Harbor Church - Mid City

Spiritually Healthy Lives—Sharing Hope

Mid-City, March 7 2010 I Pet. 3:8-18

⁸ Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters.^[a] Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. ⁹ Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it. ¹⁰ For the Scriptures say,

   “If you want to enjoy life
      and see many happy days,
   keep your tongue from speaking evil
      and your lips from telling lies.
 ¹¹ Turn away from evil and do good.
      Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
 ¹² The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right,
      and his ears are open to their prayers.
   But the Lord turns his face
      against those who do evil.”^[b]

 ¹³ Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴ But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. ¹⁵ Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. ¹⁶ But do this in a gentle and respectful way.^[c] Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. ¹⁷ Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!

 ¹⁸ Christ suffered^[d] for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.^[e]

We’re in a series looking at the ingredients that are involved in spiritual health. This week I am going to show you how sharing your hope contributes to your spiritual health. Some of you have an evangelism radar that just went off. . Sharing hope—yeah right, this is a back door message on evangelism. I know your game. See, when I say the word evangelism most of you cringe, with the exception of our college students with IV and with CO who came out here to do evangelism. But here is why the majority of you cringe. If you are a follower of Jesus, then you’re thinking, “Oh, great, another sermon on evangelism and I am going to feel really guilty when I leave b/c I am rotten at evangelism and don’t do it. If I was good at it, then I would have gone into vocational ministry. I build houses, you pastor boy do evangelism.”

And then there are those of you who are not followers of Jesus. You hear the word evangelism and you think of the guy on the street corner with a sign screaming, “Repent or you will burn in hell. Burn, burn, burn” Or you’re thinking, “Great, I am not even sure if I am going to be a follower of Jesus, and I know for sure that I don’t want to be an evangelist.”

But remember, we’re not going to talk about evangelism—we’re going to talk about sharing hope. Here is why I think the distinction matters. I don’t care who you are, you have put your hope in something and you will share that hope. (Beginning to 2:34) In fact, there is great song by Five for Fighting that describes the different things we all hope in called 100 Years. Let’s listen….

I'm 15 for a moment
Caught in between 10 and 20
And I'm just dreaming
Counting the ways to where you are
I'm 22 for a moment
She feels better than ever
And we're on fire
Making our way back from Mars
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy and time to lose
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
I'm 33 for a moment
Still the man, but you see I'm a they
A kid on the way
A family on my mind
I'm 45 for a moment
The sea is high
And I'm heading into a crisis
Chasing the years of my life
15 there's still time for you
Time to buy, Time to lose yourself
Within a morning star
15 I'm all right with you
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
Half time goes by
Suddenly you�re wise
Another blink of an eye
67 is gone
The sun is getting high
We're moving on....

Good song painting the landscape of life and the different things that we put our hope in. When you are 15, you put your hope in growing up and just making it as a grownup. Then you’re 22 and as a dude you put your hope in a woman, unless you’re gay and then you put your hope in a man. Either way—sex and companionship is your hope. You 33 your hopes shift to your family. 45 he paints the picture of a mid-life crisis and trying to figure out what to put your hope in.

But according to the Bible these will bring false hope, not real, lasting hope. If you put your hope in them, you’ll end up like the guy who is 45 in the song with a mid-life crisis. See the Bible says all of us were built to hope in one person and his name is Jesus. Every other hope will ultimately leave you hopeless.

Look at these verses…

1. Psalm 25:5
   ...My hope is in you....

2. Psalm 25:21
   ...my hope is in you.

3. Psalm 39:7
   "But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.

You get the picture. I just chose a sampling from one book. If you are a follower of Jesus, then he should be your ultimate hope. And he calls us to share hope because sharing hope is a really good thing. Now, this morning we’re going to examine what is involved in sharing the hope you have in Jesus from 3 different angles:

1. Do people ask you about your hope?

2. What will make them ask you about your hope?

3. How do you get hope?

1. Do people ask you about your hope?

This is a question for those of you who are followers of Jesus that is simply assumed in v15. “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” See there is an assumption here. That lots of people are asking questions about your hope. If Jesus truly is your hope, then it should create questions among your friends who are not followers of Jesus. Your life should be so hope-filled and hope-ful that your friends ask you, “Please explain the hope you have.” But what is it that would cause your friends and neighbors to ask about your hope. Great question. Glad you asked b/c it is second on our outline.

