because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Jesus wants us to rediscover our hope this morning. We live in a foolish world. It has no idea what happens to the souls of the just.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
We get infected with this viewpoint in subtle ways that are hard to recognize. But the result is easy to recognize. We no longer hope for heaven. We begin to live for this world only. But "If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied" (cf. 1 Cor. 15:19).
So we return to the hope that does not disappoint. It is hope that affects our lives here and now. This hope is the Holy Spirit. He convinces us of the truth of what we believe (cf. Joh. 14:26). He makes our relationship to God so real that we cry out, "Abba, Father" (cf. Gal. 4:6). He is the guarantee that our hope does not disappoint. In other words, his presence in our lives is how we know that our hope in Jesus is not like all of the hopes the world offers which lead only to disappointment.
We begin to trust that God is for us (cf. Rom. 8:31). We begin to believe in his love for us (1 Joh. 4:16). This is the love that Jesus reveals on the cross.
But God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
When the Holy Spirit changes our hearts so that we believe this we can walk through all the dark valleys of life without fear. We even walk through the darkest of the dark valleys, death itself, without fear. We know that our shepherd is with us and we know that he is good.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and his care is with his elect.
Our hope is full of immortality. Do we realize how good this is? Do we experience the difference this hope should make in our lives? Even if we do, this hope is inexhaustible. Let us invite the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with this hope today. May he transform us so that "our blessed hope" (Cf. Tit. 2:13) is the compass and guiding star for all that we do.
One last thing. It's a metric that shows us that this hope is actually having an impact on us:
Not only that,
but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.
We can't help but boast of the hope we have and especially of him who gives it.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
This hope is even better when it is shared. Today, we are reminded to pray for our brothers and sisters who go before us united in this one hope (cf. Eph. 4:4).
Requiem Aeternam dona eis, Domine
et lux perpetua luceat eis:
Requiescant in pace.
Amen.
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