“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13)

Hope? Seriously? Now?

Do you even know what’s happening in our world? Have you seen the news? Have you read the papers? There’s a worldwide pandemic and there are protests all over the world.

Hope? Seriously? Now?

God’s answer – ABSOLUTELY!!!

The hope, joy, and peace God is talking about is not the absence of bad, evil, and suffering. What God offers in Jesus Christ is hope, joy, and peace in the midst of the bad, evil, and suffering.

• One day, there will be a day when all evil and suffering comes to an end. But we are not there yet.
• There once was a day when all there was no way to escape evil, suffering, and death.

Where we are is somewhere in between these two times.

The Kingdom of God has been ushered in by Jesus Christ, but the fullness of that Kingdom is yet to be realized. We live in the in between period. And as long as we live in this in between period, what we need is a hope, joy, and a peace in the midst of the bad, evil, and suffering. We need this kind of hope because this is the world we live in.

The psalmist wrote about this hope: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble with its tumult” (Psalm 46:1-3).

God is our refuge and strength and a very present help in what? Trouble.

Therefore we will not fear when? The earth should change, the mountains shake in the heart of the sea, the waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble.

The hope, joy, and peace God offers us is not the absence of evil and suffering. It’s the ability to live in hope, joy, and peace even in the midst of evil and suffering.

How can this happen? Because we know in Jesus Christ evil and suffering never get the last word. Hope. Joy. Peace. That’s our reality. And there is no storm, protest, suffering, violence, pandemic that can take that away from those who belong to Jesus Christ.

Live in this hope today!

Hope? Seriously? Now?

ABSOLUTELY!!!

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33)

Remember a couple of weeks ago when we thought 2020 couldn’t possibly get weirder, worse, or more terribler than the Covid-19 pandemic? Who ever is wondering if it can’t get worse, you need to stop. This is about my limit of more terribler I can take for this decade.

Things are so strange and terrible, I had to make up a new word!

When the problems in the world are mountain sized, it’s easy to get discouraged. We don’t even know where to start tackling the problems. Solutions seem so far removed.

What do you do when facing mountain sized problems?

Jesus gives us sound advice. No matter what season in life we may find ourselves, the truth Jesus shares in Matthew 6:33 is still the way to go: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

So, what does a “seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” person do? I am glad you asked. The principle is doing those things you know you ought to be doing even without having to ask God about it. You seek first the kingdom of God by:

• Praying. You don’t even have to wonder whether you need to pray. The answer to the question of whether you should pray is always, “yes”! Pray for our country, our city, and our church. Pray
• Worship. You don’t have to ask God whether you should set aside a day to worship God. Of course you worship. Make worship a priority
• Give, serve, make a difference. Again, you don’t have to wonder whether you ought to do these things. The answer is always, “yes”! Give, serve, and make a difference right where you are
• Read God’s word
• If you’re married, stay faithful to your spouse. If you’re single, practice celibacy
• If you’re a student, study hard
• If you work for a company, give them your best
• If you are a stay at home adult, be a blessing to your family and neighbors

There is so much a “seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” person is doing that such a person will stay busy all day long. Do those things you know you ought to be doing even without having to ask God whether you should be doing those things. These will keep us plenty busy.

While we’re doing these things, through the collective of us who make up the church, God changes communities, societies, and the world.

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

• Black Lives Matter
• All Lives Matter
• Those who want to overthrow the Police Departments
• Those who want to reform the Police Departments
• Those who are offended by the looting and violence
• Those who believe violence is the only way the greater society will listen
• Those who find kneeling during the national anthem a legitimate form of protest
• Those who are offended at the kneeling of the national anthem
• Those who defend President Trump
• Those who can’t even stand the sight of Trump

There are many more polarities in our society.

The thing I find disturbing about where our society is that every side is absolutely convinced they are right and those who don’t agree with them are wrong.

There is no room for dialogue. There is no room for respectful disagreement.

If that be the case, there is no way forward. Only war. Only more discord.

What if “All Lives Matter” people truly take the time and effort to seek understanding why someone would say, “Black Lives Matter” and visa versa?

What if we all took a position and posture of wanting to understand and see things from the other’s perspective? What if we all took a posture of learning from others?

For only when we are able to learn from one another will we find mutual solutions to the wrongs in our society. There is plenty wrong. Oh, there is plenty wrong in our world. But we won’t solve anything when we refuse to learn, listen, and understand.

Love seeks to learn, listen, and understand the other so that eventually there is never an other.

So listen again to the words of the Apostle Paul and apply them to your life today:

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)