Scripture: Titus 2:11-13.
This years week of prayer readings are on the theme ‘journey of hope’. As I have read through these readings over the past couple of weeks I have been impressed again and again with the value and need of hope. The message that comes through clearly from the various biblical characters in the readings is that hope is not an event, but an experience, a journey. The opposite of hope is hopelessness. There is nothing as empty and shallow as hopelessness. We are very blessed in Greater Sydney to operate the ADRA Centre at Blacktown. The volunteers who work and minister in this centre come face to face with hopelessness on a daily basis. For these people, the hope and faith of the volunteers is an elixir to the sickness of this world. Hopelessness. I pray that as you share in these readings that you will drink deeply from the well of hope, and that as you do so, that this hope will flow out of your lives into the lives of the people you rub shoulders with on a day to day basis. Our reading for today speaks of Eve, and has the byline of Hope Ignited. I believe that Eve had a very clear picture of what hope was, and then, beyond any shadow of a doubt understood complete and utter hopelessness. In the midst of her hopelessness she found hope. Hope was ignited in her soul in a way she could not have dreamed possible. God was able to plant in her soul hope, hope that there was a way out of the terrible mess that she created, hope that there was a way to recover that which she had lost, hope that she could see her Father face to face one day.
The Danish philosopher, Kierkegaard, tells a parable of a theatre where a variety show is proceeding. Each show is more fantastic than the last, and is applauded by the audience. Suddenly the manager comes forward. He apologizes for the interruption, but the theatre is on fire, and he begs his patrons to leave in an orderly fashion. The audience think this is the most amusing turn of the evening, and cheer thunderously. The manager again implores them to leave the burning building, and he is again applauded vigorously. At last he can do no more. The fire raced through the whole building and the fun-loving audience with it. "And so," concluded Kierkegaard, "will our age, I sometimes think, go down in fiery destruction to the applause of a crowded house of cheering spectators."
It seems as though every week that goes by in recent years reveals another reason why, without Jesus, hope continues to evaporate. Let me try some words on you and see what connotations they have in your mind. Lebanon. Hezbollah. Airports and Toothpaste. London. Terrorists. We have become so complacent with the fact that there is another war, or another bombing, or another air disaster, or another natural disaster that we have been essentially desensitised. On one hand we are desensitised, but on the other we simply become disconnected from the world in which we live, because if we thought about the possibilities and potentialities we would build a bunker and hide from the world. In reality this is not possible; in reality we have a mandate. In reality we have hope, we often call it “the blessed hope”. We have been charged with the mandate of taking that hope to a world that is immersed in hopelessness. The other thing that seems to be grabbing our attention is a desire for increased and greater security measures and the need to prepare our country to cope with terrorism. I believe that people in this world today are looking for both security and hope. This focus on security seems to have increased at a similar rate to petrol prices, and now interest rates.
In the midst of this, life goes on as normal, or does it. I would like to reflect on a passage that will be familiar to many of us. Matthew 24:37-39. This is an important passage of scripture. Life is going on as normal. People are getting married, having children, burying loved ones, going to work, coming home and so on. There is no problem with this, we need to live our lives and be a part of the society in which we exist right up until the time that Jesus comes again. It is the next part of the verse that is the challenge. The challenge comes that one group of people are prepared and ready for this event while the rest of the world lives their lives oblivious to the soon coming of Jesus. This is what Noah and his family experienced, is it what we are experiencing today?
There are two major challenges. Firstly is the possibility that there are some here this morning are blasé about the situation that the world is in. These people are like the people of Noah’s day who heard the message, and maybe even helped build the ark, but still chose not to respond to it. This reminds us of the parable of the ten virgins. The parable of the ten virgins tells us about ten Christians who are waiting for Jesus to return. In this parable we find that five of these Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit and are prepared and waiting for His return. The issue is that the other five have let there flame go out, and they have run out of the oil and are not ready and waiting when Jesus comes. In our reading it makes a statement that says the one of the most serious threats we confront is losing our sense of expectation, and that is exactly what happened for five of these Christians in this story, they lost their sense of expectation.
The second problem is that the majority of the people who live in your street are ignorant to the fact that Jesus is coming again, and they will be swept away just like the people in Noah’s day. Some of these people will have heard the message and have chosen to reject Jesus, but there are many people in your own street who have never heard the gospel of Jesus presented in such a way that they have been drawn to respond to Him.
How is it that we can move from our busy yet comfortable lives to have a passion for seeking the lost? As local churches we have much to be proud of in how we interact with the community, this church is blessed to have the witness of the SAN in its backyard and that certainly helps break down barriers and prejudice. The question remains, are we content with the difference that we are making in the city of Sydney and the suburb of Thornleigh or are the needs outstripping our ability to make a difference? I was sitting in a meeting the other day and the question was posed, what difference would the community notice if the Seventh-day Adventist Church closed its doors and ceased to exist? That is a big question isn’t it. The question is what impact are we making with the gospel of Jesus? It’s a scary question, but I believe that it is one that every member, every pastor and every church board must wrestle with. What difference are we making in our local community?
