BELIEVE: hope RUMC 10-15-2017

BELIEVE: hope

RUMC 10-15-2017

 When I think of hope, I remember the days after watching the Musserville church burn in 1992, being given a box of pew pencils that had somehow escaped the inferno. The Pencils read, “Have faith in God.”

 Hope is walking through the burned out forests at Yellowstone, the charred smell still oozing from the remnants of last year’s fire, to see this sapling beginning to take root.

 Hope is watching the terrible video of bombings and bodies being carried off, and then seeing the image of these children walking with the service man with hope on their faces.

 Hope is being stranded on your roof as many were in Huston and hearing the sound of rescue boats one block over.

 Hope is the sound of sirens in the distance when you suddenly find yourself looking out of a windshield that looks like this.

We “hope” for many things. By that, we mean we want something, but we are just a little uncertain whether we will get it. In the usual sense, hope and wishful thinking are exactly the same thing.

I want to make clear today, however, that Christian hope and wishful thinking are very different. 

•           Wishful thinking is uncertain. Hope is absolutely sure.

•           Wishful thinking is about what we want. Hope is about who God is.

•           Wishful thinking comes from our imaginations. Hope comes from depths of faith.

•           Finally, Wishful thinking is a luxury. Hope is a survival skill.

Hope is a survival skill. Nothing lives without hope. That is why depression is such a debilitating illness; its major symptom is a loss of hope.

 I think we also have to differentiate between Hope and Peace. Two weeks ago, I referred to the Kekchi Indians of Guatemala describing peace as "quiet goodness."

I said that

•           Peace is a quiet sense of goodness in our heart, no matter what is happening outside.

•           Peace is a quiet feeling of goodness in our heart, no matter what the future may bring.

•           Peace is a quiet assurance that God is good, no matter what.

Hope on the other hand, I think, is having quiet goodness when all the evidence leads us to despair.

•           Hope is a quiet sense of goodness in our heart, even when we are consumed by darkness.

•           Hope is a quiet feeling of goodness in our heart, when we are sure there is no future.

•           Hope is a quiet assurance that God is good, even when all the evidence points the other direction.

Consider our ultimate existential crisis: Death.

All living things die. Eventually we will all die.

One way to live is to see that as the end. You can feel the coldness and loss of elasticity in a body. We put the body in the coffin and burry it, confident that there is nothing of our loved one there. It is just a box of gooey organic matter. If that’s all there is, why would we make the effort to take another breath?

 On the other hand, listen to how the Apostle Paul describes this same existential crisis. “Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

  When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory?

 Where, O death, is your sting?”

Flying in the face of the obvious fact of death, Paul sings this song of Christian hope in eternal life with God.

 Think about your life. Think about our world. Think about the things that scare you the most.

•           Maybe it is death.

•           Maybe it is cancer.

•           Maybe it is pain.

•           Maybe it is losing a loved one.

•           Maybe it is losing your job, or

•           running out of money, or

•           Losing your house. Maybe the thing that scares you the most is the prospect of

•           war, or

•           climate change, or

•           economic collapse.

What is it that scars you the most? Think about it. Imagine it. Hope is being able to stand up straight and thumb your nose at the very things that scare you the most.

Let me say that again. Hope is being able to stand up straight and thumb your nose at the very things that scare you the most…but not out of denial or ignorance. The person who dies because they didn’t recognize danger is just a fool. The hero is the person who recognizes danger and rushes in to rescue the child anyway, because that is the right thing to do.

Hope is only hope when we see disaster coming, but cling to God with strong conviction of the quiet goodness of God.

 When everything in the world tells us to despair, and worry, and update our wills; Christian hope gives us a different way to think, a different way to believe, and a different way to live. 

Hope in Christ gives us a different way to think.

Our minds can be our greatest enemy or our strongest ally. When I was a kid, they said you are what you eat. Well, now I know the truth is, “you are what you think.”

You may have heard me talking about “cognitive distortions.” It is a concept that helps me to understand that just because my mind thinks something is true, does not make it true. However, if I believe it is true… if I do not recognize the distortion… I will be duped into believing it and be consumed by its negativity.

•           Seeing only darkness is a distortion.

•           Believing we are in control is a distortion.

•           Believing that only good things happen to good people is a distortion.

But hope in Christ raises us above those distortions.

I am not talking about being a glass half full or glass half-empty person. I am talking about seeing that the important things are not in the glass at all, but in God.

 The apostle Paul describes this different way to think: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”   or “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect

Hope in Christ gives us a different way to think.

            Hope in Christ also gives us a different way to believe. On a day-to-day basis, we have little choice but to believe in the physical world we live in. If I don’t believe that I need to pay my Alliant bill, Alliant Energy will clear up that distortion pretty quickly. We have bills that need to be paid, problems that are waiting to be solved, and people who demand our attention.

If, however, we believe that we are alone in that, we are mistaken. In a 1967 conference called “REVIVING THE POWER OF THEOLOGY OF HOPE,”    Several things emerged, but one key was that if human beings have to face the future alone, all hope is lost. Our hope comes from believing that we do not face the future alone- but with God. Our hope comes from believing that we do not face today alone- but with God. We hope of a future with God because God is already there. We can face tomorrow and even the grave with hope because Jesus has already consecrated the future, and conquered the grave. 

