In this season of political campaigning, we are overrun with messages that tell us that one candidate and their policies will be “best for America”, “help the middle class”, “put more money in your pocket” and on and on and on. The basic message is that your future would be in better hands with me. Political campaigns are about promises, promises are about the future and if we are looking forward to a prosperous and preferred future, it is called hope.
Hope is a fragile and tender thing, simply because it is based on an idea, thought, feeling or belief about something or someone. If we have hope that things will get better, it is tested when we read that the stock market has dropped another 200 points and another bank is about to fail. If we have hope that a relationship will stay together, and we have another fight, our hope is tested. If we have hope that our child will grow up to be a productive, Christian young person, and they are found with drugs or become pregnant, our hope is tested. Hope is indeed fragile, but it is as strong as the source of that hope.
This is why, in this political season, I find it odd that people still place hope in the promises of politicians. Someone might say, “well that’s all there is to hope in, that one of these guys really can help make life better, get us out of the mess we are in”. Yet, we continue to find ourselves disappointed in some way or another in our government’s consistent failure to deliver us to a better state of life. There is one major reason for that… it is not the government’s job to dole out hope. They are trying to do that with promises that they may or may not be able to fulfill, policies that may or may not work and laws that benefit some, but not all of us. If our hope is placed in a man-made organization, run by man for man, we are appealing to something faulty and sin filled, to bring us the hope we are looking for to change our lives.
Listen to the verses below…
Psalm 146 3 Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. 4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish. 5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God…
The command is clear- Do not put your trust in princes nor in any man. Why? Because he one day will pass from this earth, and all of the plans they had will die with them, replaced by someone else with something else to give to the people– for a while. This passage brings to mind the legacy of Carl Marx, the person who inspired communism. For many years people followed his ideas, and they trusted in them to bring them a better society. His ideas changed the map of the world, led to the cold war and influenced several generations of people fighting both for and against communism. But in the end, his ideas faded away and now for the most part have fallen into disfavor.
The Psalmist continues with the focus of real hope…
Psalm 146 5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, 7 Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. 8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He turns upside down. 10 The Lord shall reign forever— Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!
The passage says that happy is the person who has put his hope in God because God-
- Is the creator of all things, and able to sustain that which He has made. That includes you and everything around you. Not to be too cynical or overly dramatic, but can I ask you, what has our government created? What have the promises of politicians and business leaders created?
- He keeps truth forever, a truth that does not change or need to change for that matter. While economic policies, foreign policies and social policies seem to change like the wind with events changing seemingly everyday; God’s truth, God’s character, and God’s policies do not change. God is trustworthy to be the same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb 13:8, James 1:17)
- God is able to actually heal that which is broken. If you look in the passage, God heals, feeds, helps, raises, loves and generally fixes that which is not right. Now this would be an empty promise, like we hear so much of these days, if God did not have the power to do all of these things. Hope is fragile if the strength of that hope is placed in something that is not able to carry hope forward. God however has the power to do that which He promises.
- Isaiah 46 9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ 11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it;I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it;I will also do it.
- God will reign forever- not a four-year term. God never runs for office, because no one can depose Him. God does not campaign to achieve power, He is all-powerful. God does not make promises for people to like Him, He expects people to love Him. He is God, eternal, ever-loving, ever in control. Hope that is placed in Him will never be crushed. God says that those who put their trust in Him will never be put to shame. He will never back out on a promise and He will not fail you. Can that be said of any man? Can that be said of any organization? Can that be said of any government?
I was talking with a friend a few days ago and we were talking about the role of the church in society and the “voice” that the church has into the world. I have come to believe that for the most part the church still has a voice, but it has become so mixed up, so muddy, that the world is not sure what our message is anymore. Is the church’s message a political/social philosophy in which we have to adhere to certain political positions? Is the church’s message a “warm fuzzy” to world, a nice story, like a fairy tale to a young child? Has the church’s message become one that talks much about religion, rituals, rules and romantic ideals?
When Jesus gave His orders to the church, the message that they were to spread was one of repentance from sin, relationship with the Father and the assurance of a future in heaven. The Great Commission was a charge to teach the truth of the gospel, lead people to have faith in Jesus to forgive them and grant them eternal life. Another aspect the Great Commission is that we are to teach them all the things that Jesus had given to them. If we don’t teach people the way of life that Jesus taught in the gospels, we are left with salvation, plus the ways of our world. It becomes a mixed bag of religion and culture… which seems to be what we have today.
The message of hope that the church has to deliver is a message of eternal hope, God’s hope. A message of hope that has not changed and will not change– no matter who is in the White House, in control of the congress, which bank get bailed out, how many homes get foreclosed on or who loses their job. Our message of hope will give people eternal freedom, eternal joy and a present help for times of trouble, a faithful friend who never leaves us behind and a relationship with one who has the power to truly change our life without empty promises. The voice of the church needs to be heard, but that voice needs to be proclaiming real hope.
God is a God of hope, a hope that does not disappoint (Rom 5:5)… a hope that allows us to look forward to a great future (Col 1:5)… a hope that allows us to deal with our disappointments, pains, sins and faults…
1 Peter 1 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
So this is my prayer for us as believers, that the church would speak true hope in these times. That the church would trumpet the call to the world that hope can be found, and not in a politicians speech, but in the everlasting God
Romans 15 13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
October 16, 2008 at 10:38 am
Above my kitchen sink is a big sign that says, “Hope.” There was a time in my life that I was feeling totally hopeless about something. I’d never been without hope before and realized it as being monumental. Yet, I didn’t know what to do about it. In the mail came a refrigerator magnet with the word “HOPE” on it from a friend in Alaska who I rarely ever heard from. That was God’s awesome way of showing me that he knew my heart, my feelings of hopelessness, BUT there was hope to be had. Because, God and God alone is my source of hope. Therefore, along with a crown of thorns, the word HOPE hangs above my kitchen sink to remind me.