Hope Ain't A Hustle: Persevering by Faith in a Wearying World

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I gave to Hope a watch of mine: but he An anchor gave to me. Then an old prayer-book I did present: And he an optic sent. With that I have a vial full of tears: But he a few green ears. Ah Loiterer! I’ll no more, no more I’ll bring: I did expect a ring. – George Herbert

17th century poet and clergyman, George Herbert, succinctly describes the dismay we experience when our highest hopes remain unsatisfied. The speaker gives hope three things, his watch, his prayer-book, and his tears. Hope gives the poet three things in return, an anchor, a telescope, and unripe ears of grain. The speaker says to hope, “Time’s up! I’ve been waiting far too long for you to fulfill my desire for relief!” Hope says to him, “Be steadfast! You’ve got to wait a while longer.” In an attempt to demonstrate how patient he’s been the speaker declares, “Look at my prayer journal! See how much I’ve endured patiently waiting for you to come to my aid!” Hope has further counsel. “It’s wonderful that you’ve been praying. Please continue. You don’t need to stop praying, you need a telescope to enable you to keep the long view in mind.” In a final effort to sway Hope he brings his tears. “Do you understand how much I’ve suffered, and for how long? Can you grasp the depth of my pain and sorrow?” Hope simply says, “The day of harvest will come, when everything is made right. But it’s not time yet.” In seeming utter frustration, the speaker has given up on Hope. Hope’s new name is “Loiterer!” “My expectations are dashed! You take too long for my tastes! In fact, I think Hope is an imposter. I’m going to have to look elsewhere for relief. I thought we were bound together in an intimate relationship. I expected you to give me a ring, signifying your commitment to me!

If we’re honest, sometimes we feel like that poet. Hope is just a loiterer. Holding on to hope for things like justice and peace and righteousness in the world can feel like we’ve hustled. Listen, what gospel hope gives us is patient endurance.

I want to put before you two passages of Scripture from Hebrews,

Hebrews 1:1–4 ESV

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

Hebrews 6:9–20 ESV

9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

I want to talk about three things, Feeling the Hustle, Facing the Impossible, and Finding the Encouragement.

Feeling the Hustle

Y’all know what a hustle is, right?

In 2003 my oldest son and I took Amtrak from the BWI Airport Station to NYC Penn Station. He was almost 11 at the time, and certainly used to going to NYC. Brooklyn was my hometown and the borough of his birth. We moved to Maryland when he was two, so he only knew the city as a visitor. The purpose of this particular trip was to move the piano from my parent’s house in Brooklyn, to our home in Maryland. My cousin in Brooklyn had a van and did a little moving as his side gig on weekends. He and I were going to move the piano, while his son and my son (who were similar ages) would get to spend some time together.

This story, however, is not about the piano or the van. When my son and I arrived a Penn Station we made our way from the Amtrak exit to the MTA entrance. As we stood at the machine to purchase MetroCards, I heard a voice behind me, a short distance away. “Yo big man! Yo big man!” I’m not the largest human being, but I’m not small either. I had little doubt that this gentleman was trying to get my attention. I’d ridden the train in NYC for over 30 years by that point and had developed the necessary skill of ignoring people you did not want to be bothered with. My son had not developed that skill. So, he taps me on the side and says, “Dad, I think that guy over there is trying to talk to you.” Exhaling, I turn to see what this dude wants, expecting that he’ll be asking for something.

“I got MetroCards, man. Whatever amount you need. Look, you either gonna give the money to me or to Bloomberg! And I need it more!” It wasn’t exactly the scene of a man with a long black trench coat opening it to display all kinds of items for sale. But that was the vibe! And you have to respect his pitch. I laughed on the inside when he said I was either going to give my money to him or to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He’d charge me less for a MetroCard than I’d pay if I went with the legal way of obtaining a card, through the machine. This, my friends, is called a hustle. He was trying to make some money outside of the system. I had no idea how he obtained those MetroCards of varying values. I also had no way of validating whether those cards had any money on them prior to giving him my money in exchange for two cards. My reply to him was a question, “Do you take debit cards? Cause that’s all I’ve got.” With that, he went on his way to the next potential customer (or victim).

