Hope in Scripture

A Necessary Tool

Hope has been a necessary tool in the toolbox of every child of God ever since things went off the rails in Genesis 3. At that time, God promised that he would send One to crush the Evil — some day. People who live on promises such as this are required to be people of hope. Throughout Israel's history, God's people struggled to direct their hope properly. Instead of placing their hope in God, they grew impatient and began to look to human kings and to the gods of the nations for their deliverance. The prophets continually called God's people to put their hope back where it belonged — in the God who had made and kept covenant with them. The prophets also painted vivid pictures of what God would do for those who put their hope in him. They serve, along with the psalmists, as powerful examples of what it means to live in hope.

In the New Testament, all of Israel's hopes are realized in the person of Jesus Christ. However, God's work in and through Jesus Christ came in unexpected ways and often went unrecognized (Luke 24:19-24). Furthermore, because Jesus' work is not yet complete and his kingdom has not yet been fully realized, the New Testament epistles continue to exhort believers to be people of hope. This hope looks forward to what Jesus will do in the future, even as it is grounded in what he has done in the past.

• Genesis 3:15, God promises to send one to crush evil
• Luke 24:19-24, Christ was unrecognized
• Ephesians 1:12, set our hope on Christ
• 1 Corinthians 15:19, "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied"
• 2 Corinthians 1:20, all of Israel's hopes are realized in Jesus
• 2 Thessalonians 2:16, God the Father gave us eternal comfort and hope
• Hebrews 6:19, 20, our hope is a sure and steady anchor of the soul
• 1 Peter 1:3, Jesus' birth has given us a new birth into a living hope

God as the Only Object of Hope

• Psalm 33:17-18, hope in the Lord's steadfast love
• Psalm 39:7, "And now, O Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you"
• Psalm 42-43, hope in God
• Psalm 62:5, for God alone my soul waits and hope
• Psalm 130:7, hope in the Lord
• Lamentations 3:21-24, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
• Hebrews 10:23, hold fast to the confession of our hope

Exhortations to Hope

• Romans 12:12, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer"
• 1 Thessalonians 4:13, "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope"
• Hebrews 10:23, hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful

General Observations about Hope

• Romans 8:24-25, for in hope we were saved
• 1 Corinthians 13:13, "And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love"
• Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen"
• 1 Peter 3:15, defend the hope that is in you

Reflections about Hope

Hope or Despair?

Well-intentioned preachers sometimes give the impression that the bright light of hope ought to drive away every shadow of despair. However, both human experience and Scripture (and the psalms of lament in particular) suggest that hope and despair can be closer neighbors than we might first imagine. Speaking on the book of Lamentations, Luke A. Powery observes that lament does not represent the erosion of hope but is instead necessary for hope. "Those who do not grieve cannot truly hope," says Powery. "If we don't weep, what are we hoping for?" Powery adds: "Tears form a pillow on which gospel hope rests. If hope is not tear-stained, it is not real hope . . . because hope comes despite and amidst our grief, not without it." (comments from a lecture delivered at the 2015 Festival of Homiletics in Denver, Colo.)

Hope or Optimism?

Theologian Miroslav Volf (with a nod to Jurgen Moltmann) observes that though English-speakers frequently equate hope with optimism, there is a significant difference between the two. Optimism looks for a better future based on what is or what was, while hope comes from "the realm of what is not yet, `from outside', from God." Volf writes: "Optimism is based on the possibilities of things as they have come to be; hope is based on the possibilities of God irrespective of how things are. . . . Hope is grounded in the faithfulness of God and therefore on the effectiveness of God's promises. . . . Hope can spring up even in the valley of the shadow of death; indeed, it is there that it becomes truly manifest. . . . Hope thrives even in situations which, for extrapolative cause-and-effect thinking, can elicit only utter hopelessness. Why? Because hope is based on God's coming into the darkness to dispel it with divine light." (from {{Against the Tide}}, "Not Optimistic," pp. 44-46) In other words, Christians may not have cause to be optimistic. But they always have a reason to be hopeful!

Lewis Smedes on Hope

In his memoir My God and I, Lewis Smedes makes several important observations about hope. First, Smedes notes the close relationship between gratitude and hope. "Gratitude is the pleasure of hope come true. Hope is the pain of gratitude postponed." (p. 171) Smedes goes on to observe that hope always comes as a blend of three basic ingredients. (p. 173ff) First, we must have a dream — a picture in mind of what things would be like if we got what we hoped for. Second, we must have a desire for our dream to come true. Smedes writes, "If your guts do not ache for what you say you hope for, you are not really hoping for it at all." (p. 174) Finally, says Smedes, those who hope must have faith — however fragile. As preachers seek to instill hope in their congregants, they would do well to consider how they might strengthen each of these three ingredients.