Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Hope Now

If there was one thing stirred in the hearts of many this year concerning the 2008 election, it was hope, hope for change. I don’t doubt the hope was real, just perhaps misplaced.

Proverbs 23:18 says, “For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.” The KJV renders it this way: “For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.” Hope is the expectation of a desired end. But for hope to be more than just wishful thinking, it has to be grounded in something more than just our expectations or we will be sorely disappointed when hopes are not realized.

Hope cannot rest in a man or in an ideal. Even for the believer, hope standing alone is diminished. “And now abides faith, hope, love, these three” (I Cor. 13: 13). The believer has hope and can rest assured our hopes will be realized because it rests in the Eternal God. This hope is grounded in faith, our faith in Christ and His faithfulness to His Word. His promises are sure because His Word is authoritative and eternal Truth. His promises are a testimony to His character, who He is and what He has done, and they do not change.

Our hope is grounded in faith, and it is fueled and energized by love. We love Him, we wait for Him, because He first loved us (I John 4:19). When we grasp the great reality of God’s love for us and know that it will not let us go there is every reason to have faith, to keep believing; thus hope is flamed.

Hope is an amazing thing, but hopes dashed are devastating. And what does this have to do with the recent election? This election brought out a great passion in people on both ends of the political spectrum. Issues, philosophies, even our very system of government in this country were brought into question. Hatred reared its ugly head in the form of feminism, racism, extremism, and yes, even socialism in its rudimentary ideology.

Being involved in choosing our country’s leadership wouldn’t be an issue if we lived in one of those countries or cultures where the system of government doesn’t allow for that. It would be decided for us. Being involved, and the degree to which we become involved is an area we must rely on the wisdom and leadership of the spirit of God to help us decide. There is no debating our responsibility to pray “for kings, and for all that are in authority" (I Tim. 2: 1-3). We also have the admonition to “render to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s" (Matt. 22:21). We must also use discernment in determining when the authorities God has ordained (Rom. 13) would cause us to deny or dishonor God as our ultimate authority, leaving us no choice but to “obey God rather than man” (Acts 5:29).

Paul encouraged those that struggled with eating meat offered to idols, believing that to do so brought them into the pagan idolatry, to consider not only what was “lawful”, but what was “expedient”; some things are not necessary, but are allowed. We know “that there is none other God but one” (I Cor. 8: 4), and we serve Him. His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). But God has instituted and ordained government for our good (Rom 13: 1-7) and uses even pagan leadership to His purposes (consider Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Artaxerxes for instance). Also, we are stewards of that which is committed to us (the country and culture in which we live) and we are to be responsible and faithful in that stewardship (I Cor. 4:2). And we must live before God with a pure conscience, trusting Him to teach us. Therefore, “let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” because “whatever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14: 5, 23).

We involve ourselves everyday in systems and services that are not necessarily biblical. In other words, there are a lot of areas out there that aren’t clear cut as to whether or not being involved would associate us with something that would dishonor God in some way. I was taught as a young Christian that to go to movies was to associate myself with and support, an “evil” industry set on destroying values and morality; I was taught that to buy groceries from a grocery store that sold alcohol or cigarettes was again, putting my dollars in support of those things. I could list other examples. I grappled with these issues, not wanting to disappoint my Savior and be anything other than a faithful witness for Him. But I soon realized that first and foremost, I could not live a victorious Christian life with guilt over one issue or another. I also understood that I am responsible for the impression of Christ I leave with others. I had to study the Scripture for myself where these issues were concerned, come to a conclusion before God on these issues, and then live these beliefs out. This also meant respecting those that viewed things differently, often becoming the “weaker brother’ (I Cor 8: 9) rather than being offended by another’s liberty, and on the other hand never using my liberty “as an occasion of offense or stumbling” if I could help it.

I have chosen to be involved in the political process, the privilege to vote and support one candidate or the other, the opportunity to let my voice be heard on important issues facing our nation today. But I do so with a keen awareness of my ultimate allegiance to the Eternal God, to “the Lord Jesus Christ…who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (I Tim. 6:15); confidently assured that “the kings heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turns it whatever way He determines” (Prov 21:1); He “is the judge; He putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Ps. 75:7). I am careful to search the Scripture to avoid forming opinions and making decisions based solely on how I feel, what I prefer, or how my economic situation will be affected (as my mom used to say, “it all comes down to the almighty dollar”.) And I do so not with a misplaced hope for a bright future in a man, an ideal, or a system of government, but with a hope “both sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6: 17-19) in the God of the future, Jesus Christ “the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending” (Rev. 1: 8).


My thoughts were jarred sitting in our Wednesday night Bible study as my pastor/husband directed us to the verse from Proverbs about hope and “an expected end”. I had muddled through these thoughts over the past months as I grew weary of the political battle, bias, and bunk. I struggled initially with putting all my thoughts into words and with the need to even do so. I felt compelled to examine once again why I do what I do. I have over the years had a tendency to be both patriotic and passionate about issues of conscience, and about my country. Is it a nation of great spiritual barrenness? I believe it is as barren as it has ever been. But I have enjoyed so much of its beauty, its freedoms, its traditional historical ideals. Then, on a daily basis I am surrounded by those with dashed hopes and misplaced trust and have no faith in anyone or anything, God or country. They own no heritage, know no greater culture outside the small world that is their reality whatever that may be. It is a generation bereft of values, morals, and ideals that has dismissed God and His Sovereignty and sacrificed a common good for a selfish individualism. Yet, they clamor for a genuine love, a faith in something or someone bigger than themselves, and just a glimmer of hope for a decent future. So when someone promising change and promoting hope comes on the scene, well, this is where we are.

I then questioned my passion and the urgency with which I share the message of hope I have in Christ. Was I doing all I could do? Was the church? Have we failed in many respects? Yes, but then righteous Noah preached faithfully for 120 years to see only his family respond because “the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5), and thank God he at least saw his family saved, which should be an example to all of us. It was the reassurance from the Word on that Wednesday evening as the verse sailed off the page about my “expectation not being cut off” that I was encouraged and settled, and my thoughts about hope and this election started to make sense at least to me. Then, just this evening as I drove across town a new release on the radio caught my attention. It solidified in my mind that a message of “faith, hope, and love, these three” was a reminder from the Lord for these tumultuous times. I leave you with this:

When my life is like a storm
Rising waters
all I want is the shore
You say I’ll be okay and
Make it through the rain
You are my shelter from the storm

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free

refrain & chorus from Hope Now; Addison Road