We’re in the series "From Hurt to Hope." We’ve been gleaning encouragement from what the Apostle Peter said to the Christ followers of the first century who were being persecuted for their faith. We’ve been in 40 DAYS OF HOPE and considering a passage of Scripture every day and doing action steps, that, if you take these steps based on biblical principles, your hope will remain strong.
In the action steps in the 40 Days booklet you’ve been challenged to share your hope with others in tangible ways.
But today we’re going to look at one of the greatest ways to share hope with others.
"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason of the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)
Normally we Christ followers talk about sharing our faith. Today we’re going to talk about sharing our hope – and there is a difference. The difference is this: when we share our faith we’re looking back. Looking back to the cross of Jesus where He died for our sins. Looking back to Christ’s resurrection, where He emphatically proved that there’s life after this life and we can have eternal life if we make a faith commitment to Him. [Sometimes we even look back as far as the Old Testament prophecies that Christ fulfilled.]
At other times when sharing our faith we look back to what we used to be before we sincerely began living for Christ. We look back at what He’s done for us. And we share those things with other people who don’t yet have faith in Christ.
But when we share hope we’re looking ahead. We’re saying to our friends and family and others who don’t yet know Christ, “Here’s why I’m confident about the future! Here’s why I’m optimistic when the rest of the world is pessimistic!” When we share our hope we’re looking ahead!
The Bible says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason of the hope that you have.” Someone says to us, “Why are you so optimistic? Why do you have joy even when bad things are happening to you? Where does this hope come from?” The Bible says, “Always be ready to answer those kinds of questions.”
Tony Dungy says in the introduction of his book, Quiet Strength, that he was hesitant to write a book about his life but people kept asking him why he had such hope in the midst of life’s adversities. He said, “I like the saying, ‘Life is hard, but God is good.’ It’s because of God’s goodness that we can have hope, both for here and the hereafter. And it’s the desire to share that hope that finally changed my no to yes."
People kept after him about revealing the source of his hope. So he shares his hope just like the Bible tells us.
How do you do that? How do you share your hope?
In the same passage that the Bible tells us to share our hope it tells us how! That’s what we’ll look at today.
What do I need to do to be ready to share my hope? What steps can I take to make sure that others will not only see my life and my hope and take heart – that’s just the first part of the equation – but also - how do I specifically help them to take the same steps that brought me hope?
I. Set apart Christ as Lord in my heart.
"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord." 1 Peter 3:15a (NIV)
The word “Lord” means master; the person in charge; the one who calls the shots. We have to go from the place where we decide what’s best for our lives to the place where we trust Christ and follow His leadership about our lives. That’s the first thing that it takes for us to effectively share our hope with others.
Bill Hybels writes, “Recently, I saw a letter written by a relatively new Christian to the person whose life had influenced hers so greatly. She actually lists about a dozen qualities she found contagious in the life of this older Christian. Listen to some of what she wrote:
’You know when we met; I began to discover a new vulnerability, a warmth, and a lack of pretense that impressed me. I saw in you a thriving spirit - no signs of internal stagnation anywhere. I could tell you were a growing person and I liked that. I saw you had strong self-esteem, not based on the fluff of self-help books, but on something a whole lot deeper. I saw that you lived by convictions and priorities and not just by convenience, selfish pleasure, and financial gain. And I had never met anyone like that before.
I felt a depth of love and concern as you listened to me and didn’t judge me. You tried to understand me, you sympathized and you celebrated with me, you demonstrated kindness and generosity - and not just to me, but to other people, as well.
And you stood for something. You were willing to go against the grain of society and follow what you believed to be true, no matter what people said, and no matter how much it cost you. And for those reasons and a whole host of others, I found myself really wanting what you had. Now that I’ve become a Christian, I wanted to write to tell you I’m grateful beyond words for how you lived out your Christian life in front of me.’"
What gives a person that kind of – and I hate to use a new age word but I’m going to – aura? What makes a person glow to the point that others see that glow and want it for themselves?
Setting Christ apart as Lord in our heart! This is pivotal. You’ve got to get this.
