27th September 2020 - Love always hopes.

APC 27th September 2020            “Love always hopes.”
 
Welcome and Introduction           Michael
Good morning everyone and welcome to our Sunday morning worship.  Today we will be reflecting on the words of St. Paul, “Love always hopes.”  What will it mean for us to remain hopeful in these difficult days and through that, to bear witness to our Christian faith to those around us?
 
But before we consider that, let me lead you in a prayer of worship as we thank God for His faithful presence in all circumstances and for the hope that we enjoy in Him.
Let us pray…
 
Opening Prayer      “Hope in despair”
Gracious God, we thank you that you are always with us, in the bad times as well as the good, the difficult as well as the easy, the sad as well as the happy.
Lord of all hopefulness, hear our prayer.
We thank you that though we have sometimes been unsure of the way ahead, you have always been there to guide us, though we have felt discouraged, you have offered us fresh inspiration, though we have been in despair, you have given us hope.
Lord of all hopefulness, hear our prayer.
We thank you for the assurance this brings us that your steadfast love never ceases, that your mercies are new every morning, that great is your faithfulness.
Lord of all hopefulness, hear our prayer.
May that conviction give us confidence in the days ahead, so that whatever problems we face, whatever disappointments we experience, whatever sorrows may befall us, we will still find reason to look forward, reason to believe in the future and reason to hope.
Lord of all hopefulness, hear our prayer.
In Jesus name we ask it, Amen.
 
Join with me as we say the Lord’s Prayer together…
 
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever, AMEN.
 
Bible Readings
Jeremiah 29 v 10 – 14
This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.[a] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
 
Romans 5 v 1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
 
1 Corinth 13 v 4-7    
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
 
Reflection                       “Love always hopes.”
Without this, students get discouraged and drop out of college.  Sports teams fall into a slump and continue to lose.  Addicts return to their habits, marriage partners decide to divorce. Inventors, artists, entertainers and entrepreneurs lose their creativity.  What am I talking about?.....Hope! 
Hope isn’t merely a nice option that helps us temporarily clear a hurdle.  It is something that is essential to our very survival.  One of the greatest examples of this can be found in the experience of the psychologist Victor Frankl.
In 1941 Frankl married his first wife, Tilly Grosser who later that year was forced to have an abortion by the Gestapo to prevent Jewish overpopulation.  In 1942 Frankl, his wife and parents were relocated to the Theresienstadt Ghetto where his father was laid to rest due to starvation and exhaustion. Frankl’s wife and mother were then murdered in the gas chambers at Auschwitz.
Over the next three years, Frankl was subjected to the horrible conditions of the concentration camps. During his imprisonment in the camps Frankl dug ditches, set up a suicide prevention program, and volunteered at the typhus ward.
In addition to these activities, one of the things that kept Frankl alive was the hope that if he himself could mentally and emotionally survive the holocaust then one day in the future he would be able to help other people who were suffering from mental and emotional problems.  Here is an extract from his book “Man’s Search for Meaning” where he describes one incident in the concentration camp where he discovers the power of love to conquer evil and to bring hope in a situation of complete despair…
“We stumbled on in the darkness, over big stones and through large puddles, along the one road running through the camp. The accompanying guards kept shouting at us and driving us with the butts of their rifles. Anyone with very sore feet supported himself on his neighbour's arm. Hardly a word was spoken; the icy wind did not encourage talk. Hiding his hand behind his upturned collar, the man marching next to me whispered suddenly: "If our wives could see us now! I do hope they are better off in their camps and don't know what is happening to us."
 
That brought thoughts of my own wife to mind. And as we stumbled on for miles, slipping on icy spots, supporting each other time and again, dragging one another on and upward, nothing was said, but we both knew: each of us was thinking of his wife. Occasionally I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread behind a dark bank of clouds. But my mind clung to my wife's image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness. I heard her answering me, saw her smile, her frank and encouraging look. Real or not, her look then was more luminous than the sun which was beginning to rise.
 
