Our Hope is Built on Nothing Less

OUR HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS

Mount Hope UMC

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Romans 15:4-13 New Living Translation (NLT)

⁴ Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.

⁵ May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. ⁶ Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory. ⁸ Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews^[a] to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. ⁹ He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:

“For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles;
    I will sing praises to your name.”^[b]

¹⁰ And in another place it is written,

“Rejoice with his people,
    you Gentiles.”^[c]

¹¹ And yet again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles.
    Praise him, all you people of the earth.”^[d]

¹² And in another place Isaiah said,

“The heir to David’s throne^[e] will come,
    and he will rule over the Gentiles.
They will place their hope on him.”^[f]

¹³ I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

            Today, on the second Sunday in Advent, we light the candle of Hope.  The litany which was read for your hearing says that Isaiah said that there is one who is to come who will be the fulfilment of all our hope.  Isaiah is talking about the Messiah who was to come and he said that the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him and that we will place our hope in him.   The second candle was lit in the spirit of peace and hope to give us strength for the journey.

            The journey before us is the anticipation and hope for Jesus’s return.  Until then, Paul is telling the church in Rome which consisted of Jews and those of other races, ethnicities and cultures, that the Scriptures were written for instruction that they (and we) should be steadfast, persistent, patient because the Scriptures will give us encouragement and hope.  Jesus said that he would return and we hold on to that hope.  We look forward to Jesus’s return, but truth be told, we are afraid of the day he will return.  We don’t know the day or the hour, but I bet there is not one of us who haven’t wondered and maybe even feared that he would come back in our lifetime.  As much as we say we love Jesus, we’re really afraid to meet him face-to-face because we know what we’ve done in the past and what we’re still doing that is just plain wrong.  And we know we won’t be able to justify ourselves, because he knows all about it.

            We are encouraged to live in harmony with one another.  To live in peace.  To live in community regardless of our backgrounds, our color, or our differences.  Jesus didn’t discriminate based on these criteria and neither should we.   This made me think of the song “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone.  I don’t know if some of you recall it.

Sometimes I'm right and I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my song
The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I'm in

I am everyday people, yeah yeah

There is a blue one who can't accept the green one
For living with a fat one trying to be a skinny one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo

Oh sha sha we got to live together

I am no better and neither are you
We are the same whatever we do
You love me you hate me you know me and then
You can't figure out the bag I'm in

I am everyday people, yeah yeah

There is a long hair that doesn't like the short hair
For bein' such a rich one that will not help the poor one
And different strokes for different folks….

            Paul encourages the home churches in Rome to be united because not only is it the example Christ gave, but doing so in one voice (1) glorifies God and (2) he wants them (and us) to accept one another as Christ accepted them (and us).  In the Gospel of Luke in the account of Jesus’ birth, he proclaimed that an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds in the field and said “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you:  You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  This was the fulfillment of the promise; the hope that had become reality; a Savior had come to redeem men from the death, the loss of relationship with God, the death caused by sin.  Then Paul writes, “Suddenly there was a multitude of heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest and peace to all men on whom his favor rest”.  One voice; one message; one hope.  The angels sang in unity, praising God.  See, praise is what we were born to do.  Glorifying God is our purpose.  Oh, don’t make me shout this morning.  We need to just stop sometime and think about the goodness of the Lord and shout “Hallelujah”!  But, I know, it would perhaps be uncharacteristic for some and undignified for others.  Now, that made me think about “Undignified Praise” by Steven Hurd - “I will dance, I will sing and be crazy for my king nothing Lord is hindering this passion in my soul and I'll become
even more undignified than this and I'll become even more undignified than this.”

            See, I’m gonna praise him anytime, anywhere, anyway I can because he just snatched my wretched soul from the jaws of death.  He has set my feet on a firm foundation and I am like a tree planted by the waters – I shall not be moved.  He could’ve killed me a long time ago when I was walking in sin, but he saved me and set me free and I am no longer a slave to anything but him.  Maybe you haven’t had him bring you out of anything, but he has brought me out of abuse, bad marriages, bankruptcy, ignorance…I could go on, but I don’t need to name my sins because he has wiped my slate clean.  What about you?

