Last week we looked at biblical hope and what it means. In short, based on Jesus’ promises hope in Christ is not tentative or improbable, it doesn’t change like the weather or the lottery numbers, it is guaranteed. Hope provides an anchor and solid foundation. This week we want to continue looking at hope.  We’re looking at Romans 5:1-5.

“5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith[b] into this grace in which we stand, and we[c] rejoice[d] in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom 5:1-5)

The first statement in this passage is a beautiful summary of the gospel message. The hope of humanity is that Jesus is restoring people. We know intuitively that somehow things have gone wrong in our world and in our lives.  The world is not as it should be.  Where humanity fell away from God in the garden of Eden, God did not abandon people, but rather planned to restore humanity through Jesus.[1]  We have hope that in Jesus we are not lost. Moving into verse 3 Paul suggests that one can rejoice in suffering and suffering ultimately produces hope.[2] How does this work?

In comfortable times, it can be easy to trust in our own ability to make life work. However, something like COVID comes along and our nice comfortable lives are tossed in the air. In suffering we rightly hope and pray for safety and deliverance, but while Jesus certainly will never leave or abandon people, sometimes he “delivers us through the affliction, rather than out of it.”[3] If Jesus simply removed every hard circumstance or challenge we faced we would never grow.

So looking at Romans 5:3: suffering produces endurance or perseverance just as regular exercise produces endurance.  Because humans will rarely choose suffering, you could say suffering is forced endurance training.  This endurance training in turn produces character, the hardened solidity of confidence that has been tested and proven. When we endure the difficulties of life, we come out the other side stronger for having had the experience. In the passage we are looking at “the imagery evoked…is that of the testing of gold through fire.”[4] This is like the difference between a new friend and a long time proven friend.  The new friend may be a great person but is initially unknown.  Can you rely on them?  You do not yet know; circumstances have not demanded an answer. You have not made the desperate midnight call yet. The trusted long time friend is trusted because your relationship has been tested by conflicts and struggles.  This friend has stuck with you and you have stuck with them.  The friendship is tested and proven, and you know you can rely on them. This tested and proven character then produces hope which is the “joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.”[5]

The NLT translation puts the passage this way “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” (Rom 5:3-5 NLT) Hope becomes both the beginning and end of the cycle.  Hope allows us to get through hard times and this hope persevering through the hard times strengthens our faith and trust in God. “As the Christian lives within the sphere of grace, suffering is transformed, character is built, and hope is increased that God will finish the work that he has started.”[6]

In short, our sufferings show us God’s work in our lives and rather than diminishing our trust in him, they can lead to an increased trust in God and a confidence that he is indeed working in our lives and will continue to do so. Hope is our constant companion on the journey, at both the beginning and end. We have an eternal hope in Jesus and we have the assurance of hope that Jesus will never leave or forsake us.

Finally, we can trust in hope because of God’s love shown through the Holy Spirit. Hope is not an empty saying because God’s love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. This love is an assurance that hope in Jesus is not misplaced. Through the Holy Spirit God’s love is poured out to people.
Let’s walk away with a few practical applications:

• Could we say paradoxically that suffering is good for us?  Suffering challenges our thinking and often forces us into growth
• Faith that has been refined under pressure has been toughened and hardened.  It will not easily collapse.
• Though tough times are not pleasant, do not miss in these times what God is doing because God is always redeeming and he is always up to something good
• Make yourself a list of the good things in your life right now!
• Keep hoping because hope in Jesus will never disappoint

[1] Arrington and Stronstad eds, Life in the Spirit New Testament Commentary, 1999 pg 724
[2] Arrington and Stronstad eds, Life in the Spirit New Testament Commentary, 1999 pg 724
[3] Arrington and Stronstad eds, Life in the Spirit New Testament Commentary, 1999 pg 724
[4] Arrington and Stronstad eds, Life in the Spirit New Testament Commentary, 1999 pg 725
[5] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.
[6] Arrington and Stronstad eds, Life in the Spirit New Testament Commentary, 1999 pg 725

As we find our selves in a new season due to COVID-19 let’s take a look at how we navigate the new world we find ourselves in. 

