The Pastor’s Corner “The Music of Hope” by Pastor Ross Kershaw

A couple of weeks ago Pastor Chuck preached on hope from Romans 5:3-5.  “… we know that trouble produces endurance, 4 endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 5 This hope doesn’t put us to shame, …”.  Life is a dance where the steps take us in and out of difficulties and joys.  What drives the dance is the music of hope. 
 
If you ask a couple about dancing, they might tell you that if you concentrate on your feet, you’ll have a hard time dancing.  Even if you get the steps right you are missing the joy of the dance.  You have to let the music into your heart and let your steps flow from the music.
 
What is the music that we let into our hearts?  Now days that music can be rather discordant – angry protests, sickness and disease, pain and struggle, political unrest.  That is the music playing.  But just as music has subtle overtones and moments of chord resolution, we can hear the music of the day differently.  Ours is a choice.
 
The Psalmist says, “But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more.”  (Psalm 71:14)  One of the greatest movements in the music of hope is to praise God, giving thanks in the midst of difficulties for all that God is and all that God has done and will do.  If we let the music of society overrun us, we will lose our way.  But if we tune into the music of hope, God will show us the way through any difficulty. 
 
In our Tuesday study of communion, “The Power of Communion”, we were reminded today that “Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, gave thanks.”  Under the weight of knowing what Judas was to do, and the torture he was about to go through, Jesus still turned to God with thanks.  By his example, we are called to praise God always!  As Bill Johnson, co-author, said in the study, “Thankfulness is one of the most vital attributes within reach of every person alive.”  Thankfulness changes the melody of the dance and enables us to step more confidently.  In place of despair there is hope, even if the music hasn’t changed.  God never said he would take us out of the world and out of troubles, but instead infuses the music of hope into the very things that can cause pain.  The world’s melody does not need to define us.  Instead, we can let the music of hope define us. 
 
“O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.”  {#117 UMH)
 
A person caught in a storm does not stand out in the middle of the torrent and try to figure out what is next.  Instead, they seek shelter in order to get their bearings and weigh their options.  Since we are not alone in our struggles, and God is our refuge and our hope, the music of hope changes how we experience the world and how we deal with our struggles.  In the shelter of God’s love, we have the space and calm in which to discover what is next.
 
My prayer is that you are well and hopeful, that the music of hope plays in your life.  For those who are experiencing loss and challenge and pain, I pray all God’s abundant blessings for you, and that the music of hope will lift your spirits and keep you sheltered in times of storm.
 
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  [Romans 15:13]