Advent Reflections: Hope 3

Lectionary readings for today: Amos 3:12-4:5, 2 Peter 3:1-10, Matthew 21: 23-32.

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

—2 Peter 3:1-10 (TNIV)

We have now looked at the two-dimensional basis for our Christian hope: past and future. Today I want to begin to address the “so what?” question. Why should the Incarnation and Second Coming matter to us in the living of our days? Just this. Christ’s death has done the impossible for us. It has broken down the wall between God and humans. It has ended the permanent alienation our sin has caused and given us a chance to live forever with the Source and Author of all life. We are free to live our lives in joyful obedience to this God who loves us passionately, and who has claimed us forever. The monkey is off our backs. We no longer have to try to earn our way into God’s direct Presence, what the Bible calls “heaven.” He has done that for us already on the Cross. Now we are free to love and serve him, to follow his desire for us to live holy and righteous lives, and seek to be like him in response to his great gift to us. It means we are free of fear that we may end up eternally separated from God (because each of us, if we our honest with ourselves, know deep down that we cannot live in the Presence of absolute perfection and holiness by our own merits) precisely because we believe God himself has taken care of the problem of alienation that our sin has caused. Christian living should manifest itself in doing good works and humble service, not because we are trying to get our ticket punched into heaven but because our ticket has already been punched for us, unworthy as we are. Christian living is living life in a joyful and obedient response to what God has done for us. This should make perfect sense. Think of a time when someone did you a great favor. What was your response? I doubt if it went something like this: “Gee, so-and-so did this awesome thing for me. In response, I think I will do things (or continue doing things) that I know will make him sad or mad or be disappointed in me.” Instead, when someone does something wonderful for us, our response is usually one of gratitude and thanksgiving. We work hard to try to please the gift giver, rather than behave in ways that will alienate us from that person.

Let me give you an example from my own life that I hope will illustrate what I am been talking about here. When I was a young man, I used to live my life in fear, fear that I never would quite measure up in God’s eyes (well, duh, ya think???). This produced not a small amount of anxiety in me. You see, I failed to understand that on my own, I never can or will measure up in God’s eyes. That is the whole point of the Cross; God loves me enough that he has given himself for me. Today I no longer live with that kind of unhealthy fear because I am learning to trust in Christ completely. I am not there yet and anyone who knows me at all will tell you I am no saint in the sense of being some kind of super-holy guy (I invite those of you reading this who know me to refrain from citing a litany of my, um, less than saintly “virtues”). This has been remarkably freeing in trying to live a Christian life. I try to please God, and when I fail to do so, I ask God to forgive me and help me to do better. But I also ask God to help me remember his Cross. In today’s Epistle lesson, Peter joins a host of other biblical voices that urge us to remember. Remember. Remember the Cross and how terribly costly to God it is, and be thankful. Without the Cross, we have no hope at all.

What about you? How does your Christian hope help you live your life? Share your stories and help to build each other up.

Tomorrow: Living our hope continued.