and to speak with you, for it is on account of the hope of Israel
that I wear these chains.
We aren't often called to wear chains for Jesus in this modern society in which we live. But would we? Is our hope something that can transcend this brief moment of suffering (cf. 2 Cor. 4:17)?
He received all who came to him, and with complete assurance
and without hindrance he proclaimed the Kingdom of God
and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do we let our circumstances slow us down? If most of us found ourselves in chains, we might still proclaim the Kingdom of God, but we probably do it with less assurance, hindered by our suffering. We would open our mouths to proclaim Jesus but think of our own suffering and the suffering of our listeners and imagine that such pain somehow makes the message of the Kingdom less believable. In effect, we think a truly good God would not allow such things to happen. We know Jesus is supposed to be all-good and all-loving. But how can we say this amidst the suffering and trials of the world?
We can do it if we are rooted in hope. Paul is willing to wear chains for his hope. He is willing to stand trial for his hope (cf. Act. 26:7). "And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us" (cf. Rom. 5:5). "Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold" (cf. 2 Cor. 3:12).
We hope for what we do not yet see. It is a hope which is grounded in the resurrection of Jesus. Yet w wonder why we live in a world where we must hope. We wonder why we don't have everything we need already. And our assurance wanes and we are hindered. But this isn't Christian hope. Christian hope is transformative. It is the ability to live in the reality of things to come even more than the things we see before our eyes. It is the fact that these realities are more true and more permanent than anything our eyes behold. That is why "our citizenship is in heaven" (cf. Phi. 3:2) we must therefore "seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" (cf. Col 3:2-3). We need to fix "our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith" (cf. Heb. 12:2).
This is Christian hope. This hope is not wishy-washy. It has genuine power to let us live our faith in this world. It enables us to proclaim the Kingdom of God without hindrance and with complete assurance. The chains of circumstance are less real than the love of the Savior. We don't need to compare our lot to that of anyone else. We no longer think of others as more qualified to preach the good news and ourselves less so. We hear Jesus say, "You follow me" and because of our hope we follow.
There is, after all, a lot to say.
There are also many other things that Jesus did,
but if these were to be described individually,
I do not think the whole world would contain the books
that would be written.
The King we serve is so great. He is deserving of all of our hope.
The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD’s throne is in heaven.
His eyes behold,
his searching glance is on mankind.
He does all things well and nothing escape his loving concern. Let us place all of our hope in him.
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