(Hope with an Asterisk!)
I was scheduled to speak for Multnomah University’s chapel last week. Needless to say, that was cancelled, just like every other event this unprecedented spring and summer of 2020. Who would’ve thought or imagined? And now…now we’re in the midst of Holy Week, culminating in Easter Sunday. How do we focus on the power of the resurrection during a pandemic? In the midst of so much pain and suffering, is it possible to grasp the deepest meanings of Easter?
Your realities of Easter 2020 may include:
-feeling helpless as we watch family or friends die
-being unable to be with sick family or friends
-experiencing being laid-off from a job, without benefits or even job prospects
-trying to protect someone most vulnerable to COVID-19
-seeing no end to the pandemic
-feeling stressed beyond limits, and totally out of control
In light of those struggles, how do we celebrate this Easter? I’m clinging to the hope that our great God provides, Hope with an Asterisk.
Familiar with Romans 15:13? I’ve discovered that many of us have put it to memory to get through all manner of trials:
“May the God of hope fill me with all joy and peace as I trust in him, so that I may overflow with hope by the power of his Holy Spirit.” (personalization mine)
That verse and others nagged at me, indicating a wellspring of power that seemed to evade me. I knew I had all the power of the universe available—the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit. Living in me. So why couldn’t I tap into that the way I desired? Was there a step I was missing?
Eventually, I noted that hope and power were frequently linked. And it hit me: If we truly comprehend the hope that God offers—godly hope, the 100% guarantee that God keeps his promises to us—there is unimaginable power there! Everything lines up when we view the world through the perspective of godly hope:
-our lives truly reflect our priorities
-we put our faith and belief in what God promises
-we stop worrying about the unnecessary
-we begin to fully trust God…like the night watchman
Years ago when Craig was a pastor, our youth choir sang a concert of Psalms arranged as worship songs. I can still clearly hear the melody and words to Psalm 130.
My soul waits for the Lord
In the hope of his promise,
In the hope of his promise…
Deliverance will come.
My soul waits for the Lord
Through the night ‘til the morning
Like the night watchman waiting
For the coming of the dawn!
Hope* is unique because it’s completely unlike our feeble imitation. We express a wishful “I hope it will rain tomorrow.” Or “I hope it won’t rain tomorrow.” But Hope* is not an “it might…or it might not” kind of thing. There is no if because those promises are guaranteed by a God who keeps his word. His promises are givens. Just like the night watchman knows the dawn will come. No matter how interminably long, how painful, or how worrisome this pandemic might be, God keeps his promises. Dawn will come.
Still, I know that grasping Hope*’s significance and living it as reality isn’t easy. We lose focus. We allow the drudgery of daily living to take control. We’re decimated by pain and suffering. But the reality of Hope* is right there, within our reach. And no matter how many times we doubt and stop living the true meaning of godly hope, each new dawn arrives right on time. To remind us.
Grasp at Hope* this Easter. And then let’s help each other live it.
He is risen!
He is risen indeed!
“My Soul Waits” by Bill Batstone; hear it at: