Preaching Hope

Today I was at the office of a prominent Member of Parliament (MP) representing the people of Vancouver in the area where my church is. I was with my friend from Iran who is seeking to bring his wife and daughter to Canada after seven years of separation. Last night he had spoken with his wife on the phone, and she expressed hope that something good would come out of our visit, because today is the holy day in Iran (Friday is the Muslim day of worship, as Sunday is the Christian day of worship.) I don't understand how this all works among the faiths that believe in one God, but I do know that they pray for God's will to be done, and so do I. As we pray, our common hope is that this family may be reunited. I also know that my friend has a love for Jesus and appreciation of the church. Our hope today was that the MP would offer a letter to Canadian Immigration asking that this family might be reunited on compassionate grounds. As my friend's story was told, it became clear to the MP that more work needed to be done in order to convince the Canadian Immigration that my friend and his wife are married. A letter from an MP would not make a difference at this point. It is sobering to understand how serious the repercussions of an error in judgement more than seven years ago can be. This morning's hope may have been dashed, not by a dead end wall, but by disappointment and more work ahead. (Greater detail has been withheld simply because of the public nature of this medium.)

The girl praying in the photo above showing the place in which we find our hope. Our prayers to a living and loving God through his Son Jesus Christ are the way to the hope of the Good News that he proclaimed and lived out. We sometimes live with having been shamed by people in authority. Yet, in Jesus, our hope is found in the reality that we are in Christ, that we are in Christ's body, and the God is for us. We sometimes live with the guilt of our own sins. Our hope is also found in God's forgiveness of our sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus. May our prayers find their hope in the completed work of Jesus.

I am preaching on hope this year. So far, I have been leaning on Romans 5:1-11 as my text. As the year progresses, I'm sure that other texts will arise. I invite any of you who read this blog to tell your stories of hope and to share places where you have found hope.