Hope always has an expectation of some good which as yet we cannot realise. So hope always has a future dimension - something desired, expected and longed for. We trust it is possible and so we seek it.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
Hope is always about the good or some aspect of it. An expectation of some good which as
yet we cannot realise. So hope always has a future dimension – something desired,
expected and longed for. We trust it is possible and so we seek it.
However, hope is not simply about the conviction that things will turn out well for us or
others. It includes the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out,
which with deeper understanding, can still provide something of value and goodness even
amid grief and tragedy. So our Christian hope is not based on a merely utopian world but on
a better world that is worth striving for. What makes it better is how we relate to each other
spiritually, economically, physically, emotionally and intellectually in hope. We share an
innate dignity by virtue of being human. We are equal before God and each other and are
called to find some common ground as well as to seek the common good.
The source and end of our hope finds its focus in God the Creator. As source of life the
Creator can sustain life beyond the limits that we all inevitably experience in death. Most
people hope for some justice and meaning to their life, a reckoning and judgement as part of
an establishing of an ultimate and universal justice. Jesus’ stories of heaven as a wedding
banquet speak of the possibility of a deeply reconciled life which, while desired on earth, is
only partially realised here and finds its fulfilment in the next world. Without such hopes
much of life can seem tragic and even absurd. Yet the biblical vision of hope is not an
escapism into some non-material spiritual world, rather it is earthed here in generous lives of
virtue and creativity enabling us to hold onto the fullness of the hope to come.
Hope in all times
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he
die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you
believe this?”
John 11:25-26
The Christian hope is rooted in a God who comes among us “enfleshed” and incarnate
through the person of Jesus Christ. Our ultimate hope is for the restoration of all creation as
a new heaven and a new earth. Hope looks to the future but not by forgetting the past. Our
faith is built on millions of believers who have gone before us handing on the faith, sharing
the Bible, keeping the face and body of Christ alive through his teachings, life, death and
resurrection. They are what we call the cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). This continuity
from the beginning of creation, to now, and onto the future heavenly city is one of the golden
threads that the Scriptures weave together. Whenever and wherever we read the Bible we
are part of this journey. Our Christian seasons make this thread and this journey real every
year – the liturgical cycle speaks from what is already, to what is not yet. Liturgical hope
helps us live in this inevitable tension between the already and the not yet.
When things are going well this idea of hope is easier to understand and apply in our daily
lives and prayers, but not so when life is causing us much sadness and sorrow. We become
anxious, impatient, and frightened – we want answers and solutions to our problems and
challenges. We want instructions and signs to help us navigate difficult decisions and
situations. We want comfort and support when we cannot cope. When these do not appear,
we can sink into despair and be unable to live positively anymore. Hope can seem in short
supply when times are tough, and we want a quick fix to our needs. So we need a different
approach if we are to benefit from hope’s gifts and develop resilience when it feels absent.
In such times the Bible provides a richer context to enable us to experience hope anew.
