Romans 15,7-13
Here in these verses Paul sums up much of his previous teaching on the matter of acceptance of one another and draws forth some biblical texts to reinforce the fact that the Gentiles are part of the Kingdom of God. And then at verse 13 he adds what reads like a benediction.
"May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit."
I would like to share with you a few thoughts about hope as it is expressed by Paul. Willie Barclay told this story in the fifties and it is as true today as it was then. Perhaps even more so.
He writes, "Someone tells of a meeting in a certain church at a time of emergency. The meeting was constituted with prayer by the chairman. He addressed God as, "Almighty and eternal God, whose grace is sufficient for all things." He used the usual phrases that all men use in prayer. Then when the prayer was finished the business part of the meeting began; and the chairman who had just prayed introduced the business by saying, "Gentlemen, the situation in this church is hopeless and nothing can be done.""
Now I hope you see the point of this. Either the prayer was false and God's grace is sufficient for all things or else the statement made by the chairman was untrue. And that is one of the common faults we find at large in the church today. Do we believe in the sovereign power of God and in his bottomless grace or don't we? And that was one of the great faults of the General Assembly this year - a lack of dependence and trust in God. it is an old saying that there are no hopeless situations only people who have have grown hopeless about them.
Do we believe that Christ is alive? Do believe he rose from the dead? Do we believe that Christ is with us at all times? If we really mean that. If we really believe it and don't just pay lip service to the idea then we can never be without hope. For our hope comes from the God. This is the source of our hope. Although all things may seem hopeless to us we must hold fast to God for he is the source of our hope and our salvation. And truly with God all things are possible.
During the Assembly Ron Ferguson's play about George Macleod was staged. It was a tremendous piece of theatre with Tom Fleming holding our attention for two whole hours. During the play the amazing hand of God in the re-building of Iona was highlighted. There was no timber for the roof. They committed the problem to God in prayer. A Norwegian ship caught in a storm was forced to shed its deck cargo. It washed up on Iona. If this wasn't coincidence enough - it was found to be the correct quantity and already cut to the correct size! On another occasion they needed a master mason to restore and repair and rebuild part of the Abbey. One man visiting the island began to talk to George Macleod and asked if there was anything he could do to help - What skills do you have asked George - the man replied that he was a master mason! And as George Macleod was fond of saying - if you think that was a coincidence then I wish you a very dull life!
God's grace is indeed sufficient for our needs. And we should believe that that - for we of all people need never be without hope. And as Paul so properly points out to us in this letter God is the source of our hope for know what he can do. And he will do that in all our lives - these are not just promises for the saints! And when we trust in God and his promises then the rest of this verse begins to make sense. For if you recall it reads, "May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit."
It is one of those strange things isn't it? The more we trust God and the more we have faith in him, the more he is able to help us. And the more he helps us the more our faith grows and the greater becomes our joy and peace.
But we need power. Power in our lives that turns our intentions into actual reality. Power that transforms inner darkness and confusion into light. Power that changes hopelessness into hope. Power for life itself. Power to hope.
And that power comes to us says Paul by the Holy Spirit working in our lives. And he can only gives us such power when we have opened our hearts and minds to that possibility. For that is the crux of the matter and the real challenge to us this morning from God. Are we like the Chairman of the meeting in Willie Barclay's story? Do we know all the right words but fail to believe them or when we pray to God do we truly mean what we pray? Do we really trust God? Or are we in truth behaving like Atheists? Do we behave as if there were no God who could intervene in our daily lives and answer every prayer? I fear we can all fall into that trap, myself included. It is far too easy to rely on our own strength and wisdom so that we end up saying as that Chairman did - the situation is hopeless.
We need to focus again on the power and hope and joy and peace that is ours. And learn afresh to trust in God whose grace is truly sufficient for all our needs.