April 2023 - ‘Hope Explained’
Pop quiz time. What was the one thing remaining in Pandora’s box? Hope. A million coins with Zeus’s face on the front if you got that right. If you didn’t - don’t worry it’s utter myth. Hope was the one thing that Pandora managed to retain in the box whilst everything else escaped to cause chaos in the world. As a child, I was never quite sure if hope was the one thing left in her box or was it the one thing that was kept locked up from impacting the world. Regardless, we too live in a world big on worry but short on hope.
The Thessalonian church family was the same. Paul had left them after such a short time (3 Sabbath days according to Acts 17). As a result, he most likely hadn’t got round to explaining to them how Jesus has won for them an untouchable future. Equally, many of their brothers and sisters had likely died. Questions abounded. What had happened to them? Where have they gone? What will happen to us?
Into this hope void Paul speaks seeking to bring both clarity and conviction to their troubled souls.
He says 4 things when it comes to hope…
Be informed…
He doesn’t want them to be uninformed (v.13). It really does matter that you have a clear grasp of the future that the Jesus has won for you. We grieve when we lose someone we love. I take it that grief is a good and proper response when we experience the pains and sorrows of this broken world. There’s no such thing as a natural death. Every death reminds us that isn’t the way God made it to be. The key to grief for the Christian is that we don’t do it as the world does. There’s no need for escapism or wishful thinking about a bright tomorrow. The gospel allows us to look grief in the face with tears of hope.
Be sure…
Such hope isn’t naive optimism. It’s grounded in the fact that Jesus died and rose again. Faith is, after all, trust based on evidence. Concrete facts give rise to Christian convictions. Never forget the solid ground on which you stand and base your life.
Be clear…
Jesus will return for and with his own. Those who have died may be physically asleep but make no mistake they are present spiritually with the Lord. When Jesus returns you won’t miss him. The cry of command, voice of archangel and the sound of the trumpet are come together to compellingly convince us that his return will be unmissable. Then we will be united with both the Lord and with those who have trusted their life to him before they died.
Be encouraged…
This should encourage on a personal level. Equally, we should strengthen one another with these words. Have you ever considered the fact that that what’s were doing on a Sunday as we gather? As we rehearse the glory of gospel and as we savour Christ together we’re encouraging one another in him!
My uncle died just before Christmas. The world kept telling me to be strong. Deep down I knew I just didn’t have that in me. However, the Christian hope says that you can lean confidently into a strong and compassionate Christ. It was journeying through that grief that I came to see that the gospel allows us to both grieve deeply and hope strongly in the day when Christ returns. Only in Jesus can we be short on worry but big on hope.
