Living like we have a living hope…

Sometimes I wonder if we wouldn’t have a better grasp what it means to be a Christian if it was more risky. The radical claims of Jesus are often muted as they reach us and our North American ears. Would the truth be more clear if we were asked to give our lives for it?

In I Peter, Peter writes to a people who are risking their very lives by following Jesus. Nero is one the throne, and he wants to be honored as Lord. He is very willing to destroy anyone who places Jesus above Nero. These Christians watched as their spiritual brothers and sisters were humiliated, tortured, and torn to pieces by lions because of their devotion to Jesus. As they watch those who share their Hope die, Peter reminds them that “…in His (God’s) great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade – kept in heaven for you.” (I Peter 1:3-4)

His point is that our hope is anchored beyond the circumstances. And if that’s the case, this living hope should shape the way we face the challenges of life today.

In a recent article in Christianity Today, Phillip Yancey writes,

“In a German prison camp in World War II, unbeknownst to the guards, the Americans built a makeshift radio. One day news came that the German high command had surrendered, ending the war—a fact that, because of a communications breakdown, the German guards did not yet know. As word spread, a loud celebration broke out.

For three days, the prisoners were hardly recognizable. They sang, waved at guards, laughed at the German shepherd dogs, and shared jokes over meals. On the fourth day, they awoke to find that all the Germans had fled, leaving the gates unlocked. The time of waiting had come to an end.

And here is the question I ask myself: As we Christians face contemporary crises, why do we respond with such fear and anxiety? Why don't we, like the Allied prisoners, act on the Good News we say we believe? What is faith, after all, but believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse?”

A living hope – “…believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse…” This would radically change the way we lived – the things we value – the relationships that we develop. Clarity of the truth comes only when all that we hold dear loses its grip on us. In the words of the old hymn – Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. What is our “hope”? And to what will we give ourselves?