Hope Is A Muscle
Dear St. John’s,
If you were in church last Sunday (or listened to the sermon online), then you already know I am a big Knicks fan! This year, they have finally given their fanbase something to cheer about as they face off against the San Antonio Spurs for the NBA Championship. It has been 27 long years since they have even been in a position to win it all. For most of those two-plus decades, the Knicks have pretty much stunk.
Beyond years of longsuffering, it takes a lot of stubborn hope to stick with a team that just can’t seem to win the "big one."
There’s a verse from this week’s reading in Romans that talks about hope in a peculiar way. Paul writes, “Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us” (Romans 5:3-4). We don’t typically think of suffering as a prerequisite for hope, yet Paul sees it as a natural, necessary progression. This isn't a passive hope based on wishful thinking; rather, it is a resilient hope rooted in active endurance.
In the case of the Knicks, that endurance looked like a chaotic combination of front-office hirings and firings, player acquisitions, trades, drafts, and a revolving door of coaches. But for Paul and those early Christians, the stakes were infinitely higher. They were being ostracized, viewed as dangerous outsiders, and would soon face brutal persecution under Emperor Nero.
While nobody enjoys suffering, it can be the exact crucible through which we develop the character that points us toward true hope. Ultimately, this progression reminds us that hope isn't a daydream—it is a muscle built in the dark. Whether we are enduring decades of a championship drought or navigating the far heavier, trials of life, our struggles do not have to be meaningless. When we allow our hardships to build endurance and shape our character, we are cleared of shallow optimism and grounded in a deeper, unshakeable hope—one that promises never to disappoint us, no matter the final score.
In Christ,
Anthony+
