How to Respond to Hopelessness with Hope
Charlie Kirk • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 10 viewsCharlie Kirk died on Sept. 10th causing quite the stir and controversy in our church and community.
Notes
Transcript
I know I announced last week I would start on Genesis 1-3 (our next sermon series) but as I prayed, I sensed I should take a Sunday and try to address the cultural moment surrounding Charlie Kirk.
And I have to confess a few things:
I had not heard about Charlie Kirk before he was shot and killed. I didn’t know who he was, nor had I ever heard or seen him speak. Just being real
I feel a little weird addressing because....I don’t know how often as a pastor I should stop my regularly scheduled programming to preach something that is going on in culture. It takes discernment. For some of you I have already said too much, and for some of you I haven’t said enough. how much in the future should I address issues that come up in culture? I don’t think I have a clear answer other than to pray about it and consult our leaders and make a decision.
I feel nervous because some of you loved Charlie Kirk, and I feel nervous because some of you didn’t prefer Charlie Kirk, especially his style. and so I feel like I whatever I say has the potential to be divisive.
I also feel a little nervous because inevitably this conversation wades into politics. and I don’t like when the church and politics become this blurred messy mush; in fact, as I look at church history, whenever the church intertwined itself with political power, it caused a lot of problems, corruption, confusion, etc.
but I sense I should say something. why?
because I have gotten a variety of texts, emails, and conversations with you surrounding Charlie Kirk and our nation. His death has caused a great stirring in our nation, and even in our community; it’s cause a lot of conversation about him; and since there are so many talking about it, I felt I would enter the fray.
so I want to pray for wisdom here...wisdom to keep my finger on God’s Word, wisdom by His Spirit to apply and filter what we need to concerning this topic.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
I entitled this sermon, “How do we Respond to Hopelessness” because I want the topic to feel bigger than just Charlie Kirk, even though I will address him.
because it’s not just this event our country and people are wrestling with—there have been a slew of school shootings, such as in Evergreen High School in Colorado, and most recently at a Catholic School in Minneapolis.
We learned in June that Minnesota State representative Melissa Hortman and her husband killed in their home in June. It seems dangerous to be a leader or run for political office.
How do we respond with it feels hopeless for some of us?
Lament
We did this 2 weeks ago—Mike Wilson led us in a time of prayer and singing It is Well with My Soul. Lament is an incredible and under-utilized category in the Bible. The Book of Psalms has 150 chapters, and over 1/3 are classified as laments.
what is a definition of lament: Mark Vroegop calls it a “Prayer to God in pain that leads to trust in God.”
to lament is to express deep sorrow, pain, suffering to God.
Here is an example Psalm 13:
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.
Laments are called praise in a minor-key. they deal with the real stuff of life.
There are often 4 steps you see in almost every lament...
Turning to God
Complaining to God
Asking Boldly before God
Trusting God
You don’t see every step all the time, but for the most part—you see the Psalmist is turning to God....complaining (How long Lord?)
vs. 3 - asking boldly
vs. 5-6 trusting
so I would encourage you if you are feeling a deep hopelessness in life, not just from the Charlie Kirk shooting but school shootings, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, personal issues...then lament.
Lament enables us to walk the journey from pain to trust...and it may take time...not just minutes, but hours, days, sometimes weeks. We have to keep lamenting.
so the first thing I would encourage you to do is not to deny or just be happy go lucky...but lament. God has given us this incredible tool.
the 2nd thing—as we think about responding to hopelessness—is we:
Discern
and in the case of Charlie Kirk if we are using that as a test case or example—-discern what you can apply from Charlie’s life.
notice I said the word “discern.”
some of the things we can celebrate already—is...
if you watched his memorial service—Jesus was preached. The Gospel was shared with tens of thousands in attendance and probably millions online. and I rejoice as Paul says in Philippians 1—when Christ is preached. whether you liked him or not...Philippians 1:15-18
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.
