What is Hope

You can put your faith in science or you can put your faith in God, or you can put your faith in whatever, but wherever your faith is, that is where you’ll find your hope. And remember, faith, like hope, isn’t certain knowledge. It’s an expectation.

Let's look at a classic example that is often put forward. Let's sit in a chair.

When you sit on a chair, you’re not acting blindly. You have good reasons to believe it will hold you up. Past experience makes it highly probable that the chair will support you. This may not feel like an act of faith and certainly not like an act of hope, but though our past experience certainly can give us confidence, we cannot be certain until we sit in that chair. Probability isn't certainty. In that sense, even ordinary decisions involve a measure of trust.

And whether it’s the confidence that the chair we’re about to sit on will hold us up or it’s something deeper and more substantial, every act we take is a step of faith.

What is Hope?

Hope is an act of faith in something. That faith can come from evidence, from past experience, from reason, from just about anything that gives you confidence, but regardless, hope is still a product of faith.

So, where do we Christians put our hope?

“But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” – Psalm 39:7

We put our hope in the Lord. Is this a good choice?

What are the alternatives?

You could put your hope in yourself. Of course, hope in God doesn't preclude hope in self. However, for all of us, using hope in self as our sole source is a mistake. We are all very imperfect and exclusively self-centered faith inevitably leads, at some point, to abject failure and when we’re honest with ourselves, we know that.

You could put your hope in science. Of course, hope in God doesn’t preclude hope in science. Hope in science can be a component of hope in God. How so? You can hope that God will grant scientists the wisdom they need to move forward. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Hope in science alone is nothing more than hope in others, so let’s look at hope in others. Are others more perfect than you? Do they never make mistakes? No, of course not. Do others always have your best interests at heart? No, not always and this is true in science too. Science is a human construct and therefore it's never exclusively and coldly analytical. Every human construct has a measure of politics, self-interest, and inevitably makes mistakes.

Just as we, as individuals are flawed, so are the other people we would put our faith in. Does that mean we should have no faith in others? Of course not, but it does mean that we need to recognize that such faith must and will have limits. 

All of these alternatives will have failings, even that chair. Sooner or later, it will age, breakdown and fail. That isn’t religious dogma. That’s the simple unvarnished truth.

So, what about God?

Is God simply a human construct too? We Christians believe the answer is no. Of course, that doesn't mean that we don't attach human attributes to our perception of God. And when we do, we come to hope for more than we should.

God, won’t give you everything you ask for. That’s a simple fact.

But will he give you justification for the hope you place in him?

“In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28

This is his promise. It does not say all things will be good, nor will they be. It says that God uses all things, including the objectively horrible, for good.

I won’t deny it. Faith in this is a very tall ask. However, when we put our faith in other things, sooner or later, that faith will be disappointed by failure. This is the one path that embraces those failings and offers a hope beyond the failure.

And what does hope Look like?

 "³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’" - Matthew 25:35-40

Seems like an odd way to describe hope, doesn't it?

Some people see a world where the strong get what the want and the weak endure what they must. Some people have confidence in their strength and their cunning and are very hopeful about their personal prospects for success. This is a very narrow hope. This hope can be expanded to family, or community, but to be sustained, it must have boundaries - it must have limits and it lives, and most certainly dies, with the person who holds it.

Jesus says look further and abandon those boundaries. He says, not that there is enough for all, but that there can be, if only we all embrace that expansive hope. This is the hope that God has called us to.

Getting back to Matthew 25, ask yourselves, "Why do the righteous ones give food, or drink, or clothes, why do they visit the sick and why do they invite the stranger?"

Is it to be righteous?

If it was, then they wouldn't ask the questions "Lord, when did we see you .... ?"

So, why then do they help?

It's because they see someone in need - someone suffering - and their heart goes out to that person. It's because they have hope that there is, or there can be, enough for everyone, that they really can make a difference in this person's life. It's because they are filled with God's love and the hope it brings.

Do you know what 1 Corinthians 13 says about love?

When 1 Corinthians 13 describes love, it ends its description with this: " ⁷ Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." That trust and that perseverence comes from hope. This is the expansive hope to God calls us to have faith in, a hope that recognizes the pain and suffering that exists, but also a hope that says "it doesn't have to be like this", a hope that says "there really can be enough for all".

Of course, not all hope comes from a place of darkness, only the hard and difficult hope does. Sometimes, life is good and hope is easy. Persevere through the hard times, but don't forget to rejoice in the good times. And remember, hope done right is always an act of love.

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