“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (I Peter 1:3-7) In this first Sunday after Easter we hear startling words from the old triple-denier, the “rock” who definitely rolled as soon as he had to stand up for Jesus.  It is our old friend, Peter, years after that first Easter, seeking to bring comfort to fellow believers who are now being tempted to deny our Lord in the midst of persecution.  Their present amounts to suffering and their immediate future is quite unsure.  They cannot possibly know how any of their immediate circumstances will play out.  However, they do know this: they have been born into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ!  A hope not granted by pleasant circumstances cannot be taken away by bad ones.  Peter is reminding them (and us) that we do not know the details, but we know the end of the story.  The tomb is empty, Jesus is raised from the dead and we have hope because of that; a hope that cannot be shaken by present hardship.  How are you doing with hope these days?  Difficult days do come upon us all and we complicate them if our hope is misplaced… perhaps in ourselves or friends or family, jobs or material goods.  Only the resurrected Lord can give us the hope necessary to deal with all of life’s difficulties.  Do you know anyone who needs to be reminded of that?  Do you?  Have a wonderful week!