Easter Hope

"For many people, there's a widespread, low-grade despair at the heart of everything. If we can tilt things a few clicks in the hope direction, that would be beautiful. There's nothing to fear...at the core of the Christian experience, there's resurrection. The story ends better than anything you can make up yourself." ~Rob Bell, GR Press Article, Sunday, March 23, 2008

Hope has been a re-occurring theme in my life as of late. In my work at the city identifying strategies targeted at troubled youth and homeowners in crisis, in the fractured international and domestic political climate, in the current economic downturn, in the lives of my friends serving and working overseas, in the stories of cancer and illness that plague family and acquaintances...the common denominator that exists among all of these situations is the need for hope. It is the critical first step in finding a solution, a salve, a method of healing. So long as there is hope, there is possibility and potential for more. For a future. For a better day.

This hope movement...I think it's catching on, and it makes me excited. I see it in the distribution of endowment funds at some our most prestigious universities. I see it in our media, on Sunday nights especially, as I sit here and watch shows like "Extreme Home Makeover" and "Oprah's Big Give." I see it in the generous giving of friends and donors at a fundraiser for an international charitable organization that my friend runs. I hear it in the testimony of the woman at church today whose life was literally transformed by the intervention of virtual strangers. People are getting the big picture. They're realizing that it's not just tuition, but the opportunity of a career that provides more than minimum wage. It's not just a home or a car, but the security of knowing one's family will be safe and protected. It's not just a check, but the opportunity for a woman to be vaccinated against an entirely preventable disease. At their very basis, all of these things are providing people with the hope that the next day might be better than the last.

As I come to recognize the importance of hope in restoring a broken world, it is here that I am also coming to recognize the true essence of my faith. For me, religion is not about rules and regulations, about creeds and doctrines and details that cause your head to spin. Religion is not about me being right, you being wrong, and proving my point in theological debate. Of course, there are things that I believe to be fundamental and essential, and to these I will always adhere. However, the good news of the Gospel is not that Jesus came to save only those who dot their i's and cross their t's in a certain way, those who look or smell or sound a certain way. Jesus came, and even more amazingly, died, for the whole of the entire world. Whether you do or do not observe Easter or believe in the power of the cross, it doesn't matter. Jesus still came for you. And the fact that He came, that He died, and that He rose again means we can have hope. The tomb is empty, and as Rob says, the story ends so much better than we could ever imagine.

For me, living a life of faith and attempting to share it with others is not about "converting" people. It's not a numbers game. Rather, it's a quality of life thing, and sharing with others about the reality of what life can be. It's about living with the knowledge that we can believe for the impossible, that we can strive for incredible dreams, that we can hope for an amazing, and dare I say, FABULOUS tomorrow. Because our God is big, and He has gifted us with salvation through the work of His Son on the cross, we can believe for and live lives of wonder and amazement. We have the privilege to be optimistic, to be "half-full" kinds of people, to trust and hope for a new day.

On this Resurrection Sunday, may we be reminded of the hope that we possess and the opportunity we have to share it. It seems that it is exactly what the world needs more than anything, and exactly the thing that you and I need many days as well...