“In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.” Why does the Apostle Peter use this idea as a frame for sharing our hope?
In the Old Testament they set apart certain utensils and they used them for God’s work, certain pieces of furniture, specific days and times, etc. Just like the Sabbath, for instance. Now it’s the Lord’s Day. God commands us to set apart one day a week for worship and rest.
Some of you ladies have fine china that is “set apart” for special days like Christmas. We all have clothes that we wear for special occasions. Here, in the New Covenant, the New Testament, God tells us that the thing that must be set apart for God is our heart! Christ must REIGN as Lord.
In order for our lives to be attractive to those who don’t yet know Christ. [And I’m considering it a “given” that every Christ follower wants others to become Christ followers. Not only has Christ commanded us to tell people about Him – “go into all the world and tell the good news about me” – but we naturally want others to have the hope that we’ve found in Christ.] In order for this to happen – in order for others to want what we have – where does this come from? It begins when we have a coronation in our heart. We crown Christ king in our heart.
Why our heart? The heart the Bible is talking about here is not the organ that pumps blood. It’s talking about the seat of our emotions. It’s talking about the center of our being. When you’re really committed about something you say “I mean that from the bottom of my heart,” or, “I love you with all my heart.”
That’s the first step to sharing our hope. Christ must rule in our hearts. We can’t rule. Pleasure can’t rule. Others can’t rule. Jesus must be king. This doesn’t mean we’ll be perfect but it means we’ll recognize His ultimate authority in our lives. We realize we’re much better off when Christ is in charge.
That’s what attracts others to our hope. They see Jesus in us. Jesus is attractive to people looking for hope! That’s why they flocked to Him while He was on earth. So in order for them to want what we have they must see Jesus in us. In order for them to see Jesus in us He must be Lord.
If there’s a contradiction between what I want to do and what He wants to do I must yield to what He wants to do. If I wake up on Sunday morning and want to sleep in and He wants me to get up and worship with others then that’s what I do. It turns out for my best when I do what He wants – so I’m not being given the short end of the stick.
If I want to gossip about someone because they did me wrong and I want to get back at them and He wants me to keep my big fat mouth shut then I do what He wants. He’s Lord. Not me.
The fringe benefit is people cannot help but see Jesus in us when we practice this kind of lifestyle!
I mentioned Tony Dungy’s book, Quiet Strength. In it he also talks about the year he entered the NFL at Pittsburgh. The Steelers were Super Bowl champs and had the famous “steel curtain.” They had this image of being a tough bunch of hombres. But the first week of camp Dungy said he met a bunch of the members of this team who were Christians and they had a daily, intense Bible study to which he was invited.
He says, “I had known from a young age that I was going to heaven, but I had never fully engaged God and let Him direct my life moment by moment until I saw these guys doing it. I had been a good kid, by and large; I stayed out of trouble, was usually polite, and stood up for my values. Yet the concept of putting God first in everything I did hadn’t been my primary focus. Finally I understood, and I started to move from being a casual Christian to a fully committed follower of Jesus.” (Page 43)
This is where sharing your hope begins! Moving from casual Christianity to being a fully committed follower of Christ.
Others will be able to realize that Jesus is your Lord. It’s like someone that just experienced their first kiss. You can’t hide it.
So, if I’m to share my hope...first I must...
I. Set apart Christ as Lord in my heart.
Next, I must...
II. Be prepared to explain why I have hope.
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason of the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:15b (NIV)
Be prepared.
For a lot of Christ followers this is precisely the problem. Some have Jesus as Lord of their hearts and lives – and that causes people to seek what they have – but when they are asked about it, they don’t know what to answer.
“Why are you so positive when everything and everyone around you is negative?”
“Well, I just am.”
“Well thanks, that helps.”
Various excuses are given. “I don’t know the Bible all that well. I’m not that quick on my feet. I’m afraid they’ll ask me something I don’t know about.”
In the early days of the church Peter and John healed a crippled man and for their efforts they were persecuted. The hypocritical religious authorities tried to intimidate them from continuing to proclaim Christ as their resurrected Lord. But they couldn’t scare them.
