Hope

I thought this morning about being a young child in the store shopping with my mom. I remember walking through the clothes racks and letting the clothes brush against my face playing some game alone with my imagination. I remember going to the mall with them and walking through the old Target store near our home. I also remember a few times when I lost sight of them and panic set in. I perceived myself to be lost. But, they were always near and it always worked out.

I remember my first plane ride. My friend was a missionary to the small tropical island of San Andreas off the coast of Columbia. He invited me to come and visit and preach. When I landed in Bogota, I thought my Spanish was okay until every sign was in Spanish and everyone speaking spoke Spanish or very broken English. I felt lost. But, there was someone there holding a sign with my name on it, who picked me up and drove me to my room and then took me to the airport in the morning. It all worked out.

Paul’s letter to the Christians at Rome is filled with some of the weightiest theology in the Bible. It is filled with things that are a relief of mind as we realize that because of Jesus, it’s all going to work out. It also contains some things that even Peter admitted are hard to understand. Then in the 12th chapter Paul begins answering the question of how we should live because of all that Jesus has done and that God will continue to do. Nestled in his exhortations to practical Christian living is a verse I want to talk to us about today:

Romans 12:12 (CSB)

“Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.”

A simple trio of things that can help us recalibrate our lives if we are feeling lost, or to keep us on track when we know we’re found.

Hope

1. Rejoice in Hope

• Text: Romans 12:12a – “Rejoice in hope.”

• Point: Joy is rooted in hope, not in present circumstances.

• Theological/Psychological Insight:

Erik Erikson, in his theory of psychosocial development, says that hope is the very first basic virtue a human develops. In infancy, through trust vs. mistrust, a child learns that the world is safe, caregivers provide, and needs are met. From this emerges hope—the belief that “even when I can’t see the provision yet, I can trust that it will come.”

• When trust is established early, hope takes root.

• Spiritually, our trust in God is the foundation for Christian hope.

• Psalm 131 gives us a picture of this childlike trust:

Psalm 131 (CSB)

A Childlike Spirit

A song of ascents. Of David.

1 Lord, my heart is not proud;

my eyes are not haughty.

I do not get involved with things

too great or too wondrous for me.

2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted my soul

like a weaned child with its mother;

my soul is like a weaned child.

3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,

both now and forever.

“Instead, I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother. My soul is like a weaned child.”

Like that child, we can rejoice in hope because we know our Father cares for us, even when we don’t yet see the outcome. Jesus says in Matthew 19:14, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”

• Illustration/Application: Rejoicing in hope isn’t about blind optimism; it’s about grounded trust that God has met our deepest needs in Christ, and will continue to meet us in the future. Rejoice! The Christian “hope” is connected to the resurrection of Christ and thus our own resurrection. The promise that even though we will all face the ultimate enemy of death one day, that is not the end! 1 Peter 1:3 refers to “a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” The writer of Hebrews refers to hope is the anchor of our souls both sure and steadfast. We can rejoice!

Optimists say the glass is half-full. Pessimists, that it is half-empty. Hope-filled people rejoice that there will always be water because they have come to trust is the Divine Parent!

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2. Be Patient in Affliction

• Text: Romans 12:12b – “Be patient in affliction.”

• Point: Endurance under pressure grows out of hope, but it also requires continual recalibration of our expectations.

•. The early church experienced rejection and persecution both from the Jews and Gentiles around them. Jesus promised that although “tribulations” in this present world is inevitable, He has overcome the world.

Patience is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. We can have the tendency to want everything now. We become more and more shaped by a world in which we can DoorDash our food, Google answers, and have things delivered by Amazon the next or the same day. The word “hope” in the New Testament has to do with expectation. It is a knowing that something more is coming, something better is coming. That settled knowledge brings patience. We with patience wait for it…