Dragonflies and Death

If you are in need of a good laugh let me recommend the Agnes Browne Trilogy by Brendan O'Carroll. It's been described as Angela's Ashes without the misery. The books are set in working class Dublin, beginning in the 1960's. Raw and earthy, with the kind of humor I remember so well from my own upbringing in the North of England, O'Carroll's tales are both evocative and skilfully wrought. The author weaves together such disparate themes as abuse and alcoholism, adolescent angst and adult alienation. Hidden within the humor lies one of the tenderest love stories you will read anywhere. The Irish seem to have a knack for moving seamlessly between pain and laughter, tragedy and comedy. If you can get beyond some of the foul language, the books are well worth reading.

Many things in the books delighted me; some made me laugh out loud; but several things surprised me. First, there is very little sectarianism in the story. One of the incidental characters is a Jewish businessman who has fallen upon hard times. His generosity is in sharp contrast to the callous violence of his son. But, in the narrative of the Browne clan, that son is just a villain, not a Jewish villain. I have no idea whether or not this is an accurate representation of working-class Dublin in the late twentieth century. Given the other prejudices that are given expression in the books, particularly the small-minded hatemongering of the skinheads, this comes as a surprise. O'Carroll makes his characters generally sympathetic to a family member who turns out to be homosexual (Agnes wonders when he is going to come out of the wardrobe...) but it is still a member of the family who almost kills him when he goes 'queer bashing.' There's a certain tension here. Sectarian violence is largely controlled in the Browne Trilogy, presumably for the sake of the story. The streets are, by and large, safe. In a society in which alcohol abuse is such a way of life, I'm not sure how authentic this really is.

Secondly, in the same way, there are no anti-British themes explored. The young men go to England to find work. One of them dies there, the victim of both the avarice of others and his own appetite for heroin. A mere fifty years after the Easter Uprising I would have expected more antipathy toward the old enemy. The 'Troubles' are only mentioned once, in passing. Yet this was the period during which the green of the South and the orange of the six counties of the North were both stained with blood.

Finally, there is no anti-clericalism either. One very serious nun is mocked. Her false teeth are knocked out with a convenient cucumber, which is no less than she deserves for her harsh treatment of the brood of children entrusted to her care. But a priest, working with the St. Vincent de Paul Society, is praised. Most of the major events of Agnes' life, and those of her children, are marked by the church. And yet the story contains scarcely any mention of the Christian faith. Whatever Catholicism remains hardly influences the Brownes. They lie, steal, cheat and fornicate without reference to a distinctly Christian moral code. They are hard-working and generous, and they are loyal to one another (although they also fight incessantly), but their virtues are not specifically Christian. As the story unfolds, we watch them adopting the values of a godless world. At first, for example, Agnes is wounded when Simon decides to co-habit and not to marry; later, she has no problems taking her over-sexed French lover to her bed. Perhaps the all-pervasive public religion of Agnes' youth has lost so much influence that, by the end of her life, the Roman Catholic Church is simply irrelevant and is therefore ignored.

An illustration of this is the attitude to death displayed by members of the Browne family. An assumption is made that beyond death there is a place of pure happiness, call it heaven if you will, that has no relation to morality, or to God. When Agnes suffers an aneurism and slips into a coma she has a vivid dream of her old friend Marion, dead for 25 years. In her dream, hanging between life and death, Marion tells her that in this secular heaven the bingo halls are open all day and she can drink as much cider as she likes. The only rule is that one cannot see from one realm to the next. Marion thinks that it is a stupid rule, and says so. Apparently one can also swear in heaven.

Earlier in the final book, The Granny, Dermot Browne explains death to his son, Cormac, by means of a parable. He tells the child that death is like a grub, rising through the water of a pond to become a dragonfly. All the grubs in the pond wonder what lies beyond the surface. Eventually, one brave grub volunteers to climb a blade of grass to see what is there, and then to come back to tell the rest of them. He climbs until he feels the sun upon his back and then, a wondrous thing happens, he turns into a magnificent dragonfly, decked out in yellow, green and blue. He cannot go back to tell the others so, instead, he flaps his four wings and flies away into the sunshine with a big smile on his face. "So you see, Cormac," says Dermot, "that's what 'died' is. Your mammy has become a dragonfly." (The Granny p.140)

It's a pretty story to tell a six year old, but it is also nonsense. Without the assurance of faith and the knowledge of the resurrection we have absolutely no reason to tell our children that there is a happy land, far, far away. And what exactly does it mean to say, as O'Carroll does on at least two occasions, that at death we become dragonflies? Don't dragonflies die too? Aren't thousands of them snapped up as soon as they emerge from the water, long before they can fly, smiling, into a welcoming sky?

Hope, without Christ, is empty. It is not much more than wishful thinking. It cannot comfort the dying, it cannot relieve the pain of those who are left behind. Sentiment can never be a substitute for a living faith.

