September 27, 2015
Dare We Speak of Hope?
The Colorado State Capital
Hebrews 11:1-3 (NRSV)
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
In framing this reflective moment I offer a few contextual definitions:
Things ~ not referring to material inanimate objects but the manifestation of the divine in something or someone or an object we can see, experience, and/or comprehend
Invisible or not visible ~ the divine that exists which is universal, transcendent, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent
So for these remaining 7 minutes we will focus our reflection on the theme “Dare We Speak of Hope!”
Dr. Allan Boesak authored the book “Dare We Speak of Hope.” He played a major anti-apartheid activist role and is considered a liberation theologian. Dr. Boesak states “Standing for justice and hope is not for the faint-hearted, or for the seekers of a comfortable life, innocent of the risks of faith. The lives of the true prophets, from the ancient faith traditions to those of our own day, offer testimony to that.” (Dare We Speak of Hope, p. 28) Hope is not just some easy thing to come by. It takes a passion, love, desire and an awareness of a G-d who speaks and things come into existence ~ a belief in the One who makes a way out of no way.
In this book Dr. Boesak goes on to quote St. Augustine of Hippo ““Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” (Dare We Speak of Hope, p. 43) With this powerful definition of hope St. Augustine goes on to say: “Hope was not the product of that hypocritical, hand-wringing Christian quietism that so many in the church have acquired and made into a spiritual skill: standing idly by, crying ‘peace, peace’ where there is no peace, while the earth is being ravaged and G-d’s people are being destroyed by greed, selfishness, and rapaciousness. That Christianity, in a perverse understanding of reconciliation, seeks to remain piously neutral while the battles for life and justice and truth are raging across the earth, straining to please the powerful and to pacify the oppressed, and calling it ‘creating hope.’” (Dare We Speak of Hope, p. 45.)
In other words hope has radical demands ~ for instance hope is BLM ~ the radical demand of an affirmation of who we are as a divine diaspora of G-d’s people who knows and affirms our fearfully (aka reverently) and wonderfully made selves with a defined self-worth, value, and divinity with a demand for a moral code that treats us as such!
It is our hope that fuels our faith in the assurance that what we see does not have to remain the same. And if the worlds were prepared by the word of G-d and G-d is still speaking today then our hope is that things will change and our faith is the assurance of this change.
Without hope how do we fuel our faith? Without hope how do we exercise our faith? Often times we focus on this scripture as the definition of faith. Today, I offer, let us not ignore the pivotal, powerful, radical, extreme role hope plays in faith.
Alongside her radical demands, hope is the desire, the longing, the expectance, the heightened anticipation for things such as healing, transformation, deliverance, peace, love, provision, safety, security, opportunity ~ Faith is knowing, having the assurance that these things can manifest only from the invisible.
Our faith calls us to justice work (see Amos 5:24 ~ But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.)
Our faith calls us to love (see Mark 12:30-31 ~ you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Our faith calls us to serve (ask Pricilla the wife of Aquila and friend of Paul who purportedly wrote the very book of scripture we are reflecting on today.)
It is our faith that affirms, confirms, exclaims, posits, deposits, re-affirms, and/or reminds us that BLM. Faith is the radical manifestation of hope that fuels or faith. It is our faith that is born out of a hope that makes visible the invisible.
Dare we speak of hope? According to Hebrews our faith says we must! Dare we have the unmitigated, uncompromised countenance to speak, live, and breathe hope?
Hope!
To a community that is grieving from two murders at 3:00 in the afternoon
Hope!
To underserved schools that don’t have books nor state of the art equipment
Hope!
When the unemployment rate is exponentially higher in communities of color, especially AA communities
Hope!
When mass incarceration impacts communities of color especially AA
Hope!
In creating a moral document that holds unjust, immoral, evil systems accountable
Hope!
For our mere stance of faith tells us we have no choice because without hope, in who or what do we have faith?
So, dare we speak of hope!
Only if we address the woundedness toward a faith in healing
Dare we speak of hope!
Only if we address the systemic racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, marginalization, and degradation toward a faith in liberation, equality, and opportunity
Dare we speak of hope!
Only if our faith speaks peace in our violence-ridden communities: gang violence, gun violence, domestic violence
Dare we speak of hope!
Only if we learn to dream again ~ Daring to dream and dream big ~ dreams of loving my neighbor as myself: my Black neighbor, my white neighbor, my gang banging neighbor, my economically challenged neighbor, my privileged neighbor ~ Daring to dream where we all err on the side of love ~ daring to dream that one day we will all be angry enough at the way things are and collectively garner the courage to see they don’t remain this way
Dare we speak of hope!
As people of faith we must
Dare we speak of hope!
As people of faith we must speak truth to power
Dare we speak of hope!
As people of faith we are called to speak life and not death
Dare we speak of hope!
As people of faith we must speak for the voiceless, love the unloved, offer hope to the hopeless
Dare we speak of hope!
As people of faith, how dare we not?
Never hopeless... forever searching...
Rev. T
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