Hope rises in your Presence like the misty vapors gently swirling off lake waters as dawn glows golden in the east. It is the warm light streaming from the essence of You that deletes the hopelessness of darkness, and reminds us that a new day is coming, one overseen by your loving care and faithfulness. I wrote this poem at Piatt Lake in the Upper Peninsula, exulting in the soft cloud of mist rising before me. I sat in darkness, in the shade of pines. There was no wind, but the white essence of slow movement upward was fascinating.
Today I was walking in the city of Detroit, the streets quiet before the rush of daytime. The sky was covered with thick clouds—except on the eastern horizon, where gold as rich as pure butter was shining through a crack.
Both of these scenes are pictures of hope, confident hope. The glimmer of dawn signals that soon the sun will be shining brightly. The warm air over lake water hits the colder air left by night and condenses. The steam hovers there, waiting for full sunlight to appear and warm the world. In the city, you know that even though there is complete cloud cover, the sun will indeed move higher than that gold lining and light up the streets.
The sun is not yet visible, but we know it will rise. That is a confident expectation, and to me it defines the kind of hope that we Jesus-followers have. It is not a “maybe-it-will-happen” or “I hope so.” It is recognition of truth that has not yet been fully revealed to our sight (like the sun behind clouds).
At Easter I was impacted by how many times contemplation of the resurrection led to discussion of what is next in the line-up: Jesus’ Second Coming and the New World. I see this springing from the “living hope” in this verse:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (1 Peter 1:3 NIV)
Because the Father loves us, he has caused us to be born into a new life, a life that does not stay stagnant but that keeps on growing. The reason that we have access to this life is the fact that Jesus is alive. Yes, he was nailed to a tree and he died there in agony. He was buried in a tomb. But death could not hold him! He is alive forever, and he brings us into that same new kind of life when we accept his merciful offer of access to it. We do not yet experience the full reality; our bodies are temporary. Death comes. But our person, our essence, is made new spiritually. And although we are not yet fully “resurrected” like Jesus, it is coming! As surely as the sun rises, that New Day will come and all the darkness around us will be gone.
Yes, this world is dark. I have been to funerals lately and keep hearing of other ones. You read today’s headlines and there are always too many that refer to war, murder, famine, tyranny, epidemics, destruction. If you do not know that there is a perfect world coming, a place where true goodness rules and evil is completely eradicated, then there is only temporary hope in some political figure’s promises or some new invention. None of it is sure.
In the verse above, when Peter says that this hope is “living” what does he mean? For one thing, it does not shrivel up and die. Once planted, it keeps getting stronger. As Wayne Grudem says: ”it grows and increases in strength year by year. If such a growing hope is the expected result of being born again, then perhaps the degree to which believers have an intense, confident expectation of the life to come is one useful measure of progress toward spiritual maturity.[1]”
How can my hope keep growing? What Peter said in his second letter gives the answer:
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. (2 Peter 3:17-18 NIV)
It is easy to get distracted by voices in the darkness around us. It is easy to get led in the wrong direction when they do not follow our Father’s principles. It is easy to fix our heart’s gaze on the temporary world around us and put all our efforts into success or pleasure according to its standards.
But if we keep our heart tuned in to what our Master says and get to know him better and better through increasing intimacy with him, he continues to graciously work in us to produce greater spiritual maturity. He has promised us that he lives in us through his Spirit, who counsels and encourages us. We do need to listen. We do need to keep our inner person focused on Jesus, just like so many others have done before us. It is deeply encouraging to read biographies of Jesus’ servants who went through tough times and yet stood firm and made impact on the community where they lived and on us. When we study certain characters in the Bible we can be encouraged this same way. We can even see their imperfections and failures, but also God’s grace in forgiving them and helping them move ahead. The writer to the Hebrews makes it clear that this can help us to push forward in our lives towards that joy that is waiting for us. This is our living hope, that gets stronger as we run—as long as we are feasting on the nourishment of God’s Word and the Living Water that gives us the energy we need to reach our goal!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:1 NIV)
The sun rises. The Son rose. Someday we will live surrounded by his pure, lasting light!
[1] Wayne A. Grudem, 1 Peter: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 17, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 60.
Linnea's Lines 