I’m not sure how we developed the idea of "rank" among the Trinity. Probably because of the order they are mentioned in Matt. 28:19. They are all the same entity that we call "God", but we usually see Father as first, Son as second, and Holy Spirit as third. We get into real trouble if we imagine that one is lesser in power and authority.
We do, however, have scriptural evidence for rank among the three great virtues: 1 Cor 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity , these three; but the greatest of these is charity. Charity, or love is #1. It envelopes faith and hope, for if we do not love God and neighbor, we will not exercise faith and hope. Actually, they are interdependent. We study much on charity and faith, but it seems to me that hope is not the subject of nearly as much meditation.
Of late, I have seen the tremendous importance of hope, and I would like to sing it’s praises in this essay.
THE PIT
The place where I work has a lime pit. It is a lagoon where the city water plant deposits lime which is used in the purifying of water. We dredge the lime and pump it into large holding tanks where tanker trucks are loaded. They take it to spreaders which apply it in fields to "sweeten" the soil and make it more productive. We use a raft to move around and position cables to guide the dredge and position the pipes behind the dredge. We all must wear life jackets. In the case that we should fall into the lime, we are instructed to fall backward, spread eagle, and wait to be picked up. The worst thing we could do would be to stand, for the lime is like quicksand. We could quickly sink to a point between the naval and chest. At this point, suffocation happens because you can no longer move the diaphragm that pulls air into your lungs. People caught in quicksand are dead long before their head goes under. Even before that, an attempt to pull one out would dismember the body. Sometimes we must flop down flat on the promises of God. Help will come. The Spirit will move to rescue us. Soaked and muddy we may be, but we are moving again. A cleansing shower and dry clothes await if we make our rescue possible.
Sometimes the water is very shallow. The lime is piled almost to the surface. Therefore, the dredge does not power through the lime with a propeller. It has a bull wheel that pulls it at a steady rate along a cable which is anchored securely to the shore. A diesel engine turns the wheel and keeps the dredge moving at a snail’s pace, even through the shallows. Our hope is the engine and cable; and we have an anchor, that saves the soul. Steadfast and sure while the billows roll. Anchored to the Rock which cannot move. Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.
THE BLACK DOG
Churchill called depression and despair the "black dog". The "black dog" came and went throughout his life. It is not so amazing that a man like this could lead Britain through her darkest hour. It is not so amazing that he could say, "Never, never, never, never give up!" He had seen his own dark hours many times, and he knew that they did not last forever.
Long ago, the black dog came and sat on my porch. Then he moved into my house. Then he got into bed with me. Then he crawled into my head. Ministers deal with long stretches where they have a steady diet of dysfunction, suffering and death to deal with. It is no one’s fault. That’s just the way it is in a fallen world. Each ring of the phone would send a shock up my spine. Someone else has been rushed to the emergency room. Someone was contemplating suicide. Someone was on the verge of divorce. A wise elder gave me the best advice. He ran his gnarly fingers through his thin hair and said, "All I know to tell you, Ken, is just to keep working. Things will get better. I’ve been in this church a long time and these things always blow over." In other words, move on with the hope that things will get better.
Leaden sky, collar up, hands in pockets, hat pulled low against biting wind; my head was down because I was watching the Spirit move my feet. Through one hospital door after the other, up the steps, down the steps. The hope that things would get better was what kept me moving. And things got better, and the next time it got bad, the Spirit moved me again. Now I know He is faithful. When things get tough, He gets tougher. Sometimes He is a gentle dove; but if need be, He turns into a Pit Bull. The black dog is handily dispatched. I know the black dog will come again, but I fear him no more.
The black dog has run off. I have not seen him for a while, and I have carried the message of hope to those whom he has visited.
THE TUMOR
On 10 Sept. 2013, my wife brought to my attention that it was the 1 year anniversary of her surgery to remove a malignant tumor. I thought back on our saga with this issue; a great test of our faith. It has elevated the virtue of hope to a new level in my practice of the virtues, and I have developed a new respect for hope and a greater understanding of it’s importance.
