Dennis' Sermon Prep Workflow | Romans 15:7–13

On 17 December 1927, USS S-4 (SS-109), an eight-year-old S-class submarine, was running submerged just off the coast of Provincetown, MA, conducting speed and maneuverability tests between the two white buoys that marked the beginning and end of a measured nautical mile. Meanwhile, on the surface, the Coast Guard destroyer USCGC PAULDING (CG-17) was headed southeast, making 18 knots as she searched for rumrunners carrying their illegal product across the bay to thirsty buyers in Boston. At 3:37 in the afternoon, as S-4 began to surface, the officer of the deck aboard PAULDING, scanning the surrounding seas through his binoculars, spotted the telltale wake of a periscope close aboard on the port bow. “Hard astern! Full right rudder!” came the order, but not fast enough. PAULDING rammed the sub, a section of her bow telescoping into S-4’s hull and punching two holes, one in a ballast tank and one in the pressure hull. Freezing water flooded into the boat, causing her to heel to port and begin to sink by the bow. PAULDING’s crew immediately marked their position on a chart and radioed their superiors. When the destroyer came to a halt, one of her lifeboats was lowered over the side. All it found was a small oil slick, which the men aboard marked with a buoy.

On the bottom, 110 feet down, S-4’s crew was scrambling to bring the situation under control. Men in the battery compartment stuffed clothing into the two-foot-long gash in the pressure hull, but it was soon clear that the water would not be denied. So the men evacuated the space, joining other survivors in the control room. At this point, the men were probably concerned, but not hopeless: seven years before, the entire crew of USS S-5 (SS-110) had been rescued after their boat sank to a depth of nearly 200 feet and they managed to elevate the stern above water. S-4 was not nearly that deep and still capable of blowing her aft ballast tanks. Better yet, thirty-four of the forty men on board were alive in control, the engine room, and the motor room. Only six men who had been stationed in the torpedo room were unaccounted for.

But the situation deteriorated quickly. The saltwater flooding the battery compartment mixed with battery acid and formed toxic chlorine gas, which quickly filled any space not yet occupied by water. A ventilation duct running between the battery room and control remained open and soon the pressure of the water forced the deadly gas into the compartment full of survivors; the gas was followed by a flood of water. Crewmembers rushed to close the valve that would sever the connection, but to no avail; investigators would later determine that a section of curtain had become wedged in the valve, preventing it from closing. As control filled with thousands of gallons of freezing seawater, the men retreated aft into the engine room and smaller motor room beyond. Soon the water in control shorted out several of the switchboards, plunging the boat into darkness.

As the ocean filled all the spaces it could reach aboard S-4, the sound of rushing water died away and the 34 men crammed into the engine and motor rooms were left in cold, dark silence, wondering if their six comrades in the torpedo room were already dead. It had probably dawned on all of them by this point that when they abandoned control they had also abandoned any chance of getting to the surface on their own—the controls that blew compressed air into the ballast tanks were in that now-flooded space. They could only hope that help from the world above was on its way.

Ships rushed to the scene of disaster off the coast of Massachusetts. We don’t know what took place down in the sunken submarine, but we can be sure that the men clung bravely to life as the oxygen slowly gave out.

Veteran diver Thomas Eadie splashed into the water. Five minutes later he located the sub and began tapping on the hull, searching for survivors. When he rapped on the torpedo loading hatch he was met with six slow taps in reply, indicating six men were still alive in the space. But as he continued aft, his taps were met with silence. The 34 men in the engine and motor rooms had not survived the night.

By the time Eadie discovered them, 25-year-old Lieutenant (j.g.) Graham Fitch and five enlisted men had been at the bottom of the ocean for nearly 24 hours. All had spent most of that time wrapped in blankets and lying in the bunks set up between torpedoes, barely moving and breathing slowly to conserve oxygen. But the contact with the diver gave them hope, as did the arrival of a sister sub, USS S-8 (SS-113), which used her oscillator to ping a question to the men down below using Morse code.

“Is there any [chlorine] gas down there?”

“No, but the air is very bad. How long will you be?” came the reply.

“How many are you?”

“Six. Please hurry.”

Lieutenant Fitch and his men, trapped for 72 hours at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean tapped a single word to S-8: “Hurry.”

Later, he asked, “Is there any hope?”