I'm not sure I want to be a dragonfly when I die, but I do want to be with Christ. Wherever He is will be heaven indeed.

* * * * * * * * * *

The Agnes Browne Trilogy consists of The Mammy; The Chisellers; and, The Granny. All are published by Plume, a member of the Penguin Putnam Group.

My Way?

Apparently, things are not what they used to be in the funeral business in the UK. Increasing numbers of Britons are now choosing secular funerals, so the music being played is changing. Out are the standard hymns used for generations. In are selections deemed more appropriate, either by the dearly departed, or by those gathering at the wake. A survey of 30,000 funerals last year showed hymns on the decline, except in Scotland. In England and Wales it's a different story.

X Factor winner Alexandra Burke's cover of the Leonard Cohen classic 'Hallelujah' is proving popular, although many of us have never quite worked out what it's all about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsuXbkrA_AQ

Other favorites include Bette Midler's 'Wind Beneath My Wings,' Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman's 'Time to Say Goodbye,' and, most popular of all, Frank Sinatra's 'My Way.'

Secular humanity has also shuffled off to theme songs from soap operas. Even the music from the Shipping Forecast (giving weather related information) has been used. Somewhat more unusual choices include:

AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell,' Doctor and the Medics 'Spirit in the Sky,' and, of course, 'Another One Bites the Dust' by Queen.

It's interesting to note that the survey was commissioned by Co-operative Funeralcare which, at least in my experience, tends to cater for a more blue-collar or working-class clientele. There may, therefore, be sociological or demographic reasons for this trend, in that working class Britain has been distanced from the church for longer. Nevertheless, it's clear that thousands of people are dying without hope, or at least without hope fixed on the certainties of the Gospel. And that is not funny at all.

I used to worry, when I lived in Newcastle, that I was often asked to pronounce the assurance of salvation over people who had never darkened the door of any church and who, as far as I knew, had no relationship with God. I coped with this by adding a qualifier to the committal. I used to say, "Inasmuch as ....... trusted in Christ as Savior and Lord, we now commit his body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ..."

Now, it seems, I would be saved the bother. I could tell a few entertaining stories about the deceased, express some vague hope about something or other, and then close the curtain to the crematorium while a reality star sings a godless hallelujah.

No wonder Paul says that, if Christ is not risen from the dead we are, of all men, most to be pitied. But that is not the case. Because He lives, we too will live.

Where is our urgency in conveying this hope to a generation that prefers the ersatz to the real, that would rather warble "My Way" than worship the One who is 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life"?

See the original story at http://itn.co.uk/news/8dd23696acf9823b701b27b829bec105.html

The Right Attitude to Rain

I'm plodding my way through The Right Attitude to Rain, the third in the Sunday Philosophy Club series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith. 'Plodding' is the right word. Some of the prose makes Jane Austen look like a speed-writer. Actually, there are some parallels between the two authors, in that both deal extensively with social convention. Austen always has her tongue in her cheek, but she is still fundamentally positive. Although her characters can be painfully bound (for example, many of her young females seem to spend their lives playing the piano-forte, doing needlework, and waiting for Mr. Right), there's usually some point at which convention works in their favor. Austen challenges prejudice, but she does so with a positive attitude towards convention. It's not convention itself which she finds fault with, just the misappropriation of convention as a means of oppression (okay - usually by men). Austen wants the system to work. Fundamentally, she is a very moral writer; there is nothing of the anarchist in her.


McCall Smith, on the other hand, seems to have a destructive view of convention. His main character, Isabel Dalhousie, claims to be an empiricist, but she is nothing of the sort. She is supposed to be the editor of something called The Review of Applied Ethics. The book contains a number of discussions of ethical problems, usually when Isabel seems to be daydreaming. But the content of these discussions is generally superficial. It feels like she is playing at popular philosophy, as a rank amateur, instead of studying it as a professional.
What is particularly grating is Smith's habit of giving Isabel a hectoring high moral tone in all manner of situations, except when it comes to sexual ethics. It's like reading about a Calvinist Sunday School teacher from the Highlands, who is mortified by an accidental untruth, but who has no qualms about jumping into bed with her niece's ex-boyfriend. The almost total absence of Christian reference is startling, given the context. Isabel lives a very pleasant life in a beautiful, Georgian city (Edinburgh), but she never notices the churches. They have no effect upon her life. Her worldview is drawn from an environment which is not just alien to the Gospel, it is antithetical. The streets she walks along are named after the saints, but all other traces of a common faith are gone.


