1 Thessalonians 4:17b-18

“Resocialized in Hope”

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve seen how the Thessalonians had been resocialized, learning what it means to live in God’s kingdom and not in this world all around us.  They learned what true faith is, what love is and how it directed their lives and we’ve also seen what this means for us as we approach Jesus in faith.  Being resocialized in these areas reaches out and touches every area of our lives and has consequences for how we live every day.  Today we’ll look at how the Thessalonians were called to view hope differently than they did and how we are called to a see hope for what it really is in Jesus Christ.

In order to understand what it means to be resocialized in hope, we have to understand what hope is.  So what is it? What is hope, true hope?  Our world throws around the word hope in many different ways.  Some of the things we hope for are often very trivial.  We tell one another what we hope for in this life and they are often linked with earthly things.  Like for example, one of these days, I hope to own another Monte Carlo Super Sport.  I really want one and so I look forward to having one day in the future.  There are times where I have even hoped that we have certain things for dinner or have looked forward to having dessert or something.

There are other times where we hope for things that are a bit more serious than just mere possession.  How many times have we heard someone wish someone well with the word “hope?”  For example, if someone is sick, we naturally say, “I hope you feel better.”  Our intention is that they will, in fact, feel better and that they’ll get over whatever is ailing them.  We say this when people are suffering from the common cold, or when they are recovering from surgery or something along those lines.  Of course the more serious that an ailment is, the more we hope that that person starts feeling better, especially when there’s the chance that the ailment or sickness may be terminal.