Romans 5.1-5
During the last two weeks' sermons - the one on, 'Commit your way to the Lord' and the other on the rich, young ruler - I mentioned the possibility of someone becoming disappointed. I had not meant to make that a theme, but since I did it seemed good to look at that more closely. And the reason I decided that should be obvious. There are lots of people who are disappointed, not just with this or that particular, but with life. Being disappointed is something that is more common than we would like.
We are familiar with people who inhabit the two ends of the spectrum. There are those who, for whatever reason, always seem 'up'. They are enthusiastic about everything, or at least they seem to be. Then, there are those on the other end. These are people who are angry and bitter. We knows these two types because they stand out. But there is this large mass of people in the middle, neither excited about life nor angry at it. It's not that life has dealt them some crushing blow. It's just that life isn't turning out as they had expected. They are disappointed with life. They still get up each day and do what needs doing. But there are no expectations of anything especially good to change the tone of their lives. They look forward to enjoyable vacations and the like, and they do enjoy them. But they know that life will be the 'same old, same old' when vacation time is over. Christians are not immune to this. We can become disappointed too, disappointed with life, disappointed with the Gospel. Again, it's not a matter of being crushed. Things are just not turning out as expected.
There are answers to this disappointment, answers in the Gospel. There are truths that believers - and unbelievers - can embrace so that they would not be disappointed. That's what we're going to look at today.
We're going to start with a translation question. I realize that this may seem academic, but it will actually help you to get the point of the text and to see how it speaks to this thing, disappointment. Some translations of the Bible render verse five like this: '... and hope does not disappoint...' And others have it this way: '... and hope does not put us to shame...' The fact of the matter is that the original word that Paul used can be translated in either way. What that means is that these two English words, disappoint and shame, have something in common that we need to see. So, what is shame about? Here is one scenario. Someone has made some big claim to people. But after all the bragging he can't make it happen. So, imagine a veteran athlete who brags that he will win the tournament. But, instead of that happening, he is eliminated in the first round, crushed by some rookie. Shame is what he feels as others comment on his foolish boast. Disappointment is similar. A claim is made, a boast, that this person cannot make happen. This is just like the example of shame. But the difference is that disappointment is not a matter of what others say about you and your boast. It is, instead, what you say to yourself, having expected so much and yet, failing so badly. In both, a boast is made that is not realized. The difference has to do with who is doing the talking afterward. A disappointed person reminds himself about the failure. Now, here's the point. Is there a boast in our text, a boast that might set someone up for disappointment? Yes, there is. There is a big claim being made here, one that often leads to disappointment. '... we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God...'
Let's take that apart. The word translated 'rejoice' is not the word that Paul commonly uses when he writes about joy. In fact, that word is translated differently in 1 Corinthians 1. 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.' In our text Paul is talking about a boast that the Gospel makes: the hope of the glory of God. The glory of God is whatever makes Him beautiful to us, whatever makes Him attractive, whatever it is that draws us to Him. Here, just think of Jesus. 'And we beheld His glory, glory as of the Father.' People were drawn to Jesus and that because of His glory, not some halo but what made Him beautiful. The Gospel's boast is that one day we will share in this beauty of God revealed to us in the life of Jesus. One day our lives will be completely transformed. We will be like Jesus. We will be beautiful like He is. In fact, according to the Gospel, we are in the process of being changed, of becoming beautiful right now. The Gospel makes many very large claims, large boasts. This is one of them. And it's exactly because of this very large claim that so many Christians are disappointed.
Imagine someone dramatically converted from a life of heinous sin. The focus of his life was completely on himself. He was given to the idolatry of his possessions. His sense of safety was directly tied to the size of his income. Personal success in his career was the driving force of his life. And then he becomes a Christian. His life is changed. The foolishness of his ways becomes clear to him. There is dramatic repentance. He embraces the boast of the Gospel that he will enjoy the glory of God. He lives in the hope of becoming more and more like Jesus. He feels God's love flooding his heart. Every day is like a revival. But after a while life seems to calm down. The excitement of the first days of his new life cools. The difficulties of daily life re-assert themselves. There are still the bills to pay, a job to do, people to deal with. And there is still his own sin that strangely hasn't disappeared. This lively hope of becoming more and more like Jesus fades a bit. And then it fades a bit more. And his sense of God's powerful love becomes more sporadic. And life feels ordinary. He isn't crushed. He isn't angry. He isn't tempted to jettison this whole Gospel thing. But he is disappointed. It isn't turning out as he had expected.
