Finding True Hope (Paul)

Good morning again everyone…It is so good to be here this morning. I am grateful that you are all here in person as well as those of you that are joining us online. I know that we still have some sickness going around the area so I am grateful for the technology that we have that enables us to connect with you wherever you are and you can join our extended church family. Right now we have our kids heading out with their amazing teachers that will take them and teach them in a way that makes sense to them this morning.

Hey, last week was Easter and we had an amazing Sunday together I think, I hope you all feel the same way. As we went through the day and we were reminded of the hope that we have in Christ, through the power of the resurrection. We were reminded that even though we each face increasingly difficult situations, that there is in fact hope through the resurrection. What kind of hope is that though? I mean, how does the power of the resurrection give us hope in real life… In other words, if I do place my hope, or my expectation in the power of the resurrection, how does that change my life? That is what I want to talk about today…A little practically, what does it look like. In order to do that though, I need to tell you a story.

The school system in a large city had a program to help children keep up with their school work during stays in the city's hospitals. One day a teacher who was assigned to the program received a routine call asking her to visit a particular child. She took the child's name and room number and talked briefly with the child's regular class teacher. "We're studying nouns and adverbs in his class now," the regular teacher said, "and I'd be grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn't fall too far behind."

The hospital program teacher went to see the boy that afternoon. No one had mentioned to her that the boy had been badly burned and was in great pain. Upset at the sight of the boy, she stammered as she told him, "I've been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs." When she left she felt she hadn't accomplished much.

But the next day, a nurse asked her, "What did you do to that boy?" The teacher felt she must have done something wrong and began to apologize. "No, no," said the nurse. "You don't know what I mean. We've been worried about that little boy, but ever since yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He's fighting back, responding to treatment. It's as though he's decided to live."

Two weeks later the boy explained that he had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived. Everything changed when he came to a simple realization. He expressed it this way: "They wouldn't send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?"

You see, with just the idea of hope, this young man completely turned everything around…its like it gave him the push that he needed in order to keep going. However, the opposite is also true isn’t it? I mean, when there is no hope, or when you hope has repeatedly failed, then you tend to not want to keep going. Listen to this story that I read.

One night at dinner a man, who had spent many summers in Maine, fascinated his companions by telling of his experiences in a little town named Flagstaff. The town was to be flooded, as part of a large lake for which a dam was being built. In the months before it was to be flooded, all improvements and repairs in the whole town were stopped. What was the use of painting a house if it were to be covered with water in six months? Why repair anything when the whole village was to be wiped out? So, week by week, the whole town became more and more bedraggled, more gone to seed, more woebegone. Then he added by way of explanation: "Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present."

You see, here we see that when there is no hope then there is no reason to do anything…Just like this town that had no hope began to fall apart, when we have no hope we will inevitably fall apart. I think we have seen that in various ways, and maybe you have seen that in your own life...

Well this morning I wanted to talk about a person that had every reason possible to loose hope, however he was able to continue on. This person was beaten, locked up, thrown out, disregarded, lost reputation and lost everything from a worldly perspective…but somehow he continued with hope. This morning I want us to...

Meet Paul

So if we are going to talk about Paul, I guess we need to know who Paul is. Now we are not going to do an exhaustive study on Paul right now, although that would be incredibly interesting…However, this morning we are going to just look over some of the highlights in Pauls life in order to try and understand him.

First, Paul was a Roman citizen. Paul was born in Tarsus, which gave him the privileged status of being a Roman citizen. As a Roman, Paul had rights others didn't, and this occasionally spared him from harm. Next, Paul was a Hebrew. As a matter of fact, Paul was a Pharisee, just like his father was a pharisee. That means that Paul was trained in the Scriptures more than most of those around him. Actually, Paul had trained under a pretty popular and well respected pharisee named Gamaliel. That’s not all though, becuase Paul was a persecutor of Christians. Actually, the first first Christian martyr after Jesus was a man named Stephen. Paul was there for that murder and he watched it happen and held the jackets of the men that commited that heinous act. However, that’s not all that Paul was, because Pauls life changed, and then…Paul was a Christian. You see, there is a story, and this is a historical account in Acts where Paul met Jesus, This happened in Acts 9.

Well, after Paul had this encounter with Jesus, Paul was a missionary. This of course did not go over well with many people. Remember that Paul used to go and persecute and imprison and have christians killed…Now Paul is the person he used to chase down. This caused Paul to undergo a great deal of personal hardship as Paul was persecuted. Through the persecution that Paul experienced, Paul was beaten and jailed multiple times.

