This week is a very special week as Easter approaches and we celebrate an empty tomb! Christ’s resurrection changes everything. Not only did He do the work on the cross, but he completed that work when He rose from the dead. Death could not hold Him! This truth must not be lost on us. I don’t have the space here today to dive into it all, but I would encourage you to read of this marvelous truth.
I bring this up today because my heart breaks for so many that come in our doors at HOPE. Many are lost and in search of fulfillment in the pleasures of this world; pleasures that offer a brief respite, but lasting turmoil. We are going to be disappointed with what the world has to offer. We are going to be left wanting more.
HOPE has seen over 20,000 patients since opening our doors in 1997. What does this say about the need and brokenness of our community? Just yesterday we served seven walk-in patients seeking a pregnancy test. This is becoming the norm. We love what we do, but we long for this need to be remedied.
John Piper once said, “Missions exist because worship doesn’t.” Piper’s point with this provocative statement was to show that missions will no longer be needed when worship exists globally. Piper knows that this doesn’t happen apart from Christ’s return, but his illustration is a poignant one.
I often think about HOPE and pregnancy centers in the same way. We exist because abortion clinics exist and are preying on the most vulnerable among us. We exist because men and women across the country are making poor sexual decisions; decisions that have lasting impacts. I long for the day that we are not needed. I long for the day that men and women are made whole and are not struggling with drugs, abuse, unplanned pregnancies, abortions, sexually transmitted diseases, and so forth.
I long for this day, but we don’t reach this outcome ultimately until Christ returns. So what does that mean for us in the meantime? What are we to do with ourselves and our time while we anxiously await the Second Advent?
These questions seem heavy, but the answers are simple. We are to go to work. We are to continue to get up every single day seeking to impact the life of another. We are to assist with missions because we long to see worship and we are to assist with pregnancy centers because we long to see men and women served, loved, and made whole again.
Are you doing that today? Are you desiring to see others redeemed and loved? Your work in these areas could change and potentially save lives! Stop coiling back away from the storms of our day. Instead, walk toward the storm and reach out to someone in need.
Do you cling to something greater than yourself? Do you cherish what Christ did on the cross? Do you marvel at an empty tomb? When these questions are answered in the affirmative we should be motivated to tell others how they can do the same.
We have a message worth sharing. Our patients have been told a great deal in their lives. They have been abused and rejected. They are seeking solace in a needle or in the arms of another. This is the harsh truth that so many in a church pew blatantly disregard. We, however, have news for them that could change everything!
We have news of a Savior that sacrificed what we couldn’t so that we may be redeemed; a Savior that brings life to the dead, love to the unloved, value to the devalued, and names to the unnamed.
I love Holy Week. I love reflecting on the goodness of our Father. This is love – willingly doing something for another even when they are undeserving. This is what Christ did and this is what we are to do. Spend your days seeking to make it a better day for another. We would love for you to do that at HOPE, but if not HOPE, please engage somewhere and love someone!
posted by Andrew Wood, Executive Director of Hope Resource Center
