This is Part-3 out of a three-part series on the Easter celebration this year.
Man: You are Called to Give Hope!
I have a good friend caught in the war in Ukraine. As the fighting rages twenty kilometers from his home, he is working to help the displaced, traumatized, and the beaten down. I, his friend from a vast distance, follow what’s happening and cling to threads of hope peace talks might provide. He reaches out to me and asks simply that I don’t forget him; that I send him notes, pray and listen so he can cling to any thread of hope that “normal” is somewhere out there. More than what the headlines can do, his persevering Christlikeness gives me hope. I trust my persevering Christlikeness gives him hope too.
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:1-5
In Romans 5 Paul links the reconciled peace, standing, and identity we have with our Heavenly Father to hope we can cling to and boast about. This sure hope of God’s glory – his presence and power revealed in our lives and circumstances both now and in the future – allows us to embrace the suffering we are facing with expectation, knowing that rooted in the lasting peace we have with God, our trials are producing persevering endurance, and this produces Christlike character in us so that we look and act like Jesus.
It is this kind of godliness that produces hope. This hope – the sure thing we can cling to because we have peace with God which shows up in our character and how we live in the reality of our relationships and circumstances – is incredibly tangible in the real world. And, this hope is not just for us, it is to be given.
Hope, you see, is rooted in that reconciled relationship you have with your Heavenly Father. Because God has brought you home not based on keeping the rules but because of his own character, you have peace. You are his and he is yours. You are home. This is more than a thread of hope: it is a table, a title, and an inheritance of hope!
Man, you are called to give hope by being hope!
When the world is despairing and teetering into chaos, you who know peace with God not only give hope; you are hope. Your life, and the persevering life of the church fellowship you are part of, is to be a factory of hope. Hope will come to this fractured world as it is seen and felt because of the peace with God that has grounded you and the character the suffering of life has produced in you. This means, of course, that you need to stop running from the suffering and trials that disrupt and attack you like an invading army. Nestled at peace with God, you need to glory in every character-forming opportunity and give hope by becoming hope. Peace with God is the state of the Christian. The hope of God is the mark of citizenship. And this steady, sure, unwavering hope is what the world craves right now and needs to see in the flesh and blood of those named Christian.
Man, you are called to give hope by being hope!
Peace & Reconciliation Network – Phil Wagler, North American Network Coordinator
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