(2) What will make them ask you about your hope?

Peter gives you one big thing in v 8-13 that creates the ask in people. For those of you who are petrified of evangelism, by all means avoid doing this because if you do people will begin to ask you to give a reason for your hope. (reverse psychology).

Don’t be a person of strong character. How many pastors tell you that? If you want to avoid evangelism, then be a rotten person. You will not have to worry about people asking for a reason for your hope. On the other hand, strong character creates questions because it is such a rarity in our world today. Look at v8-13. These are all character verses, v8 “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another (meaning you are a person who seeks peace); be sympathetic (you care about people), love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. V9 Do not repay evil with evil (you’re not a vengeful person, but a gracious one who gives out blessings when your neighbors dish out pain). V10—you keep your tongue from evil (you don’t gossip and lie). V11—you turn from evil and do good; you seek peace. V12—you are righteous. V13—you are eager to do good.

That is it. Just that small little list. All you have to do to get people to ask about the hope you have is v8-13. Be a person of peace, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, humble, repay evil with grace not vengeance, don’t gossip or tell lies. Not hard. Right. Wrong. Incredibly difficult. That is why strong character creates the ask b/c it is such a rarity in our world.

But, as a follower of Jesus, your character matters so much. Here is why. Your character will either do one of 2 things. It will either create the ask or the expletive. See strong character creates the ask, “Could you tell me about the hope that you have in your life?” On the other hand, weak, hypocritical character creates expletives, “Get me the bleep, bleep away from you bleep, bleep.” If that is what Christianity is about, then no thanks.

Let me give you an example of both the ask and the expletive. In fact, Peter gives us an example of the ask at the beginning of the chapter we’re looking at. It isn’t printed but let me read it to you. He gives an example of a group of women who are followers of Jesus that are married to men who are not followers of Jesus. Listen to what his advice is to them in 3:1, “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. So here you have a group of skeptical husbands and what happens is that their wife’s character is so strong and they see such inner beauty that they ask, “Honey, tell me about the hope you have that is shaping your character.”

Now the opposite is weak, hypocritical character among those who claim to be Christians. It isn’t hard to give you examples here. Unfortunately, I could have chosen from a long list. Ted Haggard is a recent example. He was a preacher in megachurch, head of the National Association of Evangelicals, and on the side he was hooking up with prostitutes. This didn’t create an ask among skeptics; it created an expletive. If that is Christianity, then get me the bleep, bleep away from it.

TRANS: So, what do we do if we realize people aren’t asking us about our hope b/c my character just doesn’t look like v8-13? Well, I am convinced there is hope for you and me. What you & I need is more hope. And that is our 3^rd question:

(3) How do you get more hope?

Notice I didn’t say just work on your character. NO. You need hope, and if you get more true hope, your character will follow. So how do we get true hope? Peter tells us in v14. v14 “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.” He tells them don’t fear what they fear. Who is they? It is people who aren’t followers of Jesus. And they have all sorts of fears—of being beaten or oppressed by the Romans, that they will lose their jobs, and on and on. But Peter says not for those of you who are followers of Jesus. Don’t fear those same things. Rather, set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts. And in doing that hope soars in your heart, your character grows, and people start asking questions.

Now this is ginormous for us today. Are you tracking? See Peter is saying that all the things we fear in life—losing our job, seeing your marriage go south, your kids going off the deep end, not knowing how to pay the rent—and on and on—all these fear inducing things need not actually produce fear in us. He says the way out of fear and into hope is to “set apart Christ as Lord in your heart.”

So that begs the question--how do we do set apart Christ as Lord in our hearts? If setting apart Christ as Lord is the key to moving from fear to hope, then how do we do it. Well, Peter gives us the answer v14-15, which he takes straight out of the Bible from Isaiah 8: 12-14. Let me read Is. 8: 12-13 to you and see if it sounds familiar, “do not fear what they fear…The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy” (now regard as holy is the same word that is translated set apart here in our text). So he is saying the Lord Almighty is the one you are to set apart in your hearts. Then he goes on in v13 and says, “he is the one you are to fear.”

So Peter is drawing on Isaiah because Isaiah’s people faced similar circumstances. Isaiah’s people were facing fear-inducing circumstances. They had the Assyrian army staring them down and Isaiah said to those people who were in relationship with the Lord, “Listen, don’t fear what all the other people in town who are not in relationship with the Lord. They fear the Assyrians. You have only one person you are to fear and that is the Lord Almighty.” Isaiah essentially told them to shift their fear from the Assyrians to Jesus and they’re good.

