Holding On to Hope

The history of the Church includes the stories of imperfect people who intersect with a perfect God,
who come to know Him and follow His principles. Colossians 1 states:
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.
27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

In our current state, we can be content; as we envision the future, we can be hopeful, because we know Christ.  If we are allowing Him to direct our steps and govern our minds, we can experience a sense of anticipation for what He wants to do.  He is building His Church, even in the midst of isolation and He is advancing His Kingdom work despite our society's polarization.  He has come to show humanity how we can experience true forgiveness and life a redeemed life.

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Even in the midst of turmoil and discouragement, we can hold fast to our hope in Christ, as Peter
states in 1st Peter 1:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials...

The fill-in-the-blank phrase, "it was a different _______ " this year, was certainly applicable to the Fourth of July, or Independence Day.  In this area, outdoor activities, such as parades and fireworks displays, were cancelled due to concerns over the Coronavirus.

But, the fireworks continued on social media, it seems, and you could perceive a line of demarcation about American Independence and its promises, which some do not feel they are sharing in.

Dean Nelson has apparently experienced that - he has been involved with the Family Research Council and the Douglass Leadership Institute, as well as the Human Coalition.  He wrote for The Daily Signal:

Each Independence Day, my social media feed divides in two: half commemorates the declaration of our nation’s independence from Great Britain, while the other laments the hypocrisy that a nation founded on the idea of liberty would have simultaneously tolerated slavery.

In the last few years, I’ve been pleased that both sides seem to freely quote my favorite American, the great Frederick Douglass.

He noted Douglass' 1854 speech to a group of white abolitionists in Rochester, New York, called, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?  In it, Douglass, a slave who was a leading voice prior to the Civil War for the abolition of slavery, stated: "I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim..."  He said the celebration was a "sham," and declared, "your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy..."

Recently, some of the descendants of Douglass shared a video, in which they recited from that speech.  The video did contain material at the end that left viewers with a sense of hope.

Nelson points out that:

Where Douglass may have raised a few eyebrows was in his conclusion where he challenged the common northern abolitionist belief that the U.S. Constitution itself was pro-slavery and should be discarded. When Douglass initially escaped slavery, he had accepted this view, but upon reading and studying the Constitution for himself, he came to a different opinion.

He points out that Douglass believed and stated in that speech, "the Constitution is a GLORIOUS LIBERTY DOCUMENT."  He stated, "Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. On the other hand, it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery."

Even though at the time, Douglass did not believe that the slave was sharing in the blessings of American independence, he still stated in the speech that he had respect for the founders of this nation.  He said, according to the website for the Smithsonian's National Museum for African-American History and Culture:

“Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men, too, great enough to give frame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory….

The ideals that were embraced in the Declaration of Independence, that "all men are created equal" and had the rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" had not yet been extended to those in slavery.  And, even today, there are still those who do not believe that they are enjoying the fullness of these principles.  But, we have been placed in a nation that is founded on them, and the finished product is yet to be seen.  The phrase, "E Pluribus Unum" - meaning, "out of many, one," as well as the phrase, "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, reminds us of what America can be.

We have soaring ideals and unfulfilled promises, yet, through a trust in the Lord and in one another, we can continue to build on the foundation that our forefathers envisioned.  But, there are those that want to erase our history instead of learning from it.  They are not interested in building one nation, pursuing "a more perfect union."  There are people who have become so rooted in identity politics that divide us that they fail to see what unites us.  Consider those who recently in that same city of Rochester where Douglass gave his 1854 speech vandalized a statue of him.

Nelson reflects:

Today, we must fight injustices like police brutality, but we must also challenge those who want to indiscriminately tear down everything about America, including the right of all Americans, among them blacks, to buy, sell, and own property, own their own labor, and accumulate wealth for their children.

For the believer, in the body of Christ, we are all called to belong.  We have been bought with the blood of Christ, brought into His family, and have experienced the independence of the soul that comes from knowing Jesus.  Even though we have been saved, we also recognize that our lives are not perfect; no, that perfection will only come when we enter into His glorious presence in our heavenly home.  In the meantime, we can walk daily in hope; knowing that we have been born again into a "living hope," as the Bible says - the Scriptures tell us that Christ in us is the "hope of glory."  He extends His invitation to all to be part of His glorious family and walk in His glorious principles.  The Church is by no means perfect, but the concept is, and we are a primary instrument that God uses to accomplish His purposes on this earth.