Is there Hope?

MSNBC carried the news. Eight homicides have killed 57 people in the past month. Last week alone, within 48 hours we heard the news of a Vietnamese immigrant in New York who killed 13 people then killed himself; three Pittsburgh, PA police officers were killed by an ex-Marine; and in Washington, a jealous husband killed his five children before killing himself.

Too close to home, a man in Carthage, NC entered a nursing home and killed 7 elderly patients and a caregiver while his estranged wife hid in a bathroom.

Experts suggest that “the dismal state of the nation’s economy” is a factor in the rise of such horrific violence. In addition, criminologists say “the epidemic layoffs, the meltdown of storied American corporations and the uncertainty of recovery have stoked fear, anxiety and desperation across society and unnerved it’s most vulnerable and dangerous.”

Obviously, there are other opinions that are being thrown around, including a representative from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence who blames the broad access criminals have to firearms. Another criminologist claims it is impossible to make a definitive assessment regarding why homicides have increased.

No matter what their opinions, they all seem to agree that “most mass murderers share a common trait: a traumatic event such as a layoff, divorce or separation that sets off an internal rage and a desire for revenge.”

I have heard news reports after many of these events. Often, friends and family members of the killers will say they never would have dreamed the offender could do such a thing. Some of them were loving fathers who chose to end the lives of their families due to economic turmoil. Many were indeed driven to madness and committed their crimes.

It just causes me to wonder -- Is there hope?

Is there hope for our country and our world? With so much violence, turmoil, pain and fear, it seems "Pollyanna-ish" to suggest that indeed, we have hope! This message should be heard first from the church into a world that desperately needs to hear the truth. We have hope. And just where is our hope found?

Scriptures regarding “hope” are just too numerous to include here, but two immediately came to mind.

Psalm 33: 13 - 22
From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth-he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.

No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

…and

Romans 5: 1-8

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Christ is our hope and the church must be more intentional with this message. Could the world be changed with the truth of Christ? I believe so.

Empowered Christians who truly believe their own message could make a lasting impact among those within our society who struggle with loss, depression, and fear. If they don’t hear the message of hope from us, just where will it come from?


There is hope. There is.