Bold Hope in Christ

Dr. Kevin Golden served as the essayist at the triennial convention of the Missouri District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod that took place June 22-24, 2025. The following is an abridged version of the essay he delivered based upon the convention theme of “Bold Hope in Christ” (2 Cor. 3:12).

There is a short list of films that I will watch whenever the opportunity arises. One of those films is The Shawshank Redemption. Many of you likely have seen it. The protagonist of the movie is Andy Dufresne who is wrongly convicted and imprisoned for murdering his wife. While spending decades in Shawshank prison, he becomes friends with Red who is also imprisoned. On one occasion, Andy is placed in solitary confinement for an extended time yet comes out with a smile on his face because he had Mozart to keep him company. Red asks him, “What are you talking about?” Andy says, “Hope!” Red replies, “Let me tell you something, my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.”

The resolution of the film takes place when Andy breaks out of Shawshank after twenty years of imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. But before he breaks out, he tells Red that should he ever get out of Shawshank that he was to go to a specific little town and there find a specific field and then go to a specific tree in that field where he will find a specific rock at the base of a stone wall. Under that rock there will be something waiting for Red. Red was eventually released and follows Andy’s instructions. There he finds an envelope with enough cash for Red to travel to a Mexican village on the Pacific that Andy had always talked about and there these friends would be reunited. Along with the cash, Andy left these words for Red. “Remember hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things.”

Hope is a good thing. That is ingrained in us as human beings. We are created with hope grafted into us. Hope is natural to us because we created in the image of God. With the image of God comes a realization that this fallen creation is not how things are meant to be and so we long for – WE HOPE for – something better. Andy longed for life outside the bars of Shawshank. But upon what could he base his hope for freedom? It’s a great story with a beautiful resolution. Hope is a good thing! But what happens when your hope is not realized? When your hope is nothing more than a pie-crust promise, then hope truly is dangerous. Then hope drives you insane as you wait for a day that never dawns. In the movies, everything can work out beautifully. But in the real world, in this fallen world, things don’t always work out as we plan. You have all known the disappointment of an unrealized hope. It often sounds like this. “The day is coming when we will no longer be pinching pennies as a family, as a congregation, and when that day comes not only will we be free of stress, but we will be able to give attention to all those things that we have said we should be doing but we haven’t had the emotional capacity, time, and energy.” But that day never seems to arrive. “The day is coming when we will look out upon these pews and we will see that family who left in a huff. And we will even see my children whom I faithfully raised in the faith who pledged at their confirmation that they would be faithful in receiving Christ gifts.” Yet you are still waiting for that day to arrive. So, each day that passes seems to drain a bit more hope out of you.

We are created with hope grafted into us, with a yearning for a day set free from this fallen age. Hope is like faith in that it cannot rest upon itself. If your faith is in your faith, then your faith is misplaced. The theological term we use to describe that is fideism. When your faith is in your faith, then your faith is in yourself, in the strength of your trust. If your faith is in your faith, then your faith is uncertain and soon to vanish. Same thing with hope. If your hope is in your hope, then your hope is misplaced. When your hope is in your hope, then you are hoping in yourself, in the strength of your hope. If your hope is in your hope, then your hope is uncertain and soon to vanish. Faith’s true object is Christ and His promises. Same thing with hope. Hope’s true object is Christ and His promises. In this fallen creation, the realization of our hopes is elusive. You have hopes for retirement, for your children and grandchildren, for your congregation, for our district and synod. And I expect that your hopes are quite beneficial, hopes for which you need not be ashamed. But if those hopes are not grounded upon the clear word of Christ, then the realization of those hopes can be ever elusive. We need a hope that is not elusive. We need a hope that will be realized, a hope that is certain that even if we do not see it come to fruition within our own lifetime, we know nevertheless that it will be realized in the future so that it can drive how we live right here, right now as we cling to that hope.

Part of what makes true hope certain is that it is specific. So says Christ as He speaks to us through His apostle Paul. “Therefore, because we have a hope such as this, we act with much boldness.” (2 Cor 3:12) That is the GST – the Golden Standard Translation – of our theme verse. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul says, “we have a hope such as this.” We will give attention to the specificity of that hope in a bit. But first, let’s take note of the historical and cultural context of these words. Paul wrote these words to the Christians in Corinth.

Paul told the Corinthians that they are bold because of their hope. But when the Corinthian Christians look around them, they could find all sorts of reasons to not be bold. First of all, they look around and see unparalleled prosperity. Corinth’s location led the city to be an economic hub at the nexus of key trade routes. Goods flowed through Corinth and along with all the goods came people. Along with the goods and the people came money. The average resident of Corinth was not in want of food or possessions. You can expect that they were like every other people throughout the history of mankind. What does every man with money want? More money! So, Paul says that the Corinthian Christians act with much boldness. How does that work when your neighbors have full bellies and full wallets and have a chief interest in thickening their wallets? Such prosperity breeds complacency that dulls the ears to the message of Christ.

And there is more. Corinth was also famous for its temple to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. The worship of Aphrodite included sacred prostitution in which sex was used to procure Aphrodite’s favor. This led Paul in his first letter to the Corinthian Christians to instruct them to not join their bodies with a prostitute but instead to flee from sexual immorality because they were bought at a price – Christ’s shed blood and His death – so that they no longer belonged to themselves but to God. Therefore, they were to glorify God with their bodies.

In addition to the temple to Aphrodite, Corinth was also famous for hosting the Isthmian games, athletic competitions that were held both the year before and the year following the Olympic games. Events included chariot races and combat sports such as pankration, boxing, and wrestling. The games brought people from the far reaches of Greece. Corinth would even call a temporary truce amid any tensions they had with rival Greek city-states such as Athens to ensure that athletes could safely travel to Corinth for the competitions.

The Corinthian Christians looked around them and saw financial prosperity. They saw a culture captivated with sexual licentiousness that was religiously validate by Aphrodite. They saw the captivating power of athletic competitions that would gather massive crowds. And Paul is saying that Christians act with much boldness? Financial prosperity, sexual decadence, athletic fascination. How do you compete with that? How do you compete against that?

Sound familiar? Look around us. Despite economic stressors and uncertainty, our land enjoys a level of financial prosperity unrivaled in the history of the world. There is no temple to Aphrodite in our land, but we live in an age of sexual licentiousness that is validated by nearly every facet of the culture around us. Athletic competitions draw crowds with religious zeal. About twelve years ago I was driving through Chesterfield valley in St. Louis County on a Sunday morning. I was heading to a congregation of our district for a visit as I was serving as a District vice-president. I saw the clock and noticed that it was the time when my wife would be walking my children from the parsonage to church for Divine Service and Sunday school. And then I looked at the acres upon acres of athletic fields in Chesterfield Valley, filled with elementary school aged children and younger. It was a sad moment. How do you compete with that? How do you compete against that?

Yet the Church took hold in Corinth. And it remains there today. Why? Listen again to Paul. “Therefore, because we have a hope such as this, we act with much boldness.” Paul opens this sentence with “therefore.” For those of you who love Greek grammar (and we all should), it is the postpositive conjunction οὖν. Whether you love Greek grammar or not, you can appreciate the thrust of οὖν “therefore.” It indicates that what is about to be said is the logical result of what preceded it. When you hear οὖν “therefore” you should recall what led up to the statement. And to make sure you didn’t miss it, Paul says, “because we have a hope such as this.” Again, for those of you who love Greek grammar, this is a participial phrase that would be woodenly translated as “having a hope such as this.” But based on the context, I have translated it as the causal use of the participle – “because we have a hope such as this.” And again, Paul is telling us to recall what preceded this phrase in the text. “A hope such as this.” Well, what hope is he talking about?

In verses seven through eleven of 2 Corinthians 3 – the five verses that precede our theme verse – Paul calls the Corinthians and us to remember what happened at Mount Sinai in the fifteenth century BC. He is specifically referring to the events of Exodus 34. After the golden calf debacle, Moses was dejected. To sustain Moses amid everything he had already seen of rebellious, stiff-necked Israel to this point and what he would see in the decades to come, the Lord told Moses that He would let Moses see His glory. The Lord hides Moses in the cleft of the rock and once the Lord has passed by, Moses is allowed to look on the Lord’s back, but only His back because any sinner who looks upon His face will not survive. There is an incredible amount of theology packed into Exodus 34. Part of that theology is the inseparability of the Lord and His glory as well as the inseparability of the Lord and His name. When you behold the Lord’s glory, You are beholding Him. And when you have the name of the Lord, you have Him. So as the Lord passes by Moses, the Lord proclaims, “Yahweh, Yahweh.” That’s His name. I am Kevin. He is Yahweh. He proclaims, “Yahweh, Yahweh, the God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands and forgiving guilt, rebellion, and sin.” That is what is packed into the name of the Lord, your God. His name carries His character, His identity, His very being. That is why His name is not to be taken in vain – His name is everything. That is why we pray that His name be hallowed – there is nothing holier than His name.

