The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith
Hope That Does Not Die
Does God care? And how does God
care? Why is the world such a mess? How can one person possibly deal with the
problems let alone be a positive force for good? These are questions that
people have asked throughout the ages. People of great faith have had to look
at the tragic moments in life and come to some understanding about God and how
God acts in human history. What we believe about how God is involved has a huge
impart on how we choose to be involved.
The history of God’s people
as given to us by the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament is a history of
struggle. It is a history of exile and return. It is a history of alienation
and restoration. It is a history of a people gone astray finding their way back
home through the grace of God. In Jesus,
we proclaim that the final return and the final restoration have come to all
people. As we did in our opening prayer today, we praise God who wonderfully
created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature.
Jesus was born into a world
that is often cruel. The account of Herod’s attempt to find and kill Jesus
shows that God’s presence in the world does not stop the madness which comes
from human fear, greed, and aggression. God does, however, act to guide those
who are receptive to the divine message and instruction. Joseph listened and acted
to protect the baby Jesus. God speaks still and acts to bring about a better
world.
As the New Year begins, we
all hope for a better world. New Year’s resolutions are a good and noble
attempt to be what we wish to be. We give something up or take something on to
be, for example, healthier. Just as many of our resolutions will not survive
until February, human history as a whole, after many resolutions by good people
to try harder, continues to be a muddle.
One look at the headlines
during this first week of 2009 gives us the reality check. The Holy Land
continues to explode with anger and violence. No matter your perspective on who
is right or wrong, we all shake our heads and pray for a stop to the violence
that takes innocent life. Just as in the days of Herod, we continue to see the
innocent suffer.
And yet, millions celebrated
the start of the New Year with genuine hope for peace and a better experience
for humanity in all ways and in all places this year. “Happy New Year” we say –
based not on what is, but on what we hope will be. We are hardwired for hope. Being
made in the image of God, we know that there is always hope. Hope, not founded
on foolish dreams, but hope as we know it in Jesus. How amid the tragedies of
life do we base our hope on God?
In his book Becoming
Christ, Brian Taylor uses a metaphor that I find helpful in understanding
our situation in this life. How do we live in a world full of pain and
suffering, a world where innocent children die everyday from poverty or
violence? Taylor speaks of his experience of taking off in a plane during a
storm.
I’ve done that as you may
have. When on the ground, we may wonder if we will ever take off. There are
delays and the weather does not seem to be getting any better. I’ve felt
nervous and wished that I was flying another day. I pray a lot when taking off
and landing always, and a little harder when the weather is bad. There can be
bumps as we move through the storm. But then as the plane raises above the
storm, and breaks through the clouds, we see the light and feel the calm.
Taylor states that,
What is amazing to me is that every time this happens,
I am surprised. On the ground I am part of the storm. I think ‘It is stormy’,
and so I am stormy too, along with everything and everyone around me. Then all
of a sudden, as we go above the storm the weather changes and so do I. Every
thing opens up (Brian C. Taylor, Becoming Chrsit: Transformation Through
Contemplation, Cowley: Cambridge Mass., 2002, p. 209).
We cannot choose to fly on
another day. This is our time and we are on the runway. It is not that the
storm is no longer there. But when our perspective is enlarged by our
experience of God’s grace, we are able to deal with the storm from a place of peace.
We do not deny that the innocent suffer; we do not live in some kind of fantasy
land claiming that our faith makes everything fine. But when “everything opens
up” we are able to draw on God’s strength. We are able to live and act based on
our knowledge of God rather than acting based solely on the storms of life.
Taylor’s point is that we can
be transformed through contemplation. Through prayer, we connect more and more
with God. The more we are aware of God’s perspective, the more we grounded in
God and able to get through the storms – be they personal or common to many.
The complete title of
Taylor’s book is Becoming Christ: Transformation Through Contemplation.
Sometimes in the mist of storms, when words don’t come or seem pointless,
simple sitting with God, clearing our minds and opening ourselves to God’s
presence can be transforming.
There are many books on
contemplation, but the basic method is to breathe, being aware of your breath, repeat
a word or short phrase in your mind, such as “God is good” or “Come Holy Spirit”
or just “Jesus.” Focus on the word or phrase letting go of other
thoughts and then resting in the silence where the still small voice of God is
often heard. The clouds can part and the light streams in. This sort of
prayer is not really about finding answers, but rather about resting in God’s
presence.The storm, the difficult things of the world, do not disappear, but
our perspective changes and that makes a all the difference.
The peace and joy found in
the Nativity scenes of Christmas are based on the perspective of God –based on
what was given to the world that day. But Jesus was born into a cruel world. Herod
does not let us forget the reality into which Jesus came and in which we still
live.
“Happy New Year” we say. Our
hope is founded not on our ability to keep resolutions but on God’s ability to
act. Herod tried, but the hope known in the baby Jesus could not be killed at
its start, and cannot be killed now. Our
resolutions may not hold, but God’s resolution does. The birth of Jesus was
God’s new resolution to transform our world.
In God’s resolution we find
our hope and we find our salvation. The best New Year’s resolution we can make
is to seek to know God more and more this year. As we listen in faith for God’s
word to us, we make a difference and we contribute to the happiness of the new
year.
To pray in the words found in
Ephesians:
“I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may
give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that,
with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which
he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the
saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.”
Amen.