03 Jun Uncommon hope

1 Peter 1:1-12

• What you believe about the future determines almost everything about how you live in the present. So, the question we need to ask is: what future do we actually believe in?
• And yet, we live in an age of hopelessness and despair
  • Australians are increasingly pessimistic about the future and life satisfaction has dropped to its lowest level since COVID-19 lockdowns, according to The Australian National University’s (ANU)  2025 Election Monitoring Survey Series.
  • According to report author Professor Nicholas Biddle from ANU, the erosion of hope is leading to lack of trust in government institutions, particularly as it affects young people. This means that the people we used to look to as a source of hope and trust for the future, are no longer deemed as reliable or trustworthy
  • One significant factor is obviously the ongoing impact of rising prices and dissatisfaction with housing. Everyone can see the real struggle younger Australians are having in getting a foot into the property market, and this appears to be translating into pessimism about the future
  • 3 per cent of Australians believe life will be worse in 50 years, while only 16.3 per cent believe it will improve. 
  • Tearfund’s Global Hope Report released in September 2024 (key findings of a national survey of over 1200 Australians’ perceptions of and hopes for the future, conducted by leading research agency NCLS Research) revealed that only around 1 in 2 (48%) Australians are hopeful about their personal future, but just 1 in 4 are hopeful about the future of the world.
• We live in a disoriented and hopeless society, plagued with despair. For the elite and privilege this can come across as a low-grade numb feeling or a cold cynicism. For those who are more down and out you just feel completely stuck and resigned to your present state
• So how we do respond? In his book “Surprised by Hope”, theologian N.T. Wright argues that there are essentially two different schools of thought – two narratives in world history that tell us who we could put our hope in:
  • Progress – “move up”
    • This is the dominant story that we in the west have inherited for the last 500 years. According to this narrative, through human ingenuity, science and technology, education and western forms of government, the world will steadily and inevitably march towards a bright and glorious future
    • The trajectory of human civilisation is “up and to the right”
    • Problem: despite getting so many of these things and seeing quantum leaps forward in so many spheres of human flourishing – as a human race we have also been deeply shaken by events like world wars, environmental deterioration, and technology being used for just as much harm as good.
    • “Modernity… gave us the myth of progress: that the world is getting better and better. The Titanic was the great symbol of this myth, and it sank.” (T. Wright)
  • Escape – “move away”
    • This place is cooked – let’s leave it behind in the pursuit of something else, an alternate world or existence
    • The rise of the #VanLife movement and its associated trends, like off-grid living, digital nomadism, the Tiny House movement etc – could be seen as a modern response – almost like a soft rebellion – towards a deep cultural disillusionment with the promises of progress, consumerism and hyper-connectivity, which have ultimately failed to deliver.
    • Leaving the city to go up the coast, quit your job
    • Retreat to the self – narcissism? You become the centre around which everything else reveals
  • And then when you combine the two what do you get? This guy! Elon Musk – let’s colonise Mars! Getting out of here. We live in a cultural moment that has a certain level of cynicism and despair such that someone like Elon Musk can become a cultural hero for us in the vein of Tony Stark
• But there is a third way, a third type of hope – and it’s what is talked about in today’s passage. In verse 3, Paul uses the phrase “living hope”. What is “living hope? Well, if we first type of hope is based on progress, and the second type of hope is based on escape, then the third type of hope – which is a distinctly Christian hope – is neither naive progress nor escapist spirituality. Rather, it is grounded in – and only possible “through” – the “resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (v 3). This is the basis and source of our hope. Tim Keller said, “Christian hope is not a mere wish. It is a confident expectation rooted in the resurrection of Jesus.”
• If Jesus had remained in the grave, our hope would have died with him. But because He didn’t remain in the tomb and instead was raised in newness of life, you and I as followers of Jesus get to experience what Peter calls “living hope”
• So, what are the distinctives of “living hope”? I want to answer four questions today from this passage:
  • What are we to hope in?
  • What does living hope enable us to do?
  • What does living hope not require?
  • What does living hope require?

