When Times are Tough: We Need a Living Hope

I Peter 1:3‑7

It’s Mothers’ Day weekend so I really want to have a nice warm upbeat message – sort of like a Jane Austen movie or the ending of ”Sleepless in Seattle” or some other romantic “chick flick.” But, you all see that the larger theme that we’re talking about these months is “tough times.” Of course, without a doubt, mothers can relate to that theme – maybe better than anyone else. Who has walked through tough times more than mothers with their children. Right?

We all know that tough times come to us all. That’s a part of living in this world. And the book of 1 Peter points us to what God says we need in tough times and right at the beginning, Peter tells us in 1 Peter that we need a “living hope.” Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade (1:3-4a).”

“New birth into a living hope…” People are confused by this phrase “born again” but it really is a beautiful thing. It means that we are made alive to something that is very real – but we were not alive to before we were reborn. It suggests that most people are trying to find hope and meaning in things that are dying. So, it’s saying that we need to know God so that we can having something that remains alive, can never be taken away, no matter how tough the times are. Does that ring true to you? It does to me. So today, we’re going to think about that “living hope” and about why it makes Peter praise God so much.

Question 1: Why do we need a living hope? Because people go through tough times in this dying world. …for a little while you have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials ( 1:5).

I have to start with this basic fact that we all know is true, i.e., there is no way to get though this life unless we know how to get through tough times. And, I contend there is no way to get through those tough times (and the suffering that comes with them) unless you have a “living hope.”

Let me illustrate this in a very personal way. I just closed down our family home less than two weeks ago. In our living room, my parents still had this picture of me from my college years. Look at that picture and what is your first thought? Isn’t it, “Our pastor is dying!”? If you’re kind, you might soften by saying, “He’s fading away – or shriveling up” – or whatever. And, I contend that I’m not alone in this -- this is true of all material things in this world. And my point is that tough times – suffering – comes about when we place our hope in those deteriorating things. If we make our hope any finite thing – health, looks, family, achievement, personal fortune, position in society – then “suffering” means the loss of that thing! You could never avoid suffering if your only hope is something that is fading away.

Victor Frankl is a man whose work shows us this. He was an Austrian Jewish scientist, psychologist and medical doctor who survived into a Nazi concentration camp (Auschwitz) in World War II. He said he could not stop being a scientist while there so he engaged in a research project studying how people handled the suffering he observed. His study, recorded in Man’s Search for Meaning (...trotzdem ja zum Leben sagen (Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager), remains extremely popular because, in these days of financial downturn, places like the Harvard Business School have been studying “resiliency.” What makes people and organizations resilient in tough times? Frankl made note of four ways people handled them:

#1: Some became cruel to others – They took on the way of treating people that they saw in their captors. It’s a powerful application of the maxim, “Hurt people hurt people.” Those who are abused hate the memory of abuse but, for some reason, take on that same way of life. Frankl said that it often came about because they were willing to do anything to survive.

#2: Some gave up – They lost all hope – lost a hold on any reason to keep on living. They could not smile or laugh or care about others. They withdrew into lethargy.

#3: Some held on to the past being restored – They thought, “If I can hold on, I’ll get my former way of life back.” They kept their focus on the same things that they had been on before. But, when they sometimes realized that this would never happen, they fell into a deeper depression than even those in group #2. And, those who survived and returned to some form of their earlier lives, found an emptiness in them. The suicide rate in this group was very high.

#4: A small group focused on things their captors could not take away – This group kept their inner strength and buoyancy. Frankl reported they would say that a spouse, a parent, a friend or (often) God was looking down on them. Why did they survive differently? Frankl’s analysis was that, “Life in a place like a concentration camp tears open the human soul and exposes its depths and foundational beliefs.” In the midst of tough times, we discover what is truly important to us. Frankl said, “Life only has a lasting meaning if we have a hope that even suffering and death cannot destroy.”

Coming back to our Bible text, Frankl was saying that our “hope” is what determines our “now” – our everyday lives in this imperfect world. If what we must have in order to be happy is something that will not last, we will suffer when we lose it. And since what most of the world lives for will not last, then most people have absolutely no way of avoiding suffering. Eventually, the tough times will do us in!

You see, the Bible is calling us to a completely different way of living life. Most of us live thinking, “If only I did that – had that, etc., then life would be good.” Then we get that temporary thing we made so important… and discover it isn’t all it was cracked up to be. Or we get it and enjoy it for a while, and then we lose it. If we live long enough, all those finite things we live for will fade away. I was talking with John Heck at Atherton Homes a few months ago. He made such a wise statement to me. “Aging, in part, is all about loss. Loss of our homes. Careers. Hearing. Sight. Freedom to drive. Health. Friends. Spouses. We are forced to concentrate on things that last.”