Now, if someone points him to our text, what does he tell himself? 'But I am disappointed. And I don't feel God's love poured out for me.' He might then say, 'Maybe my expectations were too high.' And he begins to settle for the same mundane existence that his neighbors endure.
What's the problem? It's a fact that the Gospel makes large claims, large boasts. Our text is only one example: the hope of sharing in the beauty of Jesus, starting now; the underlying assumption that God's love for us is a torrent flooding our lives, moving the whole process forward. These are large claims. Should we tone them down? Maybe opt for a bit more 'realism'? I really don't think so. There is a problem, but it's not with the Gospel. If it were, we should just dump it all and forget about this Jesus thing. There is a problem, and it's with our expectations - though not in a way that you might think. We take the first step toward a solution by looking at the whole of our text. Thus far, I've skipped over the middle verses. Listen again. 'More than that, we boast in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope ...' 'Tribulations' is another church word, a fine word that we use without thinking about it. Some translations use the word 'sufferings', but I think that is best reserved for another use. So, let's use the word 'troubles'. So, Paul tells us that we brag about our troubles. I grant you that this seems 'counter-intuitive' - to use the language of an old sermon. And it is 'counter-intuitive' - unless you're a disciple of Jesus.
We have all been taught to avoid troubles. We do what we can to keep them at arm's length. And we can do a fair job of it if we are careful and play it safe. If it happens that troubles come our way, we then do our best to minimize it and to get past it as quickly as we can. One result of all of this is that troubles are viewed as our sworn enemies and not something that we brag about. Another result of all of this is that hope, the hope of the glory of God, does not mature. The blossoms form at conversion but they never quite make it to the promised ripe fruit. And so, instead of a life filled with hope and it's ever-present companion, joy, life is a disappointment. For hope to grow, to mature, to become robust, troubles need to be faced and dealt with as a faithful disciple of Jesus. You see, according to the Spirit speaking in our text, troubles that are dealt with as a Christian lead to endurance which in turn leads to proven character, which likewise leads to hope, the hope of the Gospel, a hope that does not disappoint. That is a very large boast of the Gospel, and if it isn't true everything falls to the ground. Facing troubles as a disciple of Jesus is crucial if a person is going to avoid disappointment and enjoy what it means to know Jesus.
Everything turns on this 'facing troubles as a disciple of Jesus'. What does that mean? How does someone do that? I have three thoughts that I would ask you to think about.
First, if you would face troubles as a disciple then work at not being afraid. Fear is the great enemy of a ripening hope, particularly the fear of troubles. 'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?' Good questions, no? The need of the day is for Christians who are fearless and that because of Jesus. We are all snared by some fear or other. If we do not challenge that fear our hope will not mature as well as it could. That fear will control us to one degree or other, and life may well become a disappointment. So, first work on not being afraid - not of anything. And the key to fearing nothing is fearing God.
Second, if you would face troubles as a disciple then heed the Spirit's command when He says, 'In all things give thanks.' And 'all things' includes troubles. Again, this is counter-intuitive. Yet, what a protection from Satan. He wants you to react to your troubles in fear, to see them as huge problems that block your way, and worse, threaten to destroy you. As far as he is concerned your best option is always panic. But the Gospel says: 'Jesus is the Lord over all, who is firmly committed to you. So, He will use even trouble for your good. All you need to do is trust Him.' One sign of trust: a heart that gives thanks. This doesn't mean that you need to be some stoic without feelings. Even as you give thanks, your heart might be racing, your palms sweaty and you're a little nervous about what is going to happen. But because you trust Jesus, you give Him thanks for what is going on because you know that He is doing something good. And, let me say incidentally, as you learn how to do this, your hope grows and your heart rate stays normal and you aren't nervous at all. You've learned by experience that the Gospel isn't lying.
