Happy Lutheran

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:13

This is the verse that the Wartburg Theological Seminary Class of 2024 chose as their verse, and so it was the verse that grounded the “charge” that I give to the class at Commencement.

I really appreciated the opportunity to “dwell in this word” for a few weeks, as I prepared my remarks, reflecting on the transformative power of Christian hope, and the difference it can make for one’s life.

This is my address to the class; I hope it might speak to you as well, as you seek to live out your own vocation—faithfully, courageously, and confidently—in whatever God has called you to do and be in your personal and professional life.

This verse that you, the class of 2024, have chosen, begins and ends with hope; you have chosen hope as your watchword, your North Star at this threshold of a new day, the threshold of your Commencement—the commencement of your professional ministry in service to Jesus Christ for the sake of the world God loves so very much.

But the hope that you have grounded yourselves in, in this liminal moment, is not just any hope. It is Christian hope—and that makes all the difference. 

Christian hope is not the hope you generate for yourselves by wishing hard enough or working hard enough; Christian hope is gifted to you by the God of hope—the God who is right now doing a new thing in your life; the God who is right now preparing a way for you. That way may be through the wilderness, it may be in the valley, it may  be on the mountaintop—but it is a way to the place where God is calling you, the place where your unique gifts and education are desperately needed, the place where God’s people are eagerly awaiting you.

 The hope God has poured into you is manifest in your visionary courage that dares to believe in a vibrant future too many congregations cannot see for themselves. But, with the God of hope, you will show it to them. It is manifest in your persistent love that refuses to allow political or ideological divisions to usurp our shared identity as siblings in Christ. And it is manifest in your stubborn persistence that will not give in, will not give up—even in the face of people who doubt and question you—because you know God has called you. Christ is with you. And that is enough.

The God of hope has created you to be children of hope, disciples of hope. God has filled you with peace to be peacemakers; joy to be joy-bearers. Hope is what makes this possible for you. 

Christian Hope begins with God, but it finds its fruition in you, in your God-soaked life. Class of 2024, may the sure hope of God, yours in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, bear you on its wings into your every tomorrow.