Porque amor*

Today I listened, looked at, and read the Biola University Lent Project for April 9.** It included the song “Tenemos Esperanza” (“We Have Hope”). I don’t speak Spanish, but I loved the sound of the song. I kept hearing “esperanza” and that is one word I know -- “hope.” I also kept hearing “porque,” which I thought meant “why,” but I see in the translation of the lyrics (words and translation below) it means “because.” (I found in googling that there are 4 Spanish words pronounced the same but spelled differently, and one of them does mean why.)

It made me think of the way we say “Because,” leave out everything else and then just say the reason, usually a two-word statement. It’s a fairly new thing and it amuses me. So I put the two Spanish words together to say, “Because hope.” 

But then I thought, wait, maybe it should be “Because love” (Porque amor?). That’s what the lyrics say, right? (Lyrics below.) All those “Because…” statements are ways that Jesus showed his love for us. Why do we have hope? Because love. Why did Jesus become a human? Because love. Why does Jesus love you? Because love.

OK, that last one sounds kind of weird -- like a redundant non-answer answer. But it’s true. Why does Jesus love you? Because he loves you. I read a story recently where a man said he had a hard time believing he was good enough for Jesus to love. His spiritual director knew he had a son named David. He asked the man, “Why do you love David?” The man answered, “I just do. He’s my son.” The director asked, “So why can’t Jesus love you like that? Your son doesn’t have to do anything to deserve your love. He doesn’t have to show you he’s good enough. You love him just because you love him.”

Why does Jesus love you? Because love.

“Tenamos Esperanza” 

from the album Urbana 18 Live: Faithful Witness

Lyrics:

Porque El entró en el mundo y en la historia; 
Porque El quebró el silencio y la agonía; 
Porque llenó la tierra de su gloria; 
Porque fue luz en nuestra noche fría. 

Porque nació en un pesebre oscuro; 
Porque vivió sembrando amor y vida; 
Porque partió los corazones duros 
Y levantó las almas abatidas. 

Por eso es que hoy tenemos esperanza; 
Por eso es que hoy luchamos con porfía; 
Por eso es que hoy miramos con confianza, 
El porvenir en esta tierra mía. 

Porque atacó a ambiciosos mercaderes 
Y denunció maldad e hipocresía;
Porque exaltó a los ninos, las mujeres 
Y rechazó a los que de orgullo ardían. 

Porque El cargó la cruz de nuestras penas 
Y saboreó la hiel de nuestros males; 
Porque aceptó sufrir nuestra condena, 
Y así morir por todos los mortales. 

Porque una aurora vio su gran victoria 
Sobre la muerte, el miedo, las mentiras; 
Ya nada puede detener su historia, 
Ni de su Reino eterno la venida

 Lyrics Translation:
“We Have Hope”  

Because He came into the world and into history, 
Because He broke the silence and the agony, 
Because He filled the earth with His glory, 
Because He was light in our cold night.

Because He was born in a dark manger, 
Because He lived sowing love and life, 
Because He opened up the hard of heart 
And lifted up downtrodden souls 

Therefore we have hope today, 
Therefore we fight on tenaciously today, 
Therefore today we look confidently on 
The future of this land of mine. 

Because He attacked the ambitious merchants 
And denounced evil and hypocrisy; 
Because He exalted the children, the women, 
And rejected those who burn with arrogance.

Because He bore the cross of our suffering 
And because He tasted the bitterness of our ills; 
Because He accepted to suffer our condemnation 
And thus died for all mortals. 

Because a dawn saw His great victory 
Over death, the fear, the lies; 
Now nothing can hold back His history 
Or the coming of His eternal kingdom.

* Please forgive me if I totally messed up in the use of the Spanish language, of which I know nothing. Nada.

** I encourage you to check out and subscribe to Biola’s Lent Project. They also do an Advent project. Art, music, poetry, and a devotion all in one. It’s beautiful.