Now why would shifting your fear help. Fear the Assyrians—fear the Lord. You’re still living in fear, right. Wrong. See there is difference between being fearing men and fearing the Lord. To fear the Lord as it is used in the Bible is to reverence him, to set him apart in your heart as the Lord. See fearing the Lord creates confidence and hope; Fearing men or circumstances creates emotional bondage and hopelessness. Fearing Jesus liberates; fearing men or circumstances enslaves.

So to fear Jesus and set him apart as Lord in your heart is to declare, “Jesus, you are Lord, not Cancer, and I won’t fear it; Jesus, you are Lord, not Cindy who is attacking my reputation; Jesus you are Lord, not my boyfriend who is wrecking my life.

Let me give you an example of fearing Jesus and setting him apart in your heart. I remember the things that created fear in my life when I was in college so clearly. I was a freshman at the University of Virginia, I was pledging a fraternity. If you know anything about fraternity rush, they don’t exactly treat you like a king. My frat created a sense of fear in my life. But the upperclassmen in the frat weren’t just the only ones who I had to fear at that time. I was also a red-shirt, freshman walk-on to the football team, and that is about the lowest species of life form on planet earth. The coaches were more concerned about the tackling dummies than me, b/c the tackling dummies came out of the budget. I was free; so whatever the upperclassmen wanted to do to me was of little concern to them. My fears of what they might do to me came crashing down on me shortly after arriving for summer practice my freshman year. We had a team meeting and all the coaches left the room. The Seniors then got up and locked the doors and turned out the lights & the biggest offensive linemen on the team stood barring the doorway. Trapped. They then started chanting, in unison, “Freshmen time.” I considered asking for a last phone call, but I decided it best to just stay quiet. I can’t tell you everything that went on that night, b/c well, we’re in church, but I made it. I’m here—right. But don’t think I wasn’t petrified of some of these seniors because they made it clear, “We own you. And we’ll be in touch.”

But that is just 2 groups of people that I feared my freshman year: the frat daddies & the upperclassmen. There was one other major group that I started to fear in my freshmen year: the braniacs. For the first time in my life, I couldn’t just coast in school. I was surrounded by brilliant people, and what if I couldn’t make it academically. What if I wasn’t at the top?? So there were social fears in the fraternity world; there were physical fears for my life on the football field; and there were academic fears in the classroom.

And then, one day, I wandered into the cemetery next to our dorms. Actually, I think I went there to get away from my fraternity brothers and football friends—it was the one place I wouldn’t get hazed b/c most of them were too superstitious to go into the cemetery. So it became my sanctuary. And while there, I began reading tombstones. And one of the gravestones struck me—I’ll never forget it. It said, “He feared man so little, b/c he feared God so much.” And I said yes, that is it. There is only one person I need to fear. The frat daddies aren’t lord, my coaches on the field aren’t lord, my professors or braniac friends aren’t Lord—Jesus is Lord and I am going to set him apart, reverence him, fear him, and regardless of how well I do or don’t do, He has me and He is good. And do you know what happened—hope soared in my heart. And do you know what happened, as my fear left, and hope sprang up, a few of my FRAT BROTHERS ASKED for a reason for the hope I had and I told them about Jesus and they came into relationship with him.

.

Now believe me, this wasn’t something I figured out once and then never struggled with again. No, I set apart Christ as Lord that day, and I’m sure I probably forgot who to fear that afternoon. But I finally knew where hope was found, and it was in setting apart Jesus as Lord in my heart each time emotional fear set in.

TAKEAWAY:, evangelism isn’t so much about winning arguments or defending doctrine as it is sharing an experienced hope. And if you aren’t continually experiencing this hope in Jesus conquering your fears on an ongoing basis, you will have nothing to share and no occasion to share. People don’t ask a hopeless person to share their hope.

But if, on the other hand, you will courageously keep setting apart Jesus as Lord in your heart, then His hope will soar in your heart b/c he always wins and questions will be asked. Your task, as a follower of Jesus, is to keep setting him apart as Lord in your heart. Keep fearing him, not man.

But for those of you who have never set Jesus apart as Lord in your heart, then do so now. He wants to conquer the fears of your heart and plant hope in your heart.

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