I don't find Isabel particularly believable. Her grasp of philosophy is too shallow to enable her to be the editor of a prestigious journal. But I do wonder whether she is not more representative of modern Scotland than many of us would care to admit. Just over a hundred years ago, a visiting American evangelist was asked to address an assembly of public school children. During his message he asked, rhetorically, "What is prayer?" and was amazed when the entire school stood and recited the answer to that question as it is formed in the Shorter Catechism. His astonished response was to sugest that they should all thank God for the privilege of having been born in Scotland. Today, the Calvinism that seemed so engrained in the Scottish character is ebbing like Arnold's tide of faith. It leaves a generation of Isabels without the moral compass that could guide them around the rocks of life and the shoals of mortality.
At one point, Isabel meets a lady from whom she wishes to purchase a flat (an apartment). The woman, Florence, is an ex-school teacher. She tells a story (which doesn't really fit into the plot) of a young boy with terminal cancer whom she had taught, and to whom she could offer no hope. Only the school chaplain had been able to reach the boy, because his creed had compelled him to love. Florence tells Isabel that she has tried, but that she cannot believe in God; and yet she longs for a faith that would enable her to share hope. The best that Isabel can do is to point out that she has known athiests who have been capable of expressing love. It's a poor substitute. Either Isabel does not understand the spiritual impulse, or she does not want to understand. So she goes back to her daydreaming and her poetry. Her life is rich, but she is unutterably impoverished. Which just goes to show that the mission field is not restricted to unpronouncable corners of the world; it is also next door; it drinks chardonnay and reads W.H. Auden, but without Christ it is equally lost.

Day 32 - Overflowing Hope

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2008

Overflowing Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

This is a benediction, a blessing. May it be yours as we move into another new year. May you face whatever the new year may bring, not with fear and trembling, but with hope and joy and peace – as you trust in God.

Often, it’s not hope that overflows as the new year gets closer. Sorrows are drowned in forgetfulness. The turning of a calendar is used as an excuse for excess. If only for a brief time we want to forget the problems that plagued us in the year soon coming to an end. We don’t want to think that those problems will be just as real in the coming days, that they will not have gone away.

In contrast, the Christian hope is not dependent upon circumstances. It is the same whether the market is up or down, whether your health is good or bad. There is nothing hopeless about the Christian experience. God, our Father, is both the One who promises the future in which we hope, and its guarantor. Our future does not depend upon Wall Street or Harley Street because our future is all about God. If we grasp this hope, then we can know the joy of the Lord and the peace which passes understanding. Trusting God, having faith in His purpose for our lives, enables us to face tomorrow with confidence and hope. This is His world. We are His people. We need not be afraid.

Grasp that hope as you prepare to begin another year. Don’t leave the baby in the manger. Don’t think that you can put Christ away with the ornaments, neatly packed until Advent comes again. The truth is that Advent never ends, not until Christ returns and the author walks onto the stage and the play is over. Until then, hold on to hope. May joy and peace be yours, this and every year.

Prayer for the Day
Advent God,
coming into our world in power,
making sense of the senseless,
bringing judgment and justice, mercy and love;
keep us awake to Your call, whatever the season.
And keep hope alive in us,
until You walk this earth again.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Day 31 - A Community of Memory and Hope

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

A Community of Memory and Hope

We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Thessalonians 1:2-3

Paul writes, not to an individual, but to a community. To be a Christian is to be in community. The values of the Christian faith require a social setting; that’s why it is virtually impossible to conceive of a solitary believer. We are made to be together. There can be no love without relationship; mercy is empty unless it is exercised; kindness cannot exist in a vacuum. Therefore, despite the individualism of our age, we need one another. Together, we are a community of memory and hope.

We have a communal memory. As we read the stories of the Bible we not only come across characters and situations that resonate with us, we also discover a history of which we are a part. In the story of the Exodus, we don’t just see a metaphor for our own flight from a cruel, godless world, we also find that we have been joined to the people of God’s choice. Their history is ours. Abraham is our Father, too. We recognize our place within the narrative of salvation. Through creation and the fall, the exile and redemption in Christ, God tells a story and includes us. As a community of faith, we look back in awe. When we read the stories of Jesus, especially when we re-enact His last hours in an upper room, we find ourselves bound by a common memory. The Bible binds us together. It tells us who we are.

We are a community of memory; but the story is not over. We are to be identified as much by God’s promises as by His deeds. We look back and see, in bread and wine, symbols of the story of our salvation; but they are also emblems of our hope. One day, the Church will sit down at the Great Banquet feast of the Lamb. Just like the changing year, our communion looks back in remembrance, and forward in hope.

When the Child returns, as our conquering King, may He find us faithful – living as a community of memory and of hope.

Prayer for the Day
Father God,
Just as You guided our spiritual ancestors
through the wilderness to the promised land,
guide us today.
When we face exile, bring us home.
When we rebel, make us restless until we find our rest in You.
When we catch a glimpse of Your glory, as yet unrevealed,
give us patience as we wait for the Day
when our hope will be fulfilled –
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Day 30 - Hope Holds On

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Monday, December 29, 2008

Hope Holds On

Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future.
But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house.
And we are His house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
Hebrews 3:5-6

God is like a patriarch, looking out over the clan that bears His name, overseeing the construction of a house that they will all call “home.” The clan is a household of faith. We call it “the Church.”

