Virtue: Hope
Resolution: I choose to hope in God’s promise that all broken things will be made new.
Human Story: John Croyle
A modern story of hope can be found in the dream and calling of John Croyle, a former football player with The University of Alabama. At the end of his college football career, he met with Coach Bear Bryant and talked about playing in the NFL or pursuing a calling he felt to build a place for boys who needed a forever place to call home. He decided to forgo playing professional football and give children who were hurting a chance. In 1974, John Croyle founded Big Oak Boys’ Ranch. Today, the Big Oak Ranch, serving both girls and boys, continues to meet the needs of over 100 children per year and has served over 2,000 kids through the years. The concept is based on providing a solid Christian home with a chance to go to school, experience everyday family life, and discover God’s plan for their lives. The strong sense of family gives a foundation for children to spread their wings to go on to live independent productive lives. The home gives hope to young people when all hope is lost. The name of Big Oak Ranch, has remained fundamentally rooted in Isaiah 61:3, “And they shall be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified.”
The ranch is a family affair involving John’s wife as well as his son and daughter who are gradually taking over the reins. The ranch becomes home to children who have been raped, beaten, ignored and neglected. Some have been found in places not habitable for the living while others have been dropped off at the gate of the ranch. A child moves into a 6-bedroom home with siblings and godly parents. Big Oak Ranch’s foundational tenets are simple and few:
1. We love you. (demonstrates love and emotional support)
2. We will never lie to you. (demonstrates truth and honesty)
3. We will stick with you until you are grown. (demonstrates security)
4. There are boundaries; don’t cross them. (demonstrates discipline)
John is a father to so many children who are now vital members of society in almost every walk of life. Many come home for the holidays. They have been given a view of God through this man, who simply answered a call in his life and was shown a path to give hope to the hopeless.
Lesson: 1 Peter 1:3
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Peter was writing to a group of churches in modern-day Turkey that were suffering at the hands of their Greek and Roman neighbors. He was reminding them of the hope we have through the resurrection of Jesus. Peter begins his letter addressing the gentile Christians in these churches as exiles. Their new life in Christ is so foreign to the culture, it’s as if they were exiles in a foreign land even though they lived in their own county.
We feel heartache at injustice, violence and calamity in the world today. We long for a time of peace and shalom. The apostle Paul refers to it as groaning in ourselves and in all of creation. In a way, all of humanity is in exile because this world is not our own. Just as the Israelites’ hope was in their restoration in Jerusalem, our hope is in our own reconciliation to God through Jesus, who has defeated sin and death, offering life to all. We have begun our renewal and restoration with God, which will be complete at our own resurrection into the new Jerusalem.
We have a God that understands our sufferings. Jesus was misunderstood, abandoned and betrayed by his friends. As a parent might grieve over a child’s errant ways, Jesus cried: Jerusalem, Jerusalem… how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. (Matthew 23:37)
How should we live as exiles, when we are feeling troubled by our surroundings? Daniel shows us that we can live in the culture without being defined by it. Jeremiah tells us to live life and pray for peace. Jesus tells us to love our neighbor, who may be our enemy. Peter tells us we are blessed when we share in Christ’s suffering. We can take heart in Psalm 22, which Jesus quotes on the cross, that God hears our cries of forsakenness, that Jesus did not remain in the grave, that we have a living hope in his resurrection.
Remembrance
How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation, I turned to heaven
And spoke Your name into the night
Then through the darkness, Your loving-kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Who could imagine so great a mercy?
What heart could fathom such boundless grace?
The God of ages stepped down from glory
To wear my sin and bear my shame
The cross has spoken, I am forgiven
The King of kings calls me His own
Beautiful Savior, I'm Yours forever
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There's salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Jesus, Yours is the victory, whoa!
Challenge
John Croyle had a desire from a young age to bring hope to kids at risk. Consider ways in which you can encourage and give hope to others this week. Your gift of hope could be encouraging words, offering a meal, gifts of time or money to ministries, blood or organ donation, babysitting for a single parent, or something else God may lay on your heart. Be open to His leading this week as you seek His direction for ways to offer hope to others.
Reflection
Evaluate where you have your hopes and dreams. Your hopes may include your career, your family, your health. These are all good but consider if they were lost or taken away. Is your hope also anchored in something everlasting?
Further Growth
Old Testament: Isaiah 41:17-20
Psalm: Psalm 148
New Testament: 1 Peter 3:8-18
Gospel: John 15:1-11