We stumble in the dark

The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. -1 John‬ ‭2:10-11‬ ‭NASB‬‬

As often happens when I’m studying the Bible, I find things I wasn’t actually looking for.  In this case, I’m slowly working my way through 1 John as I have come to believe I have been looking at so much of this book the wrong way.  That’s for another post though.  I had already gone over this passage a couple times this last week, but this last time around something stuck out. It was that phrase “does not know where he is going” that caught me. I have often walked through life wondering if I'm on the right path, not sure where I'm going.  Having spent a lot of time like that, it caught my attention as I realized this is telling me what can block us from seeing where we are going. Seeing the path is such a critical part to a fruitful (not to mention peaceful) life. It’s those stumbles that often make us grow old too quickly, take us off the path for too long, and even destroy the promises in our lives.

What then is so critical that it could put us in the dark to stumble our way through life?  

Hate.

To be more exact, hatred, contempt, and a lack of love toward our brothers.

Who is our brother according to scripture? Usually this is seen as others in the family of God.  I feel like we’ve lost it, that love for each other.  You can see it in our churches and the silly stuff we do there as we bicker, fight, and gossip.  Even more what I was reminded of is this last year and a half on social media.  I have lost count of how many posts from Christian friends who have said something like “any Christian who thinks .... should be ....”. Feel free to insert whatever topic and judgement you can think of and there's a good chance it was said.  And yes, from both sides of politics.  Every time I saw a post like that it hurt me to just read now.  Now, I wonder if I understand a little better why that is. No wonder we are so lost in our direction as we have forgotten how to love each other. 

Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;"

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭34:6‬ ‭NASB‬‬

We have become so convinced of our moral high ground that we have lost sight of the character of our God.  As we lose sight of His character, forgetting to love above all, we lose our way as well.  Then in the darkness we stumble, trip, get hurt, and wonder why our God would lead us down this path.

This doesn't necessarily mean condemning other Christians is the problem putting us in darkness, but it is a symptom of that darkness.  Therefore, if you find yourself in that situation of feeling this way toward others, you should check back on yourself first.  If you walk in God then love should flow, not hatred.  Judge yourself before you judge another.

Hope for Now

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. - 1 Peter 1:13

Hope.

We all need hope.  It motivates and sustains us.  Often it's the difference between waking up ready to go and never wanting to get out of bed. Half empty or half full?  Hope is important.

That's why when I read this verse, my mind said "Stop!"  Actually, it was when I hit the word "completely".  Not just "be hopeful" or "find hope", but "fix your hope completely".  Sounds like this is the summation of where all our hope should come from.  

Continuing on with the verse...

"On the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ"

And this is where my spirit said "Stop!".  Seriously.  Can't I just read my verse and move on.  

But something bugged me.  Let's set our hope on the grace coming when Christ is revealed.  Well, having heard a bunch of scriptures in my days, this says "Second Coming" to me.  So when Christ returns or I meet Him in Heaven, the grace which is revealed then is what I set my hope upon.  Seems a long time away.  Actually reminds me of that old hymn of going to heaven.

When we all get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be.
When we all see Jesus, we'll sing and shout the victory.

Honestly, I don't like that song.  "Blasphemy" you say.  Perhaps.  But it has a morbid tone to it.  It says to me that when I manage to suffer through this life, staying firm, I'll find a reason to shout at the end.  

It's just that this isn't the gospel I know.  This isn't the eternal life I've received.  ( Go see here for eternal life in my view )

So that verse bugged me, so what do I do, off to biblehub.com.  

I don't know greek, but I can click links.  Obviously word order moved around, but it just seemed odd, so I went farther.

For example, click on the number for "at" above and you get:

Perhaps it's just me, but the word "at" denotes a time in the future typically, but "in" for example is more present tense.  Odd, jump a little farther back and you see "being brought".  Hmm, the verse said "to be brought".  That seems like a different tense.  Click on that horrible "V-PPM/P-AFS" link and you find it's present tense.  But wait, the verse sure sounded future.  Strange, but then again... [shrugs] greek.

If you go switch back to the parallel view you'll find almost all the translations were similar, except for one of my new favorite translations.  Way to go Jubilee Bible.

Therefore, having the loins of your understanding girded with temperance, wait perfectly in the grace that is presented unto you when Jesus, the Christ, is manifested unto you,

Here's the point I've been way too slowly working up to.  This shouldn't be future tense.  We shouldn't set our hope upon grace we'll find in Jesus some day in the future.

Nope.

Our hope is on Jesus now.  As Jesus is revealed to us now, we find the grace He has brought for us.  So we set our hope on Him, just as Hebrews says "fixing our eyes upon Jesus".  

Hope then, is found upon our knees.  As we seek this Jesus who has saved us, waiting in His presence to know Him better, the revelations of His goodness which are given to us overflow in grace over us.  Grace then allows us to live our lives fully.