Living hope

Q1: What are we to hope in?

• Answer: We are to put our hope our spiritual inheritance. In other words, the “full package” of everything that Jesus has secured for us through his death, burial, resurrection and ascension – eternal life, the resurrection of the body, a place in God’s kingdom, and our absolute assurance that this is all ours
• And how does Peter describe this inheritance? Look at verse 4:
  • Never perish = not susceptible to decay or death
  • Never spoil = not susceptible to corruption or sin
  • Never fade = it won’t diminish or lose its glory
  • Kept in heaven = absolutely secure, guarded by God – he paid for it and he’s keeping it safe so we have absolute confidence in its security, it’s not dependent on us!
• And we see this concept of the “imperishable” reappear later in the passage
  • “…it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors” (v 18)
  • “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (v 23)
• Charles Spurgeon – “It is also called a ‘living hope,’ because it is imperishable. Other hopes fade like withering flowers. The hopes of the rich, the boasts of the proud, all these will die out as a candle when it flickers in the socket. The hope of the greatest monarch has been crushed before our eyes; he set up the standard of victory too soon, and has seen it trailed in the mire. There is no unwaning hope beneath the changeful moon: the only imperishable hope is that which climbs above the stars, and fixes itself upon the throne of God and the person of Jesus Christ.”
• The problem is that we put too much hope in the wrong things and not enough hope in the right things. It is very possible, and perhaps even common, for the believer to function as one with hope partially on grace and partially elsewhere. We are so prone to placing our hope in other things, looking to them for deliverance and salvation. We tell ourselves that we hope in Christ, but what we really mean is that we hope in Christ plus something else. In other words, we hedge our bets – we are a people of divided allegiances and divided hopes. We are storing up treasures in heaven, but also treasures on earth. But Peter is calling us to hope fully on grace, to treasure a future inheritance rather than seeking one in the present
• The invitation and challenge for us is to dial DOWN our hope in the wrong things, and dial UP our hope in God
  • “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God” (Psalm 146, verses 3-5)

Q2: What does living hope enable you to do?

• ANSWER: Living hope allows us to rejoice in our present suffering (v 6)
• We will be talking a lot more about suffering in a later week in this series
• But suffice to say that when you have a hope that points beyond this life, it gives context and meaning to the hardships that you may be going through. You see it in its proper perspective. There is even a purpose to it.
• And that’s what allows you to rejoice – not because you are a glutton for punishment or sadistic, but because you see that the suffering is producing something in us that is far greater and far more valuable. And what’s the purpose? Look at verse 7 – “these have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith…may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed” (v 7). In other words, suffering for one’s belief in Christ is a way of proving the genuineness of one’s faith and the certainty of one’s salvation. These trials test, refine and purify our faith. That’s the reason for joy – because if your focus is on the strength and purity of your faith, then the hard times actually are doing good things for the part of you that you value the most
• The other side of it – which Peter also reminds us of – is that we can rejoice even in the greatest of difficulties because we know that God will deliver on His promises. This time of pain is only going to last “for a little while” (v 6) – and before you know it, Jesus will be revealed (v 7) and we will be “receiving the end result of [our] faith, the salvation of [our] souls” (v 9). The outcome is secure, we know how the story ends. God will not allow us to suffer forever. We can trust in Him to keep the promises He has made to us.

Q3. What does living hope not require?

• Answer: Hope does not require sight (v 8)
• We place so much focus and attention on the things we can perceive with our five senses
• But hope is by and large about what remains in spite of the absence of those senses – the love and affection for Jesus despite the fact that “you have not seen him”, and the joy that cannot be contemplated with our minds or articulated with our minds
• Romans 8:24-25– “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
• So often we are reliant on the external markers for a sense of validation, or to know that we are being fruitful or on the right track. Our 5 senses are so finely attuned, and we have become so reliant on them. And there’s nothing wrong with getting that validation. When God grants it to us, we are very grateful!
• But the question is, what happens when the external evidences of God’s goodness, presence or power disappear? My challenge and exhortation are to all of you is not to see that as a curse or as a sign that God has abandoned you. Rather, reframe it as a God-given opportunity to grow in something that can only be truly cultivated in the absence of sensory perception, which is HOPE. You cannot grow in hope when there is instant gratification. Hope is about delayed gratification
• “Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all… As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength” ( K. Chesterton)

Q4: What does hope require?

