Surprised by Hope, by N.T. Wright

Chapter Twelve

1.  Wright asks, “How does believing in the future resurrection lead to getting on with the work in the present? The point of the resurrection, as Paul has been arguing…is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die. God will raise it to new life. What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it. What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future. They are part of what we may call building for God’s kingdom.”

How does this crucial connection between the present and the future provide encouragement and hope for the mission of the church in the world?  How does this perspective shape the value God places in you and the value you place in yourself?

2.  “The truly exciting, surprising, and perhaps frightening thing about where we have now got to in this book is that we are now forced to rethink the very meaning of salvation
itself.”

Prior to reading this book, how did you define salvation…both on a Biblical and on a personal basis?  How do you define both levels of salvation now?

3.  “In other words—to sum up where we’ve got so far—the work of salvation, in its full sense, is (1) about whole human beings, not merely souls; (2) about the present, not simply the future; and (3) about what God does through us, not merely what God does in and for us. If we can get this straight, we will rediscover the historic basis for the full-orbed mission of the church.”

Briefly review each of these three points and explore their implications for understanding our greater purpose as Christians.

4.  “This, as we have seen, is what the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit are all about. They are designed not to take us away from this earth but rather to make us agents of the transformation of this earth, anticipating the day when, as we are promised, “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” When the risen Jesus appears to his followers at the end of Matthew’s gospel, he declares that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. And the point of the gospels—of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John together with Acts—is that this has already begun. The question of how it has begun—in what sense it is inaugurated, anticipated, or whatever—has been the stuff of debate for a long time. But part of the problem with that debate is that those taking part in it do not usually clarify the question of what precisely it is that is begun, launched, or initiated.”

As God’s “agents of the transformation of this earth,” we are not helplessly un-equipped for this kingdom work.  We have been baptized into this kingdom, nurtured in the holy meal by his body and blood, and buoyed by a grace-filled faith as we hear and receive the living Word.  How do these “Means of Grace” continue to sustain you for such transformation of life around you?

5.  Wright concludes, “Heaven’s rule, God’s rule, is thus to be put into practice in the world, resulting in salvation in both the present and the future, a salvation that is both for humans and, through saved humans, for the wider world. This is the solid basis for the mission of the church.”

Got it?  God’s rule is to be put into practice in the world, resulting in salvation across the board.  How do we comprehend this rule, equip the saints, and send the church (that’s us) for such mission?