Sarah Jessica Parker
I recently attended a seminar on the doctrine of hope led by Sarah Jessica Parker. Seriously. She's wiser than we thought. well, technically it was a commercial for some children's hospital. Same thing, sort of.
Here's SJP's theology of hope: you hope the most when your condition is the most dire. She was speaking of children with cancer.
Do you hope? Of course you do. We all do. But in what? Remember what Peter once said about hope? That we should always be prepared to give an answer to all those people who ask us about our hope? (1 pet 3.15) Ever hear a preacher really condemn all those in his congregation who have never had someone ask them about their hope? Usually goes something like, "If you've never given anyone a reason, it's likely because no one is asking you! And there is a reason for that!" The last bit is usually delivered with teeth clenched and brow furrowed.
How do we learn to hope? Seriously. No flippant "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" will suffice here. Hope is easier grasped when one is desperately flailing about, frantic for a solution. Hope is much less a concern when everyone is well, all my needs are taken care of, and it seems God likes me today.
Hope is tricky for the modern Christian. It is supposed to be one of the bedrocks of our faith, and i fear that for many of us (translate me) if it were suddenly destroyed it might take weeks to notice its absence. How do we learn to hope beyond anything else in something that we cannot fathom. I sometimes feel it is like condemning a 3-year-old for not looking past Christmas and to the merits of owning his own business. He may be able to concieve of adulthood as a time of a later bedtime and all the ice cream he could ever want, but a 3 year old cannot truly place his hope something that he has no frame of reference for.
How do we hope in what we do not know? Which brings us back to Christianity 101--faith in the unseen God. Then again, this is the exact nature of hope, for who hopes in what is already seen? Expecting anything else would be like expecting my orange to taste like peanut butter.
Where does this leave us? Hope is hard. Hope does not come by accident. Hope does not come to those who do not recognize the peril of their situation (thank you SJP). I guess we figure out the rest as we go.
oh, one more thing: hope does not disapoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
I recently attended a seminar on the doctrine of hope led by Sarah Jessica Parker. Seriously. She's wiser than we thought. well, technically it was a commercial for some children's hospital. Same thing, sort of.
Here's SJP's theology of hope: you hope the most when your condition is the most dire. She was speaking of children with cancer.
Do you hope? Of course you do. We all do. But in what? Remember what Peter once said about hope? That we should always be prepared to give an answer to all those people who ask us about our hope? (1 pet 3.15) Ever hear a preacher really condemn all those in his congregation who have never had someone ask them about their hope? Usually goes something like, "If you've never given anyone a reason, it's likely because no one is asking you! And there is a reason for that!" The last bit is usually delivered with teeth clenched and brow furrowed.
How do we learn to hope? Seriously. No flippant "faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" will suffice here. Hope is easier grasped when one is desperately flailing about, frantic for a solution. Hope is much less a concern when everyone is well, all my needs are taken care of, and it seems God likes me today.
Hope is tricky for the modern Christian. It is supposed to be one of the bedrocks of our faith, and i fear that for many of us (translate me) if it were suddenly destroyed it might take weeks to notice its absence. How do we learn to hope beyond anything else in something that we cannot fathom. I sometimes feel it is like condemning a 3-year-old for not looking past Christmas and to the merits of owning his own business. He may be able to concieve of adulthood as a time of a later bedtime and all the ice cream he could ever want, but a 3 year old cannot truly place his hope something that he has no frame of reference for.
How do we hope in what we do not know? Which brings us back to Christianity 101--faith in the unseen God. Then again, this is the exact nature of hope, for who hopes in what is already seen? Expecting anything else would be like expecting my orange to taste like peanut butter.
Where does this leave us? Hope is hard. Hope does not come by accident. Hope does not come to those who do not recognize the peril of their situation (thank you SJP). I guess we figure out the rest as we go.
oh, one more thing: hope does not disapoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
posted by Tim at 6:38 AM
1 Comments:
I was listening to Charles Stanley this am on the drive to work.He said faith grows with obedience.As we obey more,we grow in trust.
Even when we fail,we come right back and confess and recommit to obedience,hence the faith and trust grow!
How simple,how powerful
Commit to confess and obey in every area = faith=hope
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