C.S. Lewis thought of hope as “one of the theological virtues.This means a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do” We are meant to be hopeful, because God is the great source of our hope. “For in this hope we are saved,” writes Paul to the Romans. “But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have,we wait for it patiently” I would invite you this day to “hope for what you do not yet have.” To hope, you remember, is to anticipate the possibility of the good things God holds in store for us. Maybe you remember hearing Andy Dufresne’s unforgettable words in his note sent to his dear friend, Red, in the 1994 film classic, The Shawshank Redemption: “Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
To live in hope is to be a person inspired by the Psalmist, who cried out to God “out of the depths”:“I wait for the Lord,my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope;my soul waits for the Lord,more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plenteous redemption.”And remember ever and always the promise of Paul to the Philippians:“I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ.”That is the best reason of all for us to hope!
–The Rev. Todd Jones is Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tennessee