People of Hope

The world is not over. The election has come and went and we are still standing. Some of you might say that this is only temporary; that we will see Armageddon soon. Some of you may be rejoicing that the right candidate won. There are probably many of you that are shaking your head and are in shock. You may not know how to move forward.

I never really started this blog just for Christians. Though it has a Christian focus I felt that this blog was for all who wished to read it. But today, this post, this is for my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. This one is for you. Whatever your feelings on the results of last night there is only once course of action for the future. We need to be people of hope.

This entire election cycle has been nothing but confusion, hate, arrogance, and malice. These are not things of God. Though the outcome of this election may not be what you desired, this is not the time to cast blame and throw hate. Neither is this the time to gloat about how you were right the whole time.

I suspect that there will be a great many blogs today of people talking about how we need to submit to authority. This is true. You should do this. Always. But i don't think this solves the greater problem that the American Church has. If anything this election cycle has shown us that we need to be a people full of prayer.

Go Bags and Crashed Websites

My wife woke me up at 5 this morning. She gets up to go to the gym. The first thing she did was look at her phone. Her response was simple. "We need a go bag." I suspect she was not the only person to have this reaction. For those that don't know a go bag is a disaster preparedness kit. It is a bag that has everything you will need in an emergency. It is designed to be taken at a moments notice so that you can survive when society collapses.

But this is not the response that we should have as Christians. When confronted with His own death Jesus leaned into the Father.

Last night the Canadian website for immigration crashed. When I first saw this on twitter I thought it was one of those times when people react to something without actually looking into it. But it was true. The website crashed. Apparently all the people wanting to move to Canada overworked the server and it went down. I guess people were serious about moving.

The correct response to this news is not to run in fear. I know it is tempting to just run from situations like this. When we see something that we don't like we want to give up and flee. Flight or fight right? But this is not the response that we should have as Christians. When confronted with His own death Jesus leaned into the Father.

Prayer in the Garden

Mark is the shortest of the Gospels. It is only 16 chapters long. The Crucifixion is in chapter 15. We see in chapter 10 that Jesus is already looking to travel to Jerusalem for his death. Nearly one third of the gospel is the road that Jesus takes toward his death. This leaves you with one very strong impression. Jesus not only knew what His fate was, He made it the focus of His ministry.

When the time comes for Jesus to be betrayed and crucified, He does not run. He goes and prays. It would have been easy for Jesus to give up. He could have tried to run from the Romans. He could have fought the Romans and defeated them. But Jesus does neither of these things. Rather he goes to a quiet place and prays to Our Father.

So often when we are confronted with adversity we want to fix it. We think that we can be the ones who solve our own problems. Sometimes we run from them. Sometimes we try and fight against them. Jesus did neither of these. He took His concern to Our Father and chose the Father's will over any other.

Our hope does not come from the works of our own hands... Our hope comes from the Resurrection. It is the same hope that Jesus had.

I stated at the beginning that I think a lot of blogs today will be about submitting to authority. Most of them will focus on a few verses by Peter and Paul about how God puts people into power and we should submit to them. This is all true and you should listen to it. But I want to take it a step further.

We need to submit to the authority of God. This is really what Peter and Paul were talking about. We don't trust that the authorities put over us will take care of us. Rather we trust that God will work things out for good. This is what Jesus did in the garden. He submitted His will to the will of God. It is this submission that gives us hope.

Hope in the Resurrection

Our hope does not come from the works of our own hands. Our hope does not come from confidence that what we do will work out. If this election cycle has proved anything it is that we cannot control the things that happen in this world. Our hope comes from the Resurrection. It is the same hope that Jesus had.

Paul reminds us that our hope is not in the things this world puts hope in. Our hope is not in elections. It is not in political parties, or even the machinations of the religious elite. Our hope is in the Resurrection.

We have hope because Jesus is the first-fruits of what is to come. We have hope because the Resurrection means that there is a day coming when God will put all things right. There is a day coming when all will be made subject to the rule of God. We have hope because we trust in the God that will do these things. We have hope because those who follow the will of God will be saved. We hope because Jesus hoped.

Be the People of Hope

In 1 Peter we are told to have an explanation for the hope that is within us. Peter is not talking from a stance of power or comfort. No, this discussion is couched in the understanding that Christians will be persecuted. He is saying that people will not understand why we can be hopeful in the face of persecution. This should be our goal.

As you go through your day -- as you go through the next four years -- remember this. We are called to be a people of hope. Our faith in God means that we do not have to fear the evils of sin. Our faith enables us to be hopeful in even the most dire of circumstances. This election result is not something to fear. It may mean drastic changes to our way of life. But our trust is in something greater. Our hope is in God.

May you have hope today. May you come to understand that your hope comes from something greater than this world. May the church become a people of hope. And may God be seen through our confession of that hope.

Amen!