Scripture:

Romans 5:1-5

 

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

 

Reflection:

We have probably all heard the expression ‘nobody lives without hope’. But the truth more accurately is that nobody attains eternal life and glory without hope. Perhaps this is why above the entrance to hell in his 14th-century epic poem, Divine Comedy, Italian writer Dante Alighieri chose to place the inscription “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” The good news being that nobody goes to hell for as long as they have hope.

 

Although we may occasionally go through hell, hope is what let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

 

Those who believe are justified and have peace with God through our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is through the amazing grace of Christ’s teachings that we who were once known as heathens, Gentiles, pagans, foreigners and sinners have learned of God’s all encompassing love and attain faith.

 

Faith

 

Faith, according to Hebrews 11, “is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

 

It is because we believe in what we cannot see, nor understand─ over all of the powerful influences of earth, that we stand in the hope of the glory of God. This is what the “patriarchs (& matriarchs) of old” were commended for.

 

It was by faith that when warned about things not yet seen, Noah built an ark to save his family. It was by faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. It was by faith that Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children.

 

It was by faith that Moses’ parents were unafraid of the king’s edict and hid him for three months after he was born. It was by faith, when grown, that Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. It was by faith that he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. (Hebrews 11:26 & 27)

 

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrew 11:6)

 

Moses persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.

 

Perseverance

 

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

(Isaiah 40:29-31)

 

Hope gives us the patience, the willingness and the endurance to try over and over and over again especially when we have not at first succeeded.

 

Our own personal hope is what empowers each of us individually to persevere over life’s adversities, challenges and setbacks.

 

Hope is the faith to carry on even during the most difficult suffering…

 

Suffering

 

Hope gives us the courage to apply what we have learned from past experience and mistakes to new or similar situations. So that we may then rejoice in our suffering, not necessarily that we take joy in the suffering itself, but rather that we look forward to these trials and tribulations in hope and anticipation of overcoming them.

 

We rejoice in the hope of the glory that is to come.

 

Only God and the angels know what we each have suffered.

 

Rejoice in what suffering can accomplish in our lives.

 

This notion is of particular significance to me following my lament last week over how poorly I have understood my mother’s disease until it began to manifest itself physically. Even though I know how much suffering her return home from the hospital will bring, my hope is that I will overcome over my past shortcomings and become the compassionate caregiver I desire to be.

 

Opportunity

 

When you hold out hope there is room for second chances and the possibility thereof. Hope is the belief that opportunities will come to right a wrong. There will be chances for us to use the lessons we’ve learned and opportunities to pass these lessons along to others. Such as this blog post.

 

I am joyfully looking forward to this opportunity to persevere in caregiving with more compassion.

 

Hope is like a light shining in a dark place. It is faith that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. “The quality of our character is tested in trials, and when we have endured, our character is no longer hypothetical; it is proven.” (Source: gotquestions.org)

 

Character

 

There is a wall hanging in my home that states, “Reputation is what man and woman think of us… Character is what God and angels know of us”. Only God and the angels can truly ever know all that each of us has suffered and overcome.

 

Character to endure suffering demonstrates hope. And hope does not disappoint because God’s love is being poured into our hearts through all of it.

 

Someone says: ‘The only thing that walks back from the tomb with the mourners and refuses to be buried, is the character.” This is true. What a man is, survives him. It can never be buried. – J.R. Miller, The Building of Character

 

Let us recall the hope we have in Christ.

 

Let us rejoice in the access to salvation Jesus provides for us through universal faith… not through blood, nor through ancestral heritage, nor through race, gender, sexual preferences, politics, genetics or DNA. But the teachings of Christ saves us through faith in the unseen; through the hope that is in our hearts.

 

We do not need be direct descendants of  a king in order to capitalize on this grace in which we now stand: the hope of salvation.

 

It is because of this that we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ each year. This is why we reflect on hope each advent season. And while the first week of advent technically started last week, today I am sharing the hope of Jesus Christ with you.

 

It is because God saw the good in us first, because God loved us first and because God placed His hope in us first, that He sent His only begotten son to redeem us. It is through Christ Jesus that we are justified and through Christ Jesus that we are at peace.

 

Hope always aligns with faith.

 

And so my friends, may the hope that is in hearts let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

 

For His is the power, the hope and the glory forever.

 

Amen.