TITLE: "Faith and hope - much more than Coke"
SCRIPTURE: James 1:2-12
AIM: Through an understanding of ‘suffering’, challenge my hearers about their faith and how they would stand when tested.
INTRODUCTION:
In 1 Corinthians Paul talks about the three things that will remain - faith, hope and love. This morning I want to talk about two of them - faith and hope.
Consider these 2 scenarios:
#1‘You are sunbaking on Bondi beach - the sun is hot - you are getting thirsty - wife, husband, friend comes towards you with a bottle of Coke - you ‘hope’ that you might get a drink - and so you wait in anticipation as the Coke gets closer.’
#2 "You have been shipwrecked and floating in a life raft for 3 days - you ran out of water 2 days ago and your thirst is terrible - mouth and tongue swollen, lips cracked - in the distance you sight a rescue boat coming towards you - and you ‘hope’ they have water on board so you an relieve you dreadful thirst’
Tell me which scenario really defines ‘hope’?
We would all probably agree that the first scenario is trivial compared to the second and that the real understanding of hope is described in the second. In the first - hope is little more than a ‘wish’; in the second, a desperate ‘need’.
Let me repeat these two scenarios in a different context:
#1 ‘You are living the comfortable life - good job, paying off your own home, plenty of food, good health - in the distance you see that one day you will grow old and die and then you ‘hope’ to enjoy eternal life with the Lord. But until then, you can enjoy life and feel comfort in the hope of what is to come’.
#2 ‘You have been shipwrecked and floating in a life raft for 13 days - you ran out of water 5 days ago and your thirst is terrible - mouth and tongue swollen, lips cracked, you have a fever, your strength is gone - there is no rescue boat. Although by now you have lost all hope of rescue, you still have your faith in God and are looking forward in ‘hope’ to meeting him face to face. And so you await this moment with peace in your heart’.
Which one really describes ‘hope’?
Let me make it more personal - which one really describe you and the ‘faith and hope’ that you have? Is hope a ‘wish list’ of what we would like, or a deep, desperate need within our lives?
It does worry me that many Christians today live with a ‘wish list’ - not hope. For many people who live in our rich society - life is good. For many, their faith and hope is rarely tested! I wonder how it would stand up under stress and testing?
According to Scripture, we should not be surprised when we find our faith being tested. James, the brother of Jesus, sees this as the key to having a victorious faith:
"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." (James 1:12)
But because we live in an affluent society in which the daily struggle to survive has been replaced by the daily need to have fun and enjoy everything as much as possible, the question of struggle and suffering is often lost in the illusion of the world in which we live.
And so we need to keep asking ourselves the question - what would happen to our Christian experience if our faith and hope is really put to the test?
The Christians of the 1st Century church didn’t have to ask this question. They were regularly being tested in their faith.
1. GOOD NEWS, HARD NEWS
a. Dr. Roger Green talks about the gospel of Christ being both Good News, but Hard News. The good new is the gospel of Jesus Christ - our salvation and our hope. But with the good news comes the hard news - hard news such as ‘picking up the cross of disciple-ship’; enduring the persecution of those who do not believe; the loss of self-determination as we each obey the call of God to serve how and where he wants us to.
When Peter writes to the early church located in the northern Roman provinces of Asia Minor, the subject at the heart of his 1st letter is ‘hard news ... ‘suffering’ - ie. these early Christians were having their faith sorely tested. Listen to 1 Peter 4:12 - 19 (selected):
"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you ... if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. ... So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good".
The Early Christian church had little to fear in the Roman world up until the time of the Emperor Nero. To cover his own failures, he commenced a vicious persecution of the Christians from AD 64 onwards. It is thought that Paul was martyred during this time.
Although the initial persecution was in Rome, from this time on, anywhere throughout the Roman empire, the Christian was under threat.
Most scholars consider that Peter wrote his letter about AD 67, three years after Nero started his persecutions. Peter was writing to the Roman provinces in Asia Minor - the Christians there lived under the fear, and the reality, of persecution. They were suffering because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Peter acknowledges this by using the word suffering 16 times in 5 short chapters.
b. But here the hard news comes in - Peter says (4:12) "... do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you...". ie. Such suffering is only to be expected - why are you so surprised?
Although its not comforting, there is logic in what Peter is saying. The gospel is an attack against evil and Satin. Jesus (three times in John’s Gospel [12.31eg.]) describes Satin as the ‘Prince of this World’. Why then (reasons Peter) should Christians be surprised at persecution.
