Hope vs. Hope

(If you aren’t a baseball fan, hang in there.  This is going somewhere…)

Growing up in the St. Louis area, October baseball is a common thing.  It’s an expected thing.  When the Cardinals aren’t in the playoffs, it just seems like something is off in the world.  Which is what we’ve endured for the last 4 years.  Now, I know that a four year playoff drought isn’t much for some franchises.  But in St. Louis, that’s forever. 

So, I am understandably delighted to see my Red Birds back in the post-season this year.  Even if they did get in with the worst winning record of any division champ.  Hey, at least they are division champs.  And that championship was due in large part to a number of late inning comebacks by this team.  It seems that no matter the situation, this team always has hope.  Which causes fans to always have hope. 

Yesterday was a perfect example.  They come down to the late innings behind, only to tie things up thanks to St. Louis superstar/hero/titan/future-hall-of-famer Yadier Molina.  Said mega-man also provided the winning run in the 10th inning, keeping the Cards from being eliminated from these playoffs.  Cardinal fans still have hope.

We’ll have to see if that hope produces reality in the decisive game 5 in Atlanta.  But there is hope.  Hope based on a season of grind-it-out baseball from this team.  Based on a solid resume of comebacks and never-give-up attitudes.  Yet, it’s still just a hope.  It’s a wish.  It’s a desire, a dream, a longing.  It’s by no means a sure thing.

That’s where hope in this world and hope in God’s Word are so very different.  The Bible often speaks of hope.  The Psalms repeatedly speak of putting our hope in God.  In the New Testament, that hope is placed squarely in Christ.  The Apostle Paul tells us to rejoice in this hope.  Even when we grieve over the loss of loved ones, we are told to not grieve as those without hope.

So, is the hope the same kind of hope I have that the Cardinals will continue deep into the playoffs?  Well, aside from the fact that the eternal significance of that hope is a far cry from the hope we have in Christ and His saving work, there is another difference.  The hope spoken of in the New Testament is not just a wish.  It’s not just a dream.  It’s much, much more.  It is a certainty.

The hope spoken of in the Bible, a hope based on Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, His resurrection, is a hope that gives confidence.  A hope based on the promises of God.  When we speak of the “hope of glory”, the hope of eternal life, it’s not just wishful thinking.  It’s a sure thing. 

When Jesus went to the cross of Calvary, He was part of a divine exchange that had real, definite consequences.  He purchased salvation for His people.  Not just the possibility of salvation.  Not just a hope of salvation.  He cried “it is finished.”  It’s a done deal.  He accomplished the purpose for which He came.  He achieved salvation for all His people.  We have hope.  We have a sure inheritance waiting for us.  An eternal reward kept in heaven by our Sovereign God.  Permanently purchased. Surely kept. 

This is why when Paul prays for the church at Ephesus, he prays that they would have confidence in this hope.  He prays that “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” (Ephesians 1:18, ESV)   That you may know.  That you may have confidence in this hope.  That you may know the riches of his inheritance. 

So, when I say I hope the Cardinals win this series and go on to greater things, I’m expressing a genuine desire.  A desire that has some basis in the stubborn play of this ball club all year.  But, it’s still just a dream.  I have no guarantees.  But when I say have hope of eternal life in Christ, I’m talking about a sure thing.  Jesus died that we might live.  He suffered that we might be reconciled to God.  No matter what this life brings, I have hope in Christ.  And just as Paul prayed for those Ephesian believers, I pray that you, too, might know this hope.  Look to Christ.  He never disappoints.