I want to take you to a favourite passage of mine. It is a passage of Scripture that has been on my heart for nearly 20 years, and yet I don’t think I have spoken of it publicly more than a couple of times. It is also a scripture that we don’t often spend a lot of time speaking about as Seventh-day Adventist’s. This passage is often lost as we focus on Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4. Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3. If we get a little technical with v3 we find that ‘peace and safety’ are in the present tense. This would indicate that when people are living with an unrealistic sense of security around them that sudden destruction will come upon them. The comparison with child-birth brings through the thoughts of inevitability and suddenness. On another level it speaks of the peace of spirit that the believers will have in the midst of the trouble that the world is facing all around them.
1 Thessalonians 5:4, 8-10. The truth of the matter is that we are engaged in a battle. Satan is doing all that he can to distract us and to draw us away from Jesus. We know that Satan is a defeated foe, therefore we should not fear him. As with any battle we need to keep our wits about us, and we need to be alert and on top of things. We are called to be children of the light. We are called to enter into the Salvation that is offered to us freely.
In addition to hope, I would also like to briefly explore the topics of Personal Salvation and Seeking the Lost, because I believe that these three things are inextricably linked.
I believe that the thing which will fire up our passion for reaching the lost is a focus on our own spiritual journey. We need to build our own spiritual journeys as well as being outreach minded. It is so easy in life to get caught up with things, to get caught up in being busy, even being caught up in doing good, that we can neglect our own journey with Jesus.
Something that really inspired and challenged me during camp in South Queensland last September was what happened on the final Sabbath morning. On the Friday night the winds were gale force; in fact many people packed up and went home when it all flared up. Anyway, the wind snapped a couple of metal ropes and the teen tent came down. As a result of this, the teens came over to youth, and so we had a Teen Sabbath School program, and a Youth Church service. One of the amazing things that the assistant Youth Director, Richie Reid did with the Teens this year was to introduce a time for personal testimonies. It was just wonderful to see teenagers, young teenagers standing up in front of 1500 or so peers and telling them what Jesus had done in their lives during camp. This reminds me of Luke 11:33. Let me ask you, what are you doing to let your light shine? What are you doing to testify to Jesus in your life?
Our focus should not be so much on world events but on Jesus Christ and him crucified. More than this, what are we doing to share this wonderful news that we have with those around us?
The theme of our current week of prayer readings is ‘Journey of Hope’. There are some wonderful presentations on what hope is and what it means in our world today in these readings. I hope that you take the time this week to engage with them and be challenged. But before you have that opportunity I want to ask you, ‘what is hope’? When we speak of hope what are we saying? The dictionary definition of hope is “A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfilment.” Another dictionary puts it this way, “Hope is a desire for something to happen, while expecting or being confident that it will come true. Hope also implies a certain amount of perseverance, believing that something is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary.”
According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, hope is one of the three main elements of Christian character. It is joined to faith and love, and is different to seeing or possessing. "Hope is an essential element of Christian life that can describe the essence of Christianity. Christ is the actual object of the believer’s hope, because it is in his second coming that the hope of glory will be fulfilled.
The school system in a large city had a program to help children keep up with their school work during stays in the city’s hospitals. One day a teacher who was assigned to the program received a routine call asking her to visit a particular child. She took the child’s name and room number and talked briefly with the child’s regular class teacher. "We’re studying nouns and adverbs in his class now," the regular teacher said, "and I’d be grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn’t fall too far behind."
The hospital program teacher went to see the boy that afternoon. No one had mentioned to her that the boy had been badly burned and was in great pain. Upset at the sight of the boy, she stammered as she told him, "I’ve been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs." When she left she felt she hadn’t accomplished much.
But the next day, a nurse asked her, "What did you do to that boy?" The teacher felt she must have done something wrong and began to apologize. "No, no," said the nurse. "You don’t know what I mean. We’ve been worried about that little boy, but ever since yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He’s fighting back, responding to treatment. It’s as though he’s decided to live."
Two weeks later the boy explained that he had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived. Everything changed when he came to a simple realization. He expressed it this way: "They wouldn’t send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?"
There are so many people in our world today who feel like giving up because they do not have hope. Hope is a core, basic need of all human beings. The vision statement of our Greater Sydney Conference and that of the South Pacific Division is “to know, experience and share our hope in Jesus Christ”. Our challenge is to bring hope to a lost and dying world while there is still time. May this “week of prayer” inspire you with hope and challenge you to take it out into the world that surrounds you.
