Active hope and passive love: a lens for 2020 and beyond

Congratulations

I started this post in December. It started with something like, "Congratulations, you've made it!" We made it through 2020. I never posted. Over the past ten months, most of my writing has been a personal processing rather than a public offering. I'm sure that the small band of followers of this blog understand because you, too, have been through some surreal terrain over the past ten months.

In April of 2020, we were a few weeks into the COVID-19 crisis. We realized the opportunity we had as Precept leaders in the United States to hold out HOPE. A coworker said, "Luca, we're dealers in hope." I know you've been wondering where your sporadic dose of Lucarelli has been since that last post in April.

So much has changed.

Yet, one thing remains the same -

hope.

If 2020 has taught us anything, it has shown us where we've placed our hope. It has revealed to many where they've put their trust, affection, and faith. It has been a sobering year. I think it will be a defining year for many of us as we look back on it. I do want to congratulate you. With all of the mess, weirdness, suffering, and hardship, too, you made it with the grace of Jesus.

I'm sure I'll share more of what 2020 has wrought in our lives. Yet, I want you to know that I'm encouraged. Shocker. Yes, I am hopeful. I am expectant. Yes, weary. Nevertheless, full of hope.

If you have a few minutes, check out the first few verses of Romans 5.

It's a pivot in the book of Romans. It's a place where we turn from the "All have sinned" of Romans 1-3 to the work of Christ "by faith" in Romans 4 &5. It starts with that loaded word, "Therefore."

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The sum-up of Romans 1-4, because of Jesus, is that children of God have been justified, declared righteous by God. It has nothing to do with the actual person, but everything to do with the real person that can declare - Jesus.

Because of Jesus, though we deserve the full wrath of God, we have peace with God. We were at arms against God. We were on the wrong side of the war. Yet, because of Jesus, we are now at peace with God. Man, I'll try to contain my excitement.

I love the book of Romans.

In addition to having peace with God through Jesus, we've also gained access to grace. There once was a bouncer that kept us out of grace; we've now been granted access, admission, and acceptance into grace because of Jesus. We stand in this grace. We rejoice in this grace because the enemies are now able to hope in the glory of God.

I love these verses. I love the progression. If you have a few minutes, you might want to write a flow chart on what happens in your life as you live in grace from Romans 5:1-5. At the end of this progression, there is this amazing statement -

"And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Here is why I love it:

I'm a communicator, but I'm not the best writer. I will wholeheartedly admit that I use a fantastic program called Grammarly to help me write. Every time I use this passage in anything I write, there are errors all over the place. Grammarly, you see, doesn't like when an author writes in the passive voice. Here is why I love it - it is something called the divine passive.

Let me explain -

I couldn't hope.

I am passive in that process. God, however, is the active one. He is the one that has given me peace, access, and hope. Jesus is the means of this peace, access, and hope. I am not active in either hope or love. Because of the love of God, active, that has been poured out in our hearts, active, I hope. Because of the Holy Spirit pouring out God's love in our hearts, I hope. We are passive. God is active.

God the Father is active.

God the Son is active.

God the Spirit is active.

We are the object of his action.

In the midst of 2020, brothers and sisters, God has poured out his love to us through the Holy Spirit.

I can't wait to share some of the ways that the Lord has shown me how he is at work. I'm sure you have some stories as well. Yes, 2020 and the start of 2021 has been challenging.

Yet, we hope.

Listen, this week, we're gathering all of our Precept Leaders within the United States for our 2021 Spring Precept Group Kickoff. We're going to be dealing some hope together. If you're a Precept leader or if you've been prayerfully considering becoming one, we'd love for you to join us.

I am hopeful because thousands of Precept leaders in the United States help students, in-person and online, hope in Jesus through His Word. I'll share more tomorrow, but we'd love for you to get in on this too.

Question: During these dark days, how has the Lord allowed you to hope in Him?

Special thanks to Hillie Chan on Unsplash for the cover photo.