Rev. David Holwick S
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
June 21, 2015
Numbers 13:26-33; 14:6-9
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I. An insightful saying or a running joke.
A. Motivational speakers love the theme.
1) Chris Widener reduces it to pithy sayings:
Optimism breathes life into you each day
Pessimism drains you
Optimism improves those around you
Pessimism drags them down
Optimism inspires people to great heights
Pessimism deflates people to new lows #22200
2) Each of us knows which of those two categories we are
supposed to be in.
B. It can get a little heavy at times.
1) Adam Christing is not a motivational speaker but he was
forced to go to a positive-thinking seminar once.
He couldn't stand it.
He went out into the parking lot and let half the air
out of everyone's tires.
As they came out to their cars he said, "So... are your
tires half full or half empty?"
#22326
2) It has to be more than just choosing an attitude.
3) We have to figure out the realities of life, and how best
to deal with them.
C. The Bible deals with this issue in many passages.
1) It challenges us not so much to put a plus spin on
everything, as to look at a situation as God does.
2) How do you assess what happens in your life?
a) Is it working for you?
b) Should you change your perspective?
II. The Bible's conference call.
A. Israel stands on the threshold of the Promised Land.
1) They have escaped Egypt and marched through the Sinai desert.
a) There has been a lot of grumbling and bickering, but
the end is in sight.
2) Near the border of the Promised Land they send out 12 spies.
a) It is a reconnaissance mission. 13:18-20
1> Check out the topography. 13:18
2> Check out the population. 13:18
3> Check out their defenses. 13:19
4> Check out the soil fertility. 13:20
b) They return with a visual - a cluster of grapes
that requires two men to carry it. 13:23
1> It is a great symbol of the richness of the
Promised Land.
2> The Israeli tourist bureau uses it to this day.
B. Two reports are given. #4123
1) Both agree that the land is rich and flowing with the
proverbial milk and honey.
2) Their difference was on their assessment of the people.
a) The majority report said the land was filled with men.
1> Then it calls them really big men.
2> Finally it calls them giants who would squoosh
the Jews like grasshoppers. 13:33
3> Their conclusion - we can't do it. 13:31
We would be better off in Egypt. 14:3
b) The minority report differs in just one aspect.
1> These two guys think it is do-able. 13:30
2> It is not because the Jews are bigger than the
Nephilim (13:33) but because their God is
big enough. 14:8
"If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us
into that land, a land flowing with milk and
honey, and will give it to us." 14:8
III. Pessmism makes a lot of sense.
A. The world does have a lot wrong with it.
1) Undeserved suffering can come to anyone.
2) People are messed up sinners.
3) YOU are a messed up sinner.
B. There are no guarantees that a positive attitude will change it.
1) Cancer study.
Australian researchers followed 179 cancer patients for
over five years.
They wanted to find out if the attitude of patients made
a difference in their survival rate.
To their surprise, it did not.
Optimistic patients did not live any longer.
Their quality of life may have been a little better, but
that was it.
#26822
2) Ancient philosophers thought that positive thinking gave
you unrealistic expectations that hindered making
rational choices for your life.
a) They saw hope as a passion, not a virtue. #3667
C. For Christians, there is no guarantee God will intervene.
1) Believers still die of disease, disaster and martyrdom.
a) They always have, and always will.
2) Were Caleb and Joshua being unrealistic?
a) Maybe they were like the optimist who fell off a
40-story building.
As he passed the 13th floor he was heard to say,
"So far so good!"
#8016
b) Wishing something to be true, doesn't make it so.
IV. Reasons for optimism.
A. There is much good out there.
1) There is still much good in the world.
a) God sends good things even to those who don't deserve it.
1> Jesus noted that even sinners get the sun and rain.
b) There is so much good that we tend to take it for
granted.
1> Disaster gets our attention.
2> That is why the "One Great Hour of Sharing" offering
does much better when there is a huge earthquake
or tsunami.
3> Good times are boring and forgettable.
2) There is much good in people.
a) Charities abound around the world.
b) Multitudes of refugees are having basic needs met
in war-torn regions.
c) People in Roxbury reach out to their neighbors all the
time.
3) There is much good in you.
a) You are a sinner, but you often make good choices.
b) The world is a better place because you are in it
(I hope).
c) And God can make you even better than you are right now.
B. Positive attitudes can make a difference.
1) You don't run into many happy pessimists.
2) Optimistic people have accomplished great things.
a) But is it because of their attitude, or just plain
good luck?
b) Richard Neuhouse says that optimism is simply a matter
of optics - you see what you want to see and opt not
to see what you don't want to see.
#63640
V. In the end we must depend on Providence.
A. Optimism and pessimism come from within us.
1) They are generated by the human mind based on our assessment
of reality.
2) But does any of us really know what is real?
3) Do we have any idea what the future holds?
a) We may have wishes and hunches, but not knowledge.
B. Providence is what Caleb and Joshua trusted in.
1) It is not a city in Rhode Island.
2) It is the belief that God will see us through.
a) God is good, and God is powerful.
b) We cannot always understand his ways, but we can
trust him.
c) Positive events can encourage us, and negative events
can teach us.
1> God can use anything to mold us.
C. Because God is in charge, Christians can have hope.
1) We accept the tragedies of life but still trust that
God can work it out for good. #3941
Vaclav Havel, the Czech poet/President, spoke these words
from his years of suffering oppression and persecution:
"I am not an optimist, because I am not sure that everything
ends well.
Nor am I a pessimist, because I am not sure everything
ends badly.
I just carry hope in my heart....
"Life without hope is an empty, boring and useless life.
I cannot imagine that I could strive for something if I
did not carry hope in me.
I am thankful to God for this gift.
It is as big a gift as life itself."
#26538
2) Our hope is not in ourselves, or in a vague promise
of progress, but in a loving God.
3) God stands above reality.
a) He can help us.
b) He can save us.
D. Are you trusting God for your future?
1) Accepting Jesus as your savior...
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 3667 “Why Hope Is a Virtue,” David Neff, Online Christianity Today
(America Online), April 3, 1995.
# 3941 “Name It and Claim It,” Lewis Smedes, Online Christianity Today
Books & Culture (America Online), May 1, 1996, page 23.
# 4123 “Learning To Love Israel's God,” William H. Willimon, Christianity
Today magazine, October 28, 1996, page 18.
# 8016 “The Falling Optimist,” Fredericksburg Bible Illustrator
Supplements, 5/1991.101.
#22200 “Are You An Optimist Or a Pessimist?” Chris Widener, Internet:
Messages From the Masters, editor Jim Rohn; February 12, 2002.
#22326 “Half Full Or Half Empty?” Adam Christing, Dynamic Preaching,
October 9, 2002.
#26538 “Havel On Life Without Hope,” Rev. Brett Blair's Illustrations by
Email, www.sermonillustrations.com, January 25, 2004. Original
source is Reader’s Digest, February 1991.
#26822 “Optimism Provides No Help Against Cancer,” Daniel Yee, America
Online, Associated Press, February 9, 2004.
#63640 “Rescuing Hope: Re-Redefining A Virtue,” John Stonestreet,
BreakPoint Commentary, June 21, 2012.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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