At the time of the Highland Clearance in Scotland, in the mid-eighteenth century, many of the noble Scots families began to disintegrate as emigration to the New World turned into a flood. The crofting system of farming, not far removed from subsistence feudalism, was abolished. Thousands of people were forced to leave the land as it was enclosed to form larger farms. Without a connection to the land, or to the laird to whom they had owed allegiance, many Scots found themselves crowding into cities. Only in their surnames did they retain their clan. Before long, the household to which they had belonged became little more than a memory. Within a few generations the clan system had all but disappeared.

It takes courage and hope to hold on to the household of God. On God’s part it requires His sovereign choice; on our part it requires that we remember to whom we belong. But what a privilege it is to know that we belong. We could almost boast of it, except that we have done nothing to deserve it. Like living stones we are being built into a house fit for a king. Like honored guests we know that we receive a welcome. It is not our surname that entitles us to call this house our home. We have that privilege only because, by grace, we bear the name of Christ. Hold on to this hope; don’t take it for granted; and don’t forget it. Through faith in Christ, we know that we belong to Him.

Prayer for the Day
Gracious God,
thank You for the inestimable privilege
of calling You our Father;
thank You for inviting us to share in Your bounty,
and for preparing a place just for us.
May we live forever within Your house.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Day 29 - Hope of Glory

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Hope of Glory

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Romans 5:2-4

Many of the Christmas carols we know and love speak not only of Bethlehem, but also of Calvary. The shadow of the cross reaches all the way to the manger. Even as we gaze upon the Christchild we weep, because we know that the shining brow shall one day bear the crown of thorns. The dimpled hands, when grown to manhood, shall be broken by the marks of nails. We know what is to come, and so we grieve for Jesus’ sake. Yet we would do well to remember “the rest of the story.” Christ’s suffering won our peace. We are reconciled to God by the sacrifice of the Son. Just as Jesus had to be born, to leave the courts of heaven and become a man, in the same way Jesus had to die. The punishment we deserve was placed on Him. By His suffering, the stripes He bore, we are healed.

What does suffering do for us? Well, it does not save us, but it can produce perseverance, and perseverance can produce character, and character can produce hope. Paul isn’t writing about any kind of suffering, including the kinds that we bring upon ourselves. The context makes it clear that Paul means that the suffering that leads to hope is suffering for the sake of Christ. As the long shadow of persecution began to stretch over the infant Church, Paul reminded Christians to use their suffering to make themselves cling to Jesus even more. That’s excellent advice. Suffering can make us bitter or it can make us better. Which will it do for you?

If we are refined in the flames of suffering, and if we persevere so that our character is purified, then our hope will only be strengthened, and our lives will come to reflect more and more of the glory of God.

Prayer for the Day
Holy Spirit,
power and presence of God in my life,
lead me in the paths my Savior would have me tread.
Strengthen me, so that I may endure all things by grace.
Keep hope alive in me, until I see my Savior face to face.
In the name of Christ Jesus.
Amen.

Day 28 - Hope of Resurrection

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Hope of Resurrection

I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.
Acts 23:6

Standing before the Sanhedrin, the highest religious court of the Jews, Paul defended his belief in the resurrection of the dead. Indeed, he said that it was his hope. Paul saw, in Jesus, the first fruits of the resurrection. Just as Christ was raised to life by the awesome power of God, so shall we, when the trumpet sounds, and those who have slept shall live again.

We have no real idea how this will happen. Our bodies decay, they return to dust, to the earth from which they came. Paul tells us that the bodies with which we shall be raised will be spiritual, quite unlike the bodies of flesh which we now inhabit. We shall, somehow, be able to recognize one another. We shall enjoy sweet fellowship, beyond the cares and concerns of this earthly life. We shall also enjoy the banquet feast of the Lamb. At the table of the Lord we shall celebrate and sing God’s praises without ceasing. It will be a huge table, big enough to accommodate believers of every tribe and tongue. In that New Jerusalem we shall add our voices to the angels as they sing, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.”

The hope of resurrection is not that we shall all regain our earthly bodies, and that we will sit around on clouds wearing wings. Some will be raised to judgment and to condemnation. But those who trust in the merits of the Savior shall be raised to life eternal. A hope that is too small, too parochial, is hardly hope at all; but a hope that heralds the consummation of all things is a hope worth singing about.

Prayer for the Day
Holy, holy, holy God,
save us from preoccupation with ourselves.
Teach us to have hope the size of heaven,
and to trust that it will be fulfilled,
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Day 27 - Hope Not Seen

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Friday, December 26, 2008

Hope Not Seen

For in this hope we are saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Romans 8:24,25

One aspect of Christian hope is the redemption of the body. We look forward to the day when our joints will no longer creak, when our backs will no longer ache, when our poor old eyes will rejoice to see the glory of the Lord. At Christ’s appearing there will be no need for corrective eyewear; we won’t need to squint to get Jesus into focus. When He comes, creation will cease its groaning and will be at peace.

