Hope in Jesus is Peace

“I hope it does not rain tomorrow so I can play outside.” Kids, last week the weather was a roller coaster. It was hot and cold, calm and windy, dry and rainy. You hoped to get outside every day, but it did not work out. And your parent or parents or whoever was watching you also hoped that the weather would have allowed for more outside time.

We hope for lots of things that may or may not happen. In our New Testament reading from Romans 5, Paul wrote about peace and hope. His letter was written to first century Christians living in Rome, but these words remain true for Christians of all time. The idea of peace for Romans at the time of Paul might have meant going to a Roman bath house, which became a big part of their culture. Today examples of peace still include a spa day but could also include a night away while someone takes the kids, sitting at the beach or having a view of the mountains. Then, when it cames to hope, the Romans hoped for a lot of the same things we still hope for today like a raise, more reliable transportation and better health.

Peace and hope are connected because our unfulfilled hopes rob us of peace. If you hope for clear skies, then it rains, then you are not able to play outside. If you hope for a raise, then get passed over, it affects your standard of living. If you hope to upgrade your chariot from 300 horsepower to 500 horsepower, then you do not get that raise, then the bigger boat you bought will have to sit in the driveway. If you hope for the cure to cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, a stroke, diabetes, etc. but it does not come, then your time with a loved one is cut short. Unfulfilled hopes often rob you of peace.

In our New Testament reading from Romans 5, Paul explained that faith connects you to peace and hope. We read from Romans 5, ¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Your faith connects you to justification, which is God’s declaration that you are not guilty. So, through Jesus, you are no longer waiting for God to punish you for your sins. Instead, you are forgiven and at peace with God, meaning you have hope in your future home in heaven.

Faith connects you to peace connecting you to hope. So, when your faith is tested, it also puts your peace and hope to the test. In our Old Testament reading from Exodus 17, the Israelites’ faith was put to the test. At this time, Israel had been freed from slavery in Egypt only a matter of weeks and had not even reached Mount Sinai. They got to a place without water and began to grumble against Moses and God. So, Moses cried out to God because the people were becoming violent. God then allowed Moses to provide water by hitting a rock with his staff. So Moses named the place accordingly as we read in Exodus 17, ⁷ And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

The Israelites’ faith was tested when they faced dehydration. Instead of putting their faith in God, they complained. When your faith is put to the test, you often lose faith and complain against God too. There are times when the test is serious like your responsibility to your spouse and children, and even to the point of life and death like Israel. There are also many other times when you abandon living in faith forfeiting peace and hope in God for small matters. You complain about traffic, allergies, having to think before you choose between buying name brand or off brand. Your faith, peace and hope are challenged daily, and you fail God daily. And when that becomes the pattern of your life, you are in danger of losing the peace of forgiveness and the hope of eternal life in heaven.

Jesus gives us peace and hope. In our Gospel reading from John 4, Jesus met a Samaritan woman who society had written off as hopeless. She had tried for years to have peace in her life, but it always slipped through her fingers. Jesus met this woman alone at a well, and he spoke to her, a total stranger, which was counterculture for a Jewish man to speak to a Samaritan woman. Plus, aside from the social taboo of a man talking to a woman, he was a Jew, and she was a Samaritan, and there were hundreds of years of hatred between those peoples. Yet, Jesus asked her for a drink from the well, which allowed him to bring up the fact that he could give her living water, which Jesus described as ¹³ … “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Naturally, the woman asked to have the living water so she would not have to keep coming back to the well, but Jesus was not talking about physical water. He then showed the woman his miraculous power by asking her to go get her husband to which she responded, ¹⁷ “I have no husband,” … Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” Recognizing Jesus’ miraculous power, the woman acknowledged that Jesus was a prophet, but Jesus told her that he was more than just a prophet, he was the Messiah, the promised Savior. By God’s grace, the woman believed Jesus. She now had peace in Jesus’ forgiveness and a relationship with God, a peace and relationship far better than her past five husbands and a man she was living with outside of wedlock. She also had the hope of eternal life in heaven, which she could cling to amidst social or cultural rejection, dehydration and death.

Jesus overcame every challenge to save you. We continue in Romans 5:

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8

Paul used a comparison to highlight why God saved us. He compared the rarity of one person dying for another because another person would only die for another who is righteous and good or someone who has done something good to them. Rather, with Christ dying for us, we were his ungodly, unbelieving enemies. The only reason why Christ died for us is his love. Christ’s love can also be described by what Paul encouraged all believers to do in Romans 5, ³ “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Jesus suffered temptation in the wilderness by the devil, and rejection in his hometown, by his people, the Jews, by the Jewish religious leaders and the secular government. Yet, he persevered and his character now stands forever as righteous, good and perfect. He was powerful when we were powerless. Again, his character is love, and at the cross, in love he died for your sins. You have been saved by Jesus, so your faith in Jesus means peace with God and hope for eternal life.

Look to Jesus when your peace and hope are challenged. Paul used one word to summarize when your peace and hope are challenged,

³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5

Suffering affects you mind, body and soul. Suffering tempts you to give up faith in God. Suffering leads you to question God’s love for you, but the answer to the question of God’s love for you has already been answered in Jesus’ suffering for you. There are many ways to help alleviate suffering like the company of friends and family, laughter, medicine, release from a bad relationship, etc. but without Jesus your suffering is only cured temporarily. Jesus is always part of the answer to suffering. And when you continue to look to Jesus, when you persevere in faith, that pattern of looking to Jesus becomes part of your character. This is hope. Hope is consistently trusting in God to see you through, to be your peace, to love you and to forgive you. Hope in Jesus leads you to boast in what God has done for you, what he has given you and what he will absolutely give to you in heaven. Hope is not for the strong or about you having it all together. Hope is peace knowing God has worked it all out for you by his strength.

“I hope it does not rain tomorrow so I can play outside.” As kids and adults, we put our hope in lots of things that may or may not happen, but the hope we have in Jesus forgiving our sins and taking us to heaven is a guarantee. Because of God’s love for you, your hope in Jesus is peace. Amen.