Tell of the Hope within You

 “Tell of the Hope within You” was preached at First Presbyterian Church of Allentown, PA on December 18, 2022. You can hear/watch this sermon here, starting at 52:20.

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Scripture Text:
Jeremiah 32:6-15; Isaiah 9:2, 6-7; 1 Peter 3:15

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A week ago I was at a funeral of a friend’s grandfather, there to support my friend and his family as they grieved the death and celebrated the life of their loved one. I sat next to a family that I know, a young mother and father and their two children, who were there to support their friend and family just as I was.

As part of the service, the priest read Matthew 25:31-46. You know this text. I just preached on it just over a month ago. The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.

As the priest read the Parable, he read it in its entirety, just like we did just a few weeks ago. But there was a part of the parable the made the woman next to me gasp and grab her husband. Verse 41:

“Then the ruler will say to those at his left hand, ‘You who are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels…”

The moment she heard these words, the young mother let out an unintentional “Oh God…”

Now I know this family enough to know that they are not religious. Although always kind and supportive of me and my calling, they are not Christians. And I could tell she was uncomfortable with these words. Even more than just uncomfortable. She was disgusted with these words. Her body language radiated disdain. And the fact she kept glancing at her children means she was most likely worried about what they just heard; what they would now believe.

And I don’t blame her. They are harsh words found within a parable that can make any of us uncomfortable, especially to someone who is not a Christian.

All I wanted to do was whisper something to this family. But I was at a loss for words; I’m still not fully certain what I would have or even could have said. All I know is I wanted to extend words of comfort to the family who was unfamiliar with the words of scripture that caught them off-guard and made them anxious in their seats.

I could have given them my business card or even directed them to my sermon from a month ago, although that might have insulted them even more. I could tell they didn’t need or want explanation or doctrine or understanding of the words they just heard. They wanted to hear words of hope.

As disciples of Christ, we carry with us the ultimate gift and responsibility. We carry hope.

But why do we carry hope? What would you say to a person, especially a stranger, who is outside of the belief of Christianity?

The writer of 1 Peter, as we heard today, says, “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).

Always be ready…

What would you say? What would you do? How would you tell of the hope within you?

We read from the prophet Jeremiah this morning. It’s not a standard Advent text; the words do seemingly little to prepare us for the birth of the Christ child. But it is a story of hope. And this Christmas, we will tell others the message of hope. Especially in a world that seems so lost and dark; we need the message of hope.

In Jeremiah chapter 32, Jeremiah the prophet is in jail. He was imprisoned by the king, his own king, for preaching the Word of God that came to him; Jeremiah was preaching that the city of Jerusalem would fall. The Babylonians and Chaldeans will take the city; they will break into Jerusalem, and they will burn it all down. The king didn’t really like that Jeremiah kept saying that he and the people would lose it all.

But Jeremiah also kept saying that although they would lose the city and all that was within it, they needed to believe in the original promise that God made to God’s people. It was God who delivered their ancestors out of Egypt through signs and wonders. It was God who brought their ancestors to this land with the promise of bountiful and fertile fields. And it was God who would follow through with this promise. But they had to have hope, even as the war and the famine surrounded them from every side.

So Jeremiah preached that although Jerusalem would soon fall, God will still redeem this land, just as God has promised.

And to show this hope, while he is in prison and as the enemies raged outside of its city’s walls, Jeremiah buys the land that will soon be destroyed. Through the purchase of legal deeds sealed in clay jays (their version of a bank vault) and in front of as many witnesses as they could gather, Jeremiah proves to the people that he believes in God’s promise so much that is willing to risk it all. He puts his money where his mouth is, and he buys the land. Because as God promised, “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” It was a leap of faith, an act of hope.

We think of the hope that was seen through Mary. When God said to her that she would give birth to our Savior, he said it was because she was highly favored. But this meant she would almost be left in the night by Joseph. It means she would be rejected by others as she was an unwed young girl. It meant she would have to travel across the country while extremely pregnant to a town that she didn’t know. It meant she would give birth on a dirt floor in a crowded stable next to smelly animals. She did this because she knew the people needed this. She carried Emmanuel. She carried the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. She carried the light of the world to shine across the people who were walking in darkness. She carried hope.

We carry that same hope today. Not as a pregnancy but as a story. Our story. And we are to carry that story to be shared with others.

At times, it is difficult. I sat next to a family at a funeral, and I didn’t have the right words. Telling someone else about what God has done might be among the hardest aspects of our discipleship. We don’t want to come across as obnoxious, offensive, or harmful. We may think it’s best to keep it to ourselves.

But other times, the story of hope comes so naturally, it fights its way to the top, to stand out and to be ever so clear.

Last week, we asked our community of faith to describe each of our own journeys of faith using a single word. Not an easy task but we did it. We put those words together into an image called a WordCloud. The larger the size of each word represents the number of people who used that particular word.

In a collection of nearly 200 words, this is our story at First Presbyterian Church of Allentown. It is courageous and vulnerable. It is intimate and profound. It is faithful and it is holy. It is us.

Surrounded by words like illuminating and humbled, sustaining and transformative – that is faith.

It also includes words like rocky and shaky, uneven and struggle – that too is faith.

As we move towards the center, we see steadfast and evolving, grace and belief – this is faith.

Faith is wandering and challenging, joyful and blessed.

Faith is full of love and comfort.

But what is in the center, larger than any of the other words? Say it with me.

Hope!

Hope is at our center of our faith. Hope is at our hearts.

That is the story we must tell.

We will share stories about our lives and how we have seen God at work. Sometimes, these are stories of dramatic transformation, in which our lives were healed or turned around. Sometimes, these are stories of confession, in which grace is offered and received. Sometimes, these are quieter, simpler stories of the everyday presence of God. These stories are an opportunity to tell of the hope that is within us.

Hope is contagious. Whether we are sharing the story of what has happened, like Jeremiah buying the soon to be destroyed land to prove he believes in God’s redemption, or Mary carrying the Christ child to shine light unto the people who very likely would be the same ones to reject her or even our stories of God’s love, comfort, joy and grace found in our lives even though it can be challenging, rocky, or a struggle at times, we share the good news by expressing our faith that God is with us and will never leave us alone.

That is hope. Go tell of the hope!

This is the word of God given to us this day. Thanks be to God. Amen.