What a hope! Those who have lived with chronic pain for years can look forward to a healing that will make them whole again. Those whose limbs have been shattered by accident or disease will move freely. Even the dead shall be raised, and shall rejoice. We look forward in hope to the consummation of all things, to a salvation that is both personal and cosmic. “Oh Lord, what a morning, when the stars begin to fall!”

But we’re not there yet. We have this hope as a gift from God. It’s so real we can almost touch it. Our God is so rich in mercy, so faithful in His love for us, that we are almost there. Almost, but not quite. Despite the nearness of the hope for which we strain, we do not yet have it in all it’s fullness. We have the assurance of salvation, but we will not see the full effect of that salvation until we gather with the redeemed and take our place in the “mansion” that has been prepared for us. Therefore, we must live in hope, looking for the dawning of God’s perfect day, waiting patiently yet expectantly for the promised gift that, one day, shall be fully ours.

Prayer for the Day
Lord God,
keep us on tiptoe, waiting for the coming of Your Son.
When He comes, may we be found ready.
In the meantime, keep us eager
to work for You and to serve others.
May Your will be done in us.
For the sake of Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Day 26 - Hope Made Flesh

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Christmas Day, December 25, 2008

Hope Made Flesh

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ, the Lord.
Luke 2:11

You don’t always get what you hoped for on Christmas Day. The socks may be sensible, but you wouldn’t be seen dead in them. Grandma’s cardigan may have been made with love, but one sleeve is longer than the other, and you’ve moved beyond sequins and bows. The video game was well-intentioned, but it’s for a game system that you don’t have, indeed that no-one has used for at least five years. Oh well. “Merry Christmas!” There’s always next year.

Meanwhile, up a corner, overshadowed by the tree, the simple creche bears testimony to the greatest gift of all. There, beneath the plastic angel and the lop-sided star, within the rustic stable, amid the Spanish moss, with arms outstretched the Child of wonder lies, the symbol of salvation, and the source of our hope.

The creche is only a symbol. It bears little relation to the reality of a cow byre, or to the poverty that brought His mother to such extremes. It has been sanitized to make it suitable for children; in its retelling for two thousand years the story has lost its raw immediacy. Nevertheless, the coming of the Christmas Child is significant beyond our dreams. In this Child, God broke into our world. By His Advent, Christ identified with our condition. By His teaching, Christ revealed the heart of God. By His sinless life and sacrificial death, Christ opened up a new and living way back to the God for whose embrace we had longed. By His resurrection, Christ proved that His claims were true, and that God had not finished with our world.

So, today, pause and give thanks. You may not have got what you wanted, but God has given you what you really need. Christ is come. Hallelujah.

Prayer for the Day
Child of hope we praise You,
for into a dark and weary world
You came as the bearer of light.
Illumine our hearts today.
Bless us, again, with the warmth of Your presence
and the power of Your saving love.
For Your name’s sake.
Amen.

Day 25 - Faith, Hope, Love

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Faith, Hope, Love

We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints –
the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven.
Colossians 1:4,5

What do you want for Christmas? How about three virtues – faith, hope, and love! Wherever the Gospel is proclaimed, wherever Christians seek to live out that Gospel, these three virtues should always be found. In I Corinthians 13, Paul tells us that love is the greatest of the three, but in truth they are all important, all interdependent.

Writing to the Colossian Christians, Paul gives thanks for their “faith in Christ Jesus.” He is grateful that they have put their trust in Christ. Trust opens the door of salvation. When we have admitted our need, repented of our sin, and accepted Christ as Savior and Lord, then it is faith that saves us. But we are to take no credit for our faith. All we do is to open our empty hands to receive what God longs to give.

And then there is love. For the Christian, love always has the aroma of sacrifice. I love most perfectly when I give myself to another, without thought for self, or for reward. Love cannot be self-serving. Love gives the best that it has for the sake of another. Who could be a better example of this self-giving love than Jesus? He gave Himself, going as far as the cross for us. He died, an act of love for the unlovely, in order to reconcile us to the Father. As John reminds us (I John 3:11), this is how Christians should love.

Hope, which is laid up for us in heaven, completes the trinity of Christian virtues. According to Paul, hope is not the reward for our faith and love, it is their source. Our settled certainty in the character, purposes, and promises of God enables us to have faith in Christ, and to share with one another the precious gift of love.

Prayer for the Day
Holy God,
this we believe: that when all else fails
these three shall remain – faith, hope, and love.
May our hope be grounded in Your Word;
may our faith be centered on Your Son;
and may our love reach out to all,
this holy night, and always.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Day 24 - Purified by Hope

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Purified by Hope

We are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
I John 3:2,3

The oldest trick in the book is to drive a wedge between what we believe and how we behave. Christian history is littered with groups that have tried to twist Scripture in order to justify sin. Often the argument has gone along these lines: I have been saved by grace; my sins have been forgiven; therefore it doesn’t matter what I do. Even Paul has to counter this argument in Romans 5 and 6. Just because grace abounds it doesn’t follow that sin must also abound. If we follow Christ we must do our best to live according to His will, as revealed in Scripture.

