May 1

Beloved of Good Shepherd Church,

Happy Easter!

“Remember children, you are prisoners of hope!” The prophet Zechariah said that to the children of God in Israel in the 6th century BCE. I have long loved that encouraging admonition. Indeed, we are prisoners of hope! In those days the children of God were struggling a bit in a rebuilding phase of their common life. Many of them had been in disarray and exile due to political conflict, and God told the prophet to tell the people that they need not despair, rather they should remember the faithfulness of God whose love has sustained them through all manner of mire and heartbreaking challenges. Let the sustaining love of God be your stronghold, you prisoners of hope! 

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead on Easter day has renewed our charge to be prisoners of hope. The resurrection is, of course, the foundation of our faith and unleashes the power of God’s repairing love into the world in a new way. The resurrection declares powerfully in no uncertain terms that death is no end, in fact, death does not have even one second of victory over God’s love. 

The resurrection always sends me straight back to the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus gave us his life-saving, world-changing love ethic. Love your enemies, do not judge, and do not worry. Prisoners of hope believe those outlandish instructions are actually possible! 

Easter is God’s love-based, non-violent response to adversity, injury, insult, and death. And we are Easter people charged with imitating Jesus’ sacrificial love in all our words and deeds. I give thanks to God for his gift of you to our church. Together we are prisoners of hope!

Remember this always - God loves you, and I love you too!

Love is all, 

Hendree+