Not only does Moses hear Yahweh proclaim His name, but he also sees Yahweh’s glory as He looks on Yahweh’s back. Is it ever a sight to behold! Moses stays on Sinai for forty days and when he comes down, he has to veil his face because his face is shining. You would probably benefit from me wearing a veil to minimize the light shining off my bald head. But this doesn’t begin to capture Moses’ face. He has talked with Yahweh. He has beheld the glory of Yahweh. His face is beaming. The glory of Yahweh is a light unlike any other.

Not long after Moses’ experience on Sinai, Yahweh’s glory would take up residence in the tabernacle. His glory was within the Holy of Holies, the innermost part of the tabernacle. More specifically, it was upon the lid of the ark of the covenant which Yahweh name as His mercy seat. There He dwelt in glory so that His people would know where to flee for forgiveness. Throughout their wanderings in the wilderness and into the Promised Land, Israel would know that it was time to move from one place to another as the glory of Yahweh would lift out of the Holy and Holies and lead them. So, it would be for centuries until David made Jerusalem his capital and the tabernacle was set up in Jerusalem. Then David’s son Solomon built the temple on Mt. Zion as the house of Yahweh where His glory dwelt. Again, the people knew exactly where to flee when in need of forgiveness. Yahweh’s glory in the tabernacle and then in the temple was the place of forgiveness. Both tabernacle and temple find their fulfillment in Christ. On Christmas morning, we are blessed to hear the first chapter of John’s account of the Gospel. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” “The Word became flesh and dwelt – or a more accurate translation would be “tented” or “tabernacled” – The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us and we beheld His GLORY, GLORY as of the only Son come from the Father full of grace and truth.” There you have it – the incarnation of Christ, the Son of God taking on human flesh in the womb of the virgin is the fulfillment of the tabernacle. You know exactly where to flee for forgiveness – you run to Jesus. Then there is the second chapter of John’s account of the Gospel. Jesus says, “Tear down this temple and I will rebuild it in three days.” Some scoff. “Who does He think He is? It took us forty-six years to build this temple and He’s going to rebuild it in three days?” Then John tells us that after Jesus’ resurrection His disciples realized that He was talking about the temple of His body. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Temple so you know exactly where to flee for forgiveness. You run to Jesus. Later in John’s account of Gospel we hear Jesus on Maundy Thursday, just hours from suffering, crucifixion, and death. And He prays to His Father, “Father, glorify Your Son!” Christ is never more glorious than when He is crucified for the forgiveness of your sin. You know exactly where to flee for forgiveness. Right to Yahweh’s glory, right to Christ crucified.

All of that funnels into the background of our theme verse. Paul says that the Israelites could not look upon Moses’ face because his face beamed with glory since he had beheld the glory of Yahweh. But Paul says we enjoy something even greater. He says that the proclamation of Christ is a far greater glory and not just a greater glory, but a permanent glory. You behold something far more glorious than what Israel saw in the beaming face of Moses, far more glorious than the tabernacle, far more glorious than the temple. You behold Christ, the fulfillment who stands for eternity.

Listen to more of what Paul has to say in 2 Corinthians chapter three. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul writes, “when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.” Paul uses the veil that covered Moses’ face to describe how those without faith in Christ do not understand what Yahweh was doing through Moses including Yahweh’s glory that has been fulfilled in Christ. But you are in Christ so that the veil has been removed. In Christ, you trust that the glory of Yahweh seen on Sinai, in the tabernacle, and in the temple was present in grace for the forgiveness of sin and that glory is now bound up in Christ. And there is more. Again, in 2 Corinthians 3, Paul writes “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” Not only has the veil been lifted so you know the glory of Yahweh is Christ for the forgiveness of your sin, but you are being transformed to bear the image of Christ from one degree of glory to another.

The glory of Christ is yours right now. But the Day is coming when it will be seen in all its fullness in you. The Day is coming when you will outshine Moses. Remember he was hidden in the cleft of the rock until Yahweh passed by so that he was then allowed to look upon the glory of Yahweh’s back. Listen to Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” The Day is coming when you will behold the glory of God in Christ face to face. Can you imagine?!

