Earlier this week, Father
and I were talking about all those we care about and love. Many are going through
hard times, suffering, crisis, troubles, and heartbreaks. Deacon I would your
message to be for them.
Friends, remember we are all
made by God to do good things. One of the good things we are made for is
hope.
St. Paul wrote, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with which you are sealed…”
Instead, grow nearer to God; live in the
hope of the Holy Spirit.
I have been saving
something Pope Francis said for this time. He said the secret to hope. “Live,
love, believe and in God’s grace, never despair.”
These words remind me of my
step-dad, Jack Goodman. He is a good man and my grandson is named after him. He
is retired military, a retired educator, and a man of hope.
Jack is 85 years old. He
has fought cancer most of his life. A
pacemaker and defibrillator keep his heart running right. Due to an automobile
accident, he suffered a closed head injury; slowing his step. To tell the
truth, he is just not as spry as he used to be. Despite these, He does not despair
as he grows older.
He continues to live, love,
and believe. By the grace of God, he is filled with hope. Every day he gets up,
packs his gym bag, and goes to the gym. He attends the Lion’s club. And on
Sunday, he will be at Church, usually brining someone with him.
How many live in hope? When I look in the face of
this community, I see hope in you!!
Friends, with God’s grace, we
should never despair. As we grow older, take this to heart. Every day, ask God
for the courage to live in hope and never despair. It is the message of scripture.
Picture in your mind, Elijah
a man of God; He was probably not a young man; probably he had gray hair and a
gray flowing beard. Elijah stood tall for God. Because he was God’s prophet, he
was a fugitive from King Ahab and his Queen Jezebel, who wished him dead.
Despondent, Elijah escaped to
the desert and sat under a broom tree, and gave up. “This is enough O’ LORD.
Take my life.” Then, he lay down.
That is not what God
wanted. God sent an angel telling Elijah, get up and eat. The angel placed by
his head a hearth cake and a jug of water.
Elijah took what the Lord
gave him and lay back down.
That is what many do. Day
by day we take what the LORD gives us and just get by. Some lay down in
despair, despondent in their suffering. That is not what God wants.
The angel of the LORD came
back to Elijah lying under the tree, “Get up and eat, the journey is long.” Elijah ate and drank. Then
he walked for 40 days and 40 nights to the mountain of the God.
Elijah realized he must “Live,
love, believe and in God’s grace, never despair.” He walked day and night to
God. He was a man of hope.
Our journey is long, too. We
grow old. We hurt. We are sick. We fight arthritis. We fight diabetes. We fight
cancer. We fight all the suffering, troubles, crisis, and heartbreak that the
devil throws at us. We fight the dimming of our thoughts and the dulling of our
minds; but, the LORD God does not want us to give up.
Hope is experiencing these things in the light of the good news of
Jesus Christ. Do not get angry, bitter, or mad at the world. We are to be imitators
of God! Imitators of our Lord Jesus Christ who conquered fear and suffered for
us.
When our suffering and heartbreak seem insurmountable, remember
Jesus lives in you and through you and is in the world by your life. It is he, who
with his humbleness and meekness gives us strength to overcome all that is
against us.
Elijah ate the bread of
angels and found strength to live and not despair. My brothers and sisters, we
are invited to eat of something that is even greater, the bread of life. Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from
heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever….”
That alone gives us hope.
That alone gives us strength to live, love, believe, and by the grace of God,
never despair. Believe in God’s noble
and beautiful truth, hope. Trust, that by the Holy Spirit, God is bringing you
to the goodness of Christ’s embrace.
We dream of heaven, but do
not forget this life. Don’t fail to see the goodness of the LORD in a life lived;
God was with you and protected you. God is with you still.
Be lifted up, by the Holy
Spirit to live in hope and share hope. We are here because we are made by God
for good things.
Be good, be holy, with the
grace of God preaching the Gospel to live, love, and believe. Amen.
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