Hope Sermon, Part 1

I’m about to tell you a story that might offend you, because I don’t come off looking terribly holy. But, it’s funny, so be patient with me!

Max and I have a hilarious story of hope … or not. My stepmother is one of those people that annoys me terribly. We’ll start with that. A few Christmases ago, we just waited to see what she was going to give Max as a gift. In years past, he has seen things like an ‘angry bluebird’ suncatcher, or one year it was an Ansel Adams photography book that she received as a bonus for personally subscribing to the National Wildlife Federation.

He opened the package that she gave to him. I saw a strange smile come across his face and he held up a little devotional book that said, “Hope.” I looked at him and did my best not to giggle. It just became more and more obvious that she didn’t know who he was at all. He definitely doesn’t spend time reading small devotional books. But, there it was. We moved on through the morning with the family.

A bit later on, I was packing up the gifts and tossing out wrapping paper when I came upon the book. I opened it up and glanced through it. It wasn’t a yearly devotional book, but only had 260 entries. I giggled at Max. “You didn’t even get a full year of Hope!” We laughed out loud.

We got home that night and as I unpacked the gifts, I pulled the book out. I opened to the flyleaf and it was inscribed from her to both of us! I howled with laughter. “Max, you have to split your hope with me! Now you only get 130 days of hope!” More laughter.

Earlier this spring, I was purging my bookshelves and tossed the book out. Max watched me do it and said to me, “Now we have no more hope.”

No more hope.

Have you ever felt like that? You have done all that you could and now it’s over. There is no more hope.

I can’t tell you the number of times that despair – which is the opposite of hope – controlled me. When I owned Insty-Prints, there were days that I couldn’t imagine how I would ever have a life beyond what I was dealing with day in and day out. Trying to pay bills when I couldn’t get my clients to pay me. Getting work out on a tight deadline and the hours just seemed to continue to tick away. Fighting with employees that wanted to be paid, but not to work.

I would sit at my desk some days and imagine that suicide would certainly be a better option than what I was dealing with. But I never went any further than that in my imagination. Because down deep inside, I knew that there was hope. My soul is filled with it. Even in the darkest moments, I have confidence that I am not alone and that the One who walks with me is stronger than anything on earth.

The scripture I chose to use for this message is from I Peter 1:3, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you.”

When I made the choice to follow Jesus Christ and accept Him as my Lord and Savior, He gave me new birth into a living hope. A living hope.