Hope: The Horizon that Forms Us

2 The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation
    and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
    when dividing the plunder.
4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
    you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
    the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
    and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
    will be fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

—Isaiah 9:2-6 (NIV) 

Hope dies in two ways: we obtain/receive that which we hoped for, or we give up hope, and stop holding on, in faith.

Neither of these outcomes are the point.

We unconsciously think of hope as a road we’re on to a destination. And we can’t wait for the journey to be over. But like all the great stories, the journey is actually the whole point.

Let’s consider the birth of Jesus.

Despite many pastors exhorting us to remember the context of the birth of Jesus, the longing for a savior, the years of waiting and suffering, it is hard to put ourselves in those shoes. To empathize with bearing a history of faithful generations followed by unfaithful generations, and to be subject to the consequences of your forefathers. To again see your people oppressed.

If this is your history, as a first century Jew, then you are inclined to hoping that your generation might be the one to turn it around; that Mashiach would redeem your times and would see it happen. But for most, they never saw it.

Did those who hoped and died before Jesus was born, hope in vain? Was there no point to their faith? Their prayers?

I recently had a conversation with a new acquaintance who is Jewish. We were enjoying talking about the different denominations of modern Judaism. He explained to me that his choice of denomination had the most beautiful forms of singing. The songs, he told me, were traditional in their melancholic longing and sorrow. They lament the time waiting for Mashiach and yearn to be close to God in their poetic harmony of dissonance. I asked him why he loved this so much. He replied, “because it reflects our understanding that we need God and yet He is not here, yet.”

At Passover, prayers are ended by saying, ‘next year in Jerusalem, next year in the Holy Land.’

The longing, the waiting, the hope, is what forms the believer into a more mature and authentic follower. The hope, is sometime the point. The waiting produces holiness.

What is gained when we are denied our every request? What fortitude is built into our faith when it is sustained for years, decades? Think of the Biblical heroes who waited to see God come through. Moses, Sarah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, John the Baptizer, Paul, etc. Even Mary had to raise young Jesus and watch him mature and wait and wait for the time of His ministry.

So again, what is the purpose of this hope? What are you hoping for?

Are we hoping because we long for God? Or because we simply want relief from our pain?

Who are we becoming in hope? Isn’t the answer to that question far more important than knowing when our hope will be fulfilled?

Our hope runs counter to reality. Otherwise, we would look crazy; hoping for something we already have, right (Rom 8:24)? Viktor Frankl is known for his foundational work of Tragic Optimism, which in short is “the ability to maintain hope and find meaning in life, despite its inescapable pain, loss, and suffering.” (Read more here)

Let us hope while embracing reality. Let us bridge faith with facts. It is hope and trust despite, not in denial of, the circumstances that forms us into Kingdom-minded people. Let perseverance do it’s job, making us whole and complete (James 1:4). Let hope go unmet with gratitude, that in your faith, you are pleasing God (Heb 11:16).

May the horizon of hope be our ever-present goal. May it change us as we pursue it. May we know the Father in our longing and be known by Him. May we never receive what we are not ready to hold. May we become worthy and precious vessels for the Kingdom’s use (2 Tim 2:20), in the crucible of hope undeterred.

#hope #horizonofhope #christmas #newyear #holiness #spiritualformation