The Great Fifty Days of Easter - Day 15 - April 15th

Day 15 - April 15th

Hope

1 Corinthians 15:19

If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

And Paul's fourth & final logical point is:  "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, then we are most pitied."  Paul is once again telling us to look beyond the grave -- to the resurrection.  If our hope as Christians is limited to our earthly existence and we have no hope of the resurrection, then we are pitiful, heartbreaking, and woeful examples of Christians.  If there is no hope for being resurrected, our earthly lives are founded on a lie.  Being a Christian is risky business.  We are expected to be persecuted for our faith, take up our cross and follow Jesus, and leave behind the things that we treasure the most.  If we did all of these things based on a lie, it would be pathetic.  Instead, because we have hope in the resurrection, our faith is fruitful, we are without sin, and we have the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

On this Third Sunday in Easter, the gospel lectionary reading is 1 John 3:1-7.  It, too, talks about hope:

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.  No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

Prayer: Dear loving Father, you told us that we are children of God who the world does not know yet; purify our hearts and keep us from going astray, so that we may live a life of hope that reflects your vision, through your righteous and blameless Son, Jesus Christ.