Hope Means Getting Ready

Jeremiah 24:1-10; Matthew 25:1-10; 2^nd Corinthians 9:11-10:5

Rev. Chris Harbin, Rocks Baptist Church—Pamplin, VA

28 November 2004

Thanksgiving normally looks at the past, but it can prepare us to look toward the future. Perhaps we have stopped long enough this week to reflect upon God’s bountiful blessings and offer some expression of our thankfulness. If our experience brings us to thankfulness, we should expect hope to arise as its byproduct. What form will that hope take? How will we express our hope?

Jeremiah wanted the people of Judah to be ready. He announced the disconcerting news of their impending exile, and he announced the good news of restoration as well. In the process, he reminded them of how Yahweh had fashioned them into a people. He had foretold how Yahweh would scatter and subsequently restore the faithful to the land. The message deemed “gloom and doom” by those of the king’s palace were words of hope for others. If Jeremiah’s words had only meant doom and gloom, he would have had little reason to speak. What was doom for the political establishment of Judah was a word of hope and restoration to the people they were oppressing. This message of hope, however, was not an end in itself.

The hope in Jeremiah’s message had a purpose. They were not words to answer curiosities about the future, nor yet did they serve just to “put the guilty in their place.” This was no judgmental message to elevate the prophet above those whose doom was sure. They were words of hope, anticipation, and a challenge to trust Yahweh in the distress to come. His message of hope served a larger purpose. Yes, God would bring the present power structure in Judah to an end, but there was hope for those who returned from exile—hope that Yahweh would refashion them into a people once again. It was this word of hope that would allow the people to look beyond the coming exile and gain strength to face the doom and gloom while looking beyond. Hope was the promise of spring at winter’s end and the reminder not to give up when help was on the way.

Hope looks forward. It reflects on the past blessings and provision of God, but it draws us into new possibilities. Hope prepares us to move forward and face the adversity and challenges in life on the basis of finding God in our future. Jeremiah’s message of hope would encourage the people as they moved into exile with a promise of return. Hope gave them a reason to live and the confidence to live in accord with the reality that Yahweh, their God, was still in charge.

Jesus encouraged the disciples to live according to their hope. Jesus message of hope was filled not only with blessing, but also with responsibility. Hope was a message of blessing that hinged partly upon endurance and follow-through. While Jesus spoke of the loving Father, He spoke of taking one’s entrance into the reign of God very seriously. He warned the Pharisees that they were out of step with the One they claimed to serve. Jesus came and preached the good news to society’s outcasts, but He called them to live as though they had truly found acceptance in the reign of God.

Jesus spoke of the coming fulfillment of their hope in what we would call heaven. Jesus taught about the eternal blessings that God has in store. Jesus preached a message of hope to a people who did not have hope for any kind of a future, nor for a present. His words found their focus, however, on life in this physical world. He wanted the disciples to prepare for the future by living its reality.

In the parable of the virgins awaiting the coming of the bridegroom, Jesus speaks of being prepared and living in a manner that is consistent with the hope we claim. There is plenty of hope, for the marriage feast and celebration was about to begin. The feast was to be a time of joy and celebration—a party that would last for several days. There was more to the celebration, however, than having been invited. It was necessary to be ready when the time came. There was responsibility along with the invitation, for hope requires preparation.

There is little distinction to be made between the two classes of virgins awaiting the arrival of the groom. Some were prepared for the uncertain hour of the groom’s arrival and some were not. That is about all the difference that we can claim as certain. They were all invited. They all held out hope for the celebration. They all had a duty to perform. Half of them were resting on their hope without bothering to live in response to the hope they claimed. They talked about the coming festivities, but did little to prepare for their reality.

Paul called on the believers to live the reality they hoped to see. If they hoped to be rewarded by God with the blessings of God’s grace, presence, and welcome, they must also live in anticipation of the blessings they hope to attain. They claimed to depend upon God to provide for their needs. They laid claim to a hope that God would reward them as they were faithful to serve others in tangible expressions of thanksgiving, confidence, and the hope of the gospel of Christ Jesus. They gathered to celebrate and to fellowship, feasting together with various manifestations of God’s grace and care. Paul reminds them, however, that it is in letting go of God’s blessings that the reality of their hope comes to full bloom.

As Paul reminds these believers that they can’t give more than God can restore, he challenges them to prove that their hope, faith, and confidence are more than empty words. They claimed to make Christ Jesus Lord of their lives, but Paul questioned whether they had made that claim a reality that would be evidenced in the actions of their living. The purpose of the hope they claimed was not to keep them comfortable and relaxed. The aim of their hope was to alter the way they lived. Hope was to impact their lives and change the way they responded to others. Paul reminded them that the tools they were tasked to use were not the fleshly tools of the world, but God’s empowering them to overcome the world’s symbols of power. Under the hope they claimed in the gospel, their lives were to be placed completely in service to Christ.

Hope was not about an admission ticket that allowed them to subsequently live as they pleased. The hope of the gospel was not about accumulating blessings like so many whose aim is accumulating wealth. Living their hope was not about sitting back in comfort, but becoming an instrument of Christ’s blessing to others. Hope for the Christian is that we might become like Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us. If we hope to spend eternity with God, we must do more than talk and sing about it. We must allow hope to invade our lives, “taking every thought captive to serve Christ.”

Judah needed hope to carry them through exile and give them a reason to live. The young girls of Jesus’ parable needed to allow the hope they claimed to determine how they lived. The Corinthian believers needed Paul’s reminder that bearing the name of Christ is much more than sitting on the blessings that God has to offer. Hope requires that we live in preparation and anticipation of seeing the faithfulness of God. How shall we express the reality of the hope we claim? Will we allow hope to alter the way we live?

—©2004 Christopher B. Harbin

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