16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.
17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.
18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,
I heard at the prayer vigil for Charlie Kirk that several came forward to pray the prayer of salvation—about 20, and I rejoice because of that!
I have heard that Gen Z, especially younger men who admired him have been impacted to follow Christ more closely, and I rejoice because of that.
some of you have said that it has sparked you to be more courageous for Jesus’ sake, and I rejoice because of that.
Charlie Kirk’s widow declared she had forgiven the attacker - incredible!
on the other hand, some of you didn’t always care for his style. Some of you said he could be pretty abrupt, abrasive, sometimes arrogant, and so even though you didn’t want to see him killed, it’s hard for you to admire Kirk because you didn’t care for his methods. And I hear you and see you.
I will admit I have not dove into his teachings or methods; I have only watched a few clips. And I wonder—if I were killed, and people were to take clips of me and share them—what would be shared? would things be taken out of context? perhaps...we have to be discerning...of anything we see sliced and diced online...
The other thing this impacts me as we think about discernment… is this whole grace. vs. truth perspective. some of us are incredibly gracious towards others, yet struggle with confronting or pushing the truth; some of us struggle with the opposite confronting or truthful but struggle with grace. some of us need to be more truthful and bold when presenting Jesus (not be a jerk), and some of us need to be more gracious. Jesus of course was perfect at this—John 1:14 describes him as full of grace and truth—he knew when to press and confront and when to show grace. He often showed both at the same time to the woman at the well or the leper.
along with this discernment thing, I would also caution how much time you spend on social media, or watching debates ensue or watching the killing of Charlie Kirk. It can be pretty traumatic to watch something like this or watch it again. Some of you remember when the Zapruder film came out of JFK’s death—that’s still pretty shocking to see. we can be become desensitized to that, which is sad; I just think we need to be careful what we consume. be willing to turn off those social media pages, news channels, the discord.
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
think about such things—be careful what you dwell on.
How do we respond to hopelessness?
Unite over our real hope—that’s Jesus Christ and the Gospel.
in other words...Be careful that this cultural moment doesn’t become an opportunity for division especially with your family, friends, church family, neighbors, co-workers. even social media followers.
I mentioned social media—I have friends who absolutely loved Charlie Kirk, and I have friends who didn’t like him, especially his methods. and we have people here on both sides—people you worship with every Sunday may not exactly agree with you over this topic, or even vote like you...and is that ok?
I think that’s great and a sign of church health. b/c we don’t want to be known as the MAGA church or conservative, nor do we want to be known as the leftist or progressive church or woke church (I don’t love those terms) we want to be know as a church that pursues and highlights Jesus and His Gospel. When I preached my series on politics, I wanted to make it clear that whatever political persuasion you are—we want you to come here and find hope in Jesus.
not in politics.
If you turn to 1 Samuel 8 - the title in my bible says “Israel asks for a king.”
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.
5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
and God gives them their request but warns them...they were placing their hope in their political leader to save them; to rescue them; that was their hope—and their human leader disappointed them.
I think we have to be careful too-that we don’t look to our hope in money, relationships, sexuality, or politics, or political leaders or platforms.
if our hope is truly in God, truly in Jesus Christ and His Good news....
some signs we believe this:
sign #1 - we will realize who the real enemy is
It means that person across the political aisle is not my enemy. They are not the real enemy.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
sign #2 - we will love our enemies...(doesn’t mean we agree)
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
sign #3 - we are empowered by Jesus to do all this...
Of course, Jesus modeled this. When he was hanging on the cross for our sins, in incredible pain physically, emotionally, and spiritually,
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.
33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
and of course—Romans 5:8
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners (enemies), Christ died for us.
so how do we respond to hopelessness?
Lament - 1/3 of Psalms
Discern — what to apply and not; what to focus on and not;
Unite over Jesus and the Gospel
what would you add?
Let’s pray.
