Tag: hope

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It has been granted to you to suffer for his name

a frightened man sitting alone on a chair

The Bible is full of stories of failure and promises of suffering. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul talks about advancing the gospel. He says that “what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ” (Philippians 1:12-13). He goes on to say that to live is Christ and to die is gain. Paul then encourages them by saying, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have” (vs. 29-30).

Simon Sinek, a famous organizational consultant, says that successful people have failed multiple times, often to the point of “hitting zero” or falling close to it. He argues that failure is not an endpoint but a crucial part of the journey, providing the most important lessons and driving the innovation that leads to success. The key is not to avoid failure, but to learn from it by getting back up and trying again.  The Bible agrees. Paul says we “rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4).

Over and over again the Bible promises suffering. James says to consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds, because the testing of our faith produces perseverance. When we face trials, failures are bound to happen. Moses murdered someone. Peter denied Christ. David was an adulterer. Paul persecuted Christians to the point of death. It was those failures and their suffering that led to endurance, perseverance, character, and hope. Failure is not the endpoint but a crucial part of the journey.

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Joy and peace in hope

person standing on hand rails with arms wide open facing the mountains and clouds

As we near Easter Sunday, where we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, it’s important to focus on the week leading up to his death. We know the story of the triumphal entry, a story that is recorded in all four gospel accounts. Jesus was fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 when he rode into Jerusalem on a the colt of a donkey. As he entered Jerusalem, according to Luke, he wept over Jerusalem: “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42). Just prior to this even, according to John, Jesus wept when he saw that his friend Lazarus was dead. Ironically, some of his disciples said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” (John 11:37).

We also know that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. It turns out that Jesus, in fact, not only had the power to raise people from the dead but he also was going to be raised just a few days later! This represents a time when weeping would turn into joy and celebration. The resurrection gives us hope. We are told that we are raised with Christ in our baptism and that the faithful will be raised from the dead at the judgment. This is why Christians have hope.

Paul affirmed this in his letter to the Romans when he said, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Our joy and peace is rooted in the hope of the resurrection! We do not fear man, because God overcame the world and conquered death!

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Bringing comfort to the hopeless

heart shaped latte art on cappuccino in sabinov

Isaiah prophesied about John the Baptist coming to prepare the way for the Lord. In its context, Isaiah was talking about bringing comfort to a tattered Jerusalem: “Comfort, comfort for my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1-2 ESV).

Clearly God is not pardoning sin just for the fun of it. As he prepared the way for Jesus, John’s message was one of repentance. Repentance is a central theme of the Bible, especially during Jesus’ reign on Earth. Israel had paid a dear price for their sins. They were exiled twice. Many people had fallen because of their sin. Many battles were waged against them in their own land. The Temple had been destroyed and rebuilt. War after war claimed the lives of many Israelites. Jesus came to bring hope and salvation.

There is a time for comfort, and that is exaclty what Isaiah preached. When people’s lives have been wrecked by sin, they have an opportunity to repent and to be comforted. As Christians, we have a duty to preach repentance and to comfort people who have lost much because of sin. Sin destroys. It wrecks families. It destroys life. The wages of sin is death. We know this. So we have a duty to work overtime to offer the Good News to a dying world, to offer hope. We live in a time when the harvest is ripe. We need workers to love our neighbors enough to warn them and comfort them.

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God Is Not Unjust

close up photo of wooden gavel

Sometimes Christians struggle to believe that God is just. This is, in large part, because we see injustices being done to innocent people all the time. In fact, this was Habakkuk’s complaint to God–that innocent, God-fearing people were suffering in poverty and oppression while the oppressors lived high on the hog. It’s very easy to get discouraged when we see this pattern repeated over and over again.

But Hebrews 6 tells us that it’s impossible for people who have once been enlightened and tasted the goodness of the word of God to come to repentance. The message is clear: “But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned” (Hebrews 6:8 ESV). At this point the Christians might be questioning where God’s justice is in all of this.

