Hope and History
1 Amens
Core Values- Hope/History- Aug 27th, Psalm 71
Video- Hope Street/ Welcome- Sarah…
Reading: Psalm 71:1-6
Call to worship Song…
Prayer
This summer we’ve walked through some books in the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible. We walked through a book written by a prophet named Haggai- and we learned that God wants people to focus on what matters most, on His priorities, His mission in this world. We walked through Jonah, and we saw that God’s heart is for the city, for those who don’t know Him, and are walking down a road that leads nowhere good. He is not only willing, but eager to extend forgiveness and compassion to anyone and everyone who will turn around, who will seek after Him.
Last week, we talked through some of our core values- those of mission and justice and community. We talked about the mission of Christ- pointing people towards the forgiveness that was available to them and towards the ultimate purpose of all that He was doing- the rescue and renewal of all creation. In fact, that’s the definition of the Gospel we’ve been using- the good news that God Himself has come to rescue and renew creation through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. And if that was the mission of Jesus, then it should be the mission of those who follow Him. We talked about Justice, about God’s heart for the poor, and about how community enables us to be on mission, to act out Justice in this world, enables, encourages and even holds us accountable.
So today, we talk through the last two of our five core values: what are they? Yeah, Hope and History. To help us today, I wanted to continue walking through the Psalm we read earlier, Psalm 71, so if you have a bible…
We read earlier through 6, but let’s start back at verse 5…
VS 5-6
Let’s put this statement “O Lord, You alone are my hope” in some context. From the first couple of verses that we read earlier- VS 1-4, what do you think the author, probably David, a king of Israel meant when he said “O Lord, You alone are my hope”? What does that mean?
VS 7-8
“My life is an example to many”…
For those that might not know, what are the two most famous stories from David’s life?
Yes- killing Goliath (a story my son Jack now wants to hear every night), and David killing Uriah to cover up his adultery with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheeba. Interestingly enough the first is in Jack’s children’sBible but they left the second one out… hmmm.
Let me ask you a question: David’s victory over Goliath or his murder of Uriah and adultery with Bathsheba. Which story is God better able to use to teach us? What do you think?
It’s a false question- God uses both parts of the narrative. They are both an integral part of a real human being, of David- a man who loved God, had amazing faith, and yet, murdered someone to cover up his sexual sin. You look at David’s life and you see both good and evil, and God is able to use the entire narrative of David to teach us, to form us, to encourage and warn us, to change us.
And when we look at the life of any person in this room, you see both good and evil…success and failure, and God is able to use all of it, the entire narrative of your life to teach others, to form others, to encourage and warn others, to change them. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: There’s not a piece of your story that God can’t use, that God can’t bring good out of in the form of lessons, encouragement, warning or even just connection to others.
We think that certain parts of our story are off-limits, certain details, and we say
that the reason they are off limits, the reason why those particular files only rarely or even never get opened, sometimes not even by ourselves, is because we’re ashamed of them, or feel others might judge us. And while I certainly understand that feeling, the problem is what we’re unintentionally saying is that our view of God is so small that we believe Him incapable of using our past, our garbage. Maybe others’, but not mine.
And this is why story, why history is one of our core values- we want to value the history of the community of Christ followers down through the years and not see ourselves as something new and unique, but part of a long story that started long before us and will continue long after us- the story of the people of God. And we want to value individual stories as well- to make a value of asking, of listening, of knowing and being known and of using even the darkest parts of our lives for the benefit of others- of redeeming those dark corners, those places in our past we wish didn’t exist… redeeming them- seeing some good come out of the wrong that we did, or the wrong that was done to us.
Why was David’s life an example to many? Because of his good character and amazing deeds for God? Well… VS 7 says “My life is an example to many because You have been my strength and protection.”
See-our lives either point people towards the person of God, towards God’s heart for this world, his righteousness, his forgiveness or away from it. And either we let our WHOLE lives do that, even the parts we would rather forget, or really, we’re just putting on something of a façade. David pleads with God…
VS 9-11
David’s son Absalom, along with some others, had tried to depose him, to kill him and take the throne. This is a song he wrote in a really dark time in his life…
He prayed,
VS 12-13
An understandable prayer from someone running for his life, I think…
VS 14
Here’s what I love- David the warrior, the Giant-Killer, David the King, David who still has a decent-sized army at his back… he says- I will keep hoping for your help. O Lord, You alone are my hope.
