Mary (Hope)

Series Review

e.g. Sears Wishbook; I hope I get this for Christmas…that’s not really a confident hope - that’s a wish; a desperate prayer; but it’s not confidence in a better future

Mary meek and mild;

Sermon Introduction - We need Hope

“This is as good as it gets.” - That’s a bad place to be. Believe in the power of suggestion? Think of the power behind those words.

A person who thinks that way stops trying. Job - doesn’t think of looking for a better job, or retooling themselves; just accepts the current job.

thirsty, but not seeking water

A person in debt just treats the monthly payment as another bill.

A person in pain accepts the misery.

A grieving person is mired in their misery

A church that is facing decline, and thinks there is no way they can grow, stops trying, circles the wagons and protects their way of life.

“This is as good as it’s going to get.”

There is no hope, and that’s a dangerous place to be. If you ever think that way, you need hope.

Sometimes we accept pain that we shouldn’t. We are not meant to mire in depression. Live with bitterness. Have no aspirations for a better future. Exist in a toxic relationship or settle for a belief in a God who really doesn’t do anything. The words “this is as good as this is going to get” are not in the Bible. They are not true. It’s the biggest lie we can believe.

Having hope is the opposite of this lie.

What I’m not saying

What I’m not saying

I’m not a skeptic - but I am a realist. I can look at situations and recognize that they can’t change. I’m not a prosperity preacher - I won’t tell you that if you act and pray a certain way that God removes all pain and problems.

But having hope doesn’t necessarily mean that we can see a future where our problems are gone. Some pain is real and permanent. Limbs do not grow back. Dead loved ones are not resurrected. A destroyed home may not be replaced. A person with a life sentence may never be freed. Some pain will never go away.

But we can still have hope.

definition

Bible v. today

Biblical hope on the other hand .. is life shaping confidence about the future. It is living now with confidence because of what you know will happen in the future.

we can have confidence in our future; we can believe that God has a purpose; God wants to prosper us somehow. The best is still to come.

Mary had good reason to lack hope. Good reasons to believe that things weren’t going to get any better.

Barriers to Hope

situation, status and skepticism

Situation

Luke 2:1 NIV

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.

Luke 2:

Poor - hopeless of poverty, see no solution

Poor - hopeless of poverty, see no solution

political - defeated country - no hope

Joseph ready to leave her.

we imagine her being submissive and happy, but let’s not forget the fear she likely experienced. vulnerable. how are you optimistic when you are poor, oppressed, and your fiance is about to annul your engagement because you are pregnant by another man.

They used to teach the song “count your blessings.” Sometimes we can just sit and count our problems. There could be a lot of them.

Count the problems. “How might God be at work?”

This can’t be overcome. “Says who?” Is this a lie?

This problem will never go away. How can God use my pain? (I don’t want certain pain to go away - it has shaped me as a person, a father, a pastor, a Christian). God uses our pain for a larger purpose.

Status

Luke 1:34 NIV

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

Matthew 1:19 NIV

Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

:L19

2. adulteress - reputation; not the stigma as it is today; although it can be

adulteress - reputation; not the stigma as it is today; although it can be

imagine that story - God did it!

she was likely shunned by her neighbors; rumorschurch can be guilty of this: sin - walk a fine line - upholding the marriage covenant, while helping people work through their grief, not making them second class citizens

to the margins

unimportant

voiceless

You are unintelligent. I am the expert here. I have the mind of Christ.

You are a low level employee. You lack positional authority. You are not part of the decision making process.

You are inferior. Stop believing these lies, and instead of thinking that a person like you can’t, remember who you are in Christ.

solution? who am I in Christ?

Supernatural

Luke 1:34–35 NIV

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

we want our problems to go away, but we don’t believe in the solution

questioning the virgin birth; embarrassing teaching; why do we struggle with this, but not the resurrection? miracles?

the apostles creed…ever get quiet during this?

maybe there is a symbolic way to interpret this, but if God wanted to do it that way, who am I to argue

That’s impossible.

Who can limit God?

For nothing will be impossible with God.” Matthew 1:37

Belief in the supernatural