Hope
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:1-5
STORY
Luther Haden Taylor was born on February 21, 1875, in Oskaloosa, Kansas. Taylor is a legend in baseball having played with the New York Giants, before the franchised moved to San Francisco. He played with the team for nine years, from 1900 to 1908, while the team was still at the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan. He helped the Giants win their first World Series of the modern baseball era in 1905. For his career Taylor was 115-103, with a 2.77 earned run average. Taylor was devastating on the mound because of his unorthodox corkscrew delivery. His best pitch was a destructive drop ball.
Luther Haden Taylor was known by his teammates and the public as Dummy Taylor, because he was deaf mute. Taylor could not hear and he could not speak. In the early 1900s deaf mute individuals were routinely called dumb, and this great baseball player was no exception.
Growing up Taylor attended the Kansas School for the Deaf where he was an outstanding athlete and the class valedictorian. When Taylor ended his playing career, he was an umpire. When that chapter of his life was closed, he returned to the Kansas School for the Deaf were he coached the baseball team. Taylor contributes his long life of 82 years to his physical fitness regime, which centered on boxing as exercise.
The Giant’s players learned to sign so they could converse with Taylor. For a very short time Taylor played for Cleveland, but since the players refused to learn how to sign, he returned to the Giants. When Taylor was scheduled to pitch the stands were full of fans that like him could not hear or speak. Those fans became known as Taylor’s “silent fraternity.”
It should be known that Taylor was the only deaf-mute payer to be ever thrown out of a game by an umpire. Unimpressed with an umpire’s calls, Taylor walked over to the official, stuck out his chin, and mouthed words that could not be misinterpreted.
What is important about Taylor’s life is how he overcame a handicap. He is credited with perfecting signing between the pitcher and the catcher, so the man behind the plate could communicate with the man on the mound. As we see catchers signing to pitchers today, it goes back to 1900 and Dummy Taylor. But Taylor was not dumb. When he was confronted by an obstacle he creatively persevered and overcame it.
DEVOTION
That is the lesson from our reading in Romans this morning. It is about overcoming hardships, difficulties, and obstacles. It is about overcoming worries, pain, and suffering. It is about overcoming disappointments, disillusionments, and disenchantments.
The solution that Paul offers us is one that we have heard so often. Paul wrote, “We know that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.” Though, as the old saying goes, “easier said than done.”
Perhaps it is easier to recite Paul’s words than it is to live them. Though, living them will become easier if we understand Paul’s intentions when he penned these phrases. Perhaps we also confuse what Paul wrote as being rather glib. What Paul discusses is obtainable if we understand the meaning behind the phrases. Perhaps we also dismiss what Paul wrote as being naïve. Though, what Paul wrote is very practical for those who have faith. Perhaps we think that Paul’s solution is only for the super religious; instead, we must confess that what Paul wrote can sustain the most disheartened.
We begin with suffering. We are all so familiar with suffering that I probably do not even have to discuss that point in this devotional. It would be good for us to know that Paul was familiar with suffering. Paul’s daily encounter with suffering gives credence to his solution. In Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth he offered a summary of the sufferings he endured in life. This rendition of hardships is related to Paul being a missionary. Though, is the suffering of a missionary any different from that of a housewife, or a business person, or a student, or someone who is ill, or someone who has family problems? Suffering is suffering no matter how the dark cloud covers us.
Paul outlined his agonies with these words: “I have worked in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, and once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”
Somewhere in that list you and I will find ourselves. Prison – perhaps we are imprisoned by our sins. Flogged – perhaps the gossip of another person has cut us. Beaten – perhaps we have been bruised by criticism. Shipwrecked – perhaps despair has left us floundering. Bandits – perhaps illness has robbed us of the joy of life. False believers – perhaps we are disquieted by a secular society. Hungry – perhaps the lack of money is a serious issue. Somewhere in that list, probably in several places in that list, you and I will find ourselves.
On Tuesday, July 31, 2012, at 1:05 p.m., the northern electrical grid in India collapsed. This happened when the country was trying to develop itself into the would-be Asian power source. Shortly after that two more grids collapsed and 620 million people were in a blackout. The blackout covered 20 of India’s 28 sates, stretching from the border with Myanmar in the northeast to the Pakistan border about 1,800 miles away. To that date, it was the largest blackout in the history of the world.
Could it be that our sufferings and hardships make it seem like we are living in the largest blackout in the history of the world. And let us be honest, if it is my problem, it is the biggest problem in the world. We can always find someone who is seemingly worse off, but that does not diminish the size of my suffering. It is real, because it is me.