Defending Hope

"Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you;  yet do it with gentleness and reverence." 2 Peter 3:15b-16 NRSV

Attorney to defendant:  "Is it true that despite all outwardly appearances, despite illness and continuing ailments, you still have hope?"
Defendant:  "Yes"

Attorney "How is it, that you can claim to have hope in the midst of all these diffficulties?  Need I name them all?"
Defendant:  "You need not name the difficulties.  I am well aware of them.  Nor do I simply claim to have hope.  I do indeed have hope in the midst of all of this."

ATtorney: "The average person would not be able to withstand this all and keep hope."

This is not a real court case, obviously, but the language of the reading intrigued me very much.  Since I am married to an Judge, one mention of making a 'defense' and the image of a courtroom naturally comes to mind. 

As we look at this fictitious attorney's line of questioning, I see a flaw in the argument.  First of all the people who read this blog are not average :-).  You are extraordinary~
The other flaw in the argument is the supposition that withstanding difficulties is what keeps hope.  I would argue that the attorney has it backward.  It is the presence of hope that allows one to withstand the difficulties.

What is vital in this 'defense' is the reality that hope does not come because of the circumstances...that's not hope.  Hope believes in spite of the circumstances.  So where do we find our hope? 

If I were to defend the hope that is within me, I would say that I have hope not because of anything I do or feel, but that I have hope because of who God is.  The One who makes the sun rise every single morning is dependable, even if I'm not feeling hopeful.  The One who raised the Son has a creativity and ability far beyond anything that I can envision...and that same God sees possibilities within you and me.  I hope because God is God.

It reminds me of one of my favorite hymns "My Hope is built on nothing less". The lyrics follow:

My Hope Is Built on Nothing LessBy: Edward Mote

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteous;
No merit of my own I claim
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
 
When darkness veils his lovely face,
I ret on his unchanging grace;
In every high and story gale
My anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
 
His oath, his covenant, his blood
Sustain me in the raging flood;
When all supports are washed away,
He then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
 
When he shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in him be found,
Clothed in his righteousness alone,
Redeemed to stand before the throne!
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
 
 
Hymn # 368 from Lutheran Worship
Author: John Stainer
Tune: Magdalen
1^st Published in: 1836
Oh Lord, ground our hope in you, and not in the sinking sand of our emotions or our physical conditions.  Stir in us a hope that moves us beyond this day to the possibilities of your future.  Amen.