How Important Is Hope?

by Larry Short

Last week I learned that someone I loved and respected at World Vision, looked up to as a mentor and considered a friend who had been very kind to me, died very suddenly and unexpectedly on Mt. Rainier.

Rob Moll was an editor at Christianity Today for many years, before coming to World Vision and taking a job (as writer for the president) that I had applied for. I was vaguely annoyed, of course, even though I recognized he was far more qualified than I was — an amazing writer and editor who had published several brilliant books.

But my annoyance faded quickly as I got to know Rob. He was a riveting presenter at chapels, and his intense curiosity, scientific interest, and passionate love for Jesus made it hard to stay annoyed. The last time we met was an informal lunch at World Vision’s U.S. headquarters, where I sought and received from him some good advice on how to get my novel professionally reviewed.

Rob left World Vision shortly thereafter for a job in Boston, but retained some good friends here, and came back here last month to climb Mt. Rainier with one of them, a colleague and friend named Brian. They were climbing an escarpment when Rob lost his footing and fell 100 feet. Brian descended quickly to find him unresponsive, and by the time the helicopter arrived, he had passed into the presence of Jesus.

One of Rob’s books is titled: The Art of Dying: Living Fully Into the Life to Come.

Rob was only 41. He had a wife and four children. His funeral is Friday afternoon. (Please let me know if anyone would like to go with me.)

Rob’s passing was the second brush with grief I’d had in the past few months. I struggled when I learned earlier this year that Pastor Martin and Kim were moving on. Martin is a good friend and mentor and one of the key reasons Darlene and I fell in love with this church and have enjoyed being a part of this body for the past 20 years or so.

And of course I’ve also lost my mom and dad, both sets of grandparents, other aunts and uncles, and many other friends, many of them here at Elim. I don’t think it’s possible to experience living until you are in your 60s without the shared experience of loss and grief.

What buoys us up in the midst of such loss? What sustains us and helps us to keep going? It’s hope.

Hope tells me that Rob and I will have lunch once again. It tells me that I will be joyfully reunited with my parents and other lost loved ones, and that we will together explore the hills of heaven and enjoy a deeper and more personal knowledge of our Savior when we do.

Hope also reassures me that God knows what he is doing in a church which experiences the loss of a pastor and friend like Martin!

Hope is not wistful or wishful thinking, like our culture sometimes thinks it is: “Wow, I really hope that happens ….” No, it’s something completely different. Hebrews 11:1 assures us: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” So hope is all tied up in this package with faith and conviction. It’s something you believe, because the God who is faithful and who keeps His promises says that it is so.

And it has occurred to me more than once, and more vividly recently, that if we can trust God to reunite us with our loved ones, if we can trust Him when He promises life eternal, we can also trust Him when He plainly tells us other things. In one sense, smaller things … things like: “Do not fear” (which he repeats over and over again in Scripture), or promises of His presence with us now, or of His imminent return, or promises that if we ask for the good gift of the Holy Spirit, He will grant that Gift.

While the pain of loss and grief diminishes over time, I don’t think it ever disappears completely in this life. But the promise of hope tells us there is a life coming when Christ will “wipe every tear from our eyes” (Rev. 7:17 and 21:4). Loss will then be a distant and powerless memory, when we are confronted with the reality of the coming Kingdom, eternal life, and the King in all His glory!

I’ve been thinking about and working on the challenge Pastor Steve shared Sunday: What letter might Christ write to us, just as He wrote to the seven churches in Asia Minor through John? Part of that assignment is, what might Christ commend in our church? For me, I think the answer is that Elim is a place that has, for me, nourished hope. We are excitedly and expectantly, together, looking forward to that day when He will wipe away our tears!

P.S.: Go here if you’d like to contribute to a special memorial campaign for a project that was near and dear to Rob’s heart, life-saving clean water in Malawi. Or click for the Gofundme page set up to help Rob’s family.

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