"Love that leads to Hope"

When looking at facets of pastoral care and parenting on the basis of 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, we saw that one of the most important, probably the most important dynamic, was that of love … but not just a theoretical acknowledgement that love is good, but rather a commitment to an active practical love that makes a positive difference in the lives of others and in the world in general. We described love as, “the dynamic overflow of a deep concern for the welfare of others”.

In other words … that which dwells within us concerning the needs of another person, finds significant paths of activity eagerly flowing out of us toward others. So love is not just an attitude, but also a lifestyle. Acts of love and kindness will not always come natural or be convenient because of the complexity surrounding our own lives, yet this is the lifestyle dramatically promoted and sacrificially lived out by Jesus.

Love of course originates in God, and found practical expression in the creation of the universe. God, who is Love, and experiences Love within the Trinity of Father, Son & Spirit, sought an object for Love, which is the created order, human beings in the context of all the other wonderful elements of our living environment. To achieve harmony on earth, as perfectly exists in heaven, and to personally express Divine loving intentions, God seeks relationship with all people.

In the face of disorder and despair, in both personal and global terms, God visited this world in the form of Jesus and made the ultimate sacrifice for it. Then God made his own Holy Spirit available to the followers of Jesus through which they may be changed and themselves become agents of change for good. Thus God has shown faithfulness in offering us companionship and guidance in so many ways along the journey.

Love has been implanted in us by birth, restored in us through discipleship, and become activated in us through the service of others. I was reminded of the famous words of John F Kennedy speaking to Americans in the early 1960’s … “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”. In a similar tone, we could say … “ask not what God’s love in us can do for us, but what God’s love in us can do for others”.

This will take some of us on long journeys to foreign lands; and this will take some of us on much shorter journeys to our next door neighbour; depending how we are built and how we are called. In both cases there will be uncomfortable possibilities to deal with and grow through. But there is a strong and pressing reason to go … amongst all the needs and all the challenges that people face in life … there is a debilitating lack of hope.

Communities across the world are full of poverty and economic hardship, social injustice, disease, loneliness, fear, brokenness, sorrow, and of course violence – all leading to a lack of hope in so many people. Gary Bouma, in his book “Australian Soul”, writes that “…hope is essential to all human life … without hope we wither and die”. Hopelessness leads to depression, to being debilitated mentally, physically and socially. A lack of hope leads to destructive behaviours.

To address this lack of hope will take reckless expressions of love that bring about personal and communally transforming outcomes; for example:
· a new well that provides clean drinking water,
· a new school that brings more widespread opportunities of gaining education,
· new medical training that provides a higher level of infant survival and greater capacity to fight disease,
· good community development that facilitates better social cohesion (to name just a few examples).

Hope is where desire and expectation meet. Hope is a sense that what truly is needed remains within reach. Hope is knowing that people care, and that they will not forget them. Hope involves a spiritual void being filled, and the need for basic support and friendship being met.

Hope is referred to in 1 Peter 1:3 in a particular way. We read there, and in the verses that follow these words: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5)

The “hope” referred to here is a “living hope”. This can be interpreted in at least three ways:

(1) This hope brings life (hence a “living hope”) –
· a new zest for daily living,
· a new means of looking at life,
· a renewed sense of one’s value,
· a new beginning to be able to trust others (and ultimately know God),
· new opportunities for certain circumstances to be transformed for the better

(2) This hope lives within a person in an ongoing sense (hence, again, a “living hope”) –
· a new perspective on persistently difficult circumstances,
· new ways of coping and moving forward,
· the chance to leave behind shame and guilt,
· the ability to experience inner peace even in the midst of turmoil

(3) This hope lives through a person (hence a “living hope”) –
· bringing an outwardly positive and hopeful outlook,
· portraying a living testimony of re-creation,
· being generally recognized as a person of hope.

It is the last of these three that I want to focus on for a moment – “living hope” as the hope that lives through a person. When thinking about the possibility of hope being lived out through me, I thought of the word “conveyer” – being a “conveyer” of hope. Then I got the picture of the conveyer belt at the airport, where bags and various pieces of luggage travel around until they are claimed by their owners. Of course this particular conveyer belt can often be a source of frustration for us. Sometimes I stand impatiently there, hoping really hard that the next bag out will be mine, because I just want to leave.

But this picture actually offered me more. Picture yourself as one of the hundreds of bags traveling around the conveyer belt. We journey through life like these bags on the conveyer belt – as I pass each expectant person waiting there, am I reflecting the hope that lives within me? All those gathered around that conveyer belt, like all those people grappling with life, are looking with desire toward each of the bags, looking for good news. Can I be 'living transforming hope' … that there can be better days ahead; can my life suggest a deeper connectedness that is so worthwhile?

Which of course returns us back to practical supportive acts of love, some offered over the fence, whilst others taken to countries abroad. In either case these are offered ‘up close and personal’ and often in the face of adversity. Sometimes, where troubles are entrenched, hope is still discovered in the midst of grim realities. Sometimes such acts of kindness completely transform someone’s situation. Such active love will ultimately reveal the presence of a loving and caring God.

In the midst of very difficult personal and national circumstances, the prophet Jeremiah drew great strength from being able to acknowledge, recite, and thus know for sure that:

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23).