This is what Paul is telling the Corinthian Christians. They look around and see prosperity and decadence, religious zeal in the temple of Aphrodite and religious zeal in the athletic competitions of the day. The sinful nature would say, “How can we compete with that?” But that is exactly opposite reality. In the Church, we with unveiled face are beholding the glory of the Lord which transforms us into His image. Corinthian prosperity and decadence cannot compete with that! Paul’s message isn’t just for the Corinthians of the first century; it is for you right now in the twenty-first century. You look around your community and you see prosperity and decadence, unparalleled religious zeal in the stands surrounding baseball diamonds, hockey rinks, football fields, and more. The sinful nature says, “How can we compete with that?” Completely backwards! Right there in your congregation, whether you have hundreds in attendance or a dozen, right there is Christ in His glory, transforming you to bear His glorious image. American prosperity and decadence cannot compete with that!

Do you realize what we have? Our hope is bound up in Christ and His promise. It is a hope that is for now even as its consummation has not yet dawned upon us. But it will. Look around you right now. And this Sunday when you are back home in the pews of your congregation, look around. What do you see? You see those who bear the glory of Christ. Right now. Of course, we all look rather normal. But Christ has promised that there is nothing normal about you. You bear His glory and are being transformed into His image. Not just you, but all who are in Christ. You may not feel all that glorious, but your feelings do not determine reality. Christ has declared that His glory is transforming you. You can’t see it now. But you will when He comes again.

That is why Paul says, “We act with much boldness.” The Church in Corinth nearly two millennia ago acted with much boldness. Paul called them to live holy lives, distinct and different than those without faith in Christ. And so the Church was established in Corinth and more were drawn to Christ. They had every reason to act with boldness. In Christ the veil had been removed. With unveiled faces they beheld the glory of the Lord in Christ. They knew the day was coming when they would see Him face to face. With that kind of hope, they could not help but act with much boldness.

So it is with you. In Christ, the veil has been removed from you. With unveiled faces you behold the glory of the Lord in Christ. The Day is coming when you will see Him face to face. With that kind of hope, how can you not act with much boldness. You see, hope is a good thing when it is certain and sure, grounded in Christ and His promises.

The bold hope of 2 Corinthians 3:12 does not stand in isolation. Scripture is permeated with accounts of hope. The story of the Church is a story of hope. We could listen to one account of bold hope after another. But today, let’s rejoice in two accounts of hope.

The first account of hope takes us to the book of Joshua as the people of Israel enter into the Promised Land. A great deal has led to this moment. That great deal is Yahweh’s repeated, ongoing provision for His people. It started with the cries of His people enslaved in Egypt. Yahweh remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that their numerous descendants would dwell in the Promised Land. So, Yahweh sends Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people go. When Pharaoh refused, Yahweh brought ten plagues upon Egypt through the hand of Moses, culminating in the establishment of Passover. Finally, Pharaoh lets Israel go. But he is fickle and quickly changes his mind, sending his army after Israel. So, Yahweh protects them as a pillar of cloud by day to give them shade and pillar of fire by night to give them light and to keep Pharaoh’s army at bay. Then Yahweh brings Israel through the sea on dry ground before causing the waters to come crashing down upon Pharaoh’s army. Thus, Yahweh delivered Israel with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. But that was not the end of His provision.

As Israel heads to Sinai, Yahweh gives them water from a rock and first gives them manna to eat. At Sinai He gives them His word and establishes the tabernacle and its sacrifices as His means to deliver forgiveness to them. Finally, they arrive at the Promised Land. Yahweh is ready to lead them into the land. But Israel balked. Despite everything that Yahweh had done, His repeated acts of deliverance for them, they do not trust that they can take the land. So, Yahweh says they will wander in the desert for forty years until that generation has died. During those forty years, the goodness and grace of Yahweh is evident as He continues to feed them with manna despite their refusal to trust that he would bring them safely into the land. Forty years pass. Before Moses dies, he recounts for them in the book of Deuteronomy all that Yahweh did to bring them to the point that they are ready to enter the land. Then Moses hands over leadership of Israel to Joshua before Moses dies and is buried by God on Mt. Nebo.

