January 10, 2010
Karen Bowles
Rosedale United Church
January 10, 2009
The Rightness of Hope
I finally got around to reading Barack O’Bama’s memoir called Letters from my Father – and in it was a reference to the sermon that had inspired him to write his second book – the Audacity of Hope – The sermon had actually been called the Audacity to Hope. I can’t help but think that the preacher got the word wrong – Audacity means boldness or daring, reckless. It is not bold or daring to hope – it is not bold or daring to have faith – there is no leap of faith – there is no Pollyanna trust in the veracity of the presence of the Spirit among us – rather it is righteousness to hope – it is as natural as clean water – as easy as speaking, as normal as sitting or as standing as in your face real as a sunrise and a bite of a carrot – the audacity is our refusal our denial our collective amnesia our inability to allow that which as plain as the nose on your face – to delight to revel in to proclaim out loud – the presence of the Holy Spirit among us and within us, each minute, each second.
I wore this scarf today because it reminds me of someone – it reminds me of kindness and of warmth and of love. And it gives me delight when I wear it. It was knitted by a gentleman for me. For no reason – for no payment – it was a gift freely given and gratefully received from his hands to my neck. Everyone time I wear it I think of him.
It is the Sabbath – a word that simply means rest. It is as much a verb as run and jump and laugh – it is an action – In Mark we hear – “You were not made for the Sabbath, the Sabbath was made for You.” This time of rest, of active inaction – use it – for renewal for calling out to God – in anguish or in adoration – for accessing in word and in song and in prayer – that still small voice – that intimate vast presence – that God that we hear of in this book – this Bible. There are parts of this book that evoke strong response – we read them aloud – we remember them – we use them in times of trouble – we refer to them in times of moral dilemma – they are poetry and prose and promise – they beg to be said again and again – to be worn like a scarf – Do not forget that these words were written by humans attempting to convey their ‘aha’ experiences – their spirit connecting with God – their revelation – experience of grace – their faith – that is as natural to each human as breathing – their faith seeking understanding.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.”Genesis 1:1-2
All of our pushing further and further into space in the intervening centuries changes not one iota of their impact – in fact I would say they become greater cause for wonder.
Today’s readings both of them are two others like that – from Isaiah we hear words of comfort given to a people in exile – without a home – hear them in that context but also hear them as the slaking of thirst – the sating of craving – the bull’s eye, spot on, access to the communion of you with God.
From Isaiah: “Do no fear; for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” And we hear later in this same passage the wonderful words: “Because you are precious in my sight, and honoured, and I love you.”
Notice in a church bulletin – “Low self esteem support group will meet Thursday – please use the back door.”
This passage tells you the opposite – come in the front door – you are loved you are precious you are mine – ingest that – make it your own.
What is audacious what is bold and daring and reckless – is despair. To be without hope – to madly, hurry after this and that – to never rest – to never allow