LIVING WITHOUT HOPE
In the second world war film To End All Wars, Dusty Millar, played by Mark Strong says ‘You know a man can experience an incredible amount of pain and suffering when he has hope. When he loses his hope. That’s when he dies’.
The same is true even in peace time.
If you were told you were going to die tomorrow – or that your loved ones had a terminal illness – incurable – untreatable – would you still have hope?
We live every day with the hope that tomorrow will be better. We live in a world of dreams and desires, and retirement and holidays that make us hope. It’s these hopes that get us through life.
Foo Fighters frontman, Dave Grohl says, ‘I think it’s important to somehow instil hope, not just in our kids but in the world, because I’ve always considered myself a hopeful person. It’s the thing that gets me to the end of every day.’
Without hope who are we?
WHAT’S OUR HOPE?
Since we’re all different, perhaps another question worth asking is this – what are we hoping for?
Long life? Good health? Early retirement? The love of my life? Lots of money? A better job? A family?
All these hopes and more are future dreams that might last for a time.
And yet despite the hopes this world has to offer we know don’t we, that death will eventually end all our dreams – all our hopes. Of course, we try and prevent the inevitable from happening. But all delays eventually end in death.
Take away hope, and unhappiness flourishes.
ANOTHER HOPE
However, when it comes to Christianity this desire, this drug we call hope, this thing that makes us human is only the tip of the iceberg.
The Bible offers ultimate hope of a world where death can not touch you, evil will be destroyed, and they’ll be no more pain or tears. It’s a future that cannot spoil, perish or fade, because it’s a living hope centred on the fact that Jesus conquered death for us, so we might know everlasting life.
Jesus is the key to lasting hope of a better tomorrow because his life, death and resurrection provide the hope that anchors us against the darkness of death. Death is inevitable, but in Jesus – so is life.
That is what Christianity has to offer – endless hope instead of a hopeless end. Eternal life instead of inevitable death.
Christianity offers true happiness in the hope of Jesus. A happiness that still has to deal with the tragic realities of this life, but a happiness that transcends this broken world because it is anchored in the hope of the next. In the hope of a better tomorrow with Jesus.