Under Joshua’s faithful leadership, Israel enters the land. They first enter the land is a scene reminiscent of Israel’s departure from Egypt when they walked through the parted sea on dry ground. Israel is led by Yahweh as the priests carry the ark of the covenant. As soon as they step into the Jordan River to cross into the Promised Land, the waters of the Jordan pile up so Israel can walk through again on dry ground. Do they have reason to trust in Yahweh and His provision as they go into the land? Oh, most certainly! Quickly Israel comes to Jericho. You remember how that goes. Jericho is fortified with walls. But Israel does not have to breach the walls. Joshua leads them to live in accord with Yahweh’s word. They march around the city for six days. And then on the seventh day, the walls come tumbling down except for where a scarlet cord hangs from a window, protecting Rahab and her family. Yahweh has promised it and He has done it.

Everything is going according to plan until there is a sudden and surprising set back at Ai. How could this happen with everything that has led to this moment? It is because one man’s sin has broken Israel’s covenant with Yahweh. For Americans who are fiercely individualistic, the notion that one man’s sin is sufficient to break covenant for the whole people seems a bit much. But scripture holds to a communal view of the Church. We are bound together. The sin of one man – Adam – after all, brought death to us all. And the righteousness of one man – the second Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ – has brought life to us all. In Joshua 7, the one man whose sin causes defeat for all of Israel is Achan. His sin was that he kept for himself items that were devoted to Yahweh. The instructions of Yahweh were clear. When a city was defeated, do not take anything from the city for yourself. It was to be either destroyed or placed in Yahweh’s treasury. This would confess three things. First, Israel did not defeat the city; Yahweh did so He has rights to the contents of the city. Second, it confessed trust in Yahweh’s provision. There is no need to claim the spoils of war since Yahweh provides not only what you need but then more on top of that. Third, it confessed that Israel would have nothing to do with the idolatry of the land. Among the most attractive items to claim for yourself would be gold and silver which would most likely have been in the form of idols.

Achan had broken covenant with Yahweh by taking for himself what was devoted to Yahweh and so all Israel had broken covenant with Yahweh. The just punishment for Achan’s sin ensued. He was stoned to death and then a heap of stones was set upon him. And where did all of this take place? In the Valley of Achor. That is the Valley of Trouble. Achor is Hebrew for trouble, which is what Achan had brought upon Israel.

Scripture does not give us sufficient information to precisely locate the Valley of Achor. Based upon the narrative flow of Joshua, we can ascertain that it was located a bit north of Jericho so that as you ascend from the Jordan River toward the central hill country, the Valley of Achor was likely a passageway, a doorway into the Promised Land. That valley was intended by Yahweh to be Israel’s entry into the land. And not just any land, but the land flowing with milk and honey, a land in which Israel would eat grapes from vines they did not plant and dwell in homes they did not build. That valley was the entry into the land of Yahweh’s provision. But Achan’s sin has turned that valley on its head. Look through that valley into the land and you can see what awaits Israel in the land. Yes, Yahweh will be faithful to provide for His people, but something else is awaiting them in the land. Achor! Trouble!

And then there is that pile of rocks. We are accustomed to one nice rock, a polished piece of marble, engraved with name and dates, sitting as a monument upon our graves. But Achan had only a pile of rocks in testament to how he died and why he died. That is not the kind of monument you are looking for. It is a monument not only to Achan, but to his sin and the reality of inherited sin. As much as we may want to shake our fist at those who have come before us because we deal with the consequences of their sinful choices, we are no better. Achan’s sin was a portend of the Achor, the trouble that would beset Israel in the land, but later generations were all too quick to continue to bring Achor – trouble – upon themselves by their sin. And so it is with you and me. As soon as I blame Adam for the fall into sin, I am called to account for my own ongoing sinful rebellion. The Valley of Achor gives little hope for anything other than trouble for Israel in the land and even for us today.

Move forward over six hundred years after Joshua 7 to the eighth century BC to the time of the prophet Hosea where you find more trouble. Achan’s sin still echoes throughout Israel. Just as Achan had taken what was devoted to Yahweh which very well may have been gold and silver fashioned into idols, Hosea confronts the idolatry of Israel including the golden calves set up in the towns of Dan and Bethel. While Hosea calls Israel to repentance, he also delivers a word of hope from Yahweh. He describes His relationship with Israel as that of husband and wife. Though Yahweh’s wife Israel has been unfaithful to Him, He is intent upon winning her back. So He says that He will take Israel back to the days before Achan and the Valley of Achor. He will take Israel back to the wilderness as a new honeymoon so that they can start over. And then Yahweh delivers this great promise in Hosea 2:15 [2:17 MT].  “I will give the Valley of Achor as a doorway of hope!” No longer will that valley be a doorway into a land full of trouble that Achan brought upon Israel. Yahweh will transform that valley to be a doorway for hope.

