12-06-2013

 Good Morning All,

    1 Peter 1:3; “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"

    There is an ancient Roman saying. “While there is life, there is hope.”  We apply this to our life and we teach it in many capacities.  If you have ever coached a group of youngsters in any kind of sport, keeping them from giving up when they get behind is always crucial.  You have to continually tell them,” Don’t stop until the clock does” or “It ain’t over until it is over” or “Fight until the last out.”  Take your pick they mean the same thing, there is always a chance.

    This is an attitude held by many doctors and nurses.  As long as there is a breath of life in a person, there is hope that they will get better.  Most people like to believe that this is their philosophy for life as well.  As long as there is life, there is hope.  They just keep on plodding on forward; holding to the tenet that hard work will get them ahead in the end.  But what happens when hard work fails?  What happens when it feels like all the life is gone?  What happens when all your work doesn’t keep you healthy?  Or wealthy?  What happens when life doesn’t go according to our plan?  Is there no hope?

    As a Christian, we should view this saying a little differently.  We should say, “Where there is hope, there is life.”  We know that all our hope, life, comfort, all that we have comes because we have been given hope by God.  This hope exists beyond this world and this life.  The struggles of this world, though sometimes painful, are only temporary.  Even as we battle these struggles, God gives us the tools to deal with them.  He gives us His Spirit to bring us into remembrance what he has told us, how he has given to us his words of forgiveness, his words of reconciliation. 

    He gives us his sacraments to give us the touch and feel of his grace; the life renewing, soul refreshing nourishment to help restore us.  He gives us his Church, the flesh and blood contact here on this earth; the hands of his grace.  All this he gives to us out of his love and fatherly mercy.  He gives us this to exist in a broken, sinful world. 

    He gives us this so we can be sure of the promise that we have; the promise of hope.  The certainty of God’s grace and his merciful actions.  The certainty of our salvation which is ours and eternal life which awaits us.  We have life because we have hope.  We have hope because of God’s grace. 

Dearest Father, we often feel that there is only despair in our life.  We often feel we have no hope.  Give us the certainty of our hope, of our living hope.  Lead us forward with the confidence of your grace, active in our lives.  Be with those who have no hope at this time, give them the certainty of faith to hold onto the living hope that is from you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret