Hope in him our shining light

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God (Romans 5:1,2 NRSV).

Since being installed as bishop in 2013 I have written 49 Heartland columns for The Lutheran, 38 Heartland eNews, and five pastoral letters to the church. When I looked through them recently I found that one of their constant themes is hope.

Hope is what keeps us going – knowing our future is in Jesus’ care. That’s what gets us up in the morning, sets us about our daily tasks, and helps us sleep peacefully at night. Such hope directs us to Sunday worship to receive the Word of Life. It leads us in compassionate living. It inspires us to pray and it cures us of all sorts of hypocrisies.

If we allow the world to rob us of hope, we become the most empty of people, living in fear, close to death, consumed by anxiety, waiting for the next catastrophe to overtake us.

But hope floods the world with light. In the dark of night colours disappear, shadows multiply and we can’t see clearly. We are easily afraid, don’t know where to go and frequently trip up. In the light of day we see clearly, imaginary dangers dissolve and we know which way to go.

Every month leaders of our national ministries have lunch together for mutual support and to catch up on what each is doing. Recently 13 of us were around the fellowship table, and each gave a short summary of her or his work. I wish you could have been there to listen. The breadth of the LCA’s ministries across Australia and New Zealand is astounding, but this represents only the tip of the iceberg. The work we do simply supports local ministry and mission. That’s where most things happen.

What drives us to make such efforts? Why, when so many in our world live in fear of the future and some are even giving up on it, do we Christians continue to step forward so confidently? You, the people of the LCA, continue to be incredibly generous with your time, money and abilities. I am humbled to see the wealth of gifts of all kinds you are pouring into our districts, congregations, schools, aged and community care centres and ministries like Lutheran Media, which now has an audience of millions.

You don’t have to look far to find the reason for such confident commitment. As this issue of The Lutheran arrives you will be preparing for the coming of Christ through the end of the church year and the beginning of Advent (literally ‘he comes’). When he comes in his glory, just as when he came as the baby Jesus, he will be our Immanuel, ‘God with us’. Hope is ours because of God’s eternal ‘yes’ in Jesus Christ. Who, then, can be against us? What can separate us from God’s love? (Romans 8:31–39)

So let’s never give up on hope. Christ our hope is light in a darkening world. He is the way. We know which way we are to go. It’s the way home to him, our life and our salvation.