You see it don’t you? In this kind of world, we need a living hope and that’s what God tells us he is ready to give us. So, that brings up the second question:

Question #2: How do We Get Living Hope? Through faith in the crucified and risen Jesus.

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead… (It is)for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power… (1:3-5a).

This question brings us into the heart of the Gospel message about knowing God and living life with God – and there is a lot of language in these verses that, if you’re not a regular churchgoer, will be a bit foreign to you. It’s all right here in this text: words like “born again” and “being saved.” The issue here is that if what most of us live for doesn’t last, how do we find life as God meant it to be? How do we live life investing in something that is living instead of dying? Let me try to walk us through it. Let’s begin where Peter begins, i.e., with the motive.

The motive for God rescuing us from living for dying things is his mercy. Mercy refers to our inability to get there ourselves. We keep trying to find something to live for on our own – without God -- but it doesn’t work. More than that, we do wrong things as we’re trying to find some hope and joy in life. We end up living selfishly, being unfaithful in our relationships, doing things that hurt people around us, and sometimes get into an addictive pattern as we try to find meaning in alcohol, more money, sexual escapades, and countless other things. So, we know something isn’t working and often blame everything and everyone around us (e.g., “it’s my parents’ fault) but, though there is a lot of blame to be thrown around, we also know that we’ve done wrong. Honest people own the fact that, if there is really a God like the Bible talks about, then we haven’t lived well enough to gain his acceptance. What we need is mercy.

And mercy is one of the fundamental character traits of God. As Peter puts it, “God’s mercy is great.” So, if God is going to forgive me and give me a chance to start again and bless me, he will have to be forgiving and merciful. No person has found God’s rescue from a self-driven way of looking for hope in something in this world through his or her own merits or efforts. If you feel like you could never be good enough for God, then there’s hope for you. About the only thing God is not patient with is pride.

Becoming a Christian isn't a personal achievement. It's a divine miracle. It is God at work on our behalf in spite of our inability to earn our way to him. "In his great mercy, he has given us new birth." Christianity isn't like so many religions that says, "Now, you reach up to this level and become this good and do this many good things and you will win this prize." Our hope of eternal life as Christians is not based on our ability to be good enough that God says, “Oh alright, I'll let you in." No, our hope is in his mercy and generosity toward failures who trust him.

Peter is saying here that God kindles spiritual life in dead spiritual icebergs. It is a new birth. The whole image is so clear. Did you contribute anything to your being conceived and born? No, we are all the products of our parents' action; ideally, of our parents' love. In a similar way, Christians are the products of God's taking the initiative and acting to make us alive to him. We are the products of his love and mercy.

Our role is to respond in faith to what God offers us out of his mercy. As Peter puts it, “Through faith, we are shielded by his power.” Shielded from being destroyed by things in this world. Shielded from disillusionment and the disappointment that comes from loss of things in the world. Shielded even from being eliminated by death itself – for the new birth we have received has been achieved “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Question #3: How does this “living hope” actually function in a dying world? Hope and trials coexist under God’s direction. …you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials… (1:6).

Now, I come to the challenging part for me as a preacher, i.e., the task of helping us see the truth and beauty and power of this message for how we live. So, let me show you two important realities:

First, Christians understand that joy and sorrow reside together in this world. This is not how most people think about things. They think that if there is suffering there can be no joy and that real joy is the absence of suffering. But, we know that that’s not how life is – and we have some understanding of why.

So, look at v. 6 again. Do you see that we “greatly rejoice” (very strong language here) AND we “suffer grief” (also very strong language). Both are in the present tense. We know that life is often filled with great rejoicing and deep peace at the very same time as it is filled with real suffering and sorrow. This idea blows people away in our world. “This is impossible,” some say. If I lose my home or health or loved one, I can only have sorrow – not joy. We say, “Yes, you have deep sorrow – but you can have a sorrow with the kind of certain hope that brings joy!”

Let me say it in another way. The Apostle Paul talks about this in Philippians. He had always wanted to go to Rome as a preacher. So, he got to go to Rome – but not as a preacher. He went as a prisoner! And the letter he wrote told people about how to have joy. He declared, “I’ve learned the secret of how to be content and how to have joy in this imperfect world. I’ve learned how to have a lot and how to have nothing. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” He said, “I can live and have joy and I can die and have joy.” Read his letter and you’ll see his testimony. Basically, he writes that we can find joy in any circumstance. But, if our hope is in a circumstance (health, money, success, etc.), then if that circumstance is taken away, we have no joy. If those things are our hopes, then when they change or are lost (as they will in this world) then we have no chance of joy.

