Hope, what is hope? According to Miriam Webster, Hope is: desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment”
Over this past couple of years, we have all faced challenges of some kind. Some were personal, others were concerning the world we live in and the community we are a part of. For some the feeling of hopelessness and depression were daily companions.
I want to share a couple of stories of hope that came out of the last couple of years. In Beatrice, Nebraska Jorja Boller has been a volunteer at her local nursing home, Good Samaritan Society and she wanted to do something to brighten their days. So, Jorja brought Peanut, her pony, to the window so the residents could see her. Robin Gascon, the director of marketing and resource development at Good Samaritan, said they were "so excited."
"They would see the staff come to the window and they would wave and you could tell right when their eyes saw the pony because they instantly lit up with smiles from ear to ear!" she told Insider's Zoe Ettinger.
There are many stories like these over the last couple of years. At the Zumbro Valley Food shelf and at South Troy, we’ve been a part of stories of hope as well. One day a single mom came and received clothing and food for her family when she didn’t know where else to turn after she saw the banner outside for the food shelf. Another had just lost her job and didn’t know how she was going to make ends meets- then she stopped and was able to get food from the food shelf. We were also able to pray with her and offer her hope. These are only a couple of the stories that we were humbled to be a part of in our community. Each of these acts of kindness brought hope to their recipients. Hope can turn a very dark time to one with a light at the end of the tunnel.
Easter is all about hope. For believers- followers of Jesus- Easter is culmination of all the hopes that God carries for His people. Hope is powerful. The opposite of hope is despair, which can paralyze us, but hope energizes and mobilizes us. Our hope affects those around us, lifting them up and lifting us up as well.
On that very first Easter morning, the disciples were huddled together feeling defeated, afraid, and depressed. They had lost hope. They had believed that Jesus- their friend was going to be the next King of Israel- they thought he was God- or at least sent by God- But as they had watched his life ebb away 3 days previously, so their hope had ebbed away as well. When 2 followers of Jesus were talking to a stranger (they thought) later, they said, “ We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago.” Luke 24:21.
It really should be no surprise that on that first Easter morning- it was the women that felt they had to go to the tomb first thing and rightly prepare the body for burial. They felt that Jesus was hurriedly wrapped and placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s grave so they needed to go and take care of it—they loved Him, and it was the last outpouring of love they could give their friend Jesus.
When they arrived at the cemetery- to the tomb- they discovered that the huge stone covering the opening was gone! Despite their sadness, despite their hopelessness, they brought the spices to the tomb. When they arrived, they didn’t know what to think! The tomb was empty—they were stunned and perplexed. Jesus body was gone! Let that sink in- they went there to put spices on him, rewrap him and prepare him for eternity a gift of love to Jesus through this last act… and their Savior is GONE!
Then 2 men appear in front of them- in dazzling robes. Not what you expect at an empty tomb! When they saw these men- they were terrified- they were experiencing something that they had never seen before! They knew these guys weren’t just men--they were angels- These guys had the women’s attention the ladies fell to the ground. They had an encounter with God’s messengers.
I love the angels question to them: “Why would you look for the Living One in a tomb? He is not here, for he has risen!” Why would you be looking for LIVING ONE in this tomb? The tomb is where we look for those other gods- those that aren't real- the statues, those made from wood, stone and crystal- those that neither hear nor speak to us. Muhammad can be found in his grave in Medina, Saudi Arabia, we can visit The cremated remains of what an inscription says is the Buddha, also called Siddhārtha Gautama, have been discovered in a box in Jingchuan County, China, but the grave of Jesus is empty!
The angels ask the women- why are looking for the Living One among the dead—HE is alive—He is real! Jesus had told them several times that this was going to happen. At the time, it was just too crazy to believe. They had no point of reference to turn back too. No one had been dead three days to rise and live again. They saw him brutally beaten, and hung to die on the cross- For Jesus to be alive was IMPOSSIBLE—wasn’t it? As the angels reminded them, they remembered, now… Oh – yeah—lightbulb moment- and extreme joy!!! Jesus is alive!
How important is the resurrection to our hope in God? It is what everything hinges on. Without the resurrection we have no living god to believe in. Paul put it succinctly when he said that if our hope in Christ is only for this life—that is, if the resurrection was a ruse, and we have been fooled into believing in a life-after-death that will never come—then we are “of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). The resurrection is foundational.
First, the resurrection is proof that Jesus is who He said He is and that He can do what He said He can do.
Second, the resurrection is our confidence that death will not be the end for us. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death (1 Cor. 15:26), but that’s only true if our God has truly defeated it already.
Finally, the resurrection gives us confidence that our King is still alive and involved.
The women at the tomb, and the disciples later-- Their hope wasn’t in a dead god that taught a good way to live. Their hope wasn’t in a prophet or an earthly King. Their hope was built on the Living One, Jesus Christ- the Risen Savior. They went beyond their fears and believed. They knew that Jesus was alive forever more- they knew that He would be with them to the end of the age, this Hope filled these followers of Christ and they in turn were able to turn the world upside down with the Good News that Jesus is Alive- Hope was born that first Easter Sunday! This same Hope is available to us today too.
Jesus broke through the barriers of death and the grave. He broke through the chains of sin and the pain of this world. Jesus is the hope for you now and for you in the future.