Third, troubles can become and often are a weapon that Satan uses to attack your faith. He uses these situations to try to get you to entrust yourself to something other than Jesus, at least at the point of attack. So, you lose your job, or you get seriously ill, or your kid gets seriously ill. All of these, and many more, are situations that Satan will use to attack your faith at a specific point. You need to discern what specifically is being attacked and there assert to yourself and to Satan, 'I trust Jesus! At this specific point, when it comes to this specific issue, I trust Jesus.' So, what do you tell yourself if you lose your job? 'My family and I are going to be okay, at least for a while. I've saved up for this kind of situation.' Do you see the point of attack? Where is the trust being placed? Somewhere other than Jesus. Now, whether you have a lot in the bank or nothing there what you need to tell yourself - and Satan - is this. 'We're going to be okay because Jesus will take care of us. He made promises about situations like this one and I believe Him.' Be aware of the point of attack and right there respond wisely.
As you work on these things, you will develop endurance. That is, your faith will get stronger, better able to deal with greater troubles. From that you gain in character. Who you really are is put to the test. Passing the test proves that something of the beauty of Jesus is already in you. And from that comes hope, the hope of the glory of God, the hope of becoming more and more like Jesus, a hope that does not disappoint. And behind it all, moving the process forward, is the love of God flooding your life.
For some of you this sermon has been a reminder about things you are already doing, and, hopefully, an encouragement to continue in the same way. You are not disappointed. And that's really good. But some of you, I suspect, are disappointed. So, in light of what I've just preached, let me say this. I am not disappointed with life. And the reason for this is that Jesus has been good enough to send troubles my way. Because of His favor I have been able to face these troubles as His disciple. Through these troubles I have seen the endurance of my faith grow, my character purified, my hope become more solidly established. I believe our text, and it has changed my life. Things are turning out much better than I expected. If you are disappointed, let me encourage you to take some time to consider what the Spirit has said to you this morning. It's the Gospel. And it is so much better than what you can imagine.
During the last two weeks' sermons - the one on, 'Commit your way to the Lord' and the other on the rich, young ruler - I mentioned the possibility of someone becoming disappointed. I had not meant to make that a theme, but since I did it seemed good to look at that more closely. And the reason I decided that should be obvious. There are lots of people who are disappointed, not just with this or that particular, but with life. Being disappointed is something that is more common than we would like.
We are familiar with people who inhabit the two ends of the spectrum. There are those who, for whatever reason, always seem 'up'. They are enthusiastic about everything, or at least they seem to be. Then, there are those on the other end. These are people who are angry and bitter. We knows these two types because they stand out. But there is this large mass of people in the middle, neither excited about life nor angry at it. It's not that life has dealt them some crushing blow. It's just that life isn't turning out as they had expected. They are disappointed with life. They still get up each day and do what needs doing. But there are no expectations of anything especially good to change the tone of their lives. They look forward to enjoyable vacations and the like, and they do enjoy them. But they know that life will be the 'same old, same old' when vacation time is over. Christians are not immune to this. We can become disappointed too, disappointed with life, disappointed with the Gospel. Again, it's not a matter of being crushed. Things are just not turning out as expected.
There are answers to this disappointment, answers in the Gospel. There are truths that believers - and unbelievers - can embrace so that they would not be disappointed. That's what we're going to look at today.
We're going to start with a translation question. I realize that this may seem academic, but it will actually help you to get the point of the text and to see how it speaks to this thing, disappointment. Some translations of the Bible render verse five like this: '... and hope does not disappoint...' And others have it this way: '... and hope does not put us to shame...' The fact of the matter is that the original word that Paul used can be translated in either way. What that means is that these two English words, disappoint and shame, have something in common that we need to see. So, what is shame about? Here is one scenario. Someone has made some big claim to people. But after all the bragging he can't make it happen. So, imagine a veteran athlete who brags that he will win the tournament. But, instead of that happening, he is eliminated in the first round, crushed by some rookie. Shame is what he feels as others comment on his foolish boast. Disappointment is similar. A claim is made, a boast, that this person cannot make happen. This is just like the example of shame. But the difference is that disappointment is not a matter of what others say about you and your boast. It is, instead, what you say to yourself, having expected so much and yet, failing so badly. In both, a boast is made that is not realized. The difference has to do with who is doing the talking afterward. A disappointed person reminds himself about the failure. Now, here's the point. Is there a boast in our text, a boast that might set someone up for disappointment? Yes, there is. There is a big claim being made here, one that often leads to disappointment. '... we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God...'
