Returning to hope

Romans 12:9-13


9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.


When I think about church, this is what I would love to experience when I come to a gathering of believers.  Imagine a church where people sincerely love each other and devote themselves to one another for the sake of honoring Christ.  When people begin to put others above themselves, our lives begin to overlap and we form a fabric knitted together by the Holy Spirit as the body of Christ with the mission to glorify God.


I for one, have experienced this in a small group that I pretty much said goodbye to last week because of what I know God is calling me to do.  In that group, I felt the love of God in so many ways through these people.  People who encouraged me, pushed me forward and people I put myself out there for.  In this, God was teaching me even moreso how to love.  I am forever blessed by their company, time and attention.  I am closer to God because of their lives.  Through them, I was able to see Romans 12:9-13 acted out in my life.


Let me ask you this.  Have you experienced this in church?  Some have, but many haven't.  In fact, the opposite is true for so many.  The church has caused many people great pain.  So the question I had was, "How does this 'overlapping-of-lives-church' really happen?"  I now believe the answer is found in verse 12 and specifically, "Be joyful in hope".


I want to clear something up here.  In the English language, we say, "I hope it doesn't rain." or "I really hope my car starts."  As pointed out by Chip Ingram in his book r12, the word used in this context only means "wishful thinking".  In Romans 12:12 however, I looked up the word in the Greek and it literally means this:

hope (to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation (abstract or concrete) or confidence:

- faith, hope.

So if I could expound on this passage to "be joyful in hope", it is saying that we are joyful in the confidence of the cross of Christ.  His grace is sufficient to save everyone who would follow Him and seek after Him.  Those four words say alot!

With the advent of the 80's and 90's, there has been this horrible teaching that has shifted our view where our faith has become more about our prosperity and happiness than it has been about hope. 

In talking with people over the past years however, this "relationship-with-God-based-on-happiness" teaching has unfortunately spread.  I have seen three basic stages people experience when painful seasons come, and they come for us all.  They are as follows: 

1. If a relationship with God is based on happiness (instead of hope) and that person begins to experience trials, I usually hear, "I think God is mad at me."  The person begins to feel ignored by God.


2. Then if the painful season continues, a person typically will say something like, "I don't think God loves me."  At this point, trust is shattered and this person is typically processing some form of betrayal.


3. And if that painful season lasts for a long time, their happiness whithers away to the point where they will say, "What God?  If He exists, He surely doesn't know me or love me."  With happiness long gone, a person will feel like that there is really no meaning to their lives.  God could not possibly be there because they haven't been happy in a very long time.

If I could say anything at this point, it would be that people don't do this on purpose.  I've done it in the past myself and have finally understood that life is not about my happiness, but His hope.  And the crazy thing is, when my life is about His hope, my happiness level shoots through the roof!  I found a passage where Jesus spells this out plainly.  In John 16:33, Jesus says this:

John 16:33
New International Version (NIV) 
³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” 

I really had to stop and break this down and I believe it speaks volumes. When He says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.", Jesus is referring to the Gospel.  Salvation through Him. 

When He says, "In this world you will have trouble.", He is speaking to happiness.  We will not always be happy.  Trials and painful seasons will come.  I hate to speak the obvious here, but if you look at our world lately, it really does look painful and more trials are probably coming.


And then, just when it looks hopeless, Jesus defines hope to the tee.  I think this is the very definition of hope for all who put there trust in Jesus.  He defines it as, "But take heart! I have overcome the world.”


To bring this full circle, it is through this Biblical hope, this confidence, that we can love others beyond ourselves.  It is through hope that we can share the Gospel and give ourselves away.  It is through hope that we can face hard times and love uncommonly.  Not only that, God is most glorified in us when we demonstrate His hope and peace in our greatest of pains.  It is with His hope, that we love sincerely, give freely and care genuinely.