may say Gwen, "I don’t know hope in my life today. I am so discouraged." It is typical for discouragement to creep into our lives and take root. This week I am going share one more element that makes us Christian. It is hope. Psalm 146:5 says, "Happy are those whose hope is in the Lord their God."

Today, our culture is full of despair. People expect the worst to happen to them. They are not caught up in a sense of holy purpose upon their lives. A popular musician, Alanis Morissette, sings about this in her song entitled Ironic. She says, "Isn’t it ironic don’t you think. It’s like rain on your wedding day. It’s like a free ride when you’ve already paid. It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take. It’s a traffic jam when you’re already late." The melancholy words that spring from the skeptic within us gives us expectation for the worst. Our negative experiences jade us and transform our worldview into a pessimistic outlook.

The Israelites were feeling a similar way when they were exiled to Babylon in 597 B.C. They thought that God had plucked them up and pushed them down: all the way down to their enemy’s camp in Babylon. They were despairing their sense of call as God’s Chosen People. We can all imagine how their faces must have lit up when the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 29:11) spoke saying, ‘"For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’" God did not forget his people in captivity. They were given hope. When we are on our last legs "God-given hope" fills us and changes our outlook. The lies of the enemy are all around us. They are easy to believe but not true. The messages of God lead us to know and discern what is true. We are given a new hope as we are re-created as a new creation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Hope is an element in the marathon runner’s life. This is something that I know a bit about because I ran the Inaugural Salt Lake City Marathon this past month. When I was running along on mile marker say "11" I felt proud and a sense of accomplishment. I felt strong and overflowed with joy. I made it 11 whole miles. Then reality struck me. I still have 15.2 miles to go. A former Olympian, Jeff Galloway, speaks of the mental race that each marathon runner must go through. He calls mental anguish, "gutting it out." He says that this source of strength comes directly from our spirits as we dig deeper into our reservoir of intestinal fortitude. When I got to the grueling miles 18 through 24 I reflected on Jeff’s message and gutted it out. Those miles were long and hard – they are something that I will never forget. The hope of the finish line was before me and I pursued it as one who has hope. In the last mile, I was exhausted. I had to chant rhythmically "I am strong, I am good" in my head to keep myself from focusing on the pain and exhaustion. Jeff Galloway is on to something. "Gutting it out" is a way of life.

We need to dig deeper into the truth of the scripture about us being a new creation and refocus on our status as a new creation. Finding hope in all circumstances may include "gutting it out" spiritually. We all face mile marker 18 through 24 in our lives and need to press even further into God. God is true and believable we need to cling to his promises. Beth Moore said, "As God’s children, we are the recipients of lavish love – a love that motivates us to keep trusting even when we have no idea what God is doing." We are always at a place of growth in our faith because of the work of the Holy Spirit.

One place of growth for Ruth and Billy Graham was their son Franklin’s faith. He was a rebellious young person and did not follow the ways of faith until he became a man. Ruth had many poems and stories of faith that gave her hope for her son who is now the President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. One of such stories was the story of St. Augustine’s mother, Monica, as she prayed for her son. This quest had led her to teach her son prayerfully and carefully during his childhood and young adulthood. She remained faithful through all of his wanderings but did not lose hope. One day shortly after Augustine’s conversion, Monica announced to him that she had nothing left to live for, now that she had achieved her lifelong quest of seeing him come to faith in Christ. Church history tells us that just nine days later, she died. Her hope was fulfilled. Her son had faith in Jesus Christ.

In many ways not losing hope is the same as keeping the faith. God says that it does not take more than the faith of a mustard seed to move a mountain. May we never stop hoping as we face the many difficulties in life.

In preparing for this sermon two women came to mind, Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer. They were imprisoned in the spring of 2001 by the Taliban government in Kabul, Afghanistan. When September 11 took place they were still captive in prison. Early on, Dayna and Heather believed that their imprisonment would somehow result in the saving of many lives. This hope led them to minister to other inmates and their jail keepers. Yet, many days they were fraught with illness, abuse, and lies. They witnessed many beatings and great sorrow. Finally, a Navy Seal Platoon found them and rescued them, swooping them up in a helicopter, to Pakistani soil where they were safe.

One of the men who rescued them said after they got in the helicopter, "I just want you to know that my family and I have been praying for you since the first day you were taken captive, and most of these guys in here have been praying, too. It’s an honor for me to be on this operation and to be used by God to help get you guys out." Their testimony of this event has brought many to know the mercy of God. Heather and Dayna truly were "Prisoners of Hope" (the title of their book) as they persevered.

President Bush in a Rose Garden press conference said, "Heather and Dayna’s faith in God sustained them throughout their ordeal. Their faith was a source of hope that kept them from becoming discouraged. I talked to them right after their release - their freedom, and I sensed no bitterness in their voices, no fatigue, just joy. It was an uplifting experience for me to talk to these courageous souls."

Whatever the circumstance that we are in, God will meet us. God will sustain us in good times and in bad times. The faith that we have in Christ gives us hope that carries us knowing that our circumstances are not all that there is in life and that God sees the big picture. He will come and save.

Words come out of scripture that enable us to know that God loves us and has a special plan and purpose for our lives. The scriptures give us courage and faith to face our circumstance. They lead us to put our trust in God not in earthly things. The great Chicago evangelist D.L. Moody once said, "Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment; trust in money and you may have it taken from you, but trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity." What hope we have when we place it in the most High God.

Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Our God is a God of Hope. He has a plan for our lives. By the power of the Holy Spirit we are drawn into His likeness and given purpose in our daily lives.

We do not have unshakable hope without God in our lives. This is because the circumstances that surround us change constantly. God is the Solid Rock of hope. He is the wonder worker that is bringing about the purposes of our lives. Charles Spurgeon once said, "The same voice that brought Lazarus out of the tomb raised us to newness of life." When we put our hope in the works of our merciful God we are given a reason to live. Let us all take this message to heart so that we will walk in the plans of God and in doing so walk in hope. Maybe you have never heard the still small voice speaking in your life or don’t believe that God notices you. Well, let me remind you today that as St. Augustine said, "God is more anxious to bestow His blessings on us than we are to receive them." God’s love is more than enough to carry us though this life.

Here are some promises from God that I have collected and paraphrased for you:

My people, you will be filled with joy.

Strengthen the feeble hands,

Steady the knees that give way;

Say to those with fearful hearts,

"Be strong, do not fear; your God will come,

he will come to save you."

May you know my comfort in despair.

Believe in me when you are overtaken by doubt.

My faithfulness when all fails you.

I know the plans I have for you says the Lord.

You will be my people and I will be Your God.

Prayer:

Let us pray: Lord, may we live in hope. As discouragement tries to take up residence in our hearts may we turn to you. As we seek you and find strength in you, may we trust you with every aspect of our lives. O Merciful and Holy Lord, we put our hope and faith in You, Amen.