HERALDS OF HOPE

 

Preachers are to be heralds of hope.  A herald in John’s day was a messenger of the king who went ahead of his lord’s arrival to prepare for his coming. That is what preachers are and what we do. Our announcement is that, “The King is coming!”  We are to prepare the people. Their destiny is glorious. No matter their struggle now, despite the situation today, the promise is that some golden daybreak Jesus will come. John beheld this incomparable glory in Revelation 21.

We must preach THE HOPE OF OUR DELIVERANCE, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.”  (Rev.21:1). John was isolated on a prison island. Surrounded by stormy seas, those waters shut him away from his church family. To think of that barrier removed was cause for rejoicing!  Captive to our challenging circumstances can get old. Yet, God will make all things new!

We must proclaim THE HOPE OF OUR DWELLING, “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” (Rev.21:2-3).  We must continually remind our congregation not to settle down in this world. If people are comfortable with their status, we are to remind them that it is passing away. God has infinitely better prepared. On the other hand, if people seem captive to their situation in the world, we are to reinforce that relief is coming.  We are not home yet!

We must herald THE HOPE OF OUR DELIGHT,  “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev.‭21‬:‭‭4). All that brings sorrow and suffering here is caused by sin.  The delight of a world of absolute holiness and its happiness awaits God’s people!  Let us be faithful as God’s preachers to remind our members to live for eternity!

DON’T LOOK BACK

But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”  (Luke 9:62)

In ministry, it is tempting at times to look back, but Jesus warned us about it.  He used the example of a man plowing a field.  The farmer must keep his eyes fixed on the ground before him, if his furrow is to be straight. To look back is to go astray and maybe worse—to run into a rock, tree or fence post!

We must not be LIMITED by our past.  We all have a past—some of it is good, some of it is bad.  There are decisions we ought not to have made—and we may still be living with the consequences.  Life has no rewind button.  Regret will only hinder us from getting where we need to go.  “Don’t cry over spilt milk!” is the old saying. On second thought, maybe you do cry with remorse, confess in repentance, but then claim forgiveness and move on.  Failure need not be final.  The pages of the Bible are filled with men of faith who messed up, but moved ahead.  I know as a pastor I have made sinful decisions and others that were just stupid decisions.  We must not cave in to the paralysis of analysis.  Learn from it, but do not be limited by it.  The past needs to stay in the past.

We cannot LIVE in the past.  This is the polar opposite of limiting ourselves by past failures—it is relying on previous successes.  This happens when we do not succumb to regret, but nostalgia.  It is, “The good old days” syndrome.  We idolize the way it used to be—which is seldom as good as we imagined anyway—and this hinders us from embracing the opportunity of the present time.

Paul had this wonderful resolve,

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  ‎Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 3:12-14)

If we are not alert, we can rest on the results of effective ministry, and in the present shift into neutral.  Ministry effectiveness slows and eventually stops when we do.  “The victory of yesterday becomes the sin of today if it keeps us from the challenge of tomorrow.” ((R.B. Oullette).  Let’s grab the plow handles firmly, look straight ahead, and go!  Don’t look back!