Yahweh will cause the land to be what it was created to be. It will be the land of Yahweh’s provision. This is an eschatological promise. Yahweh is promising that in the life to come, the trouble of Achan’s sin and Israel’s sin, the trouble of my sin and your sin will be gone. All that will be left is the fullness of Yahweh’s goodness. This is what Christ has won for us by His death and resurrection. Look through that valley to see lush fields of Yahweh’s provision. There is no doubt that such an eternity awaits us because Yahweh has promised it and Christ has purchased it. And that is why we are bold. The certainty of that hope can even prompt us to be as bold as Hosea. Do you remember what he is most famous for? Yahweh called Hosea to marry a whore! Shocking, indeed. Even more than shocking, it is meant to be offensive. The book of Hosea is punctuated with repeated use of the term “whore.” You are supposed to be offended by that kind of language because the Gospel is just that shocking. Christ died for me despite the shockingly offensive reality of my sin. But because He did, I have every reason to be bold. Bold in bearing the fruit of repentance so that I leave my sin behind. Bold in my proclamation of Christ to others. I will never come across someone who is beyond the reach of Yahweh’s grace in Christ. So, I have every reason to proclaim to them the grace of God in Christ. That is true for you as well. It is true for your congregation. Christ transforms the Valley of Achor into a doorway of hope. With boldness, each of us and all our congregations proclaim that the Church is Christ’s doorway of hope.

The second account of hope for our consideration takes us further forward in time. It is now the late sixth century BC and the people of Judah and Jerusalem are exiled in Babylon in judgment for their idolatry. There had been a series of exiles to Babylon that came to a head in 587 BC when the Babylonians destroyed the temple. You will recall from our time together yesterday that the temple was Yahweh’s appointed means to deliver forgiveness to His people. The glory of Yahweh dwelt in the Holy of Holies so His people knew exactly where to flee for forgiveness. But the prophet Ezekiel describes how Judah and Jerusalem had forsaken Yahweh so that His glory departs from the temple. Without Yahweh’s glory, the temple is nothing but a fancy building waiting to be turned into rubble.

Exile was a form of imprisonment that was meant to break the will of a people and to change their identity to match what their conquerors wanted. Not only did Babylon destroy the temple as a declaration that Yahweh was nothing and the Babylonian gods were supreme, but they also marched the people of Jerusalem nearly 900 miles to Babylon. That distance would take months to traverse by foot. You have been ripped out of your homes which have been destroyed. You have seen the destruction of the temple so that you no longer have the place where Yahweh promised to deliver forgiveness. You are living in a land with different foods, different language, different sights, different sounds. Scripture describes the people of Jerusalem crying in Babylon. Understandably so. They are prisoners, bound to the whims and wiles of the Babylonians. But then Cyrus the Great leads the Persians in victory over the Babylonians and in 539 BC, the Edict of Cyrus declares that Jerusalem’s sons and daughters are free to go home. And so they begin the long trek back to Jerusalem.  

But what do they find there? A pile of rubble. They look around and everything is a shadow of what it once was. Instead of the grandeur of Solomon’s temple they see stones fallen one upon another. And it’s not just that the impressive structure of the temple is gone. They remember why the Lord had given them His temple in the first place. There in the Holy of Holies He promised to dwell for them in grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Something similar would happen centuries later in the year of our Lord 70 when the Romans would destroy Jerusalem and level the second temple that had stood during the time of Christ. While the trauma of those days would be great – so great that Jesus foretold that they would flee in great fear, asking the hills to fall upon them and the mountains to cover them – things would be very different. Before the second temple is destroyed, it became obsolete. Better than obsolete, the temple was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. The Christians of Jerusalem in AD 70 would have been traumatized when Christ’s own words to His disciples were fulfilled. During Holy Week, Jesus’ disciples had marveled at the temple and He told them that there was not one stone that would not be thrown down. The fulfillment of those words would have been traumatic for the Christians of Jerusalem, but they would not despair because they knew that the temple was no longer where they would flee for forgiveness. They knew that the temple had been fulfilled in Christ so that they would flee to Him where He promised to dwell in grace for them – in baptism, in His Supper, in Scripture, in His absolution.

