HOPE
If I asked what you are hoping for, it may be the safe arrival of a new child into the family, it may the return of a loved one from overseas, you might talk about visiting family, or a special gift you are hoping for this Christmas.

According the dictionary on my computer - To hope is to have a wish to get or do something or for something to happen or be true, especially something that seems possible or likely.

To hope is a confident desire – such as when a medical research team finds something that offers hope to people with a certain medical condition.

Hope is also a wish or the likelihood of success – as in there’s not much hope of that happening. Or when we say this is our last hope.

In the dictionary the last meaning of hope is a feeling of trust then in brackets [archaic].

So often when we talk about what we hope for, it is about a wish , a desire, an expectation, a dream, something we anticipate will happen.

When we talk about hope in the church it is more than a wish, more than anticipation. When we talk about hope, once again the church is labelled archaic; because for us hope is in Jesus Christ, this no idle wish, no dream regardless of how likely or unlikely it is to happen. Hope is trust in God, hope is something we live.

In the book of Jeremiah,  Jeremiah has come full circle, he begins by telling the people of Israel that because of their sinfulness, they will be ruled by a foreign power, they will go into exile. In the middle of the siege of Jerusalem and the impending destruction that Jeremiah had been talking about for 40 years, he shifts the focus of his message rather abruptly. In Jeremiah 32, Jeremiah is instructed to buy a seemingly worthless piece of land in what is soon to be a devastated city. Now, at the time when Jerusalem is surrounded and about to be overthrown by the Babylonians, Jeremiah buys a field.

Jeremiah knew this was what God wanted him to do, because he heard from God, then his cousin came and asked him to buy the field from him. This appears to be a flawed real estate transaction. The cousin is likely pleased to be rid of a piece of ground he will soon be unable to access. But Jeremiah buys the field, hopeful, trusting, in God’s promise of a time when the people of Israel will return to this land.

You may heard the saying – actions speak louder then words – and I think this applies to Jeremiah. He knew the people were wondering about their future, he knew the city was about to be in Babylonian hands, but still he bought the field.

Sometimes we need signs and symbols that actually do something. We need signs and symbols that make a statement more clearly than words alone can. When we come to the communion table, we eat and drink, a sign of nourishment, as well as remembering the sacrifice of Jesus, the meals Jesus ate with people and symbolically eats with us. The eating of communion elements is about remembering and retelling a story, but it is also including ourselves in the ongoing story of discipleship.

Our actions speak louder then words, our caring speaks of God’s love far more eloquently than quoting Bible verses, our spending habits speak more than our statements about justice, our living speaks more about our faith than saying the creeds.

In the epistle reading this week, the writer of the letter to Timothy, writes we should pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.  This and the gospel reading are about how we live, and what we value.

The parable in the gospel is a story that was familiar in this middle east region.  Lazarus and the rich man has its origin as an Egyptian folk tale, that made its way into Jewish folklore, it was familiar to the audience Jesus was speaking to. In this culture it was common to explore behaviour by imagining what happened after you died. This parable is exploring the effect of living in a world  with huge discrepancies between people, where some have more than they need, and others have too little. It is not about God’s response to our sin. It is about the way the gulf between people, leads to a gulf between people. When we value our own needs before the needs of others, we too will get caught up in that. When our focus is on acquiring wealth, food, servants, we are unable to pursue godliness, faith, love and gentleness.

The rich man acted as if he alone was responsible for the good fortune he had in life. There is nothing here about wealth being incompatible with faith. It is possible to be rich and faithful. There were members of the early church with some measure of wealth, and they were still included in the life of the church. It seems that Jesus had rich friends and enjoyed feasts whenever he could.

This is about where our energy goes – is it in pursuing godliness or chasing after wealth. Do we trust in God or do we trust our own ability. And regardless of how we answer that question, the way we live, the way we treat people, even people we don’t know, will say much more about our values and the basis of our hope than our words.  

Walter Brueggemann, a Biblical scholar writes:

“There are two ways in the world: the way of trustful obedience or the way of self-reliant ambition.” 

“Jeremiah relies on the deep promises of God that God’s intent for the future will outlast present devastation. Thus the “other way” is to believe that the future is governed by God. It is a way that evokes concrete, risky action. Jeremiah quite literally “buys in” on a future yet to be given.” 

The rich man in the parable shows what happens we base our life on self-reliant ambition. Sometimes in the media you will hear that someone is a self-made man – I know they are meaning this person worked hard, but it gives the impression that our life is our own to control. Jeremiah shows another way to live - trusting in God. The writer of the letter to Timothy encourages a way of living that is focussed on God, regardless of our level of wealth or education or status.  We strive for godliness, because we were made for it, but in order to desire godliness, we need to free our attention from wealth or fame or whatever else uses our energy and clouds our vision. 

Yes, this all sounds counter-cultural, just as it did in the days of Jeremiah and Jesus and Timothy. It is still counter-cultural. In a society where he or she  who has the most toys wins, the idea of pursuing righteousness rather than wealth, of being gentle rather than forceful, of being faithful rather then self-reliant, of endurance rather than a quick fix, this is still counter cultural. Relying on God, trusting in God, placing our hope in God.

Let us reflect on the ways our hope in God is shown in our living.

Jeremiah 32:selected verses 

1 Timothy 6:6-19 Luke 16:19-31