Hope calls us to set aside the self-consumed idea that we are in this by ourselves, and “look to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”

At the end of John 16, Jesus says, “I have conquered the world.” That being said, we don’t have to do it ourselves.

And in Matthew 28 Jesus says, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."  We never have to face the future alone.

God promises, “I will never leave you and never forsake you.”

Hope in Christ gives us a different way to believe because when we believe that we are not alone, it makes all the difference.

Hope in Christ gives us a different way to think.

Hope in Christ gives us a different way to believe

 Hope in Christ gives us a different life to live.

Do you know someone who lives by the mantra, “If you thought today was bad, just wait until tomorrow”? Very few people enjoy being around someone like this. Why? Because we all desperately want to enjoy today and tomorrow! And we NEED to believe that tomorrow can be better than today. 

Paul wrote “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.”

I say, friends, I do not want you to live as those who have no hope.

I want you to live believing that tomorrow may be better than today, but if it isn’t that’s OK, because God is there.

I want you to live believing that healing is possible, but if it doesn’t happen, we will be OK, because God is still with us.

I want you to live believing that God will answer your prayer, but if not, praise God anyway, because God is still with you.

I want you to live knowing that

•           no matter how ugly the world becomes…

•           no matter how badly someone may treat you…

•           no matter how desperate the situation may seem…

•           no matter what today brings …

•           no matter what tomorrow brings…

 We do not live hopelessly like the rest of the world… because we have Christian hope… we have peaceful contentment in our God who is always faithful.

            The psalmist said, “Be strong & take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” Ps.31:24

Bill and Gloria Gather wrote the ultimate song of hope… you ask why I hope… it is because he lives.

 Because he lives, and for no other reason, I can face tomorrow.

Because he lives, there is no other explanation, all fear is gone.

Let’s sing the refrain.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.

Because He lives all fear is gone.

 Because I know, He holds the future

and life is worth the living just because He lives.

Believe: Self Control October 1, 2017

Believe: Self Control

October 1, 2017

 I went to visit my mom and dad when the kids were young. You know my mom. She always had something to eat and often sent something home with me. Most of the time, she had chocolate chip cookies in the house. That day she sent a small container of chocolate chip cookies back for the kids.

Well, on the way home I thought, they won’t miss just one, so I helped myself and rearranged them a little so the container still looked full and no one would know. When I rearranged, there was one cookie that didn’t fit without smashing it, so I had to get rid of that evidence. By time I arrived home, I had rationalized my way through he entire container of cookies.

I got rid of the evidence and thought no one would be the wiser… until mom talked to Amber and asked if she had enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies she sent. BUSTED!

I’d like to say I am not just older, but more mature and self disciplined these days, but the truth is, when Mom gives me chocolate chip cookies these days, she give me a little bag for the car and then one for the family… which I have to put in the trunk so I don’t eat it on the way home.

Chocolate chip cookies, especially if there is ice cream nearby are my kryptonite.

•           Well I guess, I could say the same for ice cream whether there are chocolate chip cookies nearby or not.

•           Actually, I guess I could say the same for any chocolate.

•           Truthfully, I should say not just chocolate, but any desert.

I confess, when it comes to sweets, my self-control is just about zilch! It is almost impossible for me to say “no.”

Maybe chocolate chip cookies and ice cream ate not your kryptonite.

•           But what about potato chips? Lay’s was ingenious when they began their “Betcha can’t eat just one” campaign back in 1963. They’re right. It is hard to say “no.”

•           Chips aren’t a problem for you? Then what about spending? Americans spend on average $1.33 for every dollar they earn. That 33 cents goes on a credit card. The latest I have seen was 4.79% of credit cards are delinquent.  Someone just needs to learn to say no.

•           Or maybe its anger you can’t control. A recent study shows that daily anger is up 50 percent in 5 years.  We just need to get a grip.

•           Or maybe it’s something at work. Showing up late, gossip, and complaining can be just as out of control as my sweet tooth.

•           Or maybe it is alcohol. Now I understand that alcoholism is more than a self-control issue, but a basic pattern of alcohol abuse is just a matter of self-control.

You can probably identify some area of your life in which you lack self-control. Lack of self-control can be hazardous to your health, your emotions, your work, your family, your relationships, and ultimately your relationship to God.

 Does this sound familiar? “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate- I do.”  That is the apostle writing Romans chapter 7about 1950 years ago.

Let me tell you, though, you don’t have to be chained like a prisoner to your urges and lack of self-control. Let me explain how.

 Self-control is the steady capacity to do what you have decided to do, even when you don’t feel like it. You have self-control when you are able to do what you intend to do regardless of internal or external obstacles.

Most human beings are not very good at self-control, but the good news is that’s OK. Because what we lack, God provides. Remember that I said this series is essentially working through the fruit of the spirit from Galatians 5… “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”  Notice; that where your own SELF-- Self-control may be lacking… there is a supernatural self-control that grows out of our life in the Spirit.