However, even while experiencing this persecution somehow Paul never gave up…Paul always stayed firmly planted in the hope that he had in the power of the resurrection. I want to read a particular passage to you from a letter that Paul wrote to the church in Philippi. In order to read this passage to you though, I need you to understand the context of what Paul was experiencing when he wrote these words. Listen context matters, and not just the context of the surrounding Scripture, but also the historical, geographical, and societal context all matters as well. It is important to know why someone wrote what they wrote. So, let’s all turn over to

Philippians 4:10–13 (ESV)

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Now, we can look at this passage and this is such an encouraging passage, but I want you to understand what Paul was experiencing. When Paul wrote these words, Paul was in prison in Rome. He had experienced a great deal of trouble and had been dragged out of town and beaten, which caused him to appeal to Caesar as he was a Roman citizen and he was being treated in an unlawful manner, and the Jewish leaders were attempting to have him put to death. At this point in his life he had spent approximately three years as a Roman prisoner and had traveled to Rome from Asia including being shipwrecked on an island called Malta. There was no right to a speedy trial then so it was a long drawn out process…That is what is going on in Pauls life as he wrote this passage. Even with all of that though, Paul was content.

So if all of that is going on…Does that give a little more weight to this passage? I think so…This passage, Phil 4:13 is one of the most misused verses. You see, I grew up in a Christian school and of course that verse was on the wall above the door as we left the locker room. This passage has nothing to do with comfort or winning anything. I mean, Paul is writing this while he is in jail…he is clearly not winning....at least from a worldly perspective is he? No, but he has his hope in something else...

What I love here is that Paul has the authority to talk about this becuase he has been at the top, and now he is at the bottom. He has been well fed, and he has been hungry. Then Paul says that,

“I have learned how to be content...In any and every circumstance…I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” —Paul

Ok, so what is it about the hope that Paul has that is causing him to be able to do all things? Where is Paul looking here? Well, do you remember the passage we looked at last week. That is what Paul is looking too. We will look at that again this week briefly.

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (ESV)

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

This is what Paul has in view while he is facing being persecuted and beaten in a Roman jail. This is the truth that Paul has in view when he is facing the reality of an impending death. This is what Paul has in view when he is looking at another whip coming at him. You see, you and I feel that many times we are suffering, and we are…however, while we are suffering we frequently take our eyes from the hope of the resurrection…it would seen that for Paul...that was his everything…his eyes didn’t leave the hope he has in the Lord.

So what do we do? How do we do what Paul is talking about here? How can we keep our eyes fixed on the hope of the resurrection? Well, part of keeping our eyes fixed on the hope of the resurrection is simply acknowledging that the resurrection actually gives you hope. I mean, I know that most of us here have attended church for a long time, and I know that we will all continue to attend church next week and the week after that and we will simply continue…but why? I believe that frequently we forget about what originally brought us here don’t we…I mean, how many times are we just going through the motions and showing up, and singing a song without truly paying attention to why we are here....why we are doing what we are doing. What we see from Paul is that he didn’t take his eye off the ball, and he stayed focused on the Lord and that is what took him through the hardships…that’s how he had peace in the middle of being mistreated.

Now, how do we experience that peace and contentment that Paul experiences through all circumstances? Well, first of all it is the hope of the resurrection, however, there is something we can do here. You see, Paul was humble. Paul shows us his humility by sharing that he has had much and he has had little. We see his humility when we see that it is truly when Paul is weak that he can be strong… Specifically theologian Peter O’Brian says it like this,

When he was most conscious of his own weaknesses and inadequacies he became most aware of Christ’s power resting upon him; for when he was weak, then he was truly strong. —Peter O’ Brian

You see, it is only when we truly realize that we can do nothing…absolutely nothing that we can start to trust Christ with our everything…As long as we think we can handle everything that we are experiencing, and we put our hope in various people or things, then we will never know how to be content the way Paul speaks about contentment. You see, Paul is a man who finds his hope and his sufficiency in Christ, and in Christ alone. This is how Paul experiences the hope. When Paul has much…he is in Christ. When Paul has little…he is in Christ…When Paul is being pushed into a new ministry, Paul is excited that he gets to share the Gospel. Are you still excited to share the Gospel, or to be a part of the Gospel being shared?

This morning as we close out and prepare ot go on about our day and our situations. I have a question that you need to answer. Where is my hope? Now, this is the last in this series as we are searching for hope and so this morning I want to add another question for you to answer this morning. What do I need to be content? Is your contentment situationally based, or is your contentment based in Christ? I would encourage you as you consider this question that if you would say that you are not content…then you are looking somewhere else for hope. If that is you this morning and you are just unsure about how to move forward then I want to give you a couple of steps for you to do. First of all, make Sunday morning worship with your spiritual family a priority. Second, begin a daily time with God that includes both prayer and Bible reading. Third, join a midweek or Sunday morning Adult Bible Study. Lastly, give me a call and let’s get together and talk about how you can refocus your hope on Christ. This morning lets close in prayer and take this time to individually refocus our minds and hearts towards Christ and the hope of the resurrection.

—Pray