Hope and Promises

Jan 3, 2021 Hope and Promises Amanda Messer's father always wanted a daughter. Sons were great, and he had 4 of them, but imagine his delight when Amanda was born. She was his treasure, his dream come true. Sadly, Amanda's parents soon split up and she doesn't even remember a time when her dad lived in the same house. He was a wonderful Dad to her though, and they were as close as a father and daughter could be. On the days he was scheduled to come to visit, she would put on her prettiest dress and wait by the front window to see him pull into her driveway. At first, he was always on time, and she SO looked forward to spending time with him. Later she waited... and she waited. She'd ask her Mom to call "just one more time" until her mother said, "He's not coming. Go and change your clothes." Amanda didn't understand it at the time, but her father struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. What she did understand was that her Daddy didn't keep his promises to her. As an adult, Amanda was deeply moved by a coworker's Facebook post where he talked about his father who had just passed away. Her coworker said that his dad was just an average guy, but his word was golden. He always kept his promises. This ordinary father inspired his son to encourage others to keep their promises. He created and started mailing out free "promise cards." These are cards that people can fill out and give to others or use themselves as a reminder of what they promise to do. Amanda became a co-founder of this project in 2012, and over the past eight years it has become an international nonprofit social movement called "Because I Said I Would." The organization has sent out 12.8 million promise cards to more than 153 countries, provided free online resources you can download, and offered character development programs to more than 150,000 students. Amanda Messer's story highlights the importance of keeping promises. We live in a world where promises are constantly being broken. Parents break promises, marriages fail over broken promises, businesses suffer due to broken promises. And let's not get into how many promises are broken by elected officials! This has made it difficult for many to learn to trust. And that lack of trust is often carried over to people's relationship with God. Many wonder, some ask, does God keep his promises? Throughout the history of Israel, God's people had been taught about the resurrection. Even Mary and Martha believed they would see their dead brother Lazarus again-at some future time at the resurrection. They didn't realize that JESUS was the resurrection, the way, the truth. Believers in Thessalonica were asking about God's promises-in particular about the resurrection. Believing Jesus was going to return in their lifetime, there was concern about those who died in the faith. Would only those who were alive be changed? What exactly IS God's promise? And how do we know he will keep it? Paul answers these questions by reminding us how God keeps his promises through Jesus. Let's read the passage in I Thessalonians 4:13-18 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NRSV) What do we see in this passage? Look at v 13 again: But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. The first thing Paul points out is that we need hope when faced with grief, loss and suffering, all of which are part of our human experience. Those who know Jesus can process grief and loss better because we hope in him. Then Paul connects our resurrection and the resurrection of those loved ones who have already passed with Jesus's resurrection. That's a key component of our faith: As it says in Acts 17:28, "In him we live and move and have our being." We are united with Jesus in his life, death AND in his resurrection. Let's read on: For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. (1 Thessalonians 4:14-15 NRSV) Paul follows this up by sharing details of this resurrection that clearly indicate it won't be done in secret. It will be a big event with lots of reunions and rejoicing. Further, he emphasizes the promise that we will be with Christ for all eternity. Look at verse 16-17: For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NRSV) Did you get that? There's going to be the most incredible reunion EVER as we gather together, believers from every generation, young and old, to meet Christ in the air! Finally, Paul reminds us to share this promise with others-to give the encouragement of the hope they have in the resurrection when he says, Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:18 NRSV) So how can we apply this passage to our lives today? FIRST, this passage reminds us that Jesus' resurrection is proof that God keeps his promises. Through Christ's resurrection we have been given new life. We are citizens of a different kingdom. Because God raised Jesus from the dead, and because we are included in Jesus, we can trust that God will raise us too. This fuels our hope for the future and boosts our trust in God. SECOND, this passage shows us that People need to be reminded of the hope of the resurrection. There is so much pain in the world. Sometimes we forget what our brothers and sisters around the world are going through... There are so many examples of suffering that an hour or even a whole day wouldn't begin to give enough time to list them all. A few years ago my parents met this family as they were travelling by train in Cuba. They were invited to visit the Soto's home and formed a friendship, with the help of a translator. My parents have kept in touch, sending support and packages to the family, because life in Cuba is difficult. This year things have gotten very bad in Cuba. People line up for 8 to 10 hours to shop at state-run supermarkets with mostly empty shelves and crazy prices. In September a ham sold for $230 US and a 7 lb block of cheese cost $149 US. Can you imagine going to your local grocery store finding virtually empty shelves and having to pay $100 for a bag of chips just to have something to eat? This is what Cubans and many, many other people are facing as the famine continues in Africa and food shortages are affecting many parts of the world. This is just the beginning of sorrows. There's a desperate need for hope; there is a need to know that this life is temporary. We grieve with others, but we don't grieve as those without hope. We know our hope is in Jesus and we are called to remind others of that hope. LASTLY, this passage in I Thessalonians reminds us that Jesus IS the promise and shows us the importance of keeping a promise. Not only do we continually look to Jesus and help others turn to Jesus, we also know the importance of our word. Because we understand how hope and promises are deeply intertwined, we will remember how important it is for us to keep promises made to others, to give them hope and pass along the grace that God has shown us. Amanda Messer's story shows how one man's broken promises affected his little girl. We also saw how her coworker's father's life of promises kept left a legacy of hope. God has given us hope by providing proof of our resurrection through our elder brother Jesus. Yes, we have a great and precious hope, and his name is Jesus. His promises are sure, his resurrection is sure, and ours is too! Let's get ready for that great reunion in the sky and encourage each other with this promise. Closing Prayer Heavenly Father, we praise your holy name and thank you for the reminder that you are not like us. You keep ALL your promises perfectly and in the exactly right timing. We won't be like Amanda and so many others, all dressed and ready to go only to be disappointed by a Daddy who doesn't show up. You always show up for us. WE let others down but YOU will never let us down. We can trust you completely and that's why we live in HOPE. Jesus, as your followers we are included in your life, death AND resurrection. We know that this physical existence is not all there is. This life is not the end-there's so much more in store! Help us share this great hope, the power of your promise while living in great expectation and anticipation of the upcoming reunion of all reunions, meeting our Lord Jesus in the sky in the company of all the resurrected believers. We hope in you, we trust you. We worship you in the name of Jesus. Amen.