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From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over."
Matthew 26:16

“[Peter] swore to them, ‘I don’t know the man!’”    
Matthew 26:74

“Be always ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you, but with respect and gentleness.”  1st Peter 3:15

I’m watching two Ugandan college graduates, wearing blue jeans and sneakers, move fluidly between tin shacks and dirt paths.   The poverty is staggering—no running water.  Open fires for cooking.  Single mothers trying to raise a handful of children on a few pennies a day.  Kids not in school—it’s not a hopeful situation.  But when Matsiko and Sara stop to talk, stop to hug, stop to invite children to their afterschool programs, I see eyes light up.  I see smiles. I feel possibility.  Even in blue jeans and sneakers, these two young leaders embody something…I think its hope.   

So how do people “get hope?”  Where does it come from?  How do I find it?  Can I manufacture it?  Pray for it? Catch it?  Learn it?  To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how this whole hope thing works.  Some of my friends might say, “Just invite Jesus into your heart.  That’s where your hope comes from.”  And that’s true on one level.   But I think hope is more than just making a statement with words.  Here’s what I have observed with children.  When kids lose hope their world-view begins to shift from one of promise and potential, to one of despair and even destruction.  Hopeful kids don’t join gangs.  Hopeful kids don’t sell drugs.  Hopeful kids respect their bodies.  Hopeful kids don’t drop out of school.  Hope, it seems to me, is the deal breaker between a life of productivity and meaning and a life that dies on the vine, never blossoming to bear the fruit it was intended to bear. 

Matsiko and Sara have not had easy lives.  Parents died at early ages, food was scarce, school fees always a struggle, but they kept going.  I believe they embody what the writer of Roman’s talks of when he claims, “We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope….”  Hope forged on the anvil of suffering allows our leaders to look at the children and the circumstances in which they live and say, “With God we can paint a new picture of your destiny.  With God you can live a fruitful life of purpose.  I know because I have made the journey.”  

So I watch our young, relevant, hip, faith-filled, forward- looking leaders dodge mud puddles and garbage piles so they can brag to parents about the academic progress of their children. I watch them “ready to give a reason for the hope” that is in them.  I realize that hope is a mystery and something deeply unique to the human condition.  Although a mystery, I do know one thing for certain—hope is passed from person to person…..even if you’re wearing blue jeans and sneakers.

Bruce Main
Founder & President, UrbanPromise

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
                                                T.S. Eliot
“Behold, I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
                                        Luke 24:49 

I find myself asking, “Do I create situations that give others a sense of hope?  Do I plant seeds of hope so that people live with a sense of greater expectation, a greater sense of anticipation, a greater sense of eagerness and passion?  As a boss, do I bring hope to this workplace, so my employees wake up in the morning eager to start, because they know their work matters?  As a father, do I do things around the house that make it a place that inspires my children to dream?

One of the great themes of scripture is promise.  Throughout the Bible we see example after example of God granting promises to various people.  Noah is promised that God will never again destroy the earth.  Abraham is given the promise that his descendants will be numerous.  Moses is assured that the “promised land” will one day be claimed.  Promises are given by God as a means of providing hope.  A life rooted in hope allows God’s partners to persevere in the most difficult of circumstances. (The Promise Effect, pgs. 55, 56)

Reflect and Discuss

Think about the people in your life who need hope.  The sick, the addicted, the grieving.  Students, mothers, laborers.  What message of hope could you deliver to one of them?  And how will you deliver it?  By spoken word or written word?  With a hug, a song, or even a postcard?

Do this once, to one person, this week.  Then see if you can do it again for someone else.  Find the joy of being a “person of hope” in your world.    

Pray
Gracious God, thank you for the gift of promise—a gift that allows us to hope for a better world, a better life, and a better future.  Help us to hold onto your promises when we feel like letting go.  Grant us the courage to move forward in promise, knowing that you will fulfill the promises you have made to your people.

“What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life.” 
Emil Brunner, theologian

That has been my experience. Young people with hope do not tend to join gangs, stay in school, or make decisions that benefit their futures. Older people are no different. Gangs are probably not a temptation for an 86-year-old suburban church attendee. But hope is the ingredient that gets people out of bed, encourages them to take their medicine, and gives them the courage to make needed changes. (The Promise Effect, p. 128)

Reflect & Discuss
Who do you know who needs hope? Think it through. Struggling students? Hospital patients? Shut-ins? Single moms? In your circle of friends, relatives, co-workers, and acquaintances, who is on the edge of despair?

Now, what word of hope can you bring? 

Pray
God, I ask that I might be filled with hope. I’m not sure how it happens, but I know the difference it makes in my life and in the lives of others. May the hope in my life encourage those who have lost their own.