Unfortunately, there wouldn't be for those sailors. All hands on deck would perish in one of the worst submarine disasters in US naval history.

But that question he asked, banged on the walls of their cold tomb, "is there any hope," this seems to be the cry of humanity.

That's the same question we see asked by this generation.

The Search For Authenticity

Today we live in a time of great suffering and confusion, especially among the younger generation:

Only 47% of Gen Z feel like they’re thriving in life.

Only 44% of Gen Z believe they are prepared for the future.

Only 15% of Gen Z said they feel their mental health is excellent.

61 % have been diagnosed with one kind of anxiety disorder or another.

We are a culture and a world that is bereft of hope. And that lack of hope leads to all sorts of error.

Like the old Johnny Lee song, Looking For Love in All the Wrong Places, we have millions looking for HOPE in all the wrong places.

Some search for Hope in SPIRITUALITY v. 8

For some, their search for hope in religious expression like the Jews in Rome. The Jews felt because they had the law, they had all they needed. They were hoping in their national identity and their special place as God’s people, but Paul has made clear in Romans that not all Jews are a part of Israel.

Romans 9:6 ESV

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,

In the same way, many are seeking a “spiritual” way to reach God.

Since the 1970’s the religious group that identify themselves as the none’s has steadily risen in America. In 2023, 28% of all Americans identified themselves as none. This catch-all phrase encapsulates the religiously unaffiliated, which include atheists, agnostics, and those who do not identify with organized religion. Though Gen Z is the leading group that identifies themselves as “nones”, that doesn't mean they aren't spiritual. In fact, Gen Z’s are more likely than previous generations to consult a medium, go to a palm-reader or participate in mindfulness techniques and meditation.

One-third of non-religious GenZers and young millennials believe in alternate spirituality, whether it's New Age or Progressive Christianity.

Like all men, Gen Z is seeking help for their spiritual woes, but they are unsatified with the results.

Some search for Hope in Themselves (v. 9)

Of all values, finding my authentic self is the most important values of Gen Z. Authenticity outpaces finding a stable career, starting a family, or any other metric among this upcoming adult population.

They are seeking to know themselves.

We live in a world that seeking to understand it's authentic self. This search for authenticity, often labeled "living your truth" can be seen in some other statistics:

* 1 in 6 Gen Z identify as LGBTQ+

* 1 in 10 Gen Zers identify themselves as non-binary, a rise of over 50% since 2018.

* Gen Z readers (60%) are more likely than older generations to begin reading self help books.

* And more members of Gen Z have seek psychaitric help than previous generations.

We crave authenticity. We desire to know truth. But the truth is despite this search we’re not doing a good job finding answers:

The percentage of U.S. adults who report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime has reached 29.0%, nearly 10 percentage points higher than in 2015. The percentage of Americans who currently have or are being treated for depression has also increased, to 17.8%, up about seven points over the same period. Both rates are the highest recorded by Gallup since it began measuring depression in 2015.

In our search for our truth we have lost the truth. In our search for authentic self- we have lost our collective minds!

Why, because we're searching for self and meaning in the wrong place?

So what is the truth about who we are? Here's our Authentic Self:

You are an authentic sinner in need of a savior.

We will never find our authentic self in anything or anyone than the person and work of Christ.

Hope Has a Name

Paul speaking to a group of people who lived in a world of confusion says these words in vv. 8-9

Romans 15:8–9 ESV

For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”

Hope has a name and that name is JESUS.

Christ is the hope for the religious and the irreligious

He's the hope for the spiritual and the secular

He's the hope for the millennial and the mature.

He's the hope for the student and the scholar.

He's the hope for the pastor and the predator.

He's the hope for the grandmother and the gangbanger

He's the hope for the politician and the poet

He's the hope for the factory worker and the physician.

He's the hope for the mother and the murderer

Christ is the hope for the daddy and the delinquent.

Christ is the only hope for us all. And Church we need to be sharing the truth of this hope with others.

Paul can say, "I became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness...and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy."

Paul understood that Jesus was the only hope for mankind and he shared that hope with others, and if you're looking for hope today, you won't find it on Amazon, or an app, you won't find it in a book store or a doctors office, you won't find it in the bottom of a pill bottle or in a self-help book. Like the old song goes:

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness!

That's the hope God brings.

So what is your hope in today?