With the tragic passing of Matt Davidson, 37 year old worship minister of Southeast Christian Church Oldham Campus, we would do well to remember our ultimate hope in Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:3-15 is a classic reminder of that hope.
Motivational speakers often remind us of the need for short-term and long-term goals. We all need something to look forward to doing each day and something to motivate us for eternity. When we put our hope in Jesus Christ He meets both needs.
Our hope is an eternal hope. Peter calls it, “a living hope.” If our hope is in possessions, people or ourselves, it’s a dead or dying hope because all those goals are temporal. But if it is in Jesus, it’s a living, eternal hope. It can never perish, spoil, or fade because Jesus is forever.
Our hope is a realistic hope. Peter says, “Though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” Our faith in Christ does not exempt us from hurting experiences but it gives a purpose to daily disappointments and pain. We understand that our faith is strengthened through everyday trials.
Our hope is transforming hope. Simon Peter wrote, “…set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Peter 1:13-15).
J. Wallace Hamilton preached that, “Where there is no hope in the future, there is no power in the present.” The power to change comes from the hope that there will be a better tomorrow. Moses “chose not to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time…because he was looking ahead to his reward” (Hebrew 11:25-26). 1 John 3:3 reminds us, “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”
One of the first novels I was assigned to read in school was, Silas Marner. I’ve never forgotten it. Marner was an old Miser whose life was wrapped up in the money he had accumulated as a weaver over the years. His daily satisfaction came solely from counting the gold pieces he had hidden away under the floorboards of his cottage. Then one horrible day someone stole it all and he was left penniless and hopeless. Silas Marner’s primary reason for existence for the past fifteen years had been wiped out. He had nothing to live for. He was a pitiful and bitter man.
But then one wonderful day he found a little girl with golden hair on his doorstep. He was unable to determine her identify and reluctantly, out of sheer necessity, he began to care for her himself. As he sacrificed self for the wellbeing of little “Eppie,” he soon learned to love her, and his whole life took on a new meaning. Every day there was something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for.
When Silas Marner got his mind off himself and his unfortunate past and onto serving his adopted daughter and her promising future, his life was wonderfully transformed. He was forced to interact with people in the community, his personality blossomed, and townspeople began to love and respect him. People couldn’t get over the dramatic transformation this little girl had brought into his life. He found love and marriage and fulfillment.
The lesson from Silas Marner was the same lesson that is taught in Scripture: life consists not in the abundance of things we possess, the number of pleasures we enjoy, the number of people we impress. Life consists in knowing God and serving His people so they might have a better tomorrow.
Someone said, “You can live for a month without food. You can live for almost a week without water. You can live for five minutes without air. But you can’t live a second without hope.” The thrill of following Christ is that our hope can never be taken from us. It’s as constant as Jesus. “Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:21)
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”