Growing up and living in a city like NY, you get used to the hustle. You might even end up doing a little hustling yourself. The hustler offers someone something of value, or something they desire. If you were to obtain this thing of value through the prescribed means it would cost you much more that what the hustler is selling it for. You might not even be able to afford it if you went the legitimate route. Typically, the first question you ask is not about the morality of the transaction. Should I purchase this even though I don’t know how it was obtained? No. Our first concern is likely around the issue of trust. Can I trust the hustler? Am I going to be the victim of a hustle?

It’s one thing to be the victim of a hustle if all I’m going to lose a few dollars or face some minor embarrassment. It’s another thing if I’ve given my life to something. If I’ve gone all in, committing myself body and soul to something and find out that things are not as I expected them to be—that puts me in a different place mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

When you’ve said, Lord Jesus, I trust you. You are my life. You rule and reign over the heavens and the earth. No one is stronger than you. Then, your life turns upside down. Friends become enemies. You heard the psalmist say,

Psalm 89:14 ESV

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

Yet all you see is injustice in your community; injustice and unrighteousness in your country; injustice and unrighteousness in the world; when you see the church divided by political partisanship, bearing false witness to the unity we have in Christ—you wonder, “have I been hustled?”

In his book, Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power, Andy Crouch asks whether the deepest truth about the world is a struggle for mastery and domination, or collaboration, cooperation, and ultimately love. He makes the point that what seems more realistic is that the world is in a pitched battle for dominance. Who really has the power?

Unmet expectations make us feel like we’ve been hustled. That’s part of what’s happening in the letter to the Hebrews. This congregation is suffering. They’re facing persecution. They weren’t expecting the life of faith in Christ to be like this!

Their pastor will say to them in Heb10.36,

Hebrews 10:36 ESV

36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

He will exhort them to persevere through the hardship, but that’s not how he begins his message. His first word to them is about the unrivaled majesty, glory, and power of Jesus,

Hebrews 1:1–4 ESV

It is exactly at the point when we’re feeling the hustle most that we need to be reminded of who Jesus is. He is God, who upholds the universe by the word of his power. He is prophet, the final word of God. He is Great High Priest, who made purification for sins. He is King, who is seated at the right hand oft he Majesty on high. The confession of our faith is required when our lives are in the pit and we wonder if we’ve believed a lie. Can I tell you something? Christian doctrine is not reserved for the halls of academia and peace-time reflection. No. Our confession of who Jesus is and what we believe is for life in the valley!

Facing the Impossible

Even though we feel the hustle, we have to face the impossible because, a primary problem is that woven into the fabric of the Christian faith is hope. Not hope as an idea or a wish but hope as a confident trust in God and his promises. This hope drives us to a disposition towards others that begins with respect. Our current culture of contempt, with its deep divides within the American church makes it difficult to hold on to hope. In January 2020 our Institute for Cross-Cultural Mission held a Clergy Story Table event in Washington, DC. I facilitated our Story Table conversation on the issue of racial justice and the Church. We brought together a local diverse group of ten pastors for this purpose. There was ethnic diversity (African American, Korean American, Venezuelan, and Anglo American). They were theologically diverse (Baptist, Mennonite, Methodist, and Presbyterian). Our conversation was honest and sometimes raw. One sentiment shared, particularly by two of the African American pastors was that they believed the visions of Revelation 5:9-10 and 7:9-12 will come to pass one day, but they do not expect to experience the reality of it in their local churches today. “I don’t trust that white people are serious about reconciliation and justice issues. They’re not willing to pursue it unless they are in control.” The temptation in this current moment, particularly for ethnic minorities, is to stay in and focus on their ethnic ecclesial spaces. In response to this tension a pastor friend recently told me, “I just feel like going back into all-Black everything.” I understand and know this frustration personally. The focus on race, justice, and even reconciliation in Christian circles brings with it accusations of bowing to Critical Race Theory and Marxist ideology. The polarization is deep.

What does a robust embrace of Christian hope look like in practice? In her book, Unfettered Hope, Marva Dawn writes,

“We use the English noun and verb hope in many ways—to signify what we anticipate or expect, what we would recommend if we could control things, what we most earnestly desire or wish for if we could have our own way, or what we truly believe in or in what or whom we have confidence.” (xii)

The pastors who told me that they do not expect to experience or see the kind of reunion of humanity across these lines deep difference were expressing a lack of hope. They were basically saying, “I believe that what the Scripture says will come to pass, but I don’t expect to get a taste of it in my lifetime.”