But Christians do feel sorrow in the midst of loss – have no doubt about that. We enjoy so much of what God has given in this world. We are meant to enjoy a great meal, a beautiful vacation, a welcoming home, a good job, a good friend… And when those things are lost, we grieve! But, it’s not a sorrow without a hope. Paul talked about that in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 when he wrote about loved ones dying, “We sorrow – but not like those who have no hope!”

And it’s not that we have joy in times of suffering because we think we’ll get back everything that we’ve lost – like the third group did in Frankl’s study at Auschwitz. It’s not that we think, “Oh, if I pray hard enough, God will have to give me back that boyfriend – that house, that job!” We feel sorrow at the loss but still know that our real hope can never be taken away. Our hope and joy is found in something that this world cannot touch.

Are you getting it yet? I’ll say it yet another way. It’s like Jesus going to the cross. He knew it would be hard. But, in going to the cross, he didn’t skip around happily and say, “I’m just praising the Lord for this opportunity to die the most excruciating death known to man and then bear the sins of the world! Whoopee! This is fun!” No, he asked that this fate be taken from him if possible. He cried out in pain on the cross. He sweat drops of blood! But even as he experienced deep suffering and grief, according to the book of Hebrews 12:2, he endured that cross “for the joy set before him.”

For most people in the world, joy and suffering are opposites. They think joy and suffering eat each other up. They think we’re either in joy or sorrow. But, no, the two reside together in this world. We mourn loss – but know that nothing can be lost that matters eternally. This is why, at our second daughter’s death, when close friends and family member came to be with us, sometimes, we could only sit in silence. Words seemed empty. At other times, we simply wept. And, in the midst of all this, those moments of pain would erupt unexpectedly into a song or into laughter as we enjoyed being with one another and experienced life together. The Bible tells me why. Inside, I knew death had been defeated by the resurrection so my daughter’s death was not the end of things. I wasn’t in despair. At the same time, I wanted her back! It was great rejoicing and deep sorrow – at the same time. Christians, we understand that!

And second, we also understand that the worst suffering this world throws at us is not outside out loving and powerful heavenly Father’s control. There is no absolutely purposeless pain in this world. We may not see that purpose at all – but we have learned to trust our Father. Look at this remarkable v. 7: These trials have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Peter twice talks about the trials the people he was writing to in Asia would have to face (see also 4:12) and both times he says the trials are like fire. And, he uses that illustration to drive home something we already know deep inside, i.e., that suffering can either burn us up or can make us pure. We can grow bitter and turn away from God. Or, we can turn to God and become stronger. That’s the way it is with fire. I, as a bad cook, can cook with fire and the fire results in things being burned to a crisp. Chris or Brandon or my friend Jamie can cook and the fire results in something wonderful. What happens with trials is that we are forced to ask whether we really believe in an eternal God – and trust him to be good. We can no longer try to rely on our money or our health or success to give us satisfaction. We already know they won’t – but we try to keep finding our joy in putting them at the center of our lives. And then loss comes and we are forced to ask what we really believe. When people see that we have a peace in the midst of the pain, our lives point to the God who is at the center of our lives. Our lives “result in praise and honor and glory.”

Oh, many say that this kind of faith is a crutch for the weak. “Oh, you Christians are too weak to handle life so your need the crutch of faith.” But I say no. True Christian faith looks at the pain in life and feels it. But, it is not blown away by that pain.” Christians do not have to go to a funeral and ignore the real issue. We don’t have to say, “Oh, the casket is nice.” “The flowers are good.” “The embalmer made her look so natural.” We feel the loss but know death has been defeated by our Lord Jesus.” I say, “Faith is not a crutch.” Instead, when we go through the valley of suffering, we are able to see the world more clearly. We are able to own what most people ignore, i.e., that temporary things are temporary. Then, we enjoy them while we have them but they are not the source of our hope. We see that the eternal is real. Therefore, whatever this world throws at us cannot destroy us.

Last week I told you about moving my folks to assisted living – from Bluefield WV to Bristol, TN. We tore down 47 years of wonderful living in our family home – and in one of the most beautiful places in the world. People who come to my office and see all the pictures I have are often surprised that they are all of my Bluefield home. In fact, I’m going back home this week to finalize things. But, after that, I have no real reason to go back to that home.; The house won’t be ours. And, my folks almost certainly will never go back. Wow – am I sad! I mourn the loss. I miss the thought that I can always go back there and find it’s “home” because my parents are there and the house is ours. I’ll tell you: I wept as I saw garbage trucks carrying off the “trash” of what we had accumulated – the mission carrying off the clothing – the truck carrying off items for an auction. But, there is a joy in the midst of that sorrow. Deep down, I know that what really matters has not been lost. Those memories – those places – are still gifts from God. But they are not my source of hope. If they were, I would be devastated.

I have a living hope. And, you can too. It is available to all who will follow Jesus.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade… Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!