Where There Is DESPAIR, HOPE
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
This week, we are going to look at: Where there is DESPAIR, HOPE.
Before we start....is God starting to USE you? Intrument of His peace? His pardon, His faith?
Let’s PRAY. LORD...more than info. WE WANT TO CHANGE OUR LIFESTYLES.
Maybe I shouldn’t ask for a show of hands, but how many of you have ever found yourself in a HOPE-LESS situation?
If you’re a CUB FAN or long-standing IOWA fan...you know DESPAIR!
Pr 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick.
DESPAIR is one of lowest places in life.
Depression = despair hope-less-ness. dictionary loss of hope; hopelessness.
You can’t be talked out of despair.
You can’t be cheered up out of despair
It’s dark. storm clouds, gloom, heavy.
In it’s worst cases...death & suicide are serious options.
Some people say that Christians can’t have depression or despair....LOOK AT THIS SCRIPTURE...
Ps 88:13-18 But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you. Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me? From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered your terrors and am in despair. Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me. All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me. You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend.
If you haven’t experienced DESPAIR in your lifetime..PRAISE GOD...but most have and certainly you’ve had people around you who struggle with despair.
SO WHAT DO YOU DO?
Maybe today...you’re feeling DESPAIR. Hope-less. Even suicidal.
You say...what a joke. Here the pastor is talking about ME being an INSTRUMENT OF GOD’S HOPE...I can’t even get out of my own despair.
If that’s YOU. I’m glad you’re here today.
I have good news & bad news for you.
Bad news: COMING TO CHURCH will not break your despair (in some cases, it might make it worse!)
Good news: COMING TO JESUS WILL.Because Jesus is the KING of battling DESPAIR.
Look at Jesus & His Ministry:
The Year of the LORD’S Favor
Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
Isa 61:2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
Isa 61:3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,the oil of gladness instead of mourning,and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
Certainly, God in all His wisdom, knows every generation needs a good dose of HOPE that drives away the DESPAIR.
Every generation has it’s INSTRUMENTS OF HOPE that drive away DESPAIR
Moses. when things are the darkest for the Jews, God sends a humble deliverer
David. When Israel needed a god-centered leader & king.
Peter & Paul & John...each in their own way...giving HOPE to the early church.
FRANCIS & LUTHER, WESLEY & WIMBER: giving HOPE in the midst of dry religion
Even in the secular world..God sends INSTRUMENTS OF HOPE
Lincoln when the nation was torn in two
Roosevelt & Churchill when the world was torn in two
Billy Graham in the turbulant 60’s & 70’s
Martin Luther King & Desmond Tutu in a world of racial war
Mother Theresa of Calcutta when no one else cared.
the list continues....WHERE ARE THE INSTRUMENTS OF HOPE TODAY?
Willing to take on DESPAIR as the enemy it is...and say...DON’T GIVE UP...HAVE HOPE.
so....maybe YOU! ARE YOU CALLED OF GOD TO BE AN INSTRUMENT OF HOPE in a depairing world?
If you believe the answer is possibly YES but you’re afraid you’re not up to the job...let me tell you this...Let’s talk about what AN INSTRUMENT OF HOPE is NOT.
1. Name-it-claim it Christian.
2. Praise God, be happy Christian.
3. If you really loved God, this wouldn’t be happening to you Christian.
4. Let me FIX IT for you Christian.
Ro 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
STEP ONE: Don’t deny the reality of despair. (cry with those who are crying)
STEP TWO: Tell your own REAL DESPAIR & HOPE story.
STEP THREE: Point to God. Be an ICON, not an IDOL.
HOPE...is not a FEELING. It’s a GIFT OF THE SPIRIT. A FRUIT OF GOD’S IN-BREAKING KINGDOM
Ps 33:20 We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.
Ps 33:21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
Ps 33:22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.
Let me tell you a story of William Wilberforce. An instrument of God’s HOPE against DESPAIR
William Wilberforce was born in England in 1759, and first elected to the House of Commons at the age of 21. During his time in Parliament, Wilberforce led the political battle to abolish slavery and its trade throughout the British Empire. He introduced numerous bills to Parliament in the 18th and early 19th centuries, all of which were defeated.
In hopes of persuading the British government to support abolition, Wilberforce and his fellow abolitionists scoured England, collecting evidence of the slave trade’s crimes. As part of this effort, Wilberforce collected 390,000 signatures from British citizens in support of the anti-slavery cause. Finally, after 20 years of struggle, Wilberforce saw the end of the British slave trade when his abolition bill passed by a large majority in March 1807.
Twenty-six years later,just three days before his death, slavery was abolished across all British colonies as well. Despite chronic illness and repeated defeat of his anti-slavery bills in Parliament, Wilberforce persisted in his mission to abolish injustice in the world. For his abiding courage and conviction, Wilberforce earned the title, “conscience of Parliament.”
One of Wilberforce’s friends & mentor was Sea Captain John Newton. He was forced to join the Royal Navy at the young age of 11. After discharge from the Royal Navy, he joined Britain’s prosperous slave trade until a near-death experience in Sierra Leone changed his life forever. As a result, he left the slave trade and converted to Christianity in 1748. Sixteen years later, he was ordained as a priest.
William Wilberforce first met John Newton as a child when Newton was the pastor at Wilberforce’s church. In his twenties, on the brink of a career as a British MP, Wilberforce became re-acquainted with Newton. Wilberforce sought Newton’s counsel at several important turning points during his time in Parliament. On one such occasion, in 1785, Wilberforce visited Newton at St. Mary Woolnoth Church in London.
Deeply discouraged by political life, Wilberforce asked Newton if he should leave politics to join the clergy.
Newton advised Wilberforce that he had been placed in his role as a Member of Parliament to abolish the slave trade.
It was in the House of Commons, Newton offered, that Wilberforce could best serve God.
Wilberforce took Newton’s advice and throughout the rest of his parliamentary career, Newton encouraged Wilberforce to "stay the course" and see his cause through to the end.
Wilberforce also played an important role in Newton’s life. It is likely that Wilberforce’s outspokenness on the topic of abolition led Newton to make his first public confession of guilt over his role in the slave trade.
It was this great change in his life that inspired him to write the lyrics to Amazing Grace in 1772. Upon reflection, Newton declared that, "only God’s amazing grace could and would take a rude, profane, slave-trading sailor and transform him into a child of God."
Let’s sing together...AMAZING GRACE.
Who knows..maybe there are men & women & children here today who are going to be used by GOD powerfully to become INSTRUMENTS OF HOPE against the DESPAIR of our world. PRAY