But Peter becomes even more outrageous (4:13) "... rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ...". Don’t be surprise - rather rejoice !! How can we understand this attitude to suffering? I suppose if there was the promise of fame, or wealth, or being a hero from it all, it might seem a little easier to bear ... but that’s not the case. The rewards will remain spiritual only ... continuing verse 13 " ...so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed...", or as William Barclay translates this verse "... you are blessed because the presence of the glory and the Spirit of God will rest upon you".
There is nothing humanly satisfying in what Peter says. Yet in an inspired and super-natural way, Peter describes it perfectly. Why? Because when we are sunning ourselves on a beach wishing for a Coke, the ‘hope’ is meaningless; but when we are in crisis, struggling to make sense of life, and to understand our suffering - our faith and hope in God is the only thing that has any meaning. This world will pass away; our lives on this planet will one day cease; but the one thing that will remain for us is the ‘blessedness that we have because of the presence of God’s glory and his Spirit resting upon us’.
This is what Peter is driving at. Don’t focus on the suffering - look at the one who has saved us and rejoice in the glory that God will give to us. Its hard news, but its good news, because it focuses on the real things of life.
2. LIVING IN A REAL WORLD
a. Unfortunately, this world we live in doesn’t understand this type of thinking.
In his book ‘The Shattered Mirror’, the Christian psychiatrist John White says that one of the great fallacies of our modern society is ‘optimism’. That might sound a strange thing for him to say, but he was describing the philosophy of humanism, the belief that human beings have within their ability the resources to solve all of their problems and fix everything up. In other words - there is nothing that human ingenuity can’t achieve. Until recently, humanism was the philosophy that motivated western society - most of us grew up in an age when the general attitude of society was that science would find all the answers and human beings would solve all the problems.
One of the good things about post-modernism is that it is strongly questioning this illusion. As John White says "I suspect that any optimism ... represents little more than wishful thinking ... scientific humanism has never truly weighed the terrible power of evil ... It is dangerous to under-estimate the enemy’s strength..." (P.20)
I am not speaking against being optimistic. Quite the opposite for it is an essential part of healthy living. I am, however, warning against living life with ‘rose coloured’ glasses. Our world bombards us with false perceptions and fanciful illusions - eg. Happiness is achieved by having fun; good things happen to good people; work hard and you will succeed. unfortunately, life doesn’t always work this way. And when people crash into the reality of it, their faith can be severely tested.
b. ILLUST: Nelson Mandela - interview on Oprah (I’ve been watching a little more TV than usual over the past 6 weeks!!). It was a great interview. Mandela is really a giant of our age. Oprah asked him the question - "What was the #1 reason for your success - keeping sane in prison, remaining humble as a leader?" Mandela’s answer was strong and unequivocal - the most important thing, much more important than anything else - is to be honest with yourself! Mandela went on to talk about the importance of knowing himself and the reality in which he existed. He was then able to live an act without an illusions or fantasies. And this reality helped him make wise decision and kept him humble.
(They were joking about Mandela’s humility with him - apparently when he arrived at the Oprah studio, he asked the director of the show ... ‘what is the subject of today’s show’. The answer was ... "Mr Mandela - its you!")
Being honest with ourselves is the first step to understanding. When we can pull away the facade and the defences and truly come before God knowing our weaknesses (and out strengths), only then will we begin to see what is important and not important.
People who fail under times of testing usually fail because they rely on their own understanding, much of which is founded on pre-conceived ideas promoted by the illusions of our false world. As mature Christians we need to go beyond our Sunday School stories and understand the real depths of who God is and what he wants of our lives. If we are to endure the testing of our faith, then being honest with ourselves and knowing the world in which we live is essential to relationship with God.
2 Corinthians 13: 5 "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you ... I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test".
When we do this we discover what Peter was getting at - that there is a difference between the way of the world and the Ways of God. The world says we shouldn’t suffer - its an illusion and Satin and the world blame God when it happens (why should God let this happen to me? why does God allow suffering?). But we are not promised anything else. We are affected by this sin-spoiled world (contrary to God’s creative plan). And following the way of God may involved more suffering than if we were to follow the way of the world. And its when we understand this that we will see the difference between faith and hope’ that is nothing more than a wish list - and ‘faith and hope’ which cries out in need, and brings us to the very footstool of God himself.
CONCLUSION:
If your faith and hope was tested - how would you stand? Are you being tested now? How are you standing?
"Blessed is the man (and women) who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him". (James 1:12)