God, however, is not a hustler. And the hope he calls us to includes leaning in to face what seems to be impossible. And this hope cannot be built on naïve expectations that more and more people will see things the way that we see them. Our hope cannot be built on arrogant assumptions that we are completely right in the positions we take. Our hope cannot even be built on an expectation of steady improvement. If the arc of the moral universe does indeed bend towards justice, that arc will never be smooth and straight from a human perspective. It will have twists and turns, ups and downs, starts and stops. Our hope, if it is to be enduring, must be rooted in the glory of Jesus Christ.

When we get to chapter 6 of this letter, in the first 8 verses the Pastor chastises them about their spiritual immaturity and warns them that some of them may be on a dangerous path, the road of no return. But then, just as he does with every warning he gives them in the letter, he turns to say, “we believe better things about you.”

Hebrews 6:9 ESV

9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.

Then, he says in v. 11 that he longs for them to show this eagerness for the assurance of hope until the end. I want to see each one of you have that same diligence about the full assurance of your hope all the way to the end of your lives. What is this assurance of hope? It is the absolute conviction that God will keep every one of his promises. It is the conviction that no matter how hard it is to follow Jesus, no matter how impossible things seem, God is still faithful. There is a sense of diligence and earnestness that the Christian is called to have about the assurance of God’s faithfulness. Notice he says in v. 11, we want this for each one of you. He does not want any of them to be without the assurance of hope. He says, if you have this assurance, you won’t be sluggish about faith in Jesus, but you will be like those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises of God.

Try and try as we might, in our own strength, there doesn’t seem to be any unassailable reason to be hopeful about justice, about joy, about shalom. Can I tell you something? The hope of the gospel is unreasonable.

His example of the unreasonableness of hope is Abraham. He says in vv. 13-15

Hebrews 6:13–15 ESV

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.

God first made a promise to Abraham in Gen. 12. He told Abraham to leave his father’s house in Ur of the Chaldeans, and go to a land God was going to show him. He promised to make Abraham a great nation. That he would bless Abraham and make his name great, and in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. But there was a problem. Abraham and his wife Sarah had no children because Sarah was barren. She couldn’t get pregnant. But the Lord makes another promise to Abraham in Gen. 15, right after Abraham was blessed by Melchizedek. He told him that his very own son would be his heir. Miracle of miracles, Isaac was born to Sarah in Genesis 21. The son of promise is born.

In v. 14 of our passage, the Pastor is quoting God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 22:17. Do you remember know what happened in Genesis 22?

Genesis 22:2 ESV

2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Abraham responded to God’s word in faith and obedience. The Pastor says of Abraham in ch. 11,

Hebrews 11:17–19 ESV

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

The apostle Paul says in Romans 4:18 that in hope Abraham believed against hope that he should become the father of many nations. Why would Abraham have to believe in hope, against hope? Because apart from faith it is unreasonable to hope in God. So the Pastor says in v. 15, “and thus” or “in this way,” Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. In what way? In the way of faith! By faith Abraham having patiently waited, obtained the promise. By faith and patience he obtained the promise that God would bless him and multiply him.

Hoping in God requires faith and patience because hoping in God seems unreasonable to our natural minds. He takes to long for our tastes. He doesn’t respond the way we want him to respond, when we want him to respond. God is not operating on our agenda. We have to operate on his agenda.

So, what is going to keep you going?

Hebrews 6:17–20 ESV

17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God made the oath for our benefit! The Pastor talks about those who are the heirs of the promise, that is, those who inherit the promises of God. Who are those people? The heirs of the promise are those who put their faith in God through Jesus Christ. He says, the promise of God is for the benefit of these people. God didn’t have to make any promises at all, but because he is gracious and full of mercy, he wanted (notice that word), God wanted to make it crystal clear to his people that even though people change all the time; situations change for better or worse all the time, but his purposes never change, ever.

