The Power of Hope

This is the message from the Gettysburg WOW (Worship on Wednesday) service on July 16, 2014.  The Bible verses are Ephesians 3:4-21.

            Our sermon series for these summer Wednesday night services is “Three-Sixteens”, looking at Chapter Three, Verse Sixteen in various books of the New Testament.  Tonight we look at Ephesians Three, Sixteen:  “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.”

            The Apostle Paul prays that God may strengthen us with power out of God’s glorious riches.  So that tells us some things right there.  For one thing, it tells us God has glorious riches.  That’s not a surprise, I suppose.  If we start from the premise that everything belongs to God, then naturally God has riches.  And if they’re God’s riches, then they’re probably glorious.  No big news so far.

            But get this:  God gives some of those glorious riches to us.  That’s amazing in all kinds of ways.

            For one thing, as we’ve talked before, God has no real reason to give us anything.  God certainly does not owe it to us to give us anything.  We don’t deserve to have God give us anything.  God is the holy, righteous, perfect God.  We tend to be unholy, self-righteous, imperfect people.  God is so far beyond anything we could ever hope to be that God has no need to take any notice of us at all.  God certainly has not need to give us anything.

            But God does.  God does give us things.  And not only does God give us things, God gives them to us out of God’s glorious riches.

            Think about what that means.  It means that God does not give to us out of God’s leftovers.  God does not give us stuff by accident.  God does not give us stuff that’s mediocre or unimportant.  God gives to us out of God’s glorious riches.  God gives to us out of the best stuff God has.

            That’s pretty incredible, you know?  God has no real reason to give us anything.  Yet, not only does God choose to give us things, God gives us out of God’s best.  Think of the love that shows.  Think of how much God must love you and me.  To not only give us things, but to give us out of the best that God has.  That’s an incredible love God has for us.

            That should make us feel really good.  And I think it does.  It does make us feel good to think about how much God loves us.  It does make us feel good to think about how God gives us out of God’s best, out of God’s glorious riches.

            But then, we step back.  And we look at our lives.  And we think, “Wait a minute.  Where’s all this good stuff God’s giving me?  Where are all those glorious riches God’s giving me?  I’ve got all kinds of problems.”  Maybe our health is bad.  Maybe we’re running out of money and have bills to pay.  Maybe we feel alone and unloved.  Maybe we feel like our life’s a mess and we have no idea what to do about it.  And we start wondering.  “What happened to all those glorious riches I was promised?  They must’ve gotten lost in the mail, because they sure did not get to me.  I’ve got two things here, diddly and squat.”

            Now, most of us understand that when Paul is talking about God giving us out of God’s glorious riches, that does not necessarily mean money.  But what does it mean?  What are these glorious riches we’re promised God will give us?  And if they don’t make our lives better, if they don’t help us with our problems, what good are they?

            Well, let’s look at what Paul says about these glorious riches.  First, he says those riches will strengthen us with power.  That sounds good.  When we have problems, power is one of the things we need.  We need to have the power to solve our problems.  And we know God has power:  lots and lots of power.  So, that sounds like a good thing:  God gives us some of God’s power.

            But what kind of power is Paul talking about.  He says it a little farther along.  What Paul is talking about, in his words, is the power “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.”

            Okay, yeah, well, that may not be quite what we had in mind.  I mean, we know, as Christians that Jesus loves us.  And we know that if Jesus loves us, then that means God loves us, because Jesus is part of the Holy Trinity--God the Son.  And we know that love is very important to us.

            But at the same time, when we’re going through some of this stuff, that may not feel all that helpful.  Okay, God loves me, and that’s cool.  But my health is still lousy.  I still cannot pay my bills.  I’m still alone.  My life’s still a mess.  If God loves me so much, why does God not do something about some of that stuff?  In other words, what actual good is God’s love doing me?

            These are important questions.  Because love that does not do any actual good is really irrelevant, right?  I mean, we could talk all day long about loving the people of Haiti, or about loving the poor people in Africa.  Or, for that matter, we could talk all day long about loving the unchurched children of this community.  But if we don’t do anything about it, if our love does not do anything to help the people, what difference does our love make?  Remember what is says in James?  James says, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?’”

            Is that in effect what God is doing?  Is God just telling us, “I love you, go in peace” while doing nothing about our needs?

            Obviously I don’t think so.  But if that’s not what God’s doing, then what is God doing?  How does this power that comes from God’s glorious riches actually help us?

Well, let’s look at exactly how that power comes to us.  Paul says that comes to us through God’s Spirit in our inmost being.  And he says when that happens, Christ dwells in our hearts.

            Is that a big deal?  Well, again, obviously I think so.  But why?  What makes it a big deal?  Does it solve our problems?  Does it improve our health?  Does it pay our bills?

            Well, yes and no.  Obviously, the Holy Spirit is not likely to show up tomorrow with a check.  And there are plenty of good, sincere Christian believers who have cancer, or who have strokes, or who have Alzheimer’s, or who have any of a thousand other things.

            But Paul does not tell us the Holy Spirit will do those things, either.  What Paul says is that the Spirit, God’s Spirit will dwell in our inmost being.  What Paul says is that Christ will dwell in our hearts.  And the difference that makes is enormous.  Because the difference that makes is hope.

            And hope is huge.  Because hope is the thing that keeps us going.  Hope is what tells us that, no matter how bad things are right, now they won’t be like this forever.  Hope is what tells us that, no matter what we have to go through, we don’t have to go through it alone.  Paul said that hope, along with faith and love, is one of the three things that remains after everything else is gone.  Hope is what tells us that everything can be overcome.  Even death can be overcome through faith in Jesus Christ.

            Hope may not solve all our problems, but it helps us look at them in a completely different way.  Hope is what tells us that even when we struggle to pay our bills, we still have tremendous worth as human beings, as God’s children.  Hope is what tells us that we are not alone, that there are people who love us if we just go out and find them.  Hope is what tells us that even though our life is a mess, God can still bless that mess and turn it into something beautiful.  And hope is what tells us that even cancer, even a stroke, even Alzheimer’s, cannot defeat us.  It can take away our mind, our health, even our life, but it cannot take away our soul.  Our soul, our hearts, our inmost being, belong to God.  And they always will.

            Of all God’s creatures, human beings are the only ones to whom God has given the gift of hope.  It is one of God’s most glorious riches.  A dog, or a cat, or a bird, cannot hope for a better life.  All it knows is the life it has.  A dog, or a cat, or a bird, does not have a feeling of self-worth.  It cannot have faith that God will bless its life.  And it cannot feel God’s Spirit in its inmost being.  That’s a gift that reserved for human beings, for you and for me.

            Out of God’s glorious riches, God gives us the power to hope.  That power comes from God’s Spirit entering our inmost being.  It comes from Christ dwelling in our hearts.  So let’s open our hearts.  Let’s let God’s Spirit enter our inmost being.  And let’s feel the power of hope that is given to us from the glorious riches of the all-powerful, almighty God.