For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. – Titus 2:11

Today's Scripture Reading (June 13, 2024):  Titus 2 & 3

Paul's simple thought is this: the grace of God is offered to all people. I have an ongoing theological argument with people about this thought. I think Paul is right. There is hope for all people. This is not about some people; it is not a story meant just for the privileged who God has chosen.

I read a comment on Facebook a while back to which I took exception. The comment read that the clergy had made the Kingdom of God about what happens after we die, and if you have ever gotten that idea from me, I sincerely apologize. Yes, there is hope for after we die offered by the Bible, but a significant share of the book is about the hope we have to make a difference in this life. So, Paul tells Titus that his hope, and the hope that he has to offer his congregation, is all about the grace of God that is provided to everyone.

I believe he is challenging Titus, and by extension us, to take John 3:16 at face value. God so loved the world that all could be saved, and all means everyone. James E. McConnell got to the core of this message correct when he wrote –

I am happy today, and the sun shines bright,
The clouds have been rolled away;
For the Savior said, whosoever will
May come with Him to stay.

"Whosoever" surely meaneth me,
Surely meaneth me, oh, surely meaneth me;
"Whosoever" surely meaneth me,
"Whosoever" meaneth me.

There is a universal hope, and it is a hope that we need here and now.

As we move from today to tomorrow, a poet-philosopher's words seem more important now than they ever did. I want to share a poem, not just part of one, but the whole thing. I was hoping you could pause and see the imagery used by the poet.

The poem was written by a Canadian poet named John Woloschuk, and he entitled his poem "Hope."

Hope is like a lighthouse keeper's beam

Hope the master cobbler of our dreams

For hope believes in desert streams

The mightiest of stars … the microcosm in a jar

Vast or small, they all revolve on hope

 

Hope, the guardian angel of the dove

Hope, a gift of guidance from above

And hope is the heart in Mother's love.

No plans could be conceived …

No ships could fare the seas, for there would be no courage

Were it not for hope.

 

Now, the path before us lies before our very eyes

Don't you see?

And it leads up to the gateway … lead me through

Don't you see?

Then come and take my hand.

Raise up your head

And dry your eyes for up ahead, I see

A ray of peace shining on me

 

So let us feel hope and feel the sunrise in our minds

To give hope is to enlighten all mankind

Ah, but lose hope, and life seems black as blind

When faith gives way to fear

When motivation disappears

All is lost if one abandons hope

All is lost if one abandons hope (John Woloschuk.

^"For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people." Hope is available for all of us because God has entered our situation. I don't care what it is that is your past. God's grace has covered all of that. All that matters is what is contained in your future, and that is our hope.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 1