A New Hope

"To hear the phrase 'our only hope' always makes one anxious, because it means that if the only hope doesn't work, there is nothing left." -Lemony Snicket, The Blank Book

I am very excited about the blog post this week, for a couple of different reasons.  First of all, I am glad to be finished with the series on marriage, which took much more out of me than I expected.  Second, I am going to be writing this week about a topic I find very important: hope.

Hope is an somewhat common term in today's society.  People use it all the time in various and sundry contexts for various meanings.  Perhaps most famously, it was used as an integral part of the successful campaign which landed Barrack Obama in the office of president back in 2008 (I do not aim to make this in any way a political conversation, it just fits with the topic).

The problem I see is that Americans tend to have a very shallow or erroneous view of hope, especially in the religious sense.  So what I am discussing today is the idea of what hope signifies to a Christian.  My goal is that this article would help Christians better understand what the Bible means when it mentions hope and that more unnecessary miscommunication would be avoided between Christians and non-Christians.  I feel like many of the arguments between non-believers and us arise from semantic disparities.  As with any debate, it behooves us to properly define our terms.

What It Isn't

The best place for us to begin this discussion is by examining modern misconceptions of hope.  Hope is often diminished somewhat by modern Christians, and it is not entirely their fault.  To be honest, the distinction here is very narrow, and it might even appear to be splitting hairs.  But I promise, it makes all the difference in the world.

The point I wish to make is that hope as it appears in the Bible (i.e. a noun) is different from the verb hope which is the more common of the two in modern vernacular.  Hope as a verb is a very uncertain prospect.  It places a desired object or goal at the mercy or fortune or circumstances.  I might say, "I hope the cafeteria is not serving asparagus again today," or "I hope there is a parking spot open near the store."  In both of these examples, I am dependent upon factors completely outside my control, and there could be sizable probabilities that my "hopes" will not come to fruition.  I have placed quotation marks round thenoun hopes here because it is correct linguistically, but it means something altogether different from the hope of the Bible (which you rarely see in the plural).

Hope in the Christian sense is not an intellectual desire for a certain eventuality.  It is not a warm feeling telling you that everything will be all right.  It isn't positivism, escapism, or even optimism.  Hope is not ephemeral or weak, shallow or baseless, and it certainly is not blind or foolish.  What we are considering is something else entirely.

Certainty

The modern usage of the word hope seems to permit no discussion of certitude.  Nevertheless, examining its treatment in Scripture allows us to see this word in a different light.  The term appears explicitly one hundred eighty times in the current NIV translation of the Bible, with nearly twenty percent appearing in the book of Psalms.  By examining these instances of hope, we begin to see the disparities between the biblical and modern vernacular definitions.

To begin with, biblical hope is something that is placed.  People in the Bible are often described as "putting their hope in" something.  The contemporary connotation of hope is far too insubstantial to be illustrated in these terms; it is merely an object that we have - a possession of sorts.  Christian hope, on the other hand, is that which gives us surety even in the face of the bleakest circumstances.  It does far more than simply exist.  For that reason, we are able to affix our hope to a myriad of distinctive entities.  "But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love." (Psalm 33:18)  "Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption." (Psalm 130:7)  "That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe." (1 Tim. 4:10)  See also: Psalm 42, Psalm 119, Isaiah 42:1-9

As I mentioned above, biblical hope is much stronger and certain than modern cheap hope.  It is the pillar of certainty which keeps a person's life together when all else crumbles around him.  This is quite plainly a separate idea altogether than my earlier ineffectual wishing.  And this distinction is grounds for rejoicing, because what we have been regarding as a molehill is actually a mighty bulwark.

Endgame

Whether intentionally or not, each of us has placed our hope in something.  Many people I know have placed their hope in themselves, quite imprudently I might add.  Others have seen fit to hope in science and learning: whatever worries they have will be alleviated with more understanding.  It is frighteningly common in America for people to place their hope in money.  If their whole world comes crashing down, at least they will have a "rainy day" account to get their lives back.

The problem is that a great many of life's setbacks are much more severe than rainy days.  Deaths, disease, tragedy, and suffering are all too common in this broken and bruised world.  And none of the entities mentioned in the paragraph above have the ability to lend certainty in such times of unparalleled distress.  It is therefore foolish to put your hope in such things.  I have tried placing my hope in several different places, and only one have I found which is capable of guiding me through all the storms I have encountered.  The one being truly deserving of my hope is God, the almighty and eternal.  He has yet to let me down (unlike so many others), and if you have not yet tried placing your hope in Him, I highly recommend it.  In fact, I implore you to do so.

When Paul finishes his discourse on love in 1 Corinthians 13, he makes a very momentous statement that I feel is one of the more moving verses in the entire Bible.  "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love." (v.13)  Faith- the willingness to admit that I don't know everything;  Love- the willingness to admit that I don't overshadow everything; and Hope- the willingness to admit that I don't control everything.  These are all we have left.  It is interesting that Paul should use these words while writing to a church in Greece, where the ancient mythology told of a young girl named Pandora who inadvertently released all the evil in the world.  The only thing she was able to keep from escaping was mankind's most important gift: Hope.

There is a Hope which is not based on circumstances.  It is this sense of the word which I am discussing when I mention biblical hope.  And no matter what else it might mean to the world, it means everything to me.

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." -Romans 5:1-5 (italics mine)