Hopeful Generosity Series

October 4, 2020

Hope Lutheran Church

Sermon Series: “Faithful, Hopeful, Loving”

Psalm 91; Philippians 3:4b-14

Hopeful Generosity

Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

“Give us today our daily bread.” This petition of the Lord’s Prayer is laden with hope. We lift up our prayer to God already knowing that God gives daily bread to all people, even without our prayers. But praying for our daily bread helps us perceive and internalize God’s steady faithfulness. When we do receive our daily bread, we do so with thanks.

Our daily bread. War always seems to bring many orphans with it. World War II was no exception. Repeated bombing raids left thousands of children orphaned and displaced. They experienced traumas no child should endure. By the time they made their way to refugee camps, many of these children had suffered so deeply they couldn’t sleep at night.

Even though they now were sheltered and fed, the traumas had left a mark on them. It was hard for them to let go at night and fall into sleep. They feared that the next morning they’d be homeless again and without any food. Nothing seemed to reassure them that they were safe. Their deep trauma and fears would not allow them to sleep.

Finally, someone tried another tack. When they were tucked into bed, each orphan child was given a piece of bread. And holding that bread in their hands, at last they could sleep in peace. The bread assured them that tomorrow they would eat again. *

That bread was their hope. Tomorrow they would have a home. Tomorrow they would not go hungry. Tomorrow, someone would take care of them. The bread was hope.

Our fall stewardship emphasis is “Faithful, Hopeful, Loving.” Today we focus on the hope component, Hopeful Generosity.

Hope grounds us in promise. That promise opens up the future. Hope is future-oriented. It gives us a tomorrow budding with potential. And because we’re secure about tomorrow, we can live freely and abundantly today.

This morning we hear the words from Psalm 91. The psalmist addresses what it’s like to live in the shelter of the Most High. God will be there for us through all things. The psalmist can rest securely knowing that God is his refuge and fortress. He details all of the possible sources of threat: terror by night, arrows by day. Twice he mentions pestilence. That’s something we’re very familiar with these days with COVID-19! There are the enemies we can see and the very real dangers we cannot see.

In all of these situations, the psalmist takes comfort that God is his protector. He describes the image of a mother eagle spreading her powerful wings over her young. “He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge.”

With eagle cams today, we can capture the protective attention eagles give to their young. In our northern climate, they lay their eggs while there’s still deep snow. The eagles protect their eggs and their young by covering them with their bodies.

The Psalmist didn’t have eagle cams, but he was aware of the tremendous length eagles went to in caring for their young. That’s the image he uses to describe God’s sheltering love.

Hope isn’t mere wishful thinking. Hope is grounded in something very real and very secure. Because we believe in the assurance of this very certain presence, we can look forward in confidence.

What is our anchorage? There are many things we can rely on. Our first instinct is to look within our own resources. We admire the self-made individual. The rags to riches person, the person who has nothing but digs down deep and finds a strength from within, that’s the person we look up to! Self-reliance, personal strength, that’s what we admire!

In our reading today from Philippians, St. Paul tells a very similar story about himself. Paul had it made in spades! Religiously, he was a Hebrew among Hebrews. He lived a blameless life. He’d risen in the ranks of Pharisees. If anyone had scaled the peak of righteousness, it was Paul!

At one time, Paul had derived a great deal of confidence in all these things. It caused him to look down his nose at others. He’d become so zealous in his thinking and his personal rightness that he’d actually become something of a holy terrorist. He sought out and persecuted the new Christians. Paul was the religious police.

But you know his story. The one who sought out the Christians became pursued by Christ. The risen Lord Jesus came to Paul – not in rage and hatred, but in love and grace. Paul came to see a power beyond himself, a source of strength and love grounded in the divine.