Abound in hope
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” -St. Paul in Romans 15
Last spring, our family visited our nation’s capital, Washington D.C. The Smithsonian museums were packed with people over spring break. You could hardly get up close to certain objects like Dorothy’s red shoes from the Wizard of Oz and the original U.S. flag from 1777 sewn by Betsy Ross. The Hope Diamond, named after its original owner Henry Philip Hope, had the most crowded room of all. It took about 15 minutes to see this huge, 45 carat light blue diamond, one of the world’s biggest. People were captivated by its brilliance, they had a hard time moving away from it. From the back of the room, I marveled to myself, “hope has a way of capturing us.”
That’s how it is with God’s hope. It has a way of capturing us, won’t let us go. God's hope came down to us at Christmas in an irresistible baby, and now in the new year we continue gathering around God’s story. We have a hard time moving away from the story of God’s deep and abiding love for us. It’s a love expressed
in a story centered in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and the hope it brings is meant to captivate us our whole life long. In fact, more than that, God’s hope comes to live in us. In you. That is what St. Paul promised when he said, “so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” You have been filled with this hope by God’s power.
In this New Year, know that God loves a crowded room, especially one coming for another dose of hope.
In a way, that is what worship is- we gather around the brilliance of God’s love and are sent to reflect that brilliance in our everyday lives. As you gather around the great story of hope, who is Jesus, be filled again and again. As we gather as a community, know that you are being transformed. You are a bearer of hope in this world God loves so much. Hope is a superpower, and you are continually being filled with it by God’s spirit.
My hope for the New Year is for you, Midvale, to abound with God’s hope; and for others to see the hope in you and find their place at Midvale. God loves a crowded room.
