Hope Thanksgiving for the Future

November 25, 1990 AM, Christ the King Sunday

Revelation 22:1-21

Introduction

Today marks the end of the traditional church year. Next Sunday we start all over again with Advent. In some traditions the church year just "ends." In others the last Sunday is called "Christ the King Sunday." In my own mind it is a good time to peer ahead into the unknown, to the One Great Day in God's calendar that we do not know how to celebrate. [Thus, the scripture 'describing' the Throne, the Presence of God]

A few years ago some Nazarene ministers were discussing the pros and cons of observing the church year, and one said, "It seems like going around in circles to me." But another replied, "It is more like ascending spirals to me." The way that we worship and pray ought to connect with reality. Real life is going somewhere. Faith that works must keep us connected with the realities of two worlds. We cannot afford to let go of either world. The connecting link between this world and the next is called "hope."

WHAT GOOD IS HOPE?

I. HOPE MOTIVATES

The Hope of a Destination

Life is finding ourselves on a voyage upon which none of us asked to embark. But here we are, sailing from a mysterious beginning to an as yet unknown destination.

There is just one power or capability that makes us willing sailors on this fascinating voyage. That thing is the power of hope. Hope in an ultimate destination perhaps, or at least, hope that we shall make some rewarding stops along the way, keeps us going. Only hope overcomes despair.

I have been thinking about two very contrasting journeys at sea:

One was actually taking place 270 years ago right now. A little ship was nearing its destination after a long and very difficult voyage. It could not be called a pleasure trip in any sense of the word. There were deaths, and at least one baby was born during the weeks and months it took to reach the New World from Plymouth, England. The people on board were looking for a place that they could call home, a place to live. In the next four or five months half of them would die. Fifty-one would survive the first year and make a beachhead in the wilderness. Evidently the rigors of the voyage and the extreme hardships of that first winter were, to their mind, worth it all.

The other voyage took place three years ago. Helen and I flew down to Miami, and got on board a luxury ship, Song of America, for a seven-day cruise to nowhere, just for the fun of sailing. (And it was fun!)

It is almost obscene to mention the two ocean voyages in the same breath. But somehow in the unpalatable contrast is a mini picture of the extremes with which we can view this matter of life and living. For the Pilgrims, destination was everything. On a Caribbean cruise, rest and relaxation was the whole purpose. [Obviously, I don't believe that is wrong, in its place; actually, the cruise was a tenth anniversary gift from YOU!]

I'm not just sure how to apply this contrast of sea voyages. I am not suggesting that we do have to sail to heaven in cramped, smelly, storm-tossed quarters, and that trying to make the voyage as enjoyable and rewarding in its own right as possible is carnal and worldly.

But genuine HOPE reminds us that life is going somewhere. It tells us that (as Jesus said in Luke 12:15) "life does not consist in the abundance of the things which we possess." Many a wealthy, well-adjusted, self-satisfied sinner, as well as many a miserable, self-righteous church member is headed on a cruise into hopelessness. Only HOPE keeps us headed toward the celestial city at any cost!

WHAT GOOD IS HOPE?

II. HOPE PURIFIES

Hope keeps us clean even as we pursue the goals it inspires.

Being Christian means living in a good and holy tension between life as it is, and as it will be, between what we are now and what one day we shall be.

"We are even NOW children of God, " John tells us (I John 3:2), "but when the King appears we will be made like He is."

Then he says: "Everyone who has this HOPE fixed on (Jesus) purifies himself, even as He (Jesus) is pure."

[Coming back to the Mayflower (was it all that turkey I ate on Thursday?)—] Not everyone on the Mayflower was there because of Christian hope. And hope, or the absence of hope, made quite a difference, indeed.

In the cramped spaces between decks the passengers and crew lived, and sometimes died. Helen was reading aloud to us this week some of the journals of the Mayflower voyagers. The sailors cursed one another as they got sick and died; they selfishly grasped what they could of the dead men's possessions. In contrast, the Pilgrims cared for one another, and reached out in love to the unbelieving crewmen when they could. We have deconstructed and criticized all old Christian journals and writing; we have put our own modern meanings into their long-dead mouths. But the fact remains, that those who had a vision of God's will for their lives had love that manifested itself in the hard times of life.

