Our Hope In Failure

Our Hope in Failure

In many ways, the Old Testament is a record of repeated human failure; it contains very few real “success” stories. Only three chapters into the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve sin, perhaps the most impactful human failure of all time. A couple of chapters later, the human race has become so wicked that God decides to destroy everyone. From Noah’s drunken exposure, to Abraham’s lying and giving Sarah to a king, to Jacob and his sons’ deceit, human failures far outnumber the successes.

In Exodus, we find the covenant God made with Moses broken “before the ink has dried” (so to speak). In Leviticus, just as the priesthood God established with Aaron and his sons begins its service in the Tabernacle, Aaron’s sons are consumed by fire because of their irreverent abuse of their holy calling. In the book of Numbers, the Israelites failed to go into the land for fear of the “giants” who possessed it. In Numbers, even Moses, the greatest leader the nation had yet known, failed in such a way that he was barred from entering Canaan.

What do these repeated failures reveal? Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians: “These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall” (1 Corinthians 10:11-12). And he says this in his letter to the Romans: “Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled” (15:4). But how can these stories caution us about our propensity to fall and give us hope at the same time?

It is only in coming to terms with human hopelessness that we can embrace biblical hope. And biblical hope is not hope for perfection or even improvement in human terms. Biblical hope is centered in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only hope for humans who have failed.

In fact, there is only one human failure that can bar a person from sharing in the victory of God. That is the failure to grab hold of Christ, the failure to receive his grace and mercy that covers all human failure. “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God” (Hebrews 12:15).

It’s as if you’ve been waiting for me to come to the end of myself and turn to you, Jesus. And I’m turning to you. Out of my shameful failure and loss, Jesus, I come. I come to you with only failed human effort to offer. Yet, in your grace and mercy you receive me.