A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth--that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world may still know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when a man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way--an honourable way--in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfilment. For the first time in my life, I was able to understand the words, "The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory."
 
It was the belief that his suffering had a greater purpose that enabled Victor Frankl to survive the Holocaust.  It was his focus on the love of His wife that enabled him to sustain hope in a situation where that seemed impossible.
So too, writing to the Corinthian church which was riddled with problems, strife, division and colourful characters whose actions could easily have graced many a tabloid headline, Paul encourages them to persevere with the reminder that, “Love hopes all things.”
You see, given the circumstances, it would have been so easy for people in the Corinthian congregation to throw in the towel and walk away.  At that time in history, in that part of the world, that would not have meant simply joining a neighbouring parish.  The truth is there wasn’t one.  It would have meant giving up on Christianity altogether.
“I know you’re sorely tempted,” says Paul, “I can totally empathise with what you’re feeling”, “but please, please hang in there, because love always hopes.” 
The word Paul uses for hope is the Greek word ‘Elpizo’ which means to ‘trust’ or ‘expect’.  It describes an assured expectancy and belief that however difficult life is, God has a plan and purpose for us that is good.  It is to hold onto the promises that
God is always for us, not against us and that He can do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine.  It is to understand that nothing is impossible for God, that with Him we can do all things.  It is to be assured that God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness and to know that ultimately nothing, not even death itself, can ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
Listen, I’m aware that we’re all continuing to find this pandemic a challenge physically and emotionally.  I’m aware of some of the other challenges that many of you are facing.  And be assured by the way, that if you share something with me, it will be kept in the strictest confidence.  But there will also be things that I’m unaware of or that you don’t feel you can share.  And there are things that to be honest, I would never really be able to empathise with because I’ve never experienced it personally.  But whatever those things are, however painful or difficult, however much they cause you to despair, or tempt you to walk away from God or to give up on life altogether, let me encourage you that “love hopes all things.” 
That’s what Victor Frankyl discovered.  Against all the odds, the love of his wife and the hope that somehow his suffering had a purpose, enabled Victor Frankyl to survive the Haulocost.  As he had hoped, his experiences enabled him to become one of the greatest psychologists of all time, helping thousands of people to find purpose in their suffering.
You know there is an old Arabian proverb that says, “All sunshine brings a desert”.
It’s a way of reminding us that often the greatest lessons we learn are through our failures or the mistakes we make.
Often the things we see as our greatest weakness are also our greatest strength.  It’s learning to cope with a chronic illness that creates within us the strength of resilience and the empathy to draw alongside other people in ways that no one else can.
Often it’s the thunderstorms in our lives that cause the ripest fruit to grow in our hearts.  
You know, when silver is being purified it must be held in a hot flame until all the impurities are burned away.  If it is held in the flame for even a fraction too long it will be destroyed.  When a silversmith was asked, “how do you know when to remove the silver from the flame”, she replied, “When I can see my reflection.”
So often, it’s the times in life when we feel the burn, that the character of Jesus will be reflected most brightly. 
Love hopes all things.  It believes that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are being conformed into His likeness.  Hope trusts in the long-term game plan of God to make us like Jesus.  It never considers anyone a lost cause.  It motivates us to stop and pick one another up when we fall down however badly.  It accepts that we are all a work in progress especially on those days when it’s hard to see.  It is slow to criticise and quick to encourage.  It has the courage to gently challenge rather than quietly letting someone drift out of the game.  It trusts that God has a plan and a purpose – to purify us into the likeness of his Son.  To transform the entire cosmos one day and restore it to its former glory.  To give us a share in that future new heaven and earth where there will be no more sickness, suffering or death.
God has begun this work in our world and even within us.  He will never walk away from that and will bring what he has started to completion.
So let me ask you as I’ve asked myself this week…
What is it that is causing you sleepless nights?
What is holding you back personally?
Who have you almost given up on?
Let the spirit of God fill you once again with Hope.  Hope to believe that God is still at work, in you, in other people and in this world, even in the things that are tough.
Love always hopes.  Let us pray…
 