John reminds his readers that, one day, we shall see Christ “as He is.” He doesn’t get involved in idle speculation about the where, when, and how of Christ’s appearing. All John tells us is that, when that day dawns, we will reflect His holiness. That’s why it’s important for us to seek holiness today, to strive for moral purity in all things. We won’t achieve it, because we still have feet of clay; but we can look forward to the day when, with unsullied sight, we shall see our Savior’s face. It is because we have confidence in God’s promises that our hope motivates our quest for purity.

Some of the excuses are going to sound pretty hollow when they are made before God’s judgment seat. How much better to have lived in hope, and to have sought to be pure in heart, so that we might see God (Matthew 5:8).

Prayer for the Day
Merciful God,
without Your forgiveness, who could stand?
Without Your Word, who would know how to live?
Without Your Spirit, who could hope to be pure?
Guide us in Your ways; our hope is in You.
In the name of Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Day 23 - Hope Bears Testimony

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Monday, December 22, 2008

Hope Bears Testimony

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
I Peter 3:15

Everyone knows that a Scout must “Be prepared!” At one time this meant always carrying a pocket knife with which to perform important duties, like removing stones from horses hooves. Nowadays, however, there are not as many horses in need of assistance, and carrying a pocket knife can get you into lots of trouble. Nevertheless, the advice is still good. To be prepared is to have thought ahead, and to have a plan ready for each and every emergency. Everyone would do well to “Be prepared!”

Peter certainly thought that Christians ought to be prepared. He believed that opportunities were bound to arise in which Christians would be asked to testify to what they believed. Some commentators identify the context of Peter’s words as the persecution of the early Church that swept through the Roman world. In this case, Peter was advising his readers to be ready to make a defense, to counter the arguments of those who wanted to accuse Christians of blasphemy or treason. Other commentators think that Peter is simply refering to conversations that might arise at home or at work. It is as if Peter assumes that Christians will be identifiable by their manner of life, and that others will be curious to know what makes Christians different.

Hope is what makes Christians different. We know that our covenant God has a future in store for us, and that because He has promised it, that future is secure. Since we are assured of our salvation we are at liberty to live without fear, trusting God in all things.

We, also, should be “able to give a reason for the hope that is in us.” This does not mean having a fifteen point sermon available for every occasion; it does mean being able to tell, with gentleness and respect, the story of how Christ claimed us, of how we came to be people of hope.

Prayer for the Day
Awesome God,
our relationship is so personal that, at times,
I have made it a private affair.
I have failed to share with others
how much You mean to me.
Take my trembling lips, Lord, and let them work for You.
For Jesus’ sake.
Amen.

Day 22 - Hopeless Without God

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Hopeless Without God

Formerly… you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
Ephesians 2:12

There must be few things worse than being without a land to call home. Displaced by war or famine the refugee can spend years trying to put down roots and still not succeed. Not able to go home, he is often despised in the land of refuge. Without the rights and privileges of citizenship he seems fated to wander forever. He is a foreigner. He is excluded. He is without hope.

That’s what we once were. We may have forgotten the experience, grown used to the benefits we enjoy, but we were not born as citizens of the Kingdom of God. We were not members of the household of Israel. We were spiritual refugees, longing for acceptance and home. We were hopeless; but we also knew that we could do nothing to change our lot. We were also powerless, without hope and without God.

“But then,” continues Paul, “in Christ, you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13). When we were without a prayer, God sent Jesus. That’s the irony of the incarnation. God sent a child, born in a stable far from home, in order to give us the privilege of belonging. Christ left His Father’s side in order to open the gates of paradise for us. He emptied Himself so that we might be filled; He was made poor so that we might be rich in the things of God. Through His blood, Jesus has made us children of the covenants of the promise. Excluded no longer, we are included among the number of His people. By grace, through faith, we now belong; and we have hope.

Prayer for the Day
Merciful God,
always faithful in Your love for us,
thank You that now we have been engrafted
into the vine of Israel, and are inheritors of the promise.
Help us to draw all who will come
into Your welcoming embrace.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Day 21 - False Hope

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Saturday, December 20, 2008

False Hope


He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me; I’ll always be happy and never have trouble.”
Psalm 10:6

Snake oil still sells well, even though it’s only colored water with no curative powers whatsoever. We still fall for the confidence trickster. In a way, we’re happy to do so. When he promises that his cure-all will get rid of everything from bad breath to bunions we want to believe him. When we are struggling to stop smoking or to lose weight, he gives us hope. It may not last long. In our hearts we recognize that his patent potion is not going to work; but we still buy it.

