Hopeful Resolve

A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC, May 17, 2015, Ascension Sunday and the celebration of Baptism and Confirmation.

Texts: Ephesians 1:15-23, Luke 24:44-53                                                      

What hope does God want us to know?  In our first reading today, we heard Paul pray, “that …God … 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…” (Eph 1:17-18).  What is that hope?  We hope for all sorts of things in life, but Christian hope has a particular shape and content:  freedom, forgiveness, peace, loving and just relationships, joy, new life—for ourselves and for the world.  An even more particular vision of Christian hope is that goodness is stronger than evil, that death doesn’t have the last word, that human life has eternal value, dignity, and meaning, and that love has the power to save someone’s life.  This hope isn’t just a nice idea.  It is embodied in Jesus—made real in flesh and blood—so that we see our hope is not just wishful thinking. 

 

Anyone here know the Harry Potter stories?  Professor Dumbledore is the teacher who shows the students at Hogwarts School what it looks like to be wise, strong, and to control and use one’s powers for good.  The students see in Dumbledore that their hope for their own lives and capacities are not in vain.  They see what is possible. While no metaphor is perfect of course, Jesus is like that for us, not only being wise, strong, and powerful, but helping us learn to do the things that he does.

Christian faith suggests that we try to live in the world the way Jesus did—loving God, loving others, and walking gently and peacefully upon the earth. Because God loved the world, Jesus was sent TO the world.  If we follow Jesus, we are also sent TO the world.  Recently we heard Jesus say just that, “as the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (Jn 20:21) Today Jesus says, “you are witnesses.” (Lk 24:48)

What kind of witness are we?  A few years ago, I heard professor Leonard Sweet say that the top 3 Google results when you type in “Why are Christians so…” were “intolerant, mean, & crazy.”  I did a test the other day to see what popped up.  Here’s what I got:  Why are Christians so… “hypocritical and judgmental,” “obnoxious and mean-spirited.” Related searches turned up “annoying, mean, arrogant, and ignorant.”  No wonder rising numbers of people—across generations, genders, and racial and ethnic groups—are choosing NOT to claim the name “Christian.”[i]  I wouldn’t want to have anything to do with a group who is hypocritical, judgmental, obnoxious, and mean-spirited.  Would you?

But, thank God, this isn’t the whole story.  When folks see Christian communities truly striving to live out the faith they profess with love, joy, and humility, it is not only appealing, but can be life-changing.  I remember a conversation with a very intelligent, creative, generous woman who had lived most of her already long life being a solitary student of Christ, but thinking she knew all about those nasty Christians and wanting nothing to do with them as a group.  A friend invited her to attend a Disciple Bible Study which she did; and eventually she went with her friend to worship.  I remember her saying to me with a wry grin, “I realized these people weren’t so bad after all.”  Another friend of mine who came to the church convinced that the whole enterprise was bogus had the same realization and, since being baptized, has given up his high-profile legal career, taken a vow of poverty, and created an intentional community where he lives with formerly unhoused men.  I’ve seen a man whose guilt and self-loathing led him to do all sorts of destructive things and who thought he was beyond redemption or love be met with grace and support that led him into a meaningful feeding ministry in the church.  Another who thought he was “all that” and was mixed up in all sorts of gang, drug, and sordid relationships stumble into Christian community and find that his life could be more than all that…he graduated from seminary a couple of years ago.  These folks’ lives were changed in and through Christian community that—though imperfect!—was trying to witness to the hope that is found in Christ.

Friends, what we say, do, and experience when we are gathered together here is a powerful public witness.  And perhaps even more powerful is how you allow your life to be so shaped and informed by our faith and values that it spills over into your everyday life.  What kind of witness for Christ are you at work? At home?

In a world where there is so much despair, cynicism, and suffering, one of the most powerful things we can do is to be witnesses to the hope we have through Jesus Christ.  This means taking the risk to believe

·         That goodness is stronger than evil,

·         That death doesn’t have the last word,

·         That human life has eternal value, dignity, and meaning,

·         That love saves,

·         That the Holy Spirit is at work to change lives in real and powerful ways.

It is not only people with “special powers” whose lives can be shaped by this hope, who can be witnesses for Christ.  Sometimes to be a witness for hope is as simple as getting through another day because you believe that things won’t always be this hard.  Sometimes to be a witness for hope is to forgive someone—maybe yourself.  Sometimes to be a witness for hope means to keep living and loving even after someone you love more than life has died.  Sometimes to be a witness for hope is to believe in someone who’s kind of a longshot.  Sometimes to be a witness for hope is to stumble into a church without knowing what you’ll find or even really why you’re there, but coming with just enough of an open mind and heart to receive grace.  Sometimes to be a witness for hope is to stand up in church with your confirmation class and choose to take your place as a professing member, trusting that God will be with you and will help you learn and grow as you serve and lead as part of the Body of Christ.

 

Jesus embodies our hope and gives us the grace and power to put that hope to work in our own bodies and lives.  We are called to make footprints on the earth in all the places where hope is needed.  Perhaps that witness will inspire folks to say, “Why are Christians so loving, inclusive, thoughtful, generous, just, peaceful, and joyful?”  Wouldn’t that just be something…

 

 

 

 

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[i] http://www.pewresearch.org/topics/religiously-unaffiliated/