There is tremendous hope for saints who serve other saints: “Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things–things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do” (vs. 9, 10). Not only does God care for the saints who serve others, but they “have full assurance of hope until the end” (vs. 11). The people who are patient and serve others will see God’s justice and receive full assurance of hope until the end!

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Character Produces Hope

Hope

With the pandemic still at large, many people continue to suffer as a result. The economy has hit people hard, illness and death have taken so much, violence is a reality for others, and on the list goes. In the process, many churches are struggling to find their identity and still others are struggling to pay their preachers and keep the lights on. My best guess is that a lot of missionaries have had their budgets slashed, or have seen financial support be completely cut.

In the middle of all this, there’s a surprising lack of one word among Christians. . . hope. Hope and Change was the campaign slogan for President Obama that allowed him to win the election, twice. People long for hope and meaningful change. Hope is what drives people into the next day and pulls many out of desperation. Hope allows us to see the good that lies ahead. It gives us a reason to make it another day, while cherishing the time we have on this earth. Romans 5:3-5 says, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering 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 who has been given to us.”

Hope promises something new and better. Imagine if, instead of churches splitting right now, they focused on rejoicing in their sufferings. What if people were building character–character the produces hope. People deserve a message of hope. They need to know that there is hope in Christ. If we modeled hope for others in the midst of suffering, the light of Christ would shine much brighter.

Photo by Rosie Kerr on Unsplash

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Rejoice That Your Names Are Written In Heaven

Names

We don’t know much about the seventy-two people who Jesus sent out to preach. What we do know is that he sent them two-by-two, that they were to go ahead of Jesus into all the towns he would be visiting, and that he told them to heal the sick in those towns and proclaim that the kingdom is near. We really have no idea who these people were, what their backgrounds were, or what professions they had. Jesus did tell them not to take anything with them except what was already in their possession.

When the seventy-two returned, they were astounded at what all God was accomplishing through them. “Lord!,” they exclaimed. “Even the demons are subject to us in your name!” (Luke 10:17 ESV). Jesus told them that he saw Satan fall like lightning from the sky, and that he gave the disciples authority over all the power of the enemy. It was an incredible responsibility that they were given. But Jesus didn’t want them to rejoice in this.

“Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Jesus’ warning here was to not get intoxicated with the power they had. Sure, he gave them authority over the power of the enemy. But that didn’t make them invincible. Authority can be infatuating. It can lead to pride and arrogance. It can blind people to compassion. Jesus would rather them remain humble and rejoice that their names are written in heaven. This is a good reminder that our message needs to be seasoned with hope, grace, and must point people to salvation.

Photo by Ged Lawson on Unsplash

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Our Heavenly Dwelling

Heaven

Last week we talked about our heavenly inheritance and how we need to be working. We get back what we put in. We cannot expect a free ride through life. But what will that heavenly inheritance look like? People who are not believers may poke fun and tell us that we believe in a mythical place that doesn’t exist. Or we believe in a mythical God who we can’t see. So how do we respond to that?

The reality is that none of us know what Heaven looks like. We don’t have a clue. And we should be OK with that answer. Paul says that we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Does this mean that we blindly believe that something better is waiting for us when we die? Not at all! Faith is not blind. We know that Heaven is real. God tells us that. We know that there are breathtaking places here on the earth–exotic landscapes that exude pristine beauty. Others who have been there can describe it, show pictures, etc., but it will not fully engage all of our senses until we have physically gone there. Those places here on earth are no less real just because we have not physically been there. They indeed exist. And they are incredible parts of God’s creation.

If we know this to be true on the earth, it is equally true for Heaven. Paul says, “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. . . . He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee” (2 Cor. 5:1, 5 ESV). God has been preparing our heavenly home since the beginning. We can only imagine what heaven will be like. But we have the Spirit as a guarantee. We know Heaven to be real and incredible and peaceful. “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.”

Photo by Christian Nielsen on Unsplash

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