Paul wrote a letter to the church at Philippi and it’s all about what it means to have joy. Interestingly, Paul wrote it from prison. Peter’s first letter was written to the early church about what it means to have hope. Peter was also writing in an unexpected context, to a group of early believers facing an increasingly intensifying persecution. We know from history that he is speaking of the persecution of the Early Church under the Roman Emperor Nero. Just as the context of the book of joy in the Bible is prison, the context of the book of hope is persecution.
How can you be joyful in prison? How can you have hope in the face of persecution? For Paul, joy was not the same thing as happiness. Joy is a deep emotion that comes from feeling connected and having a sense of purpose. Happiness is a temporary feeling that happens because of outside events or achievements. Joy comes from inside us and lasts longer, while happiness is often caused by things that happen around us. Likewise, to these new believers facing an imminent and incredibly difficult situation, Peter does not say that they ought to feel hope but that they have hope. For Peter, hope is not a feeling. It’s a certainty. It’s trust.
Hope is a practice. Sometimes it’s bold and forward-facing, drawing us toward what’s possible. Other times it’s quiet and grounding, steadying us when life feels overwhelming. Across situations and seasons, hope helps shape our inner narrative, guide our choices, and fuel our actions. It’s one of the mightiest contributors to resilience and well-being we have.
Yet many people equate hope with wishful thinking. Wishful thinking is passive. It is wanting something to happen without any plan or real action. It relies on chance. Hope is more than wishful thinking. Hope doesn’t mean ignoring the reality of challenge, and it doesn’t erase hardship. It accepts reality while still leaning into possibility. It isn’t naïve, and it isn’t passive. Hope is active. Hope is a choice.
For Peter, it’s not about hoping for a situation to change. It’s about hoping ina situation that’s already happened and will never change. For Peter what has already happened and will never change, that which solidly grounds our hope no matter what the future holds, is the proclamation we’ll say to each other this morning: “Christ is risen! He has risen indeed!” The resurrection not only happened in human history: It is the defining moment of human history.
For the Christian, this is not just a personal belief: It is the clearest statement of reality possible. Death is defeated. The Son of God is alive and sits on the throne of heaven and earth. We say “Christ is risen” rather than was or has risen because although we proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ in history 2,000 years ago, our emphasis is not on an empty tomb in the distant past, but on the living Lord who is with us—right here, right now!