See, that’s so interesting to me because I think that a lot of the time, even those of us who’ve decided and committed to being followers of Jesus, we have these other functional Saviors…
Oh Bank Account, You alone are my hope…
Oh Future Spouse, You alone are my hope…
Oh Clever Wit and Snappy comeback that puts everyone around me in their place, You alone are my hope…
Oh lack of visible sin that makes me so much better than everyone around me, You alone are my hope…
David, who had more resources than any of us sitting here today, still recognizes something true about life- all hope not rooted in the person of, the character of God, is ultimately false hope.
And David realizes something else- hope is something people want. And Hope rooted in the person and the character of God is something worth sharing.
He says-
VS 15-16
How do we give people hope? We show them the character of a God that is slow to anger, abounding in love. A God whose ultimate goal is to forgive, to be in relationship with us, to put us and this world back together again.
What‘s that definition of the Gospel we’ve been working with the last couple of weeks? (I know you are sick of hearing it...)
The Gospel is the Good News that God Himself has come to rescue and renew creation through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.
Here’s what I am convinced of: Good News leads with/starts with the character of God, not the defects of man. I’ve heard people say: You gotta tell people the bad news before you can tell them the good news, and that’s used as an excuse to yell through bullhorns on street corners, to carry ridiculous signs- because unless you and I get on the same page about exactly how bad you are, this conversation goes nowhere.
David here points us in a better direction…
He says: “I will tell everyone about Your righteousness. All day long I will proclaim your saving power.”
Which is very different than “I will tell everyone about their filthiness. All day long I will proclaim their depravity and sin.”
Now- hear what I’m saying and don’t hear what I’m not saying- For Good News to be experienced as Good News, we don’t have to soft sell the hard parts of it- the fact is, people living life in the way of Jesus are a counter-cultural people. The Gospel tells us about our participation in evil, but it does it primarily by pointing at the character and work of God. See, most of the time, I don’t have to convince people that they are sinners. I just have to tell them what David says here: that God alone is just and they’ll figure it out. We display the character of God to the world through the way we treat one another, through the way we serve them, through our love for the city of Portland. And the counter-cultural nature of that will come out, no doubt about it- For instance, there’s no way to truly talk about the character of God, to truly display the character of a God who cares for the poor and not have it sting a society that has sold itself to the gods of materialism and of greed.
But we’ve made Hope a core value of this community because too often faith devolves into religiosity and what ought to be a life-giving message becomes merely a checklist of items to believe and behaviors to adopt. Somehow, Jesus' message gets reduced to a list of "shoulds"... as in, "You should do this" and "You should do that."
And while there will always come a time when we need to point people in a certain direction and say "should", more often than not we need to be about "coulds." That doesn’t mean we go all Joel Osteen and never mention sin and start doing sermons on the importance of eating a healthy breakfast… It does mean drawing a picture for those we meet/those we befriend of the person of God and of who they could be, the person God created them to be... and rather than pushing them towards that out of guilt or obligation, pulling them towards it out a sense of love and hope. Helping people to see the Good News of God’s rescue and renewal through the work of Jesus on their behalf in their own particular context, their own unique life.
See, the Good News comes to each of us with the same message of forgiveness and a savior… but also something else. Something individual. To Zacchaeus whom everyone hated, Jesus offered friendship. To the woman at the well who was looking for a drink, Jesus offered living water. To a man named Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel who knew it all backwards and forwards, Jesus said, you have to go back to the beginning, start over, be born again from the top down. To a woman caught in the very act of adultery, Jesus offered two things- a lack of condemnation, and an encouragement to leave sin behind. Exactly what she needed.
And Jesus comes to you and to me as well… And in Him some of you will find the strength you need. Some will find a humility you didn’t know you needed. Some of you will find the peace you need. For some, Jesus comes bringing comfort, for some challenge and change. Some will connect to God as a shepherd, as One who protects and saves us. Some will find a lot more meaning in the metaphor of God as Father. And for some Jesus brings deep, deep healing… But wherever you are, whatever you need, the Good News of the Gospel is Good News for you. Jesus comes to you…
There are a lot of unsafe people in the world, and God forgive us if we ever give anyone the impression that He is unsafe- that if you come to Him broken by the wrong you’ve done, the things you struggle with, the temptations you face, that He will somehow push you away or throw you out.
God forgive us if we ever by word or action, speak to the city of Portland about anything other than the character of the God who is slow to anger, quick to forgive and abounding in compassion. God forgive us if we fall silent, forgetting our role as a voice of hope to those around us, pointing them towards the God who loves them, the God who saves them.
Let’s read together, we’ll sing, and then we’ll come back and I’ll ask you what you think…
Reading: PS 71:17-24
Songs
Wrap up: So practically speaking, how do we give people hope, how best do we point them to Jesus? What do you think?
Blessing: This week, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and may you draw for others a beautiful picture of God Himself and relationship with Him.
