Hebrews #57 - 6:9-20
Speaker Notes Hope, Part 2
Collect
BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 6:9-20
9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Quotes about HOPE:
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that hope is the “virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength but on the help of the Holy Spirit” (CCC 1817).
Hope is not mere optimism, but a confident expectation of divine blessing and the beatific vision of God.
The Christian hope is the hope which has seen everything and endured everything, and still has not despaired, because it believes in God. The Christian hope is not hope in the human spirit, in human goodness, in human endurance, in human achievement; the Christian hope is hope in the power of God.... William Barclay (1907-1978), Letter to the Romans, Westminster Press, 1957, p. 215
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from A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss by Jerry Sittser (1996)
I did not go through pain and come out the other side; instead, I lived in the pain and found within that pain the grace to survive and eventually to grow. I did not get over the loss of my loved ones; rather I absorbed the loss into my life, like soil receives decaying matter, until it becomes a part of who I am. Sorrow took up permanent residence in my soul and enlarged it. We all will experience losses of various kinds; we will all bury loved ones. Some of us will experience loss the divorce, sexual abuse, unemployment. Will we chose to embrace our losses, in the light of Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection? Or will we only exacerbate our suffering needlessly, by allowing one loss to lead to an ever greater one: The gradual destruction of our soul through guilt, regret, bitterness, hatred, immorality and dispair?
How do I embrace the darkness of loss, and discover God’s Grace surrounding it? While the accident remains to this day an inexplicable and terrific evil, I came to understand that the Sovereign God, who is in control of everything, is the same God who has experienced the pain I live with every day. No matter how deep the pit into which I descend, I keep finding God there. He’s not aloof from my suffering, but draws near to me. He is vulnerable to pain - quick to shed tears, and a man acquainted with grief.