Our devotionals last week led us to consider truth, and the virtue and practice of truth-seeking and truthfulness. For centuries, these virtues have been central to Christians. The trouble is, sometimes an awareness of truth, and the reality that truth makes harshly clear, bring us to despair. Truth can be troubling. We understand what God’s truth requires of humanity. We understand what kind of humanity we are. The difference is enough to overwhelm us.
How about an example? As Christians, we understand that Jesus prayed for us to be one as he and the Father are one (John 17:11, 21, 22). Paul tells us that “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4). Yet it does not take a very sophisticated analysis to reveal the truth that the church is far from united, no matter how you define church. Those of us who have worked toward even uniting a relatively small group of people can tell you that the challenges involved with this task very quickly bring one into an encounter with the temptation to despair. Those who don’t have the heart for despair tend to become cynics.
Why do I say that considering despair is a temptation? Because despair is denial. It doubts the victory of Jesus. It questions the love of God. It ignores our status as favored children. Christians are to continue faithfully, even when “we are afflicted in every way.” We might be perplexed, but we ought not be crushed. We are “not driven to despair” (2 Corinthians 4:8). Despair is a sin. Despair practiced is a vice. Despair is depression gone to seed and raised to the second and third generation. Despair is not a godly practice for any Christian.
Instead, Christians ought to practice hope. Practicing hope leads to hope. After all, we have been called to “one hope” (Ephesians 4:4). Hope is more than some pleasant dream, some fond wish, or even a hard-worked for desire. In the Bible, and in our faith, hope is the reasonable, even unshakable belief that God will do what he said he will do. God is not ignorant of truth. God is Truth. God knows the reality of his hope and the realities of humanity better than humanity knows itself. Yet this God of Truth acts toward making our hope reality. To deny hope and take up despair or cynicism is to slap the God of Hope in the face.
If any Christian was ever tempted to cynicism or despair, it would have to have been Paul. Yet hear the good news about hope that pours from his pen:
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 sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:1-5
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Romans 8:18-25
As we explore the practice and virtue of hope this week, may we see that it is not blindness to reality, simple optimism, or a delaying tactic. Instead, let us practice hope and see that it is the key that opens up a new godly reality in our world today. Today.
May God stir in us a powerful hope,
Ron
All scriptures are NRSV.