            Okay, let me get back to the message of hope.  Paul then recites Psalm 18 and 117.  He then recites from the Book of Isaiah to remind the Romans that the Root of Jesse – who is from the line of David – will rise up to rule over the nations and the Gentiles will hope in him.”  He gives the blessing “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him.”  Now, you can’t hope unless you trust in him.  Because trusting in the God who will never leave you nor forsake you, who is always on your side – right, wrong or sideways - will bring you joy and peace.  And when you have this joy and peace you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Won’t nobody be able to tell you nothing because you will know who you are and whose you are.  Remember that old Nego spiritual?  “Can’t nobody turn me around, turn me around, turn me around.  I just keep on walking, keep on talking, marching on to freedom land.”

            Hebrews 6:19 New Living Translation (NLT) assures us that “This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.  It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.”  This hope takes us to the very throne of God.

            Right now, we’re pregnant with anticipation.  We are waiting for the birth of the promise of Jesus’s return.  And when he returns, the dead in Christ will rise first and then those who are in Christ Jesus will be caught up in the air with him.  That’s the rapture – our hope!

            In Psalm 130:5 David writes, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.”  That is what we are doing – waiting on the Lord and prayerfully, we are being of good courage so that our hearts will be strengthened and renewed and refreshed.  But we have to continually lean on, rely on and trust in God’s word.  We have to stay connected to our power source.

            You know my favorite hymn – “My Hope is Built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.  I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.  When darkness veils his lovely face – when I can’t see the forest for the trees; can’t find my way because I’m in the way -, I rest on his unchanging grace.  In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil - the storms of life surround me to the point I can’t feel his presence I still know he is my rock, my anchor, my very present help in times of trouble.  His oath, his covenant, his blood supports me in the ‘whelming flood – Standing on the promises I cannot fall.  Listening every moment to the Spirit’s call.  Resting on my Savior as my all and all.  Standing on the promises of God.  When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.  When he shall come with trumpet sound, oh may I then in him be found.  Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.  On Christ the solid rock I stand.  All other ground is sinking sand.  All other ground is sinking sand.

            I don’t know about you, but I’m standing on Isaiah 40:31 – “and those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not be faint.”

            Put your hope in Jeremiah 29:11 – “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.”  Before Jesus came, there was no hope of salvation; no hope of being with God in heaven.  No hope.  Hopeless.  Desolate.  No relationship with our Creator.  Abandoned (but not really).  You ever punish a child with silence or give someone the silent treatment?  You still love them and care for them, but you give them a taste of what being without you is all about.  Then they cry out and ask for forgiveness and then all is forgiven.  I think God sometimes does that with us, but we who are in Christ Jesus know that God has not abandoned us.  He may not come when you call him, but he’s always on time, isn’t he?

            Or put your hope in Colossians 1:27 – “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles (that’s us, church) the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of gory.”  The hope of glory is that the glorious riches of the mystery is that Christ lives in us, the Gentiles.  He was not given just to the Jews, but also to us.  For that we should praise God.

            Romans 5:5 is comfort that says, “and hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”  It doesn’t matter that unsaved folk think we are foolish for believing in a God we can’t see, touch or hear.  We should never be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because just as it transformed us, it can transform that unsaved soul.  That is our mission and our hope is built on nothing less.

            See, I know what he’s done for others.  Abraham, the model of faith, who was a friend of God, had hope and it was counted to him as righteousness.

            Hannah had hope and even though they thought she was drunk when she cried out to God in the temple, God answered her prayer and she brought forth Samuel.

            The Jews had hope for a savior and God came down to humanity as Jesus and walked among us.

            See what he’s done for others, I know he’ll do for me and for you.  I hope for nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.  What have you built your hope on?