The Hope That Lasts :: Romans 5:1-5
And hope will not put us to shame (v 5).
6. Some say we live in a hopeless society.
A recent poll shows that fifty-one percent of young Americans feel this way. They are overwhelmed by the world: War in Europe, climate change, financial insecurity, rampant inflation, pandemics, endemics, selfishness. While the mainstream media try to end their newscasts with a feel-good story of the day, too often it comes after you’ve been doused with news of hopeless situations. It’s all so hopeless, our young people say.
If you think this affects only young people, we really should ask, where is our hope? Is it in our political party? Government? School system? Is it your plan, organizational skills, family, spouse, finances? Where is your hope?
As we just sang ...
When in the hour of deepest need, we know not where to look for aid (LSB 615:1)
This is one question that arises from our epistle reading today. Paul answers it for us ...
5. God calls us to a sure and certain hope.
The hope that God gives us is more than wishful thinking. It doesn’t rest on anything from this world ... rest on you, your family, your determination, your success, your government. It rests on our Lord Jesus Christ, and him alone. He is our hope. He does not put us to shame.
We often use hope to mean “maybe” or “there is a fair chance that it will take place,” or “if we are lucky.” But Christian hope is not based on chance or circumstance ... that I sure hope it doesn’t rain on our picnic ... that I sure hope I win the lottery ... that I sure hope my children will grow up to become good Lutherans. Hope cannot be based on anything that we try to do. It can’t be based on any change we try to effect.
Instead, God calls us to a sure and certain hope. Saint Paul’s epistle to the church in Rome makes this abundantly clear. To understand the five verses of today’s reading from Romans chapter 5, we really need to understand the first four chapters. I will summarize them this way: You are a sinner; you were born a sinner, and you will die because of your sin. As a sinner, you will sin. You are not a sinner because you sin. You were born that way. We are all liars and deceivers who have no fear of God (Rm 3:13-18). Sin leaves us hopeless.
But now the righteousness of God has appeared. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In him we have hope (3:21-4:25). On account of his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, you have been justified by grace through faith in him. Therefore, we literally have peace toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ. As a result of the innocent suffering and death of Christ, the enmity which existed between God and us has been taken away. And in that good news, you have a sure and certain hope that you have eternal life.
Therefore having been justified out of faith we have peace toward God through our Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom also retained and gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast upon hope of the glory of God. And not only [this], but we also boast in the tribulations, seeing that the tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance character, and character hope, and hope does not put us to shame because the ἀγάπη of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us (vv 1-5).
4. Life often seems hopeless otherwise.
On our own, we fall short of the glory of God ... our efforts to be good are hopeless. The problem we face is circumstances pull us down; people pull us down; and our sin pulls us down. Our world fails us. Then as we look around we soon realize that even those of us with the most positive outlook on life can become consumed with the problems around us. We consider the fate of the world and become fearful. We think and hope that we can count on people. But you know the truth: How many times in talking to friends have you heard people say, My children let me down. ... My husband let me down ... My pastor let me down. They didn’t get it done.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, don’t deceive yourselves any longer. It is our own sin which causes us to lose sight of the hope God gives to us. Instead of placing our faith and confidence in the Lord, we often depend on our own strength and pride to pull us through.
Instead, repent, every one of you, in the name of Jesus.
Let us fix our eyes on him and him alone.
For you have promised, Lord, to heed your children’s cries in time of need (LSB 615:3).
3. God’s love is poured into us to give us a hope that ultimately will not disappoint.
Because Jesus Christ lived for you, died for you, and was raised to life for you (4:25), we have been justified through faith and have peace with God, the forgiveness of sins. And this peace gives you true hope.
God has made us his own in Baptism. He has declared you right with him. And he celebrates this truth through the feast of forgiveness with you that has no end.
Now, instead of letting the sin around and within pull you down, you can return to the font, confess your sins, and look to Christ, knowing that he will always deliver his nourishing Word to you (v 5). Because of his word and sacraments, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, fills our hearts with peace. His means of grace nourish and nurture your hope in him every Lord’s day. The true hope that God gives to us makes our future secure.
2. The hope God gives sustains us even in our sufferings.
One of the chief criticisms of Christianity has been that it promises “pie in the sky when you die,” but offers very little while you live. In our Bible passage not only are believers encouraged to have hope in their present and future conditions, but we are persuaded to rejoice in the hope that we have in our troubles. “Not only so,” Paul writes, “but we also rejoice in our sufferings.”
We live in a world where problems are not only likely, they are inevitable. The Lord Jesus teaches us the night before he died that, In the world you have tribulation. But have confidence: I have overcome the world (Jn 16:33). Believers in Christ should not flippantly ignore pressures or psychologically try to block them out with loud expressions of “praise the Lord.” Rather, Paul writes that there is a certain chain of events when these pressures come our way that enables us to have hope and rejoice.
First, tribulation produces perseverance. God uses our difficulties ... and the challenges of the world ... to help us abide more deeply in him. We learn to endure over the long haul of life, and we are stronger for knowing that he is our only real and lasting hope, that he will make us whole.
Perseverance produces character and character hope. The Greek word refers to something that has stood the test of passing through a trial. God doesn’t test us expecting failure. He tests us to give us confidence that he will remain faithful to us. Just as fire purifies and separates gold ore from worthless dross, so our fiery ordeals in life will refine us and give us true hope in God. As these difficult and testing times come to us all, we manage purely by the grace of God. We learn to look solely to him for support. We look to our past and thank God for his mercy, and then look confidently to the future, knowing that he is a God of hope.
And then hope does not disappoint. Why? Because the love of God ... the ἀγάπη of God ... our Lord Jesus Christ ... has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us (v 5). The Holy Spirit opens our eyes through Word and Sacrament to see that God has a purpose and that we can trust him. On the Last Day our hope will be fulfilled, and we certainly will not be disappointed!
1. The hope that God gives to us causes us to live as people of joy.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, our text gives us good reason to rejoice, and to receive God’s word and sacraments as often as we can. The world of gloom and doom and hopelessness needs the witness of positive Christians like you and me. We have a unique confidence about us because our faith is not in anything of this world, but in the God who made us, the God who redeemed us in Jesus Christ, and the God who keeps us close to him in faith through his Spirit.
Our triune God, whom we confess today, is the God in whom we hope. He will not disappoint us. We can trust him now and for eternity. Some of you are going through extremely difficult situations right now in your life. Don’t lose hope! God has poured his love for you, and you are his.