(Further reflections on “Abound In Hope”—Sunday 10-Oct-2021)
Without food, people can survive for about 40 days; without water, roughly a week; and without air, the World Guinness record was 24 minutes 37.36 seconds (established on 27-Mar-2021). Now without hope, it only takes a (split of a) second for someone to end his/her life.
Life without hope is indescribably miserable. In fact, it is a glimpse of hell—where the dead lives in torment without God’s presence. It is written, “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him (Proverbs 26:12).” In other words, there is more hope to a fool than someone who wants to be a king in his/her life. And this is exactly what the world has been telling us since the Fall (Genesis 3). Since then, hopelessness is the default mode of life under the sun. Hope is the work of God under the Son, Jesus Christ, who became a servant even though He has always rightfully been the King. Although Jesus Himself is God in the flesh, He did not want to be wise in His own eyes. Instead of doing his human will, He fulfilled God’s will/plan by being the Suffering Servant (cf. Isaiah 53). As a result, both God’s chosen people, the Jews and God’s adopted/extended people- the Gentiles, can experience His truthfulness and mercy (cf. Romans 15:8-13).
Truthfulness speaks of God’s promise-keeping attribute. Mercy speaks of God’s long-suffering/patience and compassion attribute. Although there are more to say about God’s attributes, these two alone abound in our life in hope. God had done His part to make hope available to those who believe in His Son, Jesus. He cannot force people to ground their hope in Him. And the key to abound in hope is to be full of faith. We saw the faith of a centurion (cf. Matthew 8:5-10) and a Syrophoenician woman (cf. Mark 7:24-30). The former understood how authority works and wholeheartedly trusted Jesus’ authority. The latter did not get offended by Jesus’ offensive statement and has not given up hope, but she appealed to Jesus’ mercy. They were both filled with joy and peace in believing in Jesus, and they abound in hope.
The almighty God that we worship is the God of hope. The Suffering Servant Jesus that we follow is the God of hope. The empowering Holy Spirit that dwell in us is the God of hope. And the Word of the Triune God we are to live by is the eternal hope for this temporal life on earth. Now before you say ‘amen’ to the above, spend a moment to really examine areas of your life that hope seems to be absent or perhaps ‘wishy-washy’ or merely religious (going to church, but not knowing Jesus personally nor fellowshipping with His people), then humble yourself down as a servant who wholeheartedly trust the God of hope, for a servant has nothing to lose, nothing to hide, and nothing to fear (except the fear of the Master).
May we all desire to be God’s servant. May we all be filled with joy, peace in believing, and abound in Hope in Christ Jesus, our Master. Amen.
—
Pastor Lap
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