We all nurture hopes of various kinds. We hope to live a long and productive life. We hope our children and grandchildren will grow into good people who will contribute to society. We hope for world peace and prosperity. These are all good things, but we can’t necessarily count on them to come to pass. They may or may not. So what can we hope for that will never disappoint us? St. Augustine once wrote, “The Lord’s resurrection is our hope” (Sermon 261:1). Placing our hope in Jesus’ rising from the dead is a sure bet. In fact, it’s something we can stake our lives on. That’s because the hope St. Augustine is talking about is different from Joe’s hope that he’ll win the lottery. While Joe has no idea whether he’ll ever win, we know that everyone who believes that Jesus has been raised from the dead will be saved (Romans 10:9). So we’re not just wishing something good will happen; we are confident it will!