wish upon a star but hope in Christ

Romans 8:18-25; Psalm 126 The Lord has done marvels for us; Luke 13:18-21

star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight...

When you wish upon a star...

Pennies in a fountain...

We spend a lot of time wishing but what we really need is hope.

St. Paul tells us that it is in hope we are saved.

What is the difference between hoping and wishing?

Hoping has everything to do with reality, with outcomes that have real possibility, with outcomes that are reasonable. Hopes have everything to do with that which we have seen before and we hoping to see again.

Wishing has little to do with reality but more with fantasy; we wish for those things that have no chance of occurring. Wishes usually end with dreams alone but never come to fruition.

For instance, in school as a student I would hope for a substitute teacher; I would hope for an open book test; I would hope for a bad weather day. These things were real possibilities; I had seen them before I could see them again.

In school as a student I would wish for never having homework again; I would wish for not having to go back to school; I would wish for no longer having to take test. These things were unreal.

Hope is rooted in reality. Thus we cam move forward in life.

St. Paul tells us that the reason we are save din hope because we, as believers, have access to the ultimate reality. The redemption of our bodies is not just a dream or a wish but a reality. We have seen this before and we will see it again. In Christ the redemption of our bodies is made real.

Thus we have hope in this life. This hope is reasonable.

What has been seen will be seen again.

Therefore we have a cause for action; we have a cause to work toward what we seek.

Hope gets us moving if it is real.

As the Led Zeplin song goes:

"There is a lady whose sure that all that glitters is gold, she is buying a stairway to heaven. When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all cold, with a word she can get what she came for; And she is buying a stairway to heaven."

We wish upon a star, but we hope in Christ for in him a stairway is made by the cross and redemption is seen.