Pause for thought: 'Hope does not disappoint..'
I was in conversation with a friend a few days ago and we were talking about the anniversary of the war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and even the state of Welsh rugby (please note this was written before the Wales v England game!) Ever the optimist, I was saying how hopefully things could be very different this time next year, at which point my friend said to me ‘ah, but it’s the hope that kills you in the end’.
Now, as a follower of Cardiff City football over many years I do understand what he means (!), but actually for the Christian the opposite is true. Hope never disappoints us.
In Romans 5: 5 it says:
“Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us”
(NKJV)
Hope has been defined many different people in many different ways, but one of my favourites is by the Irish-American author and playwright Jean Kerr. She put it like this:
“Hope is the feeling that the feeling you have isn't permanent”
There’s a story of a man sentenced to death. He obtained a reprieve by assuring the king he would teach his majesty's horse to fly within a year. The condition was that if the man didn't succeed he would accept his sentence and be put to death at the end of the year. Later to a friend the man rather philosophically explained his deal. "Within a year” explained the man “the king may die, or I may die, or the horse may die. Furthermore, in a year, who knows? Maybe the horse will learn to fly."
But hope is surely something much more than clutching at straws? In a few weeks’ time on Palm Sunday we’ll remember again Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. We’ll picture in our minds once more the crowds lining the streets waving their palm branches, each of them hoping that Jesus could offer them a better life; freedom from Roman occupation and freedom from the religious authorities of the day. But their sentiment wasn’t hope, rather something more akin to wishful thinking.
Jesus never did come promising earthly wealth or happiness. Rather, he came promising people peace and hope, not reliant on earthly success, but instead he gave them a vision, blue print of how life could be lived differently by caring, forgiving and having compassion for one another.
It could be argued that rarely has the church’s voice and the Gospel message of hope been more relevant or more vital than in the days in which we live. And we, those who have at some point in our lives, bravely and recklessly said ‘here I am!’ to God are become his agents of hope who are called to love, heal, forgive, and to awaken hope in beaten down souls.
“Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us”
(NKJV)
And so the Kingdom grows. And hope, as it always does, wins out.
Revd Chris Burr