Last Saturday it was a wedding. Next Monday it is a funeral. What do the two have in common? Both are filled with hope. The wedding takes a couple of mid-aged people and tries to join them and some teenage and older children into a single family unit. It takes hope to even try such a thing. The funeral takes a family who is devastated by tragedy and grasping at hope, hope that there is a future, hope that God is merciful, hope that tragedy won't strike others.
Why is it that when faced with the need for hope humans turn to religion, in this case Christian religion? Why do they think that hope is available for them?
More importantly, what does the Christian church in 2011 have to offer humans who are daily beset with tragedy: tornadoes, floods, lightning strikes, bullets, cars? The list goes on. The message of the church may be on sin and forgiveness, often tempered with a change of living. But why do individuals turn to the church? Does the church of 2011 practice hope?
Paul did say, "But now, Faith, Hope and Love remain, these three things: But love is the greatest of these." (1 Cor 13:13). The Church is to practice love. That message is clear. The church is to demonstrate Faith. That seems apparent. Where is the teaching on Hope today?
