A Hope Based on Faith Not Hype!!

Hebrews 11:1-3

The beauty business is big business. Adorning ourselves, perfecting every perceived imperfection, curling what is straight, straightening what is curly, bleaching this/highlighting that, products that promise to make youngsters look older and oldsters look younger never lose their appeal. “Stuff” made out of low-tech squished fruit or high-tech spliced genes all promise to adorn and ultimately to transform our faces, save our skin, and sanctify our souls.

If only we will buy just this ONE product.

An Arizona based cosmetics firm calling itself “Philosophy” sells a moisturizer it calls “Hope in a Jar.” The label on this jar of “hope” declares” “Where there is hope there can be faith. Where there is faith, miracles can occur.” Here the cosmetics company provides (for a hefty price) the “hope in a jar.” But the consumer must supply their own “faith” if they expect a “miracle” to occur.

We all KNOW that nothing we smear on our face, or rub through our hair, or massage into our “love handles” or pop bellies is really going to defy the time and strip away everything wrinkled, grey, or saggy. We all KNOW that if that super-secret skin serum being hawked on that late-night infomercial could really do what it claims, its manufacturers wouldn’t have to be advertising it on a late-night infomercial.

But.

And every cosmetic manufacturer in the world loves, depends, exists on this “but.” BUT we do have “hope.” The problem with this “hope” is that too often it is rooted in “hype.” Unlikely. Unproveable. Unrepeatable. Unreliable.

Hope based on hype leads nowhere at best, hell at worst.

The writer of the “Letter to the Hebrews” didn’t give a message of “hope” based on hype. He didn’t tell a story about a perfect life that was just around the corner. Instead, he spoke about FAITH. Faith was that which stood firm even as the years passed and the promise of a “promised land” seemed to be a lie in the distant future.
In fact, none of the examples of great “faith” offered by the Hebrews’ author seems to have much of a happy ending.

Life is unpredictable. Life is filled with uncertainties. Trouble seems to have a way of finding us. As all know, we can't always avoid trouble.

The thing about trouble--it rarely announces itself before it comes. Trouble hardly ever says, "Here I come! Get ready!" We wish it would. At least we could prepare for it, or better yet, we could avoid it altogether. But life doesn't work that way. In fact, you are one of three people today--you are coming out of trouble, you are in the middle of trouble, or you about to get into trouble. That's life.

It is because of this truth that our lives are defined by how we respond to trouble. Think about it. Addicts are defined by their ability to numb themselves to trouble. Criminals act out destructively to trouble. Atheists blame the absence of God for trouble. Narcissistic victims exploit trouble to avoid responsibility. Look at many unhealthy people and you will see lives which have been defined by unhealthy responses to trouble. The late M. Scott Peck, who wrote The Road Less Traveled, even went so far as to say that the reason for much human dysfunction is the inability to face trouble.

At the bottom of all unhealthy responses to trouble is one bad word. This word is the enemy to all that brings life and joy and peace and hope. The word is "panic." Panic is the feeling of being out of control. Panic is grabbing anything that makes you feel like you are in control, even if it's unhealthy.

Sound familiar? Maybe you are putting on a good show to others, but inside you are coming apart at the seems. Perhaps your business is failing. Maybe you can't find a job in this economy and the bills are piling up. Maybe your marriage is on the rocks. Maybe you're living between doctor appointments and you are scared to death. Maybe the trouble you are facing is sending you into a panic.

I want you to know something. There is another choice besides panic. You can find peace in the midst of your storm. You can calm the raging tempest inside you. You can find help and hope. All that is needed is one thing.

Oh, I know people who have this one thing. Countless people have had it over the years, and it has made all the difference to their lives. It has given them strength to deal with trouble.

What is it? It goes all the way back to Abraham. Oh, you remember Abraham, right? It all started with him. Because he had it, all the rest of us can have it. He had it when God told him to leave everything he knew, and he didn't know where he was going. He had it when God told him and his wife Sarah they were going to have children, when, huh, they no longer had the resources to procreate. Abraham had it. You know what it is? Faith. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

You see, Christians are not perfect. Christians are not in control. Christians don't have all the answers. Christians are not better than other people. Christians are not folks that can give the perfect theological answer to every question. Christians are those who have learned, like Abraham, that God can be trusted. God can be trusted to give peace in the midst of the storm. God can be trusted to take what is evil and transform it into something good. God can be trusted to empower you in the midst of trouble. God can be trusted to receive you when you die. God can be trusted!

The late great spiritual writer Henri Nouwen received the greatest revelation about faith at, of all places, the circus!  Nouwen went to see the German trapeze group "The Flying Rodleighs" perform. He was mesmerized by their breath-taking performance as they flew gracefully through the air. At the end of the show, he spoke with the leader of the troupe, Rodleigh himself. Nouwen asked him how he was able to perform with such grace and ease so high in the air. Rodleigh responded, "The public might think that I am the great star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher...The secret is that the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything. When I fly to Joe, I have simply to stretch out my arms and hands and wait for him to catch me. The worst thing the flyer can do is try to catch the catcher. I'm not supposed to catch Joe. It's Joe's task to catch me" (Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1999), pp.195-196).

When trouble comes, so often we try to grab on to God. We think if we do enough fanciful praying, we can somehow catch God. It's not our job to catch God. God catches us.

I remember it well. It had been a difficult time for me. Real trouble had come.
"I'm in deep," I cried out to God.
"I'm deeper," God replied.
"How deep?" I asked.
"Let go and see," God sighed.

Let us pray.
Lord, we don't give up, but we give in to you.  We let go and allow you to take over.  It's in Christ's name we pray.  Amen.