Hebrews 10:35–36 ESV

35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

So every time you hear the promise of God in Scripture,

“And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” (Jeremiah 30:22 ESV)

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 ESV)

“I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20 ESV)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9 ESV)

“I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against” (Matthew 16:18–19 ESV)

God wants us to be crystal clear that his purposes and promises are rock solid and there is no power that can do anything to change them. And every promise of Scripture was confirmed by God when he sent Jesus to the cross. That’s why Paul can say in 2 Cor. 1:20 that all the promises of God are “Yes” in Jesus Christ.

Finding the Encouragement

The Pastor wraps up this section by saying, God confirmed his promise with an oath, so that… the two unchangeable things are God’s promise and the oath that confirms the promise…

He has called the followers of Jesus, heirs of the promise. Now he uses another descriptive term. He says that we who follow Jesus are those who have fled for refuge. Christians are those who have fled for safety in God. Not out of fear, but because of God’s promise. Christians are those who have realize that there is security only in the promise of God. There is no other promise that is more solid than his. So the Pastor says that what God wants is for his refugees to have strong encouragement to seize hold of the hope that God has set before them.

He uses an active term. Hope has been set before you. Seize hold of it! Grab onto it and don’t let go! In other words, he saying, “Keep hope alive!” Don’t let go of your hope! He’s just building on what he said in v. 11 when he longed for them to have an earnestness about the full assurance of hope all the way to the end. What the Pastor knows is that hope is a decision that must be made continually. If I have turned away from entrusting my life to myself, and have turned to God in faith entrusting my life to Jesus Christ, I belong to him forever, and that will never change. However, my confidence and hope in God can waiver dramatically. So the Pastor knows that we have a daily need to hold on to our hope. He’s saying that God wants you to have strong encouragement to do just that.

He doesn’t just leave it at that. He tells both why to have this strong encouragement and how to have this strong encouragement.

Why should we have this strong encouragement to seize the hope that God has set before us? Because we have this hope as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. A ship that is anchored firm and securely will not move from its location no matter what the waters are like. Whether the sea is calm or the storm is raging, the firmly anchored ship holds steady. The Pastor says it’s like that for your soul, for your life. Be encouraged to keep hope alive, to hold to God’s unchanging hand, as we sing, so that you will not be thrown into a frenzy when the storms of life are raging.

The second reason to have strong encouragement to seize this hope is not simply something that is out there somewhere. It’s not just a distant hope that you can’t taste right now. It’s both and. It’s already and it’s not yet. The fullness has yet to come, but we taste it now because Jesus has come! Jesus is the fulfillment of our hope and he has already come and gone ahead of us on our behalf. He says that this hope enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.

How can you have this strong encouragement to seize this hope daily? Family, we go where the hope takes us. This hope, the Pastor says, enters into the inner place behind the curtain. That is, by this hope we enter into the very throne of God.

Jesus has opened up the way to live beyond the veil in the presence of God and he calls us to follow him there.

That is why the Pastor said in 4:16, “Let us continually draw near, let us continually approach the throne of God with confidence that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” That’s how he can say in 10:22, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,” and in verse 25, “let us not neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Hope takes us to prayer and hope takes us to worship and fellowship with others who want to keep holding on to the hope.

The assurance of hope has a practical, on the ground application that’s implied by what the Pastor said to them back in vv. 9-12,

Hebrews 6:9–12 ESV

What does the assurance of hope look like? It means a public faith that shows our love for God in the way that we love our sisters and brothers in Christ. It’s certainly the case that our love for God as Christians is shown in the way that we love all people, but the Pastor is making a particular point about how Christian hope bears witness to the world that Jesus is real and worthy of worship. He reminds them that they have demonstrated time and again their love for God’s name by the way that they’ve earnestly served their brothers and sisters in Christ. And they haven’t stopped. They’re continuing to do it. This love that they’ve demonstrated in serving the saints is a costly and self-sacrificial love.

Sacrificial Christian love demonstrates to the world that as unreasonable as Christian hope might appear to be, as much of a hustle as it appears to be, it rooted in something far better than what this world has to offer. And this something better is that he’s bringing reunion, renewal, reconciliation to humanity through Jesus Christ. When we feel like that’s a hustle, we look again at Jesus, the radiance of the glory of God. We face the impossible, holding to his promises, and we find our encouragement in the privilege of his presence behind the veil.

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