Hope-Less to Hope

Soon It will be January 1^st and we send out SMS’s emails  and make calls to wish each other a Happy New Year.

Have you at any time  wondered why do we wish  each other?

It is because we  hope that tomorrow  will be better and   be one where we have  peace and joy and happiness.

Have  we wondered what is hope?

The Webster’s Dictionary defines  HOPE as : The wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment. To look forward with confidence and expectation.

Let us quickly  look at two more words

Despair: to be overcome by a sense of futility or defeat

Despondency:  Depression of spirits from loss of hope, courage or confidence.  You have despair and despondency where there is no hope.

We would definitely prefer Hope to Despair. 

People have hope in different things and let me illustrate this through a passage from the Bible.  It is graphically recorded in the Book of Acts  about St. Paul and Silas  another apostle. ( Acts 16:16-34)

“16 One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a young servant woman who had an evil spirit that enabled her to predict the future. She earned a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. 17 She followed Paul and us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God! They announce to you how you can be saved!” 18 She did this for many days, until Paul became so upset that he turned round and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her!” The spirit went out of her that very moment.

19 When her owners realized that their chance of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the authorities in the public square. 20 They brought them before the Roman officials and said, “These men are Jews, and they are causing trouble in our city. 21They are teaching customs that are against our law; we are Roman citizens, and we cannot accept these customs or practise them.” 22 And the crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas.

Then the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be whipped. 23 After a severe beating, they were thrown into jail, and the jailer was ordered to lock them up tight. 24 Upon receiving this order, the jailer threw them into the inner cell and fastened their feet between heavy blocks of wood.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a violent earthquake, which shook the prison to its foundations. At once all the doors opened, and the chains fell off all the prisoners. 27The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he thought that the prisoners had escaped; so he pulled out his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted at the top of his voice, “Don't harm yourself! We are all here!”

29 The jailer called for a light, rushed in, and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. 30 Then he led them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your family.” 32 Then they preached the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that very hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; and he and all his family were baptized at once. 34 Then he took Paul and Silas up into his house and gave them some food to eat. He and his family were filled with joy, because they now believed in God.”

Let us look at Three instances of Hope or lack of it from this narrative.

Firstly Paul an Silas  have been imprisoned for  casting out a demon from a young girl. They made her  well in the  Name of Jesus yet they were  imprisoned.  They  were beaten with rods and put in prison.  You know how difficult it would be if we are  given a few punches  but these were beaten with rods. It would be natural for them to cry and  sleep off. Is it not?

In fact we would be most upset for being punished for doing a good act.

What do they do instead. At midnight most or all of us sleep  especially if you are beaten so badly.  Paul and Silas   were praying and singing.  What   was the reason for their singing? How can they pray and sing after such a humiliation?

They had a reason and the reason was their hope in  Jesus.                       

1 Tim 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.

We get our  hope from the  Resurrection of Christ.

Though Paul and Silas were put in the  most  secure of the  Prison they did not fear  their situation due to their hope in Jesus.

This  hope in Christ gave them the courage to drive away the evil spirit, bear the beatings, bear the humiliation of imprisonment. Friend where is you hope today. WE don’t  know how 2011  will turn out.  There will be situations of difficulty for following the God’s will and doing his work. How will we react? 

Secondly people have the Hope on the wrong things

let us look at the masters of the slave girl who was demon possessed.  They  earned a great deal of money through the fortune telling of the  slave girl.  So apparently their  homes were being run  on the  fortune telling of the slave girl.  She was their bread winner.

When Paul drove out the demon  from the girl, they realized  that their hope of making money was lost, so Paul and  Silas were put in prison.

The owners of the girls did not know Jesus. Their hope was a demon possessed girl.  Their livelihood was a demon possessed girl. Don’t we  put our hope on the wrong things? We just  got an SMS to contact  a certain person who will tell us our future.  We have  enough of such examples  of having hope in astrology, rituals, superstition, drugs, power and people.

The news is full of stories where people have been cheated marriages, at jobs, friendships and so on.

My friend if you have  hope in the  wrong things  and hope  in something or someone other than Christ please review and see where the end may be.

Finally  we have  a Situation  of NO Hope.

Consider the Jailor of the prison

He is a  person performing his duties,

He is a responsible person  and he was doing his job well.

He in fact put  Paul and Silas in the inner cell and fastened their feet in stocks.  ( it is another situation that they still were  singing.)\

So here is  a responsible profession doing his duty.  He is very much like you and me. I tend to identify my self with this professional.

There is an earthquake and the  prison was shaken and the  prisoners were free.

This is a normal situation which each of us undergo. 

The  earthquake is nothing but circumstances beyond your control.  We have  minor and major earthquakes in our lives. How do we respond to them? 

In spite of your  best efforts things don’t seem the way you want them to be. How would you respond. 

The jailor was one without hope  He choose to end his life than to face the humiliation and shame of losing the prisoners. In an earlier occasion guards were executed when St. Peter  came out of prison.

Acts 12:18-19

The  jailor being responsible and not wanting to face humiliation chose to die.   Many people perhaps may be in a similar situation as the the jailor.

The jailor was without hope my friends.  

A person without hope chooses  not to live.  

We may not be committing suicide but are we killing part of our selves slowly every day with no hope?

Are we hurting or harming ourselves because  we don’t know what  the  future is ?  are overwhelmed by our circumstance?

The  same earthquake the response of the jailor is to kill himself and the response of Paul is  “ Don’t harm  yourself”

Paul and Silas though in Prison were free because of their hope in Christ

The Jailor who  had the power to imprison others but was  a  prisoner with no Hope.

As we stand at  2011 can  we listen to the voice of Paul say “ don’t harm your self”

And thereafter  ask like the jailor  "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved-you and your household." Acts 16:30-32

Rom 8:23-25

 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

NIV

In conclusion let us not put our hope in the wrong things

Or not have Hope at all. 

But instead Place our trust  in Jesus 

who is our hope for 2011 and Eternity.

Wish you a very Happy New Year.

Rom 15:13

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen