The Living Hope

1 Peter 1:3-9New International Version (NIV)

Praise to God for a Living Hope

3 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, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

With my job at the fair, I now have 35 minutes with no kids in the car that I haven’t really had before.  I enjoy that time but I also wanted to make it somewhat productive so I have really gotten into podcasts.  For some of you, this may be a word you have heard before but still doesn’t mean much to you.  Perhaps, “it’s just one of those things the kids these days do.”  The best way to describe is that it is a radio show that you listen to at your convenience.  Podcasts are similar to tv shows in the sense they range from home decorating to sports to finance to kids stories to religious to mysterious.  You get the idea.  Or you don’t and that is ok too.  I only tell you this because I finished a podcast this week that hit home on so many levels.  It is called Pin Kings and it’s the story of Alex and Kevin.  These guys were high school wrestling teammates in the seventies in Miami, FL.  They won individual titles and a team title their senior year.  Kevin’s dad grew up in Iowa going to high school in Des Moines and Kevin’s uncle wrestled at the U of I.  It’s got wrestling with ties to IA and it talks about the two very different paths that Alex and Kevin took.  One of them went on to be a decorated soldier and DEA agent.  The other went on to smuggle drugs into the US for the largest Colombian drug dealers at the height of drug smuggler before the “War on Drugs” began.  They took two totally different paths but what if I told you this is a story of redemption and forgiveness.  What if I told you that these two now coach the same wrestling program in Florida?

The story seems too good to be true.  It seems far fetched that a West Point graduate who put countless drug dealers and traffickers behind bars coaches alongside one of, it not the biggest trafficker of all time.  As I listened to that story of redemption and second chances, I couldn’t help but to think about those who do not get that opportunity.  I couldn’t help but to think about those who do not get that chance at redemption or a second chance while here on earth.  I couldn’t help but to think about Chasen Stevenson and his family.  Personally, I do not know them that well.  Mostly, it is mutual friends that tie us together more than anything.  I am incredibly thankful that I nor anyone close to me has had to go through what this family is going through.  To be honest, it’s not my personal relationship with Chasen and his family that has them constantly in my thoughts.  It’s empathy for them in that situation.  As my mind starts to wonder, I think about my family if I was in that situation.  I have no idea what they are going through and I am selfishly thankful for that.  I look at pictures of their little boy and can’t even imagine.  Once I let my mind wander to that place, it goes to countless other places.  I start thinking about starving children in far away countries, war, senseless violence, shootings, and so many other scenarios that seem really scary when I think about them.  Before long, I am filled with a sense of despair and hopelessness and a small part of me is still selfishly thankful that I haven’t had to deal with any of that.  

What I find myself doing, and most likely many of you, is pushing those feelings away.  I subdue those thoughts and feelings through a sort of numbness to it all.  If I allow all those negative things to overcome me, depression is sure to follow.  As a Christian I am called to point upward and tell everyone it will be ok, God has it under control which seems to be the pastoral answer for everything and as long as we say it with confidence, it’s believable.  But how does that person or that family, in circumstances of despair and hopelessness, really take those words?  I am only guess here but I would venture to say these thoughts or something similar to them creep into their mind: “If God is in control, then He has a funny way of showing it.” Or “why me, then?” Or “That is a bunch garbage.”  Or they may simple say “Ok” and be perfectly content.  Part of me gets upset when I hear someone say something like “It will be ok, God is in control” or “God will use this to further His kingdom.”  Another part of me doesn’t know what else to say or think or do so this has to suffice.  Why does one of the largest drug traffickers the United States has ever seen get a chance at redemption but so many others do not?  I wish I had a good answer for you.  

Chasen’s family saw hundreds of people show up and support them Friday night.  They were surrounded by people who genuinely cared for them.  Who over spent on items varying from a wooden carving to quilts to firepits to handcrafted benches and wreaths to football tickets and even a puppy.  I could see the thankfulness in the family.  You could see the charitable hearts of those who gave.  It was a great event.  It was amazing to see all those people come together and surround that family.  Within the confines of despair and hopelessness there seems to be a tiny bit of hope.  One ray of sunshine poking through the gray clouds.  No matter what the future holds, there is that hope.  Peter writes, “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.”  It is that living, breathing hope that we cling to.  We should not numb ourselves to our opportunities to be empathetic.  Rather, cling to that living hope.  It doesn’t seem like much to ease our earthly pain and suffering but knowing that “this inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” helps to cling to the living hope.  Peter points out that gold is refined by fire and it is worth an incredible amount of power and wealth but gold perishes.  Our salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ does not.  It will not.  And through the chambers of eternity it will never fades.

That being said, part of me takes issue with what Peter had to say next, “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  While I do not doubt this to be true, it’s difficult for me to understand this need for a “proven genuineness.”  While I may not understand it fully, I do see it’s purpose.  I know God loves and forgiveness us.  All of us including the entirety of the world.  That love and grace is freely given.  But for those of us whom Jesus Christ has been revealed, we have a much bigger responsibility.  You see, it is our duty to show others that God loves and forgives them.  It is their responsibility to prove their genuineness and it is God’s duty to judge sincerity.  For some, this genuine faith is proven over a lifetime, for others it is proven in the last moments of their lives and part of me believes God will allow us to prove this sincere and genuine faith at the moment we meet Him.  Is this fair? No.  We haven’t been promised fair.  We are promised salvation as Peter writes, “...for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”  It wasn’t the faith of the drug trafficker that allowed him a second chance.  It was the genuine faith of his friend, the DEA agent.  By the way, the DEA agent got a divorce from a woman who was addicted to drugs.  Drugs that could have arrived here through his teammate.  Despite everything, the sincere faith in God that the DEA agent speaks freely about allowed Alex his shot at redemption.  Do not simply state “God is control” and think that will suffice for every situation.  By showing the sincerity and genuineness of your faith, you will show many that they are loved and forgiven. Amen.