Living as People of Hope

by: Carol Moerman

Backpacking around Europe as a student in the summer of 1973, the Berlin Wall remains etched in my memory. Acres of concrete “no man’s land” and armed guards in watchtowers gave the impression of invincibility. Communism was here to stay. We believed Kruschev’s threat delivered in the UN: “We will bury you!” and strengthened our defenses. The Cold War prompted my father-in-law to build a bomb shelter in northern Alberta. Just sixteen years later the Soviet Empire collapsed.

Today there is growing anxiety about Christianity’s survival in Europe. With fifty million Muslims now living in Europe, countries like Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, and France have reacted, tightening immigration policies. Secular humanism reigns in government and education. A British editorialist laments: “The British, a formerly religious people, have entirely forsaken organized Christianity in a sudden plunge into a truly secular condition. . . . It feels as if the soul of Britain is dying.”

Ezekiel’s vision is a timely reminder that God is still on his throne. The Israelites were in exile, wondering if God had abandoned them, if the Babylonian gods were more powerful than their God. Surveying the spiritual landscape of post-Christian Europe, we may wonder if God has “left the building.” Marxism, Islam, and secular humanism – and every other kingdom and empire that is not grounded on God’s Word – are doomed to fail. Do we believe it?