The trouble with false hope is that it prevents us from dealing with what really needs to be done. If a habit is killing us we don’t need another useless panacea, we need to quit the habit. Self-deception is fairly harmless most of the time, in fact it’s one of the things that helps us to cope; but when self-deception becomes neglect then it can turn deadly. Snake oil won’t cure gangrene. False hope won’t cure sin.

Scripture deals harshly with those who peddle snake oil. Psalm 10 tells us that they are their own worst victims. Not only do they prey upon others, they also end up believing their own nonsense. They look for security where none is to be found. They think they are immune from the cares of the world. Nothing can touch them. They will “always be happy and never have trouble.” Not so, says Proverbs 10:28, “the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.” Snake oil has zero value. False hopes are worth about the same.

In contrast, those whose hopes are grounded in God may endure suffering for the moment, but their eternities are secure in Christ. The same verse in Proverbs tells us that “the prospect of the righteous is joy.” We rejoice when we know the security of a right relationship with God, when our sins are forgiven, when we know ourselves to be at peace. Christ is the only cure. Snake oil is no substitute for the Savior.

Prayer for the Day
Lord Christ,
keep us from the fear that paralyses;
don’t let us be deceived.
Instead, come with all Your healing powers
to cure our ills and make us whole again.
For Your love’s sake.
Amen.

Day 20 - Hope in the Fulness of the Spirit

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Friday, December 19, 2008

Hope in the Fulness of the Spirit

Here is my Servant, whom I uphold, my Chosen One in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on Him and He will bring justice to the nations.
Isaiah 42:1

When the prophets looked forward to the coming of God’s Chosen One, the Messiah, they did so in the hope that He would usher in a day when God’s Spirit would fall upon His people in power. They longed for the day when the Spirit would not be limited to the few, but available to all. When He came, the Messiah would not only be the One on whom the fulness of the Spirit rested, He would also be the bearer of the fulness of the Spirit to others. God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. This was to be one of the signs of the end of the age, the inauguration of the Kingdom of God. Those who had waited so long would know God’s presence by His Spirit in their lives. This was their hope.

In the synagogue, in Nazareth, Jesus applied Isaiah’s words to His ministry (Luke 4), declaring that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, and that He had been appointed to preach good news to the poor. Mary remembered the promise of the Spirit (Luke 1). Paul looked back at the resurrection and declared that it was by the Spirit’s power that Christ had been raised (Romans 1).

Yet Jesus was not only anointed, He was also the bearer of the Spirit. He would give “streams of living water.” And, when He had ascended to be with His Father, He would send the Holy Spirit upon the Church. At Pentecost the promised gift finally fell. In this sense, also, Jesus is the source of our hope. He fulfills prophecy. He is the Anointed One, but He is also the mediator of God’s presence by His Spirit today. God’s plan continues to unfold; His Kingdom advances; hope lives.

Prayer for the Day
Holy Spirit,
promised gift of the Risen Savior,
come into our hearts today.
Fill us with Your fulness.
Help us to love with a devotion
beyond our ability to give,
and to serve with the hands of Jesus.
In His name.
Amen.

Day 19 - Hope as an Anchor

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Hope as an Anchor

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.
Hebrews 6:19,20

Today, no less than in the days of sail, an anchor is a necessity for any sea-going vessel. Without an anchor to secure it, a ship can easily be blown upon rocks or reefs, sandbanks or shoals. Especially when stationery, a ship needs an anchor to secure its position and to prevent it from drifting into danger. Properly secured on a rocky sea bed, an anchor keeps a ship safe.

Hope is an anchor. When secured in the rock-solid promises of God, hope keeps us safe. We may be battered by the winds of change, threatened by the reffs and shoals of destruction, but if we are “fastened to the Rock which cannot move” we are “grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.”

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews sees that hope in the priestly function of Jesus. The imagery is unfamiliar to us, but would have been obvious to the letter’s original recipients. When Jesus enetered “behind the curtain” He entered, figuratively, into the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary of the Temple in Jerusalem. Only the High Priest could enter this room, and then only once a year. Jesus entered the Holy of Holies when He offered His life as an atonement for our sins. Unlike the High Priest, Jesus did not leave. Now, Jesus sits “at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3) and remains there as the guardian of our souls. Those souls are anchored within the inner sanctuary, and Jesus stands guard over them. That’s why we can say that we have an anchor that will not fail.

Hope, therefore, for the Christian, is sure and certain because it depends, ultimately, not upon us but upon the finished work of Christ. Without Him, there could be no salvation; with Him, our eternal hope is secure.

Prayer for the Day
Lord Christ,
by Your passion and death You overcame
the power of death and death’s domain;
by Your rising again You proved that Yours is the power,
and the glory forever.
We trust in You.
For Your love’s sake.
Amen.

