Sadly I was disappointed on all counts. I did however get a bike eventually, but not until I was working and could pay for it myself, I realised

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1 Lent 3 sermon series: Through Lent with Paul 28 th February 2016: A Life of Hope Imagine if you will, that I am languishing in prison and I want to write to you, my church family. My greetings might go along the lines; Denis retired petrochemical worker and disciple of Christ To the church in the Village of Oxton in Head Of Birches My brothers and sisters in Christ; grace, mercy and peace be with you. If anyone has reason to be confident in the flesh I also have; Born into a Christian family Baptised as a baby A member of the people of Rock Ferry, of the tribe of the Jones A scouser born of scousers As to zeal an Anglican Lay Reader and Tranmere Rovers fan As to righteousness under the law, guilt free, apart from two speeding tickets. We all have credentials don t we? We all have a history. We heard a bit about Paul s in the Epistle this morning and, I thought I would say a bit about mine, in a similar style to that of Paul s. Today s sermon is the third in our series Through Lent with Paul. The theme today is A Life of Hope. What are you hoping for? What are your hopes for the future? It s a question we are asked many times as we go through life. Where do you hope to be or what do you hope to be doing five years from now? What are you hoping to do when you leave school or college? What are your hopes for your children? We live in hope, and as we go through life our hopes and aspirations change somewhat, as our attitudes, and our personal circumstances change. When I was a child I hoped that I would receive a Davey Crocket hat for Christmas. As I grew older my hope was that I would get a bike for Christmas. When reaching my early teens I hoped for a reel to reel tape recorder and in my late teens my hope was for a car.

2 Sadly I was disappointed on all counts. I did however get a bike eventually, but not until I was working and could pay for it myself, I realised eventually that my parents just couldn t afford to buy bicycles for both me and my brother. This taught me a great deal about the value of things and I took great care of my bike, and I cycled a great deal. I did get some funny looks though as the tail on my Davey Crocket hat wafted around in my slip stream. I suppose that as we go through life, hopes fulfilled and hopes dashed shape our characters in some ways. Do we go through life disappointed and uttering What if, or being content with what we have and who we are? This is not to say we shouldn t hope for a better life, there is nothing wrong with ambition. Provided our hope for better things in this life, doesn t get in the way of our hope for things in the next. Paul s letter to the Philippians brings a message of hope to us today, just as it did to the early Christian church. Paul uses chapter three of his letter as a safeguard by reviewing the basics of Christianity with the early church in Philippi. Paul knew that there were those in the church who believed that it was essential for gentiles to follow Old Testament Jewish laws. Especially submission to the rite of circumcision in order to receive salvation. These were known as Judaisers, and Paul enters into a diatribe warning his Philippian friends to watch out for those who he describes as dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. Paul criticised the Judaisers because they looked at Christianity backwards, thinking that it was what they did in the flesh that brought them salvation, and not the free gift of grace, which we all receive from Jesus Christ. Paul tells us that one of the distinguishing marks of we true Christians is not to rely on our own ability to save ourselves, (in verse 3 he writes of those who put no confidence in the flesh ) If it comes to having confidence in one s own ability to obtain salvation, Paul reminds us that he was once streets ahead of anyone. In verse 4 we are given a glimpse of Paul s personal life

3 as he shares a little of his own life story If anyone believes that they have reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. He goes on to describe the way he used to be and the things he once put his confidence in. A Jew not by conversion but by birth, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised according to Jewish custom. Proud of his religion,- in regards to the Law a Pharisee. As for zeal, persecuting the church. As for legalistic righteousness, faultless. The word that stands out in this list is legalistic. Paul isn t making out that he was sinless, but that as far as the Pharisee s code of conduct was concerned, people wouldn t have been able to point an accusing finger at him. If there had been an award for Pharisee of the year, Paul would have been odds on favourite to win it. Before his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, Saul; as he was known then, had attempted to stamp out all traces of those who claimed that Jesus was the Messiah. Paul wished to keep the purity of the faith of his fathers. At first glance, the reading from Philippians would indicate that Paul was boasting about his origins and his achievements. But that couldn t be further from the truth. He continued by stating that all the things he had achieved in his life, he counted as loss when compared with what he had gained through the grace of Christ. In the past Paul had put his trust in things, but now after his conversion, he places all his confidence in a person, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And we too can place our total confidence and faith in him. For Paul this had been a costly discovery. He writes with feeling about having lost all things. He had lost reputation, career, friendships and possibly family relationships. Even as he writes these words he is suffering in prison, but when he considers the things he once put his trust in, he writes them off as rubbish that he may gain Christ. Paul uses a word for dung or muck" to describe how worthless all his privileges and his hard earned achievements through his driving ambition, had become to him now. He had thrown all these things away in order to have a personal relationship with Jesus. A personal relationship based on faith that Christ died for him and for his redemption.

4 In the letter to the Hebrews, the author of that letter establishes a firm link between faith and hope. Chapter 11, Verse 1 tells us that Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen. After his resurrection Jesus said to Thomas Do you believe because you have seen me, blessed are those who have not seen but believe. Paul himself in his first letter to the church in Corinth establishes a link between faith, hope and love. Also in (Jeremiah 29:11) we are told For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Back to my opening question, what are you hoping for? The message from Paul to the Philippians is clear with regards to hope. If we are hoping for salvation and eternal life, nothing that we do in our transitional life here on earth will help us to gain that. I just want to share something with you at this point of time, I have brought an item along I want to show you. This is my university hood which I purchased as a memento on completing my foundation degree. This morning I warmly encourage you to take up the call that a certain Mr. Cameron made during his first election campaign as leader of the conservative party. He had a hope then, and it was to make Britain a big society, an all-inclusive society, so I will be standing at the back of church after the service and I commend these words of his to you; don t be afraid to hug a hoodie. But I want to stress that things that I do during my earthly journey, my working for a degree and a hood, attending church, the work I carry out for the church, my giving to the church and community in various ways, I place no hope in them to enable me to get me a free pass into the golden city and obtain salvation. For that I am totally dependent on faith in Jesus Christ. No matter how hard I try, there is nothing I can do to reach the standards of our omnipotent, omniscient, ever loving, ever living God. This doesn t mean, however that any of us should stop trying, God loves a trier and a cheerful giver, and our good works come by faith through the grace our Lord Jesus Christ. I don t do what I do for reward, I do it out of love for my church family and the wider parish community.

5 But reading the scriptures, especially Paul s letters and particularly studying for this sermon series, the bible reinforces for me the fact that I have no hope of gaining salvation through my own efforts. It is in faith and faith alone that we have that hope. And the word hope I see as an acronym; H=Happiness (or joy) O=Optimism (future) P=Promise (of God) E=Everlasting life (hopefully) And if I were to be asked the question Where do I hope to be in a year; or two years or anytime in the future? My answer would be; I hope to be where God wants me to be. What would your answer be?