A Living Hope

A. One day Lucy and Linus were sitting in front of the television set when Lucy said to Linus, “Go get me a glass of water.”

1. Linus looked surprised and said, “Why should I do anything for you? You never do anything for me.”

2. Lucy replied, “On you 75th birthday, I’ll bake you a cake.”

3. Linus got up, headed to the kitchen and said, “Life is more pleasant when you have something to look forward to.”

B. It is very helpful to have something to look forward to – something to hope for.

1. Many people hope for things that will never happen – for them it was just hopeful thinking.

2. The hope that God offers to believers in Jesus isn’t just “hope so” thinking, rather it is “know so” thinking – it is an assurance.

3. The only reason we call it something to hope for is because it has not yet happened, but the fact that it will happen is certain.

C. Sadly and tragically, many people today are living with little hope.

1. In 1927, a U.S. S-Class submarine was accidentally sunk when it was rammed by a U.S. Coast Guard destroyer.

2. There were 40 men aboard the submarine when it sunk and a number were lost immediately.

3. A significant effort was made to rescue the 6 known survivors trapped in the forward torpedo room who had exchanged a series of signals with the rescue force by tapping on the hull using morse-code.

4. As oxygen was running out the trapped men sent the question: “Is there any hope?”

5. The response they sent back was: “There is hope. Everything possible is being done.”

6. Unfortunately, thwarted by he weather and other factors, the rescue of the six men was not possible and all 40 men aboard were lost.

D. To me, the cry of those trapped men seems to be the cry of humanity today: “Is there any hope?” and many people add to that the additional question: “Is there really anything worth living for?”

1. On a purely human level, there seems to be little hope in the world.

2. Immorality and lawlessness seem to be increasing.

3. Marriages and families are crumbling and disappearing.

4. The world continues to be a place of hatred and anger, unrest and conflict.

5. Wrong seems to be winning and right seems to be losing.

6. The future is characterized as bleak and all we hear about is bad news:

a. If we don’t annihilate ourselves with nuclear weapons, then we surely will by destroying the environment.

b. When we seem to get the upper hand on disease, new diseases pop up, or old ones reemerge.

c. We hear that the American debt and the projected deficits in Social Security are sure to bury the next generation or cause our country to implode.

7. With all this bad news and dire predictions, is it any wonder that many live with a sense of despair and hopelessness?

E. That’s why I am eager to share a message of hope this morning.

1. For if the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead means anything it means hope.

2. The apostle Peter wonderfully cries out in 1 Peter 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you…”

a. We have been born into a living hope - doesn’t that sound great?

b. Our hope is alive, because Jesus our Lord is alive.

2. This has been the testimony and the hope of Christians from the very beginning of Christianity.

3. Listen to the testimony of hope because of the resurrection given by the apostle Paul in a number of his speeches and writings:

a. Acts 23:6, Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.”

b. Acts 26:6-8, “And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?”

c. Romans 8:23-25, “Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”