Day 18 - Hope Unashamed

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Hope Unashamed

Uphold me according to Thy Word, that I may live; and let me not be ashamed of my hope.
Psalm 119:116 (KJV)

Around the water cooler, when talk turns to the weekend, it can be hard to hide. Suzie went water skiing with her friends; Mike went to see his parents; Becky stayed home and worked in the yard. What did you do? The truth is that on Saturday you took some members of the youth group to a Christian concert, and on Sunday you were in worship, but can you say that? How do you respond? “Oh, I did the usual.” Has it come to this, that in order to maintain a relationship with your co-workers you must be economical with the truth when it comes to speaking of Christ? What matters most? Be careful or, one day, God may be too ashamed to acknowledge you!

When we are ashamed of something it is usually because we feel guilty. We are embarrassed to admit that we have been involved. We want to say that we have moved on from such things, that they no longer have any control over us. That may be how things once were, but now we are different. Is that really how we want to explain away our relationship with Christ? Would we not prefer to say, with Paul, that we are “not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

We need never be ashamed of the hope that is in us – though we may be ashamed of living lives inconsistent with the Gospel. The way to avoid this situation is to ask God to uphold you by His Word. When the Word of God dwells in you richly, permeating every aspect of your character, then the conversations around the water cooler will be markedly different.

Prayer for the Day
Lord God,
teach me to live gently yet openly with others,
modeling both humility and integrity;
then I will never have occasion to deny what I believe,
and I will never be ashamed of my hope.
Through Christ my Lord.
Amen.

Day 17 - Hope in God's Word

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Hope in God’s Word

My soul faints with longing for Your salvation, but I have put my hope in Your Word.
Psalm 119:81

One of the things you learn as a child, which can come as quite a shock to the system, is that Daddy doesn’t always keep his word. Daddy may have promised to take you to the zoo on Saturday, but something came up and he couldn’t make it. You complain, but it does you no good. The priorities of children are not always the priorities of their parents. Eventually, you discover that, for many people, “promises and pie crusts are made to be broken.” Few and far between are those whose word is their bond. Friendships and feelings, rules and relationships are cast aside when our priorities change. What I want usually trumps what I promised.

Is God like that? The great sadness, for some people, is the abandonment of child-like faith that begins in adolescence and reaches full-force in adulthood. When we fashion God in our own image we end up projecting our failures onto Him. Since we break our promises, we reason, so must He. And a god who breaks his word is not a god who deserves to be worshipped. A fickle deity promises the earth, then becomes distracted. His priorities are not ours. Like Daddy and the zoo, this god leaves us high and dry. How can we place our hope in such a god?

The truth is, we cannot. How fortunate, then, that the God of the Bible is not the god we have created. We may be made in His image, but the image is defaced by sin. We are not like Him; He is not like us! We may depend upon God because His Word cannot be broken. We need not be afraid that He will forget us, or cease to love us. Our hope is in His Word. And, in Christ, that Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.

Prayer for the Day
Lord God,
constant in Your love for us,
unchanged and unchanging,
we rest content in the knowledge that Your Word
shall not be moved.
Give us assurance of salvation,
and the gift of Your peace.
For Jesus’ sake.
Amen.

Day 16 - Hope for a Prophet

Child of Hope: An Advent Devotional

Monday, December 15, 2008

Hope for a Prophet

See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.
Malachi 4:5

Have you ever set your heart on something, only to discover, much later, that you were hoping for the wrong thing? At the time, you longed for a particular outcome; you were disappointed when it didn’t happen, but not as disappointed as you would have been, later, if your wishes had come true.

There were some who thought that, in Jesus of Nazareth, God was fulfilling the promise made through the last prophet, Malachi. That promise, to which faithful Jews held through exile, war, and the repeated occupation of their homeland, was that God would send Elijah, the prophet. In looking for Elijah they were hoping for vindication from God, who would act in fulfillment of their hopes.

At first some, even among the disciples, believed that Jesus was the great prophet for whom the nation had been waiting (Matthew 21:11). As His popularity grew, some of those who witnessed Jesus’ miracles or listened to Him speak wondered whether He might not be the one (Mark 8:27-28). From Jesus, they heard the themes of the end of the age, just as Malachi had prophecied. Through Him, God seemed to speak, powerfully and personally. Yet, He was not the prophet.

The Old Testament hope was not really for one person, but for two. A prophet would return in “the spirit and power of Elijah,” (Luke 1:17) but this man would be a herald. He would prepare the way for the coming of God’s Anointed One, the Messiah. When the prophet came his name was not Jesus, but John: John the Baptist. For centuries the people of Israel had hoped for a prophet who would break the silence and usher in the Kingdom of God. John fulfilled that hope; but the greater hope would be fulfilled in Jesus, the Christ. Truly, the hopes and fears of all the years were met in Him.

Prayer for the Day
Lord Jesus,
forgive us, when we have been too ready
to force You into a mold of our own making,
when we have failed to listen.
Teach us never to make do with lesser dreams,
never to stop discovering more and more about You.
For Your love’s sake.
Amen.