Let's take that apart. The word translated 'rejoice' is not the word that Paul commonly uses when he writes about joy. In fact, that word is translated differently in 1 Corinthians 1. 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.' In our text Paul is talking about a boast that the Gospel makes: the hope of the glory of God. The glory of God is whatever makes Him beautiful to us, whatever makes Him attractive, whatever it is that draws us to Him. Here, just think of Jesus. 'And we beheld His glory, glory as of the Father.' People were drawn to Jesus and that because of His glory, not some halo but what made Him beautiful. The Gospel's boast is that one day we will share in this beauty of God revealed to us in the life of Jesus. One day our lives will be completely transformed. We will be like Jesus. We will be beautiful like He is. In fact, according to the Gospel, we are in the process of being changed, of becoming beautiful right now. The Gospel makes many very large claims, large boasts. This is one of them. And it's exactly because of this very large claim that so many Christians are disappointed.
Imagine someone dramatically converted from a life of heinous sin. The focus of his life was completely on himself. He was given to the idolatry of his possessions. His sense of safety was directly tied to the size of his income. Personal success in his career was the driving force of his life. And then he becomes a Christian. His life is changed. The foolishness of his ways becomes clear to him. There is dramatic repentance. He embraces the boast of the Gospel that he will enjoy the glory of God. He lives in the hope of becoming more and more like Jesus. He feels God's love flooding his heart. Every day is like a revival. But after a while life seems to calm down. The excitement of the first days of his new life cools. The difficulties of daily life re-assert themselves. There are still the bills to pay, a job to do, people to deal with. And there is still his own sin that strangely hasn't disappeared. This lively hope of becoming more and more like Jesus fades a bit. And then it fades a bit more. And his sense of God's powerful love becomes more sporadic. And life feels ordinary. He isn't crushed. He isn't angry. He isn't tempted to jettison this whole Gospel thing. But he is disappointed. It isn't turning out as he had expected.
Now, if someone points him to our text, what does he tell himself? 'But I am disappointed. And I don't feel God's love poured out for me.' He might then say, 'Maybe my expectations were too high.' And he begins to settle for the same mundane existence that his neighbors endure.
What's the problem? It's a fact that the Gospel makes large claims, large boasts. Our text is only one example: the hope of sharing in the beauty of Jesus, starting now; the underlying assumption that God's love for us is a torrent flooding our lives, moving the whole process forward. These are large claims. Should we tone them down? Maybe opt for a bit more 'realism'? I really don't think so. There is a problem, but it's not with the Gospel. If it were, we should just dump it all and forget about this Jesus thing. There is a problem, and it's with our expectations - though not in a way that you might think. We take the first step toward a solution by looking at the whole of our text. Thus far, I've skipped over the middle verses. Listen again. 'More than that, we boast in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope ...' 'Tribulations' is another church word, a fine word that we use without thinking about it. Some translations use the word 'sufferings', but I think that is best reserved for another use. So, let's use the word 'troubles'. So, Paul tells us that we brag about our troubles. I grant you that this seems 'counter-intuitive' - to use the language of an old sermon. And it is 'counter-intuitive' - unless you're a disciple of Jesus.
