Hope

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”   – 1 Peter 1:3

Hope is an interesting idea. Glass half empty people would say that it stirs up emotions that only end up disappointing you. This is called “false hope.” Another way of looking at hope is from the perspective of “guarded hope” – which is to say that we don’t want to get our hopes up only to be disappointed. So we cautiously start to increase hope only when there is enough evidence for it. And of course there are a lot of people who come from the perspective of “hope-less” which means that at some point they hoped in a person or situation only to be disappointed enough to realize that things will not change.

I think all three of these hopes are actually accurate when it comes to placing hope in people and situations. Situations and people often do disappoint us, and hope can be crushed. After all, we live in a sinful and broken world and sometimes human selfishness and pride get in the way. But Peter reminds us that our hope is not in people or circumstances. Our hope is not in what statistics are showing about the flattening of the coronavirus spread. Our hope is not in whether things will open up in time for us to start working again. Our hope is not in what decisions will be made by our leaders. No, our hope is a “living hope” that is placed in the perfect power and love of our Risen Savior Jesus Christ!

We are entering the liturgical season of Easter and it is a time that we declare that Christ is Risen. Sin and death had no hold over Christ but He overcame it all. The promise Christ gives believers is that His resurrection power now lives in us through presence of the Holy Spirit. He not only lives, but He lives in us! Therefore we declare that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Friends, our hope is not in leaders, institutions, or the economy but in Jesus Christ – the Son of the Living God, who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is our living hope who died, was buried, three days later rose again, and now lives and reigns with God and the Holy Spirit in the heavens above and in our hearts!

Pray to your Living Hope. He will not disappoint you. He will not leave you nor forsake you but will provide for all your needs, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Seek the Living Hope and the Peace of Christ will be with you now and forevermore!

Pastor Kim