A vision of heaven; the possibility of being near to God; be HOLY because I AM holy.

WHAT GOOD IS HOPE?

III. HOPE ENTERS THE UNSEEN

Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.)

The classic figure for HOPE is ... the ANCHOR. Hope is that which enters into the unseen Holy of Holies, and somehow makes the connection between this world and the next.

Those unfamiliar with boats and ships and sailing may think that an anchor is not important. Almost an afterthought. Every mariner knows that it is a vital piece of equipment, and that many times his very life will depend on the quality of his anchor.

When storms buffet and the waters are treacherous, the standard procedure is to anchor and ride out the gale. If the anchor won't take firm hold there is the danger of being blown onto shoal and being broken into pieces.

But how do we find this reality in HOPE? We find a personal assurance only in knowing JESUS CHRIST! Edward Mote wrote these words: "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness... "

IV. HOPE CENTERS IN CHRIST THE KING

What good are these words from Revelation 'describing' heaven- this collage of words depicting a city of light and crystal rivers and trees of healing leaves— What good are they, in light of the end of the Church year? What do they say to us of the NATURE OF OUR VISION? How do they go about CLARIFYING THE VISION we have, and SHARPENING OUR HOPE?

The message of Christ's kingdom MUST be eschatological. The whole New Testament is about the coming kingdom of God! But we must always be eschatological without being other-worldly! IT IS PROPER TO SPEAK ABOUT "KINGDOM" (The THRONE!)

CHRIST THE KING MADE IT HIS THEME: Jesus spoke often of the kingdom.

Matthew 4:23 Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom."

Mark 1:14-15 "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.'"

Luke says that preaching "the good news of the kingdom of God" as the very purpose for which Jesus was sent into the world." (Luke 4:43)

BUT WHY "HOPE?" (WHY NOT JUST BETTER LIVING NOW?)

Because the Kingdom is here. And yet the Kingdom is Coming.

I Corinthians 15:24, 28 "Then comes the END, when He delivers up the kingdom to God the Father, after abolishing every kind of domination, authority, and power ... and when all things are thus subjected to Him, then the Son himself will also be made subordinate to God who made all things subject to Himself, and thus God will be all in all."

The biblical message is a mix of PRESENCE and PROMISE! The GOOD NEWS of the kingdom is that the promised future is in some manner, some way at work in the world today.

Some THING decisive has happened. But the consummation of redemption is still in the future as we understand time.

The collage-picture of heaven— a future reality, where we shall prove the reality of God's promises— IS A PROMISE OF HOPE. But REVELATION IS ALSO A PANORAMA OF PRESENT POWERS AT WORK.

So- what good is it to live as citizens of two worlds? What good is "hope?"

Wesley H. Brown told the story at an Evangelical Round Table, about Martin Luther King, SR. Daddy King was visiting the Holy Land. In Jerusalem he was asked to speak to a small group through an Israeli interpreter. Upon finding out there were some Arabs also present, Rev. King insisted that he be interpreted into Arabic as well. There he stood, said Mr. Brown, with one arm around an Israeli, and the other around an Arab. Brown wondered what in the world he would say. For five minutes this little black Christian pastor talked from his heart about the love of God that he had found through His Son, Jesus Christ. His hearers were profoundly moved.

Out of the sorrow and tragedies of his personal voyage, Daddy King spoke of the HOPE that made life make sense for him. And it spoke powerfully in what we view, humanly, as a hopeless situation.

We have come to the end of another church year. Next Sunday we begin again with Advent. But it is the reality of HOPE that keeps life headed somewhere. That HOPE can enable each one of us to let Christ the King speak through US the word of HOPE in this world that needs it so very much!

Prayer: #92 The Solid Rock