Read MoreVideo- Hope Street/ Welcome- Sarah…
Reading: Psalm 71:1-6
Call to worship Song…
Prayer
This summer we’ve walked through some books in the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible. We walked through a book written by a prophet named Haggai- and we learned that God wants people to focus on what matters most, on His priorities, His mission in this world. We walked through Jonah, and we saw that God’s heart is for the city, for those who don’t know Him, and are walking down a road that leads nowhere good. He is not only willing, but eager to extend forgiveness and compassion to anyone and everyone who will turn around, who will seek after Him.
Last week, we talked through some of our core values- those of mission and justice and community. We talked about the mission of Christ- pointing people towards the forgiveness that was available to them and towards the ultimate purpose of all that He was doing- the rescue and renewal of all creation. In fact, that’s the definition of the Gospel we’ve been using- the good news that God Himself has come to rescue and renew creation through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. And if that was the mission of Jesus, then it should be the mission of those who follow Him. We talked about Justice, about God’s heart for the poor, and about how community enables us to be on mission, to act out Justice in this world, enables, encourages and even holds us accountable.
So today, we talk through the last two of our five core values: what are they? Yeah, Hope and History. To help us today, I wanted to continue walking through the Psalm we read earlier, Psalm 71, so if you have a bible…
We read earlier through 6, but let’s start back at verse 5…
VS 5-6
Let’s put this statement “O Lord, You alone are my hope” in some context. From the first couple of verses that we read earlier- VS 1-4, what do you think the author, probably David, a king of Israel meant when he said “O Lord, You alone are my hope”? What does that mean?
VS 7-8
“My life is an example to many”…
For those that might not know, what are the two most famous stories from David’s life?
Yes- killing Goliath (a story my son Jack now wants to hear every night), and David killing Uriah to cover up his adultery with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheeba. Interestingly enough the first is in Jack’s children’sBible but they left the second one out… hmmm.
Let me ask you a question: David’s victory over Goliath or his murder of Uriah and adultery with Bathsheba. Which story is God better able to use to teach us? What do you think?
It’s a false question- God uses both parts of the narrative. They are both an integral part of a real human being, of David- a man who loved God, had amazing faith, and yet, murdered someone to cover up his sexual sin. You look at David’s life and you see both good and evil, and God is able to use the entire narrative of David to teach us, to form us, to encourage and warn us, to change us.
And when we look at the life of any person in this room, you see both good and evil…success and failure, and God is able to use all of it, the entire narrative of your life to teach others, to form others, to encourage and warn others, to change them. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: There’s not a piece of your story that God can’t use, that God can’t bring good out of in the form of lessons, encouragement, warning or even just connection to others.
We think that certain parts of our story are off-limits, certain details, and we say
that the reason they are off limits, the reason why those particular files only rarely or even never get opened, sometimes not even by ourselves, is because we’re ashamed of them, or feel others might judge us. And while I certainly understand that feeling, the problem is what we’re unintentionally saying is that our view of God is so small that we believe Him incapable of using our past, our garbage. Maybe others’, but not mine.
And this is why story, why history is one of our core values- we want to value the history of the community of Christ followers down through the years and not see ourselves as something new and unique, but part of a long story that started long before us and will continue long after us- the story of the people of God. And we want to value individual stories as well- to make a value of asking, of listening, of knowing and being known and of using even the darkest parts of our lives for the benefit of others- of redeeming those dark corners, those places in our past we wish didn’t exist… redeeming them- seeing some good come out of the wrong that we did, or the wrong that was done to us.
Why was David’s life an example to many? Because of his good character and amazing deeds for God? Well… VS 7 says “My life is an example to many because You have been my strength and protection.”
See-our lives either point people towards the person of God, towards God’s heart for this world, his righteousness, his forgiveness or away from it. And either we let our WHOLE lives do that, even the parts we would rather forget, or really, we’re just putting on something of a façade. David pleads with God…
VS 9-11
David’s son Absalom, along with some others, had tried to depose him, to kill him and take the throne. This is a song he wrote in a really dark time in his life…
He prayed,
VS 12-13
An understandable prayer from someone running for his life, I think…
VS 14
Here’s what I love- David the warrior, the Giant-Killer, David the King, David who still has a decent-sized army at his back… he says- I will keep hoping for your help. O Lord, You alone are my hope.
