MY HOPE IS IN YOU: The Heart Broken by Despair 5-8-22

MY HOPE IS IN YOU: The Heart Broken by Despair 5-8-22

INTRODUCTION

To despair means to be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or expectation. I saw hopelessness displayed in full force a couple weeks ago as I was driving toward Coast Highway. While at a traffic light, I was reading the bumper stickers on the car in front of me. One of them had a drawing of a small child on his knees, hands clasped together, looking up. Next to the drawing were the words: “Nothing fails like Prayer.” Next to it was another bumper sticker that read: “The Next Logical Step is Atheism.”

To believe that there is nothing but this material world we live in — that there’s no God and no “us” beyond this life — is true despair. If we are a series of cosmic accidents that will cease to exist — a creation with no creator — then we have no purpose and our lives are absolutely meaningless.

In the early 14th Century, Dante Alighieri wrote about the afterlife in an epic poem called The Divine Comedy. In the part about Hell, called Inferno, he described an inscription over the entrance to Hell, which reads, “Abandon all hope ye who enter here.”

That sign also describes the hopelessness of atheism. The advertising of despair. The blatant shout to the world of believers, stating, “I HAVE NO HOPE, SO HOW DARE YOU HAVE ANY!”

Despair is a narcotic. It lulls the mind into indifference.

              Monsieur Verdeux (1947 Charlie Chaplin movie)

My mom - story

“Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race. Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts. May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue— those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is Lord over us?” “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked, who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race.”

                            Psalms 12:1-8 NIV

I.  THE DESPAIR OF THE FAITHFUL

Lament

In 1835 a man visited a doctor in Florence, Italy. He was filled with anxiety and exhausted from lack of sleep. He couldn’t eat, and he avoided his friends. The doctor examined him and found that he was in prime physical condition. Concluding that his patient needed to have a good time, the physician told him about a circus in town and its star performer, a clown named Grimaldi. Night after night he had the people rolling in the aisles. “You must go and see him,” the doctor advised. “Grimaldi is the world’s funniest clown. He’ll make you laugh and cure your sadness.” “No,” replied the despairing man, “he can’t help me.  You see, I am Grimaldi!”

There are dungeons beneath the castle of despair.

                            C.H. Spurgeon

“Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.”

                            Psalms 12:1 NIV

              A.  The cry of the faithful

                            1.  “Help me, Lord?”

                            2.  “The godly man ceases to be.”

                            3.  “The faithful disappear.”

"Sometimes the storm comes after the evening news. Some nights I wonder why I watch it. Some nights it's just too much. From the steps of the Supreme Court to the steppes of South Africa, the news is usually gloomy--thirty minutes of bite-sized tragedies. Story after story of homes that won't heal and hearts that won't melt. Always more hunger than food. More needs than money. More questions than answers. On Sundays I stand before a church with a three-point outline in my hand, thirty minutes on the clock, and a prayer on my lips. I do my best to say something that will convince a stranger that an unseen God still hears. And I sometimes wonder why so many hearts have to hurt."

                            Max Lucado about “doubt storms”

II.  THE SELF-DECEIT OF EVILDOERS

“Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts. May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue— those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is Lord over us?””

                            Psalms 12:2-4 NIV

              A.  The preferred lie

                            1.  Flattery

                            2.  Boasting

              B.  The real lie - “I am my own god.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote;

Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes

III.  THE RESPONSE OF THE KING

““Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will protect them from those who malign them.””

                            Psalms 12:5 NIV

              A.  The proclamation - “I will now arise.”

              B.  The promise - “I will protect them”

David Prior wrote, Justice and kindness are essential qualities of the nature of God Himself. They do not come down from heaven wrapped in parcels. They are expressed in and through people who walk humbly with God.

IV.  THE CLARITY OF GOD’S PERSPECTIVE

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”

                            1 Peter 3:18 NIV

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

                            Romans 3:23 NIV

              A.  Eternal over momentary

              B.  Final versus temporary

Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray once informed a man who had appeared before him in a lower court and had escaped conviction on a technicality: "I know that you are guilty and you know it, and I wish you to remember that one day you will stand before a better and wiser Judge, and that there you will be dealt with according to justice and not according to law."

Surprised while burgling a house in Antwerp, Belgium, the thief fled out the back door, clambered over a nine-foot wall, dropped down the other side, and found himself in the city prison.

                            (Oops: The Book of Blunders, 1980)

V.  THE PURITY OF GOD’S PROMISE

“And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times. You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked,”

                            Psalms 12:6-7 NIV

              A.  The trustworthiness of God’s promise

                            1.  Flawless

                            2.  Silver purified in a crucible.

                            3.  Gold refined seven times.

              B.  The impurity of mankind

“who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race.”

                            Psalms 12:8 NIV

Sir Harry Lauder was a British entertainer who proved highly popular throughout the English speaking world both before, during, and after World War One.

During World War One Lauder worked tirelessly to organize and recruit performers for shows given to troops serving abroad.

When Sir Harry Lauder's only son was killed in WWI, he said to a friend: "When a man comes to a thing like this, there are just three ways out of it -- there is drink, there is despair, and there is God. By His grace, the last is for me."

                            (From a sermon by David Owens, The Roller Coaster of Life, 8/6/2012)

CONCLUSION

“More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”

                            Woody Allen

How hopeless is the world as it tries to find a way out of this world alive.  We have a hope in God!

The despair of the faithful, the self-deceit of evildoers, the response of the king, the clarity of God’s perspective, the purity of God’s promise

CHALLENGE

What will you do with what you have just heard?  How will you respond to the Holy Spirit working within you?  The Challenge is intended to give us an opportunity to contemplate what God is calling us to do in our lives.  Consider these questions and write down your answers. 

              1.  Are you currently suffering from despair?

              2. What causes your despair?

              3.  Are lies a part of your everyday language?

              4.  How is God protecting the poor and needy?

              5.  Do you trust God’s promises?

INVITATION

It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word.  You may want to follow Jesus.  You may want to proclaim your faith.  You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).  Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.  If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now.  If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.