• Answer: hope needs to be “set” (v 13)
• We are not passive in this process. It’s proactive. We are to “set our hope” or fixate our hope. What Peter is saying to his audience is that having a rightly placed hope requires more than good intentions. Hope is something you must be proactive about holding onto and fighting for
• And the idea of “fighting” or a “battle” is an apt one because is another translation, instead of just saying “set your hope”, it actually gives a more vivid description which is to “gird the loins of your mind” (v 13). What does it mean to “gird the loins of your mind”? It’s actually a military reference, to the practice of preparing for battle. The ancients wore long robes, which would have hindered their ability to fight. Before going into battle, they bound them up around their waists in order to allow for freedom of motion. To go into battle wearing clothing that restricted their movements would have been completely foolish.
• So, in this context what is it talking about? It’s about having your minds prepared for action. Thinking rightly and thinking clearing, having the promises of God in full view, meditating on the truth of God’s word, and instead of being given to either catastrophising on one extreme or triumphalism on the other, we press on with full assurance and HOPE in what God has promised us. That’s why you need to be “alert and sober”
• Illustration
  • Windscreen – fix your eyes – the hope set before you
  • Side mirrors – take glances – impact on others
  • Rearview – occasional – your past, what you have come from

Our communal response

A community of holiness

• There is a connection between hope and holiness
• If you don’t have hope for the future and your horizon of possibility is so low, all you will do is live for the moment. “I can’t ever afford a house of my own, I may as well get smashed avo for brunch every Saturday morning”
• When you don’t have hope, you settle. When you don’t have a vision for your future and where are going, you aren’t careful or intention about how you conduct yourself
• Your hope determines your holiness, what you will and won’t allow to form and shape you
• With a purpose comes boundaries, discipline etc.
• After all, holiness is not about being deprived of something good, it is about being set apart for something special

A community of hope

• We need one another to be a people of hope and to live holy
• The Christian life isn’t actually hard to do alone. It’s IMPOSSIBLE!
• Let’s build a community of hope – doggedly committed to seeing Christ formed in one another
• Vision is for below average events and above average community. I jest, but that will beat a church with above average events and below average community, any day of the week
• Imagine if we could be a church that was known in the city as a place of HOPE. Could we become bearers, dealers, purveyors of hope to our city?
• One of the key findings from the Mentimeter – wanting God in the City to continue being a spirit-filled church. It’s important to remember that HOPE is one of the fruit of the Spirit.
• This is a church where we don’t write people off, we see the God potential in others, not just where they are now but where God is taking them; not just who they are now but who they are becoming in Christ
• We are the ones who spot the potential, we have an eye for what could be, we catch a glimpse of what God is wanting to do in a person or in a place. We have a knack for spotting it
• We don’t give up easily. We are the ones who stay till the final whistle and play till the final whistle. We worship the God of the buzzer beater!

Conclusion

• We all come into this world filled with hope. Little bundles of potential. What you never see is a cynical or jaded baby. Ask kids their career aspirations! All hope and no pragmatism. But what happens? Life, disappointment trauma. And you end up with learned hopelessness. So to hope is costly and difficult and painful. It takes intentionality to hope, and even more to hope again

If you don’t have any hope left, the good news is that you don’t need to conjure it up. The prayer of Romans 15:13 is this – “May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”. Come to the God of Hope this morning. As He fills you with hope to overflowing, you will have hope to offer to the world.

Discussion questions:

1. What struck you the most from the sermon?
2. What is your natural tendency toward the hopelessness around you? Progress, escape, or living hope? Why?
3. How does living hope change your perspective on facing trials and sufferings?
4. What are some practical things you can do to cultivate living hope?
5. How does the gospel give assurance of living hope?