From the time of the diagnosis, her doctors have not only been practitioners dealing with the physical aspects of our situation, but they have also treated the mental and emotional side, and their main purpose in these has been to give hope. The Stephanie Spielman center in Columbus, Ohio, where we have gone for treatment, is not a dark and foreboding anteroom of the doomed. It is a happy place. It is decorated with bright wall coverings & carpet, large windows overlooking the bustling city, flowers and balloons, and heavy emphasis on the word "survivor". The halls are decked with smiling, victorious pictures of those undergoing treatment. The staff members have continually given us statistics and probabilities; assurances of the low expectations for recurrence and life threatening consequences. Free cappuccino machines are everywhere. The patients who sit waiting, some of them in bright colored head wraps to cover their bald heads, are friendly, talkative, and cheerful. I enjoy their company while I sit and wait. I think this, as much as any of the other treatments, has done the most to help us weather the storm thus far. There have been many hugs, pats on the shoulder, and positive nods because the cancer was detected early and remained localized. The employees, from receptionists to doctors, radiate with hope.
Through this experience, I have also gained a greater respect for hope in our spiritual lives. Heb 6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: The Christian’s hope is solid assurance. Many worldly hopes can be dashed. Not the hope that we have in Christ. I know the answer to the riddle of what would happen when the irresistible force met the immovable object. The immovable object would prevail. God is the irresistible force and His promises are the immovable object. Since it is impossible for Him to lie, under no circumstance will He break a promise; therefore, the promise stands. Our hope is anchored in His promise.
Each 3 foot thick cable of the Golden Gate bridge is anchored into a 60,000 ton concrete block buried in earth. Even they could conceivably fail in an earthquake. When Jesus picked Himself up by His own bootstraps and walked out of the tomb, hope became anchored in that which is immovable under any circumstance. Hope is the fuel in our tanks. Hope is what keeps our feet in motion, continually putting one in front of the other. Without it, we slow down, finally stopping and sinking into despair. If we dwell there, our demise quickly follows.
THE SUBMARINE
I heard the story of a submarine that sunk in about 250 feet of water. The crew waited for endless hours. Hope of rescue was dwindling as the air inside became low on oxygen. Finally, the clanking of a diver was heard on the hull. In Morse code the message was: "Is anyone alive in there?" One of the trapped seamen ran to get a pipe wrench and tapped a code from the inside: "Is there any hope?" "Yes" came the reply. "We will lower a rescue chamber which we can attach to he hatch. We’ll bring you up a few at a time." Hope brought 33 crewmen safely to the surface. Later, even the sub was salvaged.
THE SONG
The late singer, Waylon Jennings, may be an unlikely source for wisdom; but he had a song that I have sung to myself over and over for years: "Storms never last, do they Jessi; Bad times all pass with the wind; Your hand in mine stills the thunder; You make the sun want to shine." Now I don’t know who "Jessi" is, but I know Whose hand in mine stills the thunder. He stills it with hope.
THE WEATHER
Many may see that hope is in the promise of Heaven, and that is certainly true; but I don’t think hope is only in Heaven. Hope is also in the fact that our condition in this life is much like the weather. Here in Ohio, weather changes rapidly. Yesterday morning when I got up to go to work, it was 43 degrees. Today we hit 96. The day after tomorrow the predicted high is 64. Sometimes in Winter it can be wet and gloomy for two weeks. Some days are so dark that the street lights stay on; but we know the sun will shine again. That’s what keeps us truckin’ through the fog. Things will get better. We must see our lives in the amalgam. When we do, I’m sure we will conclude that we’re not that bad off after all.
THE ABSENCE OF HOPE
I love baseball. In basketball or football, there comes a point before the end that you can safely head for the parking lot. In baseball, there is hope until the last putout of the last inning.
The poet, Alighieri Dante, pictured the gates of Hell with an inscription above: "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." To him, this was the most exquisite torment. No one will pay or pray us out of a non existent purgatory. Separated from God irrevocably. Abandoned to an eternal cauldron. Contemplating this makes hope the first straw I would grasp for. If someone would only promise me that it would last for just 1000 years; or a million; or a billion! If only someone would tell me that I would just go out of existence!
When we think of the absence of hope, the presence of it becomes immeasurably precious.
Practice Charity, for it is the purest imitation of God. Have Faith, for without it, it is impossible to please God. Don’t neglect hope, for it is anchored to God, and it will surely bring us safely through, and eventually home to Him.
