Healing Rays of Righteousness

Romans 5:1-5

“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.”

In both church and non-church conversations I hear a lot of despair and hopelessness.  The daily news is bad and the future looks increasingly violent and dangerous.  For many there seems to be very little hope for any possibility of good changes happening.  To speak of “hope” seems to these people to be just a lot of wishful thinking.

However, I am convinced that hope is a critical necessity for living, and that we cannot survive without it.  Take away hope and we will soon weaken and die spiritually, emotionally, and physically, and most likely in that order.  I believe hope is that divine gift which energizes us and enables us to envision possibility, “a way through” that shapes our responses in any and every difficult, threatening circumstance or situation.

I must remind you that there are different levels or meanings to our contemporary use of this word “hope.”  The “hope” that we hear being expressed by the biblical writers is something different than wishful thinking as in “I hope it doesn’t rain on our picnic.”  This is the most popular use of the word “hope.”

It is also different than reasonable expectation as when the doctor says to the family “We have every reason to hope for full recovery” after his medical/surgical treatment to the patient. The doctor’s past experience with similar cases makes it possible for him/her to offer hope of recovery.

The “hope” we hear expressed by the biblical writers is a dynamic word of confident assurance.  It is the confident assurance of a promised future of personally sharing in the glory of God.  That is, we will share/participate in God’s triumph over sin and death.  This is the strong, sure hope that God has given us in Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Furthermore, this hope is rooted in the confident assurance that there is purposeful movement in human history towards a future filled with meaning.  We believe that our God is the God of Hope – the God who said; “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

The writer of the book of Hebrews says that “hope” is closely related to our “faith” in chapter 11, verse 1 – “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

As Christian believers we claim this “hope and future” as belonging to us, with the confident assurance that regardless of what is happening around us or to us, we can rejoice – not because of our present troubles, but because of being sure of our future glory.

Even though we do admit that In the midst of difficult experiences, hope may seem very distant and dim, we are reminded by the biblical writers that this is where hope has its beginning and growth.  Story after story throughout the Bible affirms the truth that the Christian’s confident assurance (hope) is rooted in and springs up from the soil of suffering and loss.

The reality is that without suffering and/or loss, we would have no need or reason to hope for something better.  We also know that our pain and suffering is transformed when we choose to invest it with some meaningful purpose and value.  And according to Apostle Paul, our “suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” thus having eternal value in making us better children of God.

He also tells us that this hope is fully reliable because it rests on and is dependent on God alone. This hope will never disappoint us because of God’s Holy Spirit within us certifies it.  “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

The Holy Spirit does not guarantee that we shall never make mistakes or experience suffering in life.  But instead, the Holy Spirit uses the difficulties and hardships we experience to shape and transform us into new and better persons.

As children of God’s family, we have been given God’s gift of hope – an unmerited, unique opportunity to share in God’s triumphant glory and eternal life.  What an amazing gift of love!  What a reason to rejoice!

Paul concludes his theological letter to the Romans with this benediction in 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – September 26, 2018