We have all been taught to avoid troubles. We do what we can to keep them at arm's length. And we can do a fair job of it if we are careful and play it safe. If it happens that troubles come our way, we then do our best to minimize it and to get past it as quickly as we can. One result of all of this is that troubles are viewed as our sworn enemies and not something that we brag about. Another result of all of this is that hope, the hope of the glory of God, does not mature. The blossoms form at conversion but they never quite make it to the promised ripe fruit. And so, instead of a life filled with hope and it's ever-present companion, joy, life is a disappointment. For hope to grow, to mature, to become robust, troubles need to be faced and dealt with as a faithful disciple of Jesus. You see, according to the Spirit speaking in our text, troubles that are dealt with as a Christian lead to endurance which in turn leads to proven character, which likewise leads to hope, the hope of the Gospel, a hope that does not disappoint. That is a very large boast of the Gospel, and if it isn't true everything falls to the ground. Facing troubles as a disciple of Jesus is crucial if a person is going to avoid disappointment and enjoy what it means to know Jesus.
Everything turns on this 'facing troubles as a disciple of Jesus'. What does that mean? How does someone do that? I have three thoughts that I would ask you to think about.
First, if you would face troubles as a disciple then work at not being afraid. Fear is the great enemy of a ripening hope, particularly the fear of troubles. 'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?' Good questions, no? The need of the day is for Christians who are fearless and that because of Jesus. We are all snared by some fear or other. If we do not challenge that fear our hope will not mature as well as it could. That fear will control us to one degree or other, and life may well become a disappointment. So, first work on not being afraid - not of anything. And the key to fearing nothing is fearing God.
Second, if you would face troubles as a disciple then heed the Spirit's command when He says, 'In all things give thanks.' And 'all things' includes troubles. Again, this is counter-intuitive. Yet, what a protection from Satan. He wants you to react to your troubles in fear, to see them as huge problems that block your way, and worse, threaten to destroy you. As far as he is concerned your best option is always panic. But the Gospel says: 'Jesus is the Lord over all, who is firmly committed to you. So, He will use even trouble for your good. All you need to do is trust Him.' One sign of trust: a heart that gives thanks. This doesn't mean that you need to be some stoic without feelings. Even as you give thanks, your heart might be racing, your palms sweaty and you're a little nervous about what is going to happen. But because you trust Jesus, you give Him thanks for what is going on because you know that He is doing something good. And, let me say incidentally, as you learn how to do this, your hope grows and your heart rate stays normal and you aren't nervous at all. You've learned by experience that the Gospel isn't lying.
Third, troubles can become and often are a weapon that Satan uses to attack your faith. He uses these situations to try to get you to entrust yourself to something other than Jesus, at least at the point of attack. So, you lose your job, or you get seriously ill, or your kid gets seriously ill. All of these, and many more, are situations that Satan will use to attack your faith at a specific point. You need to discern what specifically is being attacked and there assert to yourself and to Satan, 'I trust Jesus! At this specific point, when it comes to this specific issue, I trust Jesus.' So, what do you tell yourself if you lose your job? 'My family and I are going to be okay, at least for a while. I've saved up for this kind of situation.' Do you see the point of attack? Where is the trust being placed? Somewhere other than Jesus. Now, whether you have a lot in the bank or nothing there what you need to tell yourself - and Satan - is this. 'We're going to be okay because Jesus will take care of us. He made promises about situations like this one and I believe Him.' Be aware of the point of attack and right there respond wisely.
As you work on these things, you will develop endurance. That is, your faith will get stronger, better able to deal with greater troubles. From that you gain in character. Who you really are is put to the test. Passing the test proves that something of the beauty of Jesus is already in you. And from that comes hope, the hope of the glory of God, the hope of becoming more and more like Jesus, a hope that does not disappoint. And behind it all, moving the process forward, is the love of God flooding your life.
For some of you this sermon has been a reminder about things you are already doing, and, hopefully, an encouragement to continue in the same way. You are not disappointed. And that's really good. But some of you, I suspect, are disappointed. So, in light of what I've just preached, let me say this. I am not disappointed with life. And the reason for this is that Jesus has been good enough to send troubles my way. Because of His favor I have been able to face these troubles as His disciple. Through these troubles I have seen the endurance of my faith grow, my character purified, my hope become more solidly established. I believe our text, and it has changed my life. Things are turning out much better than I expected. If you are disappointed, let me encourage you to take some time to consider what the Spirit has said to you this morning. It's the Gospel. And it is so much better than what you can imagine.
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