"The leaders saw that Peter and John were not afraid to speak, and they understood that these men had no special training or education. So they were amazed. Then they realized that Peter and John had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13 (NCV)
Circle, "these men had no special training or education."
They weren’t trained at seminary or even in the Jewish schools for sribes or scholars - yet they shared their hope! In fact they went on sharing their hope even after being confronted the first time by the religious hypocrites. So the religious leaders called them back again.
"They called them back and warned them that they were on no account ever again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John spoke right back, "Whether it’s right in God’s eyes to listen to you rather than to God, you decide. As for us, there’s no question—we can’t keep quiet about what we’ve seen and heard." Acts 4:18-20 (Msg)
Circle, "we can’t keep quiet about what we’ve seen and heard."
The beauty of sharing your hope is that it’s your hope! It’s what you have experienced. It’s what you’ve seen and heard! You don’t need any fancy theological or philosophical answers. You don’t have to be Billy Graham or the president of a Bible Institute.
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason of the hope that you have."
Why do you have hope in Christ? Sit down and think about it. Write it out. Redraft it. Sit a good friend down and practice it with them.
In order to share my hope...
I. Set apart Christ as Lord in my heart.
II. Be prepared to explain why I have hope.
And thirdly,
III. Be respectful of others.
"But do this in a gentle and respectful way." 1 Pet. 3:16a (NLT)
When I set apart Christ as Lord in my heart and prepare myself to share my hope I need to remind myself that HOW I share my hope is just as important as the sharing itself.
You have to balance your enthusiasm with gentleness. I can’t run over other people’s opinions with a bulldozer of hope and think that they will want what I have. We can’t intimidate or coerce people into accepting our hope.
Being pushy is not the right way to share my hope because when I do that I end up pushing people away from Christ. They don’t need to be judged or preached to or scolded or looked down upon. THEY NEED OUR SOURCE OF HOPE!
A California-based Christian marketing research company says "non-Christians in the United States view evangelical Christians ’somewhat more kindly than prostitutes, but with less affection than lawyers.’" (Crosswalk.com)
That may make you angry...or it may make you want to change the opinions of those who don’t yet know Christ by showing them you aren’t out to earn another notch in your gospel gun belt. We’re not looking to be offensive with the Good News about Jesus – we want people to be attracted to Christ – and it is our attitude about sharing the Good News that makes a big difference!
Remember the story of Jesus entering Jericho? A tax collector named Zacchaeus is sitting up in a sycamore tree to see Jesus pass by. He’s heard about Christ and he wants to see him for himself. There are people crowding around Jesus and he stops and looks up at Zacchaeus and...
"When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. ’Zacchaeus!’ he said. ’Quick, come down! For I must be a guest in your home today.’” Luke 19:5
You say, “Okay Brian, I get it, we’re supposed to be like Jesus. Here was this Jewish tax collector who was hated by his countrymen for collaborating with the Romans who were hostile occupants of their land, and besides this he was probably extorting money for himself. But Jesus doesn’t judge him. He lets him know that He’s willing to sit down to supper with him. And that’s how we’re supposed to act toward people.”
Well, yeah, that’s good, but I want you to see that not only are we to be like Jesus – we’re to be like that sycamore tree that Zaccheus climbed up into in order to see Jesus. We can’t forgive people like Jesus can but WE CAN HOLD THEM UP SO THAT THEY CAN SEE JESUS!
Our job is to show people how valuable they are to God – how very much He loves them! Our job is to share our hope!
Let’s get to the bottom line.
How are you doing at sharing your hope?
1. Have you set apart Christ as Lord in your heart?
2. Are you prepared to explain your hope?
3. Are you gentle and respectful of others when you share your hope?
Here’s how I suggest you apply today’s message. Ask God to give you one person to share your hope with. Ask God to have them approach you to ask you why you’re so hopeful. But this means three things:
1) For this to happen Christ must be set apart as Lord in your heart.
2) You must be prepared to share your hope.
3) You must be gentle and respectful in sharing your hope.