Prayers for Others         “Broken Dreams”
Loving God, we pray for those whose dreams have been destroyed, those who no longer have the heart to look forward, who have lost their vision for the future.  So many people, known and unknown – whose happiness and hopes have been dashed by tragedy, whose faith in loved ones has been betrayed, who face poverty, unemployment, homelessness, disease, starvation, even death p whose trust in you has been tested beyond the limit.
God of hope, light a new flame in their hearts.
We pray for all those who plod wearily through life with no sense of purpose – those who feel the future is empty, bereft of promise, and those who live only for today, fearful of tomorrow.
God of hope, light a new flame in their hearts.
Touch their hearts we pray, stir their imagination, rekindle their faith, renew their hope.  And so may new dreams and new visions be born in the most broken of lives.
God of hope, light a new flame in their hearts.
Take a few moments in quiet now to pray for the renewal of your own hope and for the renewal of hope and purpose in people who you know who are struggling at the minute…
God of hope, hear our prayers, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
 
Closing Words
It’s been a joy and privilege to share with you again today.  Thanks again for logging on. 
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s reflection on the nature of Christian love.  Please do spend some time in quiet over the next few days.  Take time to reflect on the truth that love always hopes.  Then ask God the Holy spirit to fill you with real hope that God has a plan and purpose for you that is good.
 
Two weeks ago we recommenced our midweek bible study.  We’ve been enjoying a fantastic time reflecting on the Lord’s Prayer together using the video series called the Prayer Course by Pete Greig.  If you are unable to join us, you can catch it online by searching the Prayer Course online or on our website and clicking on Sessions 1, 2 and 3.  Even if you missed the last few weeks you are still more than welcome to attend this week.  It will be in the church again tomorrow night from 7pm to 8pm.  The premises will have had a deep clean, hands will be sanitised on entry and exit, we will be socially distanced and all participants are asked to wear face coverings.
 
Next Sunday we will be having a special presentation to Emily Kearon to thank her for the amazing commitment she has given to our church over nearly 20 years as the Clerk of Session.  Emily will be retiring from this role while maintaining her responsibilities as an elder.  We will also be officially welcoming Edna Crammond as our new Clerk of Session.  We are so thrilled that Edna has agreed to take up this important position.
 
On Sunday 18th October we will be celebrating Harvest.  At that service we will be hearing brief reports from the two charitable organisations that we have agreed to support this year.  That’s Purple House Cancer Support and the Arklow Lifeboat.  So please do put that in your diary.
At our session meeting a few weeks ago we agreed to the phased opening of a number of our activities.  Sunday School and Youth Fellowship and the Women’s Bible Study hope to start back at some point in October.  The Wednesday Club and Coffee Doc will begin after the Halloween holidays and the Friday club will start in January.   The Sunday School hopes to restart a week or two after the Harvest service.  Further details for the other activities will follow in the days to come.
 
Next Sunday we will be thinking about how love ‘always perseveres’.  In these difficult days that will be an important reminder for us to help us keep positive.
 
With changes to government guidelines we are now able to have two pods of up to 50 providing each pod is separate and socially distancing of 2m is maintained within each pod.  This will enable us to have more than 50 people in total safely accommodated between our church sanctuary and the hall.  So in short, we are now allowed a few more people than 50.  The same rules of socially distancing, hand sanitising, wearing face masks and pre booking apply.  So don’t forget, if you’re coming to church, to send Aleida a text by Friday evening at the latest.
 
Do stay tuned at the end of this recording to listen to a beautiful song reminding us of the wonderful hope we have in Christ. 
 
In the meantime, let me lead you in a Benediction after which I invite you as always, to say the grace together…
                               
Benediction
We thank You, Lord, for re-igniting the flame of hope within us, for filling our hearts with light and evicting the darkness,
and for giving us a new vision of the hope that we have in Christ.
 
So go now, as light-bearers to a world in darkness,
Go now, as hope-carriers to a world in despair;
 
And May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and forevermore, Amen.