Homily for Easter 6a (Wed)

“Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you…” If you’ve picked up on anything in the 10 months I’ve been with you at St. Paul’s it is that, for me, the gospel lessons are of central importance. It isn’t that I think less of the Old Testament or the Epistle lessons, but I believe there is a reason why we stand to hear the Gospel. By our actions we make it clear that Jesus Christ is alive as the Word when the Gospel is made alive again in its proclamation. It is with this in mind that most of the time when I preach I turn to the Gospel lessons for my text. Today, however, is different. The lessons for the Sixth Sunday in Easter in Year A bring with them perhaps the single most critical admonition for followers of Jesus Christ that did not come from the lips of our Savior himself.

Writing to a church in the midst of a dire situation, Peter calls his church to “always be ready to proclaim the hope that is within them.” Speaking to St. Paul’s Foley, a church of relative comfort in the Bible Belt of America I suggest that Peter’s appeal should be central to our life of faith. I am reminded of the first assignment of Homiletics 3 when Professor Hooke assigned us each the same sermon. We had no text to work from, only Peter’s call to his church to “offer the class the hope that is within you.”

Hopes take on various forms. We hope to get a tax refund each year (or at least that we don’t owe anything). We hope that our loved ones will find success and be happy and healthy. We hope for a good report from our annual physicals. And on and on. But when asked what hope lies at the core of our being, are we ready to give an answer? For Peter’s church that answer would have most certainly meant harm. To proclaim Jesus as the Messiah put him up against the Temple and the Romans, and neither side was happy to be challenged. For us, the consequences of our hope are not nearly as dire, but the challenge remains the same.

What is the hope that lies within you? For me the hope remains the same as it did in Homiletics 3; through the saving help of Jesus Christ I am able to grow in grace and in the Kingdom life. I found that sermon and wanted to share it, with a few modifications, with you this afternoon as a glimpse into my hope. I pray that you might hear some of your hope within it as well.

Ten years ago Februrary I was somewhere I never thought I’d be. I was sitting at a table at a Young Life banquet, wringing my hands, nervous to be sitting with some of Young Life Lancaster’s top givers, even more nervous to share my testimony with them in but a few short minutes. Fletch had helped each of us write and rehearse what we would share, but until that moment after dinner came I had no idea what to expect. I tried to take solace in the fact that I would be sharing with some of my best friends parents. I tried to take solace in the fact that I didn’t have a terrible back story of abuse, drugs, drinking, or the like that might get back to my parents. I tried to take solace in the fact that I would be sharing what God was doing in my life with those who had helped make it possible that I was still looking toward God.

The moment came, dinner was over, and it was time to share my testimony. I ended with a verse of Scripture, as Fletch had suggested. “Going forward, getting ready to look at colleges and choose a career Proverbs 3.5-6 reminds me of what I need to do, ‘⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.’” (NIV)

In the ten years that have followed I haven’t always trusted in the LORD with all my heart. I made major life decisions like college and career without as much as a thought of praying over it first. I began at the University of Pittsburgh studying Civil and Environmental Engineering in the fall of 1998, and by Christmas I realized the error of my ways. “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Since Christmas of 1998 I have worked hard to acknowledge God in all my ways with varying levels of success, and in return God has made my paths straight -ish.

Today I am somewhere I never thought I’d be, standing in a pulpit in Foley, Alabama. I am here for no other reason but that God has shown me the straightest path and by his grace I have been able to trust. God has blessed me with a wife whom I love and adore. God has blessed me with a call to serve him in ordained ministry. God has blessed me with a community of fellow believers. God took the mistakes of my youth and straightened them out. There-in sits the hope within me. With eyes focused on God, through the saving power of Jesus Christ, I have been given the ability to trust the LORD. With this trust came acknowledgment of the will of God. With this acknowledgement came straight paths, even in times of trial. With these straight paths comes blessing beyond my comprehension.

That is my hope; to trust in God and follow his pathways toward a Kingdom life. What is your hope? Are you ready to give account of that hope if need be? I am reminded today to be ready at all times. Thanks be to God!