Because of Hope
Read Acts 26:1-32.
Have you ever been convicted because you had hope? If someone accused you of being hope-filled, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
That's what Paul says they have accused him of. "It is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today...it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me" (26:6-7). And, incredibly, as Paul recounts his testimony again, both the King and the Governor agree that he's done nothing wrong. They come to one conclusion: he could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar (26:32). Did Paul make the wrong move in that appeal? That's a discussion for another time and perhaps another setting. Let's stay focused on Paul's "crime" of hope. He believed in the hope of the resurrection. He believed in the hope of salvation. He believed in the hope of fulfilled promises. Whatever else you might say about Paul, he was a man filled with hope—which is why he had done and kept doing what he did.
Have you ever been convicted because you had hope? If someone accused you of being hope-filled, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
That's what Paul says they have accused him of. "It is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today...it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me" (26:6-7). And, incredibly, as Paul recounts his testimony again, both the King and the Governor agree that he's done nothing wrong. They come to one conclusion: he could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar (26:32). Did Paul make the wrong move in that appeal? That's a discussion for another time and perhaps another setting. Let's stay focused on Paul's "crime" of hope. He believed in the hope of the resurrection. He believed in the hope of salvation. He believed in the hope of fulfilled promises. Whatever else you might say about Paul, he was a man filled with hope—which is why he had done and kept doing what he did.
Could the same be said for us?
Undoubtedly, as Christians we have hope. We believe in a life after this one. We believe in the resurrection. We "hope" for good things to happen. But when I hear people describe Christians today, I don't know that I've ever heard someone outside of the church say, "They are people of hope." Yet, Paul wants that to be his defining characteristic, the thing that these law-makers and rulers know most about him. Why don't people say that about us today?
Ask most folks outside the church today to describe a Christian and they will say words like "judgmental" or "unscientific" or "all they want is people's money." Sometimes you might hear they are "nice" or "they put on a great chicken-noodle dinner." What happened to words like "grace-filled" or "hope-filled"? Why does the world know more what we're against than who we are for? What will it take to become people of hope again?
If you were accused of being hope-filled, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1).
If you were accused of being hope-filled, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1).
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