Sermon Snippet – Simply Hope
INTRODUCTION – We all need hope, a Biblical hope. We agree with David: “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:13-14). It is far too easy to give up hope (the meaning of “had fainted”). A particular area of concern for us is the salvation of people whom we are close to and love dearly. Can we have hope for those who evidence no interest in the Savior? The life story of Manasseh, a king of Judah in the 600’s B.C., is illuminating and instructive.
1. HOPE SEEMS TO BE ABSENT IN THE REIGN OF MANASSEH
I Kings 21:1-18 details the sad and sordid reign of Manasseh. There are no highlights here. Idolatry throughout the land (including even in the Temple – verse 7), witchcraft (verse 6), rejection of his godly father’s ways (verse 3), base encouragement of all that is rebellious in mankind (verse 9) – Manasseh failed utterly at every point. He went even lower by engaging in child sacrifice (verse 6a). The few godly people remaining in the land must have thought that Manasseh was hopeless and, indeed, that the entire nation was hopeless. In fact, God pronounced judgment upon the land because of Manasseh’s aggressively evil leadership. Manasseh was Judah’s worst king both in the extent of his sinful actions and in the length of these acts – fifty-five years! Why was the worst king permitted to rule the longest? Hope seems to be absent in the account of Manasseh (and there seems to be no hope in his wicked son Amon, either – verses 19-22). Many people both would have been born and would have died during this time, never experiencing a righteous ruler, not even a decent leader. What was God doing? Is hope a polite fiction of faith, something that we lean on in order to avoid collapsing under the crushing despair of hopelessness?
2. HOPE SURFACES AT THE VERY END OF THE REIGN OF MANASSEH
The account in II Chronicles 33:10-20 provides the rest of the story. It does not begin in promising fashion; Judah is defeated, and King Manasseh is taken into captivity (verses 10-11). However, Manasseh humbles himself, repents, and prays (verses 12-13). He demonstrates that this repentance is genuine by his actions (especially verses 15-16). Roughly fifty years of horrid sin is followed by five years of sincere humility: only the divine mathematics of God’s grace can make five to be greater than fifty. Only God can take a moment of repentance and turn it into eternal forgiveness and everlasting life. We will meet Manasseh one day in heaven.
CONCLUSION – It is hard to imagine a more hopeless person than Manasseh, yet God continued to draw this vile, evil man away from sin to salvation. Let us not give up hope for the ones who so obviously and desperately need the Savior, Jesus Christ. Let us persist in prayer; let us continue to live distinctly as witnesses; let us do all with hope.