The Hope

This has been an amazing week for me.  Calvary has been blessed to have a mission team from Circle Drive Baptist Church in Colorado Springs here this week working on our Mission House.  I've been able to spend time working alongside them as they have painted, installed flooring, inserted doors and move windows.  They have been such a blessing and as one of them mentioned last night at Calvary's weekly prayer service, we have all "Enjoyed the blessing of fellowship in Jesus".

Earlier this week, I was thinking about the fellowship of Believers and the unity found in Christ.  I was thinking these thoughts at an awkward time, during a recap of the Presidential Debate that took place on Tuesday evening.  The timing was odd because of the dramatic disunity that seems to accompany political discussion.  As I watched both candidates parry back and forth, searching for weakness and looking for opportunities to skewer their opponent with anything destructive or disarming, I began to think about hope.  Hope is the most necessary of ideas; it's existence can rally followers, breakdown barriers, and unite human beings in unimaginably powerful ways.  The lack of hope can likewise prove to be as potent; it's negative effects often reducing the will to persist through the journey, causing self-focused, self-destructive behaviors, and reducing individuals to a lesser humanity.  Hope is not found in ideology but rather in the reassurance of passionate existence, purposeful intentionality with a focus on not only self but on the needs of others as well. 

In the Book of 2 Corinthians, Paul spends some time addressing the church in Corinth .  After commending this body of Believers for their example of ministry, Paul goes on to help them realize how they can continue to live as examples of life and light to those around them.  As he explains, because of Christ they are distanced from existing in the legalistic, dependent on good works for their salvation.  In Chapter 3:12-18 Paul says,

 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.  We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away.  But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.  But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 

The hope that salvation and transformation are found in Christ alone is foundational to Paul; that salvation is far deeper and richer than merely being a good person to be saved drives the message.  Because of Christ, we have true hope; a hope that never fails because its structure is built on the  solidity of God alone.  This hope causes Believers to embrace what is real, what is purposeful, what provides longevity and perseverance through difficulties, and what will allow Christ Followers to live with freedom and unbridled access to the God of all creation.  Hope changed everything.

 

In this political season, I want you to have hope.  Regardless of where you fall on our current political spectrum, I want you to understand that hope in Christ is bigger than politics...He's bigger than our fears and apprehensions.  He's big enough, powerful enough, insightful enough, and loving enough to allow us to live in freedom no matter who sits in an office of leadership and influence. We all need to grasp deeply and fully the amazing hope that we have in the God who provides people access to Himself.  Whoever wins the upcoming elections will never adequately provide the lasting hope that everyone craves...this type of hope is found in Jesus alone.  May we all remember this and allow it to inspire us to live better, hope bigger, and love more.