See, that’s so interesting to me because I think that a lot of the time, even those of us who’ve decided and committed to being followers of Jesus, we have these other functional Saviors…
Oh Bank Account, You alone are my hope…
Oh Future Spouse, You alone are my hope…
Oh Clever Wit and Snappy comeback that puts everyone around me in their place, You alone are my hope…
Oh lack of visible sin that makes me so much better than everyone around me, You alone are my hope…
David, who had more resources than any of us sitting here today, still recognizes something true about life- all hope not rooted in the person of, the character of God, is ultimately false hope.
And David realizes something else- hope is something people want. And Hope rooted in the person and the character of God is something worth sharing.
He says-
VS 15-16
How do we give people hope? We show them the character of a God that is slow to anger, abounding in love. A God whose ultimate goal is to forgive, to be in relationship with us, to put us and this world back together again.
What‘s that definition of the Gospel we’ve been working with the last couple of weeks? (I know you are sick of hearing it...)
The Gospel is the Good News that God Himself has come to rescue and renew creation through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf.
Here’s what I am convinced of: Good News leads with/starts with the character of God, not the defects of man. I’ve heard people say: You gotta tell people the bad news before you can tell them the good news, and that’s used as an excuse to yell through bullhorns on street corners, to carry ridiculous signs- because unless you and I get on the same page about exactly how bad you are, this conversation goes nowhere.
David here points us in a better direction…
He says: “I will tell everyone about Your righteousness. All day long I will proclaim your saving power.”
Which is very different than “I will tell everyone about their filthiness. All day long I will proclaim their depravity and sin.”
Now- hear what I’m saying and don’t hear what I’m not saying- For Good News to be experienced as Good News, we don’t have to soft sell the hard parts of it- the fact is, people living life in the way of Jesus are a counter-cultural people. The Gospel tells us about our participation in evil, but it does it primarily by pointing at the character and work of God. See, most of the time, I don’t have to convince people that they are sinners. I just have to tell them what David says here: that God alone is just and they’ll figure it out. We display the character of God to the world through the way we treat one another, through the way we serve them, through our love for the city of Portland. And the counter-cultural nature of that will come out, no doubt about it- For instance, there’s no way to truly talk about the character of God, to truly display the character of a God who cares for the poor and not have it sting a society that has sold itself to the gods of materialism and of greed.
But we’ve made Hope a core value of this community because too often faith devolves into religiosity and what ought to be a life-giving message becomes merely a checklist of items to believe and behaviors to adopt. Somehow, Jesus' message gets reduced to a list of "shoulds"... as in, "You should do this" and "You should do that."
And while there will always come a time when we need to point people in a certain direction and say "should", more often than not we need to be about "coulds." That doesn’t mean we go all Joel Osteen and never mention sin and start doing sermons on the importance of eating a healthy breakfast… It does mean drawing a picture for those we meet/those we befriend of the person of God and of who they could be, the person God created them to be... and rather than pushing them towards that out of guilt or obligation, pulling them towards it out a sense of love and hope. Helping people to see the Good News of God’s rescue and renewal through the work of Jesus on their behalf in their own particular context, their own unique life.
See, the Good News comes to each of us with the same message of forgiveness and a savior… but also something else. Something individual. To Zacchaeus whom everyone hated, Jesus offered friendship. To the woman at the well who was looking for a drink, Jesus offered living water. To a man named Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel who knew it all backwards and forwards, Jesus said, you have to go back to the beginning, start over, be born again from the top down. To a woman caught in the very act of adultery, Jesus offered two things- a lack of condemnation, and an encouragement to leave sin behind. Exactly what she needed.
And Jesus comes to you and to me as well… And in Him some of you will find the strength you need. Some will find a humility you didn’t know you needed. Some of you will find the peace you need. For some, Jesus comes bringing comfort, for some challenge and change. Some will connect to God as a shepherd, as One who protects and saves us. Some will find a lot more meaning in the metaphor of God as Father. And for some Jesus brings deep, deep healing… But wherever you are, whatever you need, the Good News of the Gospel is Good News for you. Jesus comes to you…
There are a lot of unsafe people in the world, and God forgive us if we ever give anyone the impression that He is unsafe- that if you come to Him broken by the wrong you’ve done, the things you struggle with, the temptations you face, that He will somehow push you away or throw you out.
God forgive us if we ever by word or action, speak to the city of Portland about anything other than the character of the God who is slow to anger, quick to forgive and abounding in compassion. God forgive us if we fall silent, forgetting our role as a voice of hope to those around us, pointing them towards the God who loves them, the God who saves them.
Let’s read together, we’ll sing, and then we’ll come back and I’ll ask you what you think…
Reading: PS 71:17-24
Songs
Wrap up: So practically speaking, how do we give people hope, how best do we point them to Jesus? What do you think?
Blessing: This week, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and may you draw for others a beautiful picture of God Himself and relationship with Him.
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