Much of our lives function on rhythm and habits. You probably get up around the same time each day, brush your teeth, go to a favorite coffee spot, whatever your routine is.  Suddenly, COVID-19 has thrown your rhythm out of whack from grocery shopping to work to childcare to recreation. We went from in-person to Zoom, Facebook Live and YouTube. It’s all a bit disconcerting and we probably all feel a bit weird.

Len denBraber wrote this to describe his experience during this time: “I’ve discovered my experience isn’t unique. Why have we struggled with lethargy, depression (mild and clinical) and anxiety during the pandemic? There are a myriad of reasons, but I think the disruption of our daily and weekly rhythms have really messed us up. The subtle signals of getting ready for work, swinging by Starbucks for an over-priced coffee, interacting with people at church, going to small group, and worshipping with others on Sunday have been eliminated. We have lost our intuition about how our lives ought to flow (can you remember what day it is today?) and without that, we feel untethered.”[1]

People talk about returning to normal, but the reality is that the world has changed.  We are not going back.  We are entering a new normal. How do we encounter this new normal?  How do we find stability in the craziness?

First let’s talk about stability. We must remember that God has not changed at all during COVID-19. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (Heb 13:8). Life may have changed, we need to find a new normal, but we don’t need to find a new God. There is hope and stability found in Jesus. Let’s read in Hebrews 6:16-19.

“Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.” (Heb 6:16-19)

The common way we look at hope is like this: I hope I win the lottery. We would like it to happen, but it is statistical hope based on probability and chance.  It may or may not happen. However, Hope in Christ doesn’t change like the weather or the lottery numbers, it is guaranteed. This is why the Apostle Paul can say in  2 Cor 4:18 “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” What is seen is what is in front of us, challenges, troubles, COVID. Yet, these things are limited to this world and they are temporary. What is unseen is the glory of eternity and of a relationship with Jesus, yet these things are known now, can be experienced now and will be seen fully in the future.[2]

Hope allows people not to give up when it would certainly feel easier to do so. In the midst of craziness hope in Jesus is a sure foundation and a steady anchor. You may feel like a little boat tossed around on a big ocean.  The moment we think we know what is going on the wind blows us somewhere different. In the midst of this we toss out an anchor called hope.  Hope roots us in place.  The waves keep coming, the wind keeps blowing, but we are no longer tossed about. We are rooted in place in Jesus!

So we have hope and can find stability, but we still need to find new rhythms. So many things have been canceled and changed this year and these things are tough to deal with. First, we must grieve what we have lost. This grief is real.  We need to process the changes and our losses and face what has happened.  Then we need to find a new rhythm.

The tendency is probably to try and jump right back into whatever we were doing before COVID but many of those things may have been on our schedules just out of force of habit. My wife Michelle and I have been reflecting a lot over what we missed and didn’t miss during the COVID shutdown. COVID has helped us identify our priorities.  For us these things are family, being outdoors, close friends and travel. It’s worth writing your own list and being intentional in your calendar items rather than just letting your calendar book up as things open up.

Now here’s something radical: what if instead of filling our schedules with events and activities, and going back to whatever we did before, we instead set aside time for God and for rest? As you read the Bible starting in creation, God worked for 6 days and then rested for 1. This seventh day is the Sabbath, a day to rest and enjoy God’s creation. (Read more on Sabbath here) Our world tends to be so obsessively busy, maybe we all just need to take a break! Maybe instead of moving to the rhythm and busyness of our culture or what we think we are expected to do, we can move to God’s rhythm.

None of this is easy, but we can continue to trust in Jesus.  In him is our hope and stability.  We can find a new normal, a new rhythm and eventually, the new normal can be even better than the old normal. Hang in there and keep hoping!  Jesus is your anchor, if you will cast your line to him.


[1] https://www.bc.paoc.org/news/find-your-rhythm
[2] Kruse, C. G. (1987). 2 Corinthians: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 8, p. 111). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

If I were to ask you, are you an above average driver, what would be your response? AAA (not AA) released a study in 2018 that found that 73% of Americans believe they are better than average drivers and fully 80% of men believe they are better than average.[1] Most of us seemingly have over inflated opinions of our driving skills; some people who consider themselves great drivers are obviously not, and relatively few people are accurately estimating their own abilities. Now don’t dismiss this as an American thing or that it’s just about driving.[2]  A similar survey in Sweden came away with very similar results. There’s actually a formal psychological definition of this tendency called the better than average effect[3] or comparative optimism.[4] Essentially, most people will overestimate their own abilities relative to others. This can be helpful for our self-esteem, so we aren’t constantly discouraged, but I’ll submit this morning there is a better way to be encouraged than to overestimate your abilities relative to other people. Let’s look at a great passage of scripture in the book of Romans.

“Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”  (Rom 12:14-18 NLT)

It’s so easy to think we know more than we really do or that we’re the exception to the average. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t celebrate real talent or enjoy your strengths and skills.  NHL players obviously are better than average hockey players and there’s no need to say they aren’t. Continuing the thought, as people we tend to judge others based on their actions, while we judge ourselves based on our good intentions rather than what we actually do.  Both of these things result in viewing ourselves through a much gentler lens than we use on others. The tendency then is that we view our own actions and lifestyle as superior to others. The spontaneous person wonders why others can’t be more easy going, while the organized person thinks others lack discipline. When I married Michelle we initially clashed quite a bit over our personalities and choices.  Michelle is the social, spontaneous one, while I am more organized and reserved.  Over time we learned that neither approach is right or wrong and there are strengths and weakness in both of our natural tendencies.  In the end we balance each other out and it’s no different in the body of Christ.

Instead of overestimating our abilities or considering our own choices, opinions and lifestyle to be superior the Bible teaches almost the exact opposite. Romans 12:3 reads “Because of the privilege and authority[c] God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.” (Rom 12:3)

We’re called to honestly evaluate ourselves, rather than overestimating ourselves. One of the things that seems to happen over a long time spent in one church, family, community or organization is that we accumulate relational wounds.  Things are said, offenses given and received, mistakes made.  Unfortunately, we can sometimes draw lines in the sand and decide that because we got hurt or so and so said or did such and such that we cannot be with those people. We are never going to be best friends with everyone, but we are called to do our best to live in harmony with others. I love this line “Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!” (Rom 8:16b NLT). In a world where most of us think we are better than average, we can bring ourselves down a notch and just be real people. Secondly, don’t think you know it all.  In other words, don’t be conceited. Google knows everything, but I don’t, and I can just be myself and hang out with regular people.

Now we’re going to flip the script a bit.  No one should think they are better than others, but with Christ, everyone IS better than average. You are loved and valued by Jesus just because you exist. You don’t have to prove yourself, earn your credentials or make your way to the top to be valued by God. We are not gifted and talented at the same level, yet we all have the same value.  A.W.Tozer says “The service of the less gifted brother is as pure as that of the more gifted and God accepts both with equal pleasure.”[5] So, whether I am less or more gifted than someone else is irrelevant as God does not measure me by my talents or skills. God loves me the same whether I am a good driver or a bad driver.

God created us to find our identity in relationship with him not in comparing ourselves to other people or judging other’s opinions. I can celebrate other people for who they are and trust that God has a plan and calling for them just as much as he does for me. I can live in harmony with others. If I trust my relationship with God and that he loves and values me, I am freed from the fear of failure, I am freed from the desire to make myself look good in front of others.  I know I am loved and valued just because I exist. Then maybe I can honestly say, I’m not too proud to hang out with ordinary people and I don’t know everything.  I can consider my contributions to the world meaningful, without thinking I must be superior.

Here are a couple practical things to close off with:

1. Everyone is strong in some areas, weak in others, average in the rest – so own it.  Be yourself and don’t think you need to be superior to others.  Don’t beat yourself up over your weaknesses
2. No one likes a know-it-all.  You might actually be wrong on some things.  Be humble and just be your average self hanging out with average people.  You don’t need to prove yourself superior to be likeable and have good friends
3. Celebrate others because their contributions and skills are just as meaningful as yours
4. Jesus loves you for who you are.  You cannot fail hard enough to lose his love
5. Jesus loves you no matter what you do.  All you need to do is trust in him.

[1] https://newsroom.aaa.com/2018/01/americans-willing-ride-fully-self-driving-cars/
[2] https://www.smithlawco.com/blog/2017/december/do-most-drivers-really-think-they-are-above-aver/
[3] https://dictionary.apa.org/above-average-effect
[4] https://www.drivesmartbc.ca/behaviour/better-average-driver
[5] A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, pg 120