3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. – 1 Peter 1:3
2017
2017 has been a difficult year. To say the least. For our church family, the year began with a funeral of a young man in his twenties. Despite multiple autopsies, the cause of death remains a mystery. He went to work one morning a healthy man with his “whole” life ahead of him. But he never came home. He leaves behind a young bride; widowed in the prime of her life. All who knew him were shocked. How could this happen?
This unexplainable death was just the first in a string of trials as we turned our calendars to 2017. Our church has buried other saints since. People we have had precious fellowship with. Friends we have worshiped with for years, even decades. Brothers and sisters in the faith who have exhorted us, and rebuked us when necessary. Real friends. Those who are willing to share your sorrows and your joys. We miss their smiles. We miss their faithfulness. We miss their prayers. How will the church stand when such pillars are removed?
Night
For our immediate family, the year has been dominated by my mothers declining health. Diagnosed with stage four cancer early in the year, her health issues have kept us busy and under stress. While we would like to lead our “normal” lives, it is awful hard to ignore the elephant in the room. It casts a shadow over everything else in our lives. Welcome to “night”.
My intention is not to depress you. I share this not because I think these issues are monopolized by me, my family or my church, but because I know everyone experiences such things at some time in their life. When they occur, I know how easy it is to become discouraged. I know how quickly we can lose our focus. And so did Peter. He wrote his epistles to encourage us in our trials and help us maintain a proper perspective.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life. – Psalm 42:8
Misery & Hope
It is said that misery loves company. But what is the benefit of shared misery? As Christians, let’s make ourselves miserable company to a pity party. Why? We are not defined by our misery, but our hope. While “night” experiences are common to all, let’s show the world how to sing in the night. Ours is the privilege of pointing others to the One who gives us a song. A song we can sing in the greatest darkness because our hearts are filled with the Light of the World. Our hope is in One who rose from the dead. Our hope is alive! Pity? As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians chapter fifteen, that would be our lot if our hope were only in this life. But Peter reminds us of the truth that Paul so eloquently defends. The resurrection is a historical fact. Jesus is alive. And because He is, so is our hope. No need to pity Christians.
26 But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.” – Mark 12:26-27
Resurrection
The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. In their ignorance, they questioned Jesus about the subject with a riddle packaged as a hypothetical question. You can almost sense the smugness in the question. If seven men had the same wife on earth, which of the seven would claim her as his wife in heaven? Their affluence and education was no match for God. In order for a syllogism to be valid, your assertions have to be true.
Unfortunately for the Sadducees, their’s were not. After addressing their misunderstanding about the marriage institution, Jesus used Exodus chapter three (Sadducees only recognized the Pentateuch as authoritative) to challenge their error regarding the resurrection. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Poor Sadducees. Denying the resurrection would have limited their understanding of God’s mercy.
Firstfruits
As we know, the resurrection is not exclusive to Jesus. Rather, He has been raised as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Our God is no tombstone. He is no graveyard sentinel. No!! He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Men who are not dead; but alive because of the resurrection of Christ. Jesus has blazed the trail. A trail not just for the Patriarchs but rather for all of Abraham’s spiritual children (Galatians 3:7). The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is your God. If you have placed your faith in Christ, you have a living hope. A hope we receive because of the mercy of God. A hope we have experienced. A hope we see lived out.
When we go to church, we are reminded of our losses by the empty seats. We are reminded of the reality of separation when we see the widows and widowers and others left behind. But these reminders are put into perspective when we witness and experience living hope. As we gather for corporate worship, what a blessing it is to see the spouses, parents, siblings, and children of the deceased lifting their voices in song. They can lift their eyes towards heaven and raise their hands in praise because their loved ones are still alive. Just like their hope. As Peter reminds us; such is our experience when we are born again.
Living Hope
Take a moment to dwell on this. Biblical truths are not just facts written on parchment with ink. They are not just bits of information we accumulate to make us more intelligent. The Bible is not just another book. God’s Word is alive and active. The Holy Spirit not only lives within us but He enables us to appropriate Truth; to live out the inspired Word. In other words, we don’t and can’t manufacture hope. Rather, it is a part of our Christian DNA. It flows through our veins. It is the air that fills our lungs. It is a hope no trial can take from us.
The Sadducees can have their tombstones; their lives with no ultimate hope. Their theology had no room for the resurrection. It had no room for angels. It had no room for a Messiah. Accordingly, they had no living hope. We will leave the pity parties for them and their spiritual descendants. We will continue to look to our God who gives us songs in the night (Job 35:10).
This has been a difficult year, but our trials will not have the last word. Death is difficult, but I have seen its sting succumb to worship. I have seen its pain transformed to praise. Rather than defeating, death has been swallowed up in victory. When we turn our calendars over to a new year, we never know what difficulties await. There may be an empty chair at your table this year. There may be the unexpected diagnosis. There may be a job loss. But keep your eyes focused on heaven. There is always Hope. And He is alive. Forever.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Our living hope.