“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27
I borrowed the title of this series from an inspirational book written by President Barack Obama, and who could better talk about the audacity of hope than an African-American of mixed race raised by a grandmother in a segregated society who would have the audacity to run for the highest office in the land. This business of the audacity of hope has so many tributaries.
I think it is important to say where our hope comes from. I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that the only hope for the future of the planet is that Christ rules the heart and soul of every person.
This is the challenge of the 21st Century. This is the goal of the Great Commission that Christ has called each one of us. We have been given what is called “mission impossible”, seeing to it that every person on the planet knows Jesus. We have tried everything else and all else has failed us.
What America and the world have to begin to understand is that what we need, money cannot buy, and computers cannot compute, armies cannot win and education cannot deliver. We need a change of heart that comes from Christ capturing the heart of every man and every woman. Christ in you is the hope of every person, the hope of every family, the hope of every church, the hope of every neighborhood, the hope of every community.
There will be no solution to the chaos in our community until Christ rules the hearts of the young men and women who walk our streets; and the children who come out of our homes.
There will be no peace until Jesus is in the heart of every thug, that’s why it is “mission impossible.” It flies in the face of hopelessness, but that is what hope does. Hope is activated in the face of hopelessness when the odds and the obstacles are the greatest, when the deck seems stacked; this is the audacity of hope.
That is why we preach Christ in the prisons. It does not make any sense to the world why brothers and sisters would go into the prisons to talk to men and women who have lost hope. It is because of the audacity of hope.
It does not make any sense to the world to go to the homeless shelters, but it makes sense to us who are called by Christ. We know that even though a man is locked up, if he is in Christ, he is still free. For whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
Even though people have given up on so much, it is our job to spread the good news that Christ in you is the hope of glory. You can be as hungry or as lonely as you can be, but if Christ be in you, you still have hope.
Christ in you is the hope of glory. So what we are being called to do as a church is to gather and become more than an audience, but an army for the Lord. There is an old hymn we sing in the church and it goes something like this:
“We are soldiers in the army.
We have to fight although we have to die.
We have to lift up the blood stained banner.
We have to hold it up until we die.”
The only hope we have is to hold up the blood stained banner over our children, over our family, over our friends, over our co-workers! Christ in you is the hope of glory! That’s the Audacity of Hope.
You may write to Dr. Benjamin at Bishop@lightoftheworld.org or at Light of the World Christian Church, 4646 N. Michigan Road, Indianapolis, IN 46228. My book, “It’s All In Your Mind”, can be ordered at www.tombenjamin.com or by calling 1-800.847.9695.