Let that be instructive for us. Have you ever found yourself doing the same thing as the people of Jerusalem when they returned from exile? You look around and things seem to be just a shadow of what they once were. You remember and you hear your parents and grandparents recount how things used to be. “I remember when we had to put chairs down the aisle because there wasn’t enough room to fit everyone in the pews.” “There was a day when we prayed for there to be no rain during VBS because there wasn’t enough indoor space for all the kids.” “Son, I was part of a confirmation class of over fifty kids and now we hardly ever seem to have more than a few at a time.” “That old school building that now stands empty used to have a waiting list.” Or here is one that I recall being told by a visitor when I was a parish pastor. “Pastor, it was great to be with you today. The best thing was the sound of so many fussy kids. I know that some get frustrated with them, but we never hear fussy kids in my church because we don’t have any kids. That was the best sound I have heard in church in a long time.”

How often have you looked around on Sunday morning and thought something similar? As much as we are filled with a God-pleasing desire for our pews and Sunday school to be full, we do not lose heart when we have more elbow room than we need. The promises of God in Christ remain sure. No matter how many are gathered, there He is as He has promised to be, full of grace and forgiveness in the means He has chosen – baptism, Supper, scripture, absolution.

With that kind of certainty, Yahweh sends His prophet Zechariah to speak to the people of Jerusalem returning from exile. He declares to them, “Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope!” They have been prisoners in Babylon for decades. Bound and subject to the whims of those who do not trust in the Lord, it has been a heavy burden that has prompted tears to flow. The last thing they expect or want to be called is prisoners. Remember Jesus’ words in John 8 where He says, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” They object that they have never been enslaved to anyone. But the history of God’s people has been episode after episode of enslavement. They were slaves in Egypt and they were prisoners of Babylon. In Zechariah, Yahweh declares that He has turned imprisonment upside down. They are prisoners not of Egypt nor of Babylon. Yahweh has made them to be prisoners of hope. That sounds like an oxymoron. How can you be imprisoned by hope? Doesn’t hope set you free? Indeed, it does, but hope sets you free by holding you tight in its promises.  

Here is the promise by which hope holds you tight. You hear it from Zechariah just a few verses earlier with these familiar words. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Cry aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” At the time of Zechariah, the people of Jerusalem ready to head home after exile would have heard this as Yahweh’s promise that He was restoring the throne of David. “Your King is coming to you!” Indeed, the throne of David was being restored but in far grander fashion than they could have imagined. The King rides into Jerusalem humbly on a donkey amid cries of “Hosanna to the Son of David!” He rides into Jerusalem to die and rise for you. He is coming back for you. Until that Day, He comes to you faithfully with forgiveness, grace, and mercy in His means of grace. Look around and what do you see? The fulfillment of His promises, a hope that does not fade or disappoint. Full pews or not, look around and see the King pouring out His gracious reign as He has promised. That is the hope to which you are imprisoned! You are held tight by hope, not fear.

What does it look like when you are captive to hope instead of fear? You build! That’s what they did when they returned from exile. It was not quick. It took time, but they built. They built up the walls of Jerusalem. They built the temple. They built homes. That is what the Church has always done because the Church has been held by Yahweh’s word through Zechariah. “Behold, your King is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He.” The Church’s King came and will come again. The Church has been captive to a hope such as this and so the Church has acted with boldness.

We rejoice in these two accounts of hope. Yahweh has made the Valley of Achor – the Valley of Trouble – to be a doorway of hope. Because of our King – our Lord Jesus Christ – we are not prisoners of fear, but prisoners of hope. Those are two great accounts of hope, but we dare not ignore a third account of hope. It is yours. Indeed, your congregation is a place of hope because it is filled with Christ. Each congregation has its own account of hope, but it is the same hope in each locale because it is grounded in the same Lord, all grounded in Christ.

“Therefore, because we have a hope such as this, we act with great boldness.” You and your congregation have a hope such as this in Christ. So, how will you be acting with great boldness? Will it be engaging the families of your community who walk through your doors as they bring their children to your preschool, families who need a hope such as this? Will it be regular visits of the older adults living in the retirement home down the street who need a hope such as your congregation has? Will it be responding to the human care needs that arise from a natural disaster or from economic distress so that the distressed receive not only physical assistance but also a hope such as this? The opportunities and possibilities are countless. What do you see when you look around inside your congregation and in your community? You’re not surrounded by competition or a shell of what once was. You are surrounded by hope because you are held by Christ.