[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]To many, the problems of our day seem to be of biblical proportions. We seem to be on the verge of the apocalypse. But let me tell you about something else of biblical proportions \u2013 hope.<\/em><\/p>\n

First, I need to tell you what hope is not. Hope is not primarily a feeling. Nor is hope merely positive thinking about the future. Hope doesn\u2019t sit back and say, \u201cWell, I hope this gets better\u201d and then expect someone else to solve our problems.<\/p>\n

Biblical hope is a verb. It\u2019s an action.<\/p>\n

Hope is defiance. It looks at how the world is in all of its ugly problems and it insists that a better world is possible.<\/p>\n

Hope is resilience. It doesn\u2019t sugar coat the trauma or pain or corruption that we experience. It names those things for what they are and it claims that those things will not have the last word in our lives.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_section][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1566393555121{background-color: #f6ebdf !important;}” el_class=”optin”][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Hope and the Bible<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]Take Moses and the Hebrew slaves who were in Egypt for generations. They didn\u2019t feel any hope. In fact, they felt like things were hopeless. They cried out in their agony and God heard their cries. And then God worked through Moses, Aaron, Miriam and the Hebrew people to deliver the Hebrews from the hand of Egypt.<\/p>\n

Generations later, when the Jewish people were conquered by the Babylonian Empire and forced into exile, they told themselves the story of Moses and the Exodus. They reminded themselves that God heard the cry of their ancestors in Egypt and that gave them the assurance that God heard their cry in exile. They reminded themselves that God worked through Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to bring liberation and they trusted that God would work through them to bring about their liberation, too.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what hope is all about. It\u2019s trusting that even in the worst circumstances, God is working in the world, and God can work through us. When the letter to the Hebrews says, \u201cNow faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see,\u201d it connects faith, hope, and assurance. You can see how those concepts played out for the Jewish people. They had faith that God was with them. They hoped that God would work through them. They had assurance that God would liberate them.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Hope and the Apocalypse<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]Whenever we are talking about the apocalypse, it\u2019s important to keep in mind that it does not mean, \u201cend of the world destruction.\u201d Apocalypse literally means, \u201cunveiling\u201d or \u201crevealing.\u201d An apocalypse is a revelation about God and about humanity.<\/p>\n

Apocalypses, or revealings<\/em>, often come through times of suffering. That\u2019s not to glorify suffering. In and of itself, there is nothing glorious about suffering. But suffering does provide us with opportunity. Times of suffering are great opportunities to witness an apocalyptic moment because all of the distractions are swept away. For example, when the Jewish people were conquered and forced into the Babylonian Exile, most of them had nothing. Their lives were torn apart. Their Temple, the great place of worship where God lived, was destroyed.<\/p>\n

It was during this time of great suffering that the Jewish people received an apocalypse. The revelation God gave them during this time was that God didn\u2019t reside in a Temple. In fact, the whole earth is full of God\u2019s glory. And more than that, God was with them during their time of exile. God hadn\u2019t abandoned them. Rather, God was with them.<\/p>\n

For Christians, Jesus is the ultimate apocalypse. He is the concrete revelation of God and of humanity.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_single_image image=”20821″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]The cross was a traumatic experience for Jesus and his followers. Just like the Jews felt hopeless during the Babylonian Exile, Jesus\u2019 followers felt hopeless during the crucifixion. They hoped that Jesus would be their Messiah, their King. And what do kings normally do?<\/p>\n

They build up an army. They take up the sword. They kill their enemies.<\/p>\n

But hope in violence is not the hope that Jesus gives us.<\/p>\n

The hope that Jesus gives us is the hope of nonviolent action in the face of injustice. Because he had hope in the face of injustice, Jesus confronted the powers of injustice. He went to the Temple, which had fallen into corruption. The Temple was the religious, political, and economic center of Jesus\u2019 culture. In the days of the prophet Jeremiah, the Temple had become a den of robbers. Jesus said the same thing about the Temple during his day. And so the place that was supposed to bring about life and prosperity only brought death and poverty. Jesus named the Temple for what it had become because Jesus had hope.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Hope for Today<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”20824″ img_size=”520×540″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”24px”][vc_column_text]Yes, today the world feels like it is falling apart. But the world fell apart for the Hebrews. And the world fell apart for the Jewish people during the Babylonian Exile. And the world fell apart for Jesus and his followers.<\/p>\n

But each time the world fell apart, people of faith reminded themselves that even when the world is falling apart, God hasn\u2019t given up on us. Rather, God is with us. God goes with us through the trauma and the tragedy, the despair and the darkness. God is radically present with us and so we can be radically present with one another.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]It is in that radical presence that leads us to struggle for a better world where we find hope.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”20261″ alignment=”center”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pastor Adam reflects on recent events, turns to the Bible to define “apocalypse,” and illuminates how to find hope in hopeless times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4328,14],"tags":[1685,404,2395,1513,51,77,87,2914],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n