What we are really talking about here might be clearer if we get away from the word “self control,” because that sounds like the self is in control. It might be clearer if we use the term a   “controlled self.” It is a matter of taking control of our self out of the hands of the one who can’t even keep from eating too many chocolate chip cookies, and giving control of the self to the spirit who can transform us from a life of self-control to a way of living that is  God-controlled. We have already admitted that we don’t seem able to break the chains of our bad behavior. The good news is God can.

I had us read Titus this morning because it calls each and every one of us to have a God controlled self. He starts out addressing men, then women, then specifically young women, then young men, and then slaves. We are all to live what Paul calls self-controlled lives…what we are calling God-controlled lives. The picture is clear here. Paul lists being even tempered, loving, patient, not drunken, not slanderers (which is the same root word as our word devil, so it means literally not being false accusers) being encouragers, sexually faithful, kind, and having integrity. That is the; picture Paul draws of the person who has a God-controlled self. 

But how do we get there? Obviously, Paul wasn’t there either after all he’s the one who wrote, “What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate-- I do.” That is the crux of this battle between self-control and the God controlled self.

 If you will turn with me to Romans 7 (page 157.) we see in verse 15 that pitiful desperate cry, “what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

Paul continues in that chapter coming to the conclusion that if he wants to do right and can’t, there must be something… some outside force… or some inside force…keeping him from doing right,  that he calls “evil.”

•           For us, the outside evil might be the temptation to cheat on our income taxes to have enough money to buy a boat.

•           For us, the outside force might the temptation to step on our coworkers to get to the top.

•           For us, the outside force might be the pressure of our friends… none of us is that far from the teenagers’ cry. “But everyone else is doing it.”

•           For us, the outside force might be the rampant sexulization of our culture and entertainment and falling into lust, adultery, or fornication.

•           For us, the inside force might be a need for comfort so we eat too many carbohydrates.

•           For us, the inside force might be doing whatever we have to do  -right or wrong- to make sure others like us.

•           For us, the inside force might be a need to not be embarrassed so we would rather lie and cover up our mistakes, or if possible, blame someone else.

•           Or yours might be completely different ---fill in the blank.

Those are the evils that Paul says are close at hand even when we WANT to do the right thing… we seem unable to do it. Turning back to the Bible, we see that he writes in verses 21-24, “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”

But my friends do not lose hope. Immediately Paul’s next sentence is, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

In order to understand that, we have to move on to chapter 8 still on page 157.

 Verse 1, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” He explains this further in verse 5. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

He uses the term “to set the mind on” things of the flesh or to “set the mind on” things of the spirit. Here is the key to the whole thing.

The Greek word translated “to set the mind on,” is

•           more than “thinking about the spirit” it is

•           more than “focusing on the spirit.” It is

•           more than “desiring the spirit.” The root word refers to our diaphragm or the parts around the heart. It combines both the mind and the heart. It is setting the very heart of who we are; (mind, and heart, and spirit) on what is important to us… things of the flesh or things of the spirit. Giving the very heart of who we want to be, mind and heart and spirit, over to what is important to us…things of flesh, or things of the spirit.

The question for the day is “on what are you “setting your heart, soul, and mind?”

Are you betting your whole self in the world you know, the world of pleasure at any cost, the world of success whether it is right or wrong, the world of me, me, me. The world of SELF-ish-ness where our lives are driven by our selfish desires and whims.

•           Or are you placing your whole self in the hands of the God who, in Paul’s terms “delivers us from sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

•           Are you placing your whole self in the love of a God who came to break the chains of our temptation and sin?

•           Are you placing your heart in the hands of the Christ broke the chains of death and can break the chains that keep us from living the way God crated us to live?

•           Are you placing your whole self in the hands of the spirit that Paul says in verse 10 “is life itself?”

  What do you place at the very center of your life… yourself, or the Holy Spirit of God, which Paul describes with these words from verse 14 of chapter 8 page 158. “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ”

The bottom line is, sometimes self-control is just self control--- it is a matter of being smart.

•           If chocolates chip cookies are a problem for you, don’t stock your pantry with them.

•           If getting to work on time is an issue, go to bed earlier.

•           If lust is a problem, don’t keep the swimsuit issue of sports illustrated in your paper rack all year.

•           If gambling is negatively affecting your family’s security, don’t go to the casino.

•           If drinking a little too much is causing a strain in your marriage, don’t keep your favorite beverage in the house. Sometimes it is just that easy. Pick up the chain yourself, and throw it aside. Decide what you want to do, and do it.

Other times though, it is harder. It seems like that little voice keeps coming back again and again. It seems like everything we do provides an opportunity to do what we don’t want to do. It seems like the chains are just too heavy, so they hold us back and hold us down. Often times, the chains bind us to the point that the things we want to do we just can’t… and things we don’t want to do, we just can’t seem to resist.

The only answer is to give up on self-control, and start clinging with all your might to the Holy Spirit of God who gives us a God-controlled- self  by giving us new life and making us new creatures from the inside out.

 A few chapters later, Paul says it better than I ever could. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your (whole) selves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,”

Let the chains be broken--- and let the transformation begin!