Abounding in Hope

Hope, it’s so much a part of this time of year, the word appears on cards, in songs and in the hearts and minds of so many. Yet the opposite is also true. At this time of year so many are reminded of how hopeless their situation is, how hopeless their life is, how hopeless they are. It’s like a poor street kid looking into the window of a toy store and watching all the toys being played with my kids who will find them under their trees knowing that his or her hope for a toy will not be fulfilled.

I know about hopelessness. At one point in my life I was hopeless, alone, far from home and felt that I had lost everything, that my world had collapsed around me. A relationship that had pretty well consumed me fell apart. I had no place to live. I had no job. My family was 3000 miles away. And I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. I didn’t want to call my folks and ask for help, it would have been admitting that I was hopeless, a lost cause. But the kindness of a classmate, someone I didn’t know very well and his hopeful nature saved me. He got me a job, gave me his couch to sleep on, and made sure I had someone who cared. Slowly I came around, saved enough money, made some friends and found my way from hopeless to hope. One thing I forgot to mention, my classmate insisted that we pray together each morning and night, nothing self-righteous or preachy just prayers for ourselves, our co-workers, and our world. He kept me connected to God and helped me remember that God is the hope of everyone, me included.

Years later I find it is so hard to maintain a spirit and attitude of hopefulness in the deafening roar of the pain, torment and suffering of so many. The world seems to be tearing itself apart and hope seems so distant, aloof and out of reach. Look at the world: the rich are getting richer while the poor continue to lose ground. Fast food workers are trying to get a living wage. Millions of people are living in camps and with family and friends as they flee war, genocide, persecution and intolerance. Millions more are forced to live amid rubble and devastation caused by war or natural disasters. Children’s parents are deported, wives live in fear of abusive husbands, and children dread the exploitive boyfriend or relative. Veterans suffer PTSD and it tears their families apart. Add to all of this the apathy and indifference of so many millions of others and the hopelessness of life seems overwhelming. All around us people seem hopeless, apathetic, hardened against the storms of post-modern life. Where can they, we, I find hope this dark, dreary December?

And then you hear a song,
“O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thy justice here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death’s dark shadows put to flight.”(1)
We sing a few phrases:
“Here is peace, when grace surprises
ignorance with words of hope.
Here is peace to light our senses;
see, God’s love has boundless scope.”(2)
We listen as people all over the world sing:
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky.
Are also on the faces, of people going by,
I see friends shaking hands. Saying, "How do you do?"
They're really saying, "I love you."(3)
And hope doesn’t seem so far off, unattainable or unrealistic.

The prophet Isaiah writes about the coming day when all will be as God intends and his vision is one of justice for the poor, of righteousness and faithfulness. He sees a time when the natural order of things will be upended when the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the calf and the lion shall lie down together and eat straw. He sees a day when all people will come to know God’s grace and love, God’s justice and peace. (Isaiah 11: 1-10) This is a vision of hope, a prophecy of expectation that tells us what it is God envisions for creation, for this world and for you and me and everyone else. This is something to place our hope in, this God who wants the universe to be at peace, who wants justice and righteousness to prevail, who desires all people to know him or her not as some distant, unattainable other but as a father/mother/brother/sister/friend/co-worker and yes partner.
Every time I think about the millions of ways the people of faith bring hope to the devastation and devastated of the world I’m am hopeful. Every time I think about the hundreds of ways you who are Vermont Hills Church are the light that dispels the darkness of our world, every time I hear the thank yous read for Thanksgiving Boxes and Christmas gifts given to needy families by this church, every time I watch as the record of our giving to SW Hope – Feed the Hungry grows larger each week, each time I see pictures of our families working at the food bank or Neighborhood House, each time I sign a card which already has heartfelt and meaningful messages written upon it, each time I work with our youth on a Habitat for Humanity build, each and every time I come among you I am reminded that hope lives. I come face-to-face with God’s partners bringing hope to the world.

This is exactly what is needed to counteract the apathy and hopelessness that can grab a hold of you if you let all the troubles of the world crowd in. This is not ignoring or glossing over the real pain and need, it is a diving into that pain and need and pulling in with you the hope that is God for yourself and all others. It is the hope Paul wishes for the Christians of Rome when he writes the closing benediction; “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace…so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13) You see, we are the light that will dispel the darkness of our world. We are the hope, the harbingers of hope in a world of apathy and despair.

As partners of the Hope of the World we are the living, breathing hope that others need. Our ways of living and loving shine hope into the darkness of our world. We reflect the light of Christ into the lives of others. We will be the hope that our world needs. I am we are the hope that is needed. My faith, our faith brings light to the darkness of others. I will practice, we will practice hopeful living until it is my way, our way and then I and we will practice it all the more. This Advent and Christmas the message that Jesus is the hope of the world is needed now more than ever. As Jesus’ partners we must continue to be hope for others.

It is my belief that God is the hope of all people. As people on the way; people following Jesus’ example and teachings -not as an exclusive club but as a people seeking to live lives that glorify God and welcome others to glorify God with us in their own ways – we have an opportunity to make hope live. This is our hope that all people will be centered upon glorifying God and divisions will end. Jesus is the Lamb of God who comes to put an end to scape-goating and sacrifice once and for all and ushers in a new way of being that transcends differences and recognizes that all people are one.

We abound in hope because we know that life can be good, that divisions and differences can be celebrated not feared, that everyone can have enough and be freed to live up to their God-given potential. We abound in hope because we have seen how simple acts of kindness and generosity can change lives and change the world. We abound in hope because we have experienced the love and grace of God through the hopefulness of people of faith, of all faiths. We abound in hope because 2000 years ago a baby was born in the backwater town of Bethlehem and everything changed.

Come, Jesus, Hope of the World, Come.

(1) “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” vs. 6 Henry Slone Coffin
(2) “Here Is Peace” by Andrew Pratt
(3) “What a Wonderful World” by by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss