Easter A 02: The Sure and Living Hope
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Outline
Introduction: During World War II, allied air forces often joked about gremlins that would mysteriously break equipment or cause errors to occur in even the most routine actions. Planes stored in hangars overnight after a mission would suddenly now have equipment that no longer worked. Many of you may have seen the famous Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner speaking the line, “There’s something on the wing!”—a gremlin that only he could see. Of course, when the plane lands due to engine problems, Shatner is carted off in an ambulance, while as the camera pulls back we see that there is mysterious damage to an engine of the plane.
While gremlins are mythical, we have all probably experienced similar things. Such as pulling your car into the garage at night, turning it off, shutting the garage door so that no one uses the car the rest of the day—only to get up in the morning and find the car won’t start. Why? No one or nothing has touched it. Well, the why is answered by the fact that everything in the universe is subject to decay, no matter how safe and secure you make it.
But what if the creation has no role in establishing something? Is it subject to decay? Any gift man may develop will, over time, not be the same pristine gift as when it was received. Gifts can become broken, discolored, weakened, devalued, and on and on. But
Eternal Life Is a Sure and Living Hope Because God Has Won It and Keeps It for You.
I. What do we hope for? Generally, people hope for what will make them happy. Human psychology suggests that your hope ought to have a goal, an actionable pathway, and a sense of continued motivation.
A. What is your goal? A new job? A new relationship? A new car? To get out of some dire situation you have no control over?
1. All those goals are subject to the whims of sinful men and women (who have their own goals!) and to the decay of material items. The new job may be given to someone else or not be exactly what you were led to believe. The new relationship may not last and may bring you new trials. The car will eventually suffer mechanical issues and lose value with age, and you’ll have to generate a new goal (hope) to replace it. The dire situation may not go away, and you will suffer.
2. The happiness of such hopes, if met at all, is not eternal.
B. What is your actionable pathway to make your hope a reality?
1. The U.S. Declaration of Independence guarantees the pursuit of happiness, but not happiness itself. Can you actually achieve your goal?
2. Think about one of your goals. Does your actionable pathway to get it involve harming relationships, stepping over someone? Is your pathway in keeping with the laws of the land? With the Law of God? Does your pathway prioritize things according to your sinful nature?
3. Does your pursuit itself keep you emotionally happy?
C. What is your motivation to keep pursuing that goal you’re thinking about—which, remember, may or may not remain as wonderful as you first thought?
1. In your heart of hearts, are the motivators greed, self-love, pride, power, fame, lust?
2. These are motivators for happiness in a heart interested in self. But are these motivators ever content when a hope (goal) is achieved?
Transition: Our experiences with earthly hopes always have the possibility of not being fulfilled, or driving our life experience into the realms of vanity or despair. What about eternal things?
II. Eternal hope is divinely unique from man-made hopes.
A. What is your eternal hope? Can you achieve this goal?
1. Will that hope once obtained be diminished in any way until you receive it? Once you receive it, can it be ruined later?
2. Are you sure you have a pathway to that hope? Will you be able to stay on that path?
3. Will it be difficult for you to be happy before your hope is fulfilled, or will you be joyful now?
B. Biblical hope is a fact—whose outcome simply has not been given to us yet.
1. Biblical hope is not a wish, but a divine promise yet to be fulfilled.
2. Biblical hope is a living hope, eternal life, face to face with God in a resurrected, glorified body.
C. Eternal life will be as magnificent and wonderful as when it was first won for us by Christ!
1. Because God won it for us, it is imperishable—just as is God’s Word. It has not the nature of decay or death, and thus it is unfading.
2. It is undefiled, for nothing earthly can get to it in the heavenly realms. Illustration: The Tree of Ténéré was for three hundred years believed to be the loneliest tree on earth. It was an acacia tree living in Niger’s Sahara Desert and was the only thing around for 250 miles. Such a distinction made it an obvious landmark for travelers passing through the arid Sahara. Yet, in 1973, man accomplished what only man can do. Someone ran the tree over with a truck. Of course, many suspect the driver was drunk in order to hit the only obstacle for miles around. (See www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-most-isolated-tree-in-the-world-was-killed-by-a-probably-drunk-driver-5369329/ [accessed January 6, 2022]).
We praise God that he keeps our hope, the great gift of eternal life, away from our earthly hands, for we as sinners will ruin it. He keeps us in the faith on this side of creation, keeps us fighting the good fight, as Paul says, not letting our sins or our sinful nature have anything to do with eternal life with him. Because we are cloaked in the righteousness of his Son, our hope is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,” kept safe in heaven for us (1 Pet 1:4).
III. How is living hope won, received, and kept?
A. It is only because of God’s mercy that the gift has been won for you.
1. You only deserve condemnation. It is only by God’s grace that it is given to you, for he must bring you to trust in Christ.
2. There is nothing within you by nature but sin, death, defilement, rebellion.
B. It is an inheritance—a gift because someone has died and willed it to you. It is an inheritance from the Son of the living God.
1. Christ’s death on the cross paid for all of your transgressions against God.
2. It is Christ’s death and resurrection alone that won you forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.
C. God himself through his Word and Sacrament keeps you on the path to glory.
1. He guards you by guiding you to avoid the temptations away from the goal.
2. He even strengthens your faith by the trials that are on the path. (Luther Quote.)
IV. Are you happy about your hope—or are you joyous? Does this joy strengthen your faith? Absolutely!
A. God never promised you would always be happy.
1. Being happy is a day-by-day thing.
2. There are always things that will cause us to be emotionally sad, such as grief.
B. But we are still joyful in Christ; joy is foundational for the Christian.
1. Why? Because you know where you are headed, what awaits. Joy lets you endure unhappy times.
2. Christian joy cannot be taken away from you. The joy won for you and given to you is forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life now. Eternal life in a glorified body is yet to be given at the resurrection. Nothing in creation can take these gifts from you as you remain in Christ.
Conclusion: Rejoice! Because Christ lives, you shall live. As he is risen from the dead, so shall you. The hope of eternal life in a glorified, resurrected body is your promised gift now, waiting to be consummated on the final day. The luster, sinlessness, and perfection of that gift will not change between now and the day you see it, nor after that day. You cannot earn it, make it better, or diminish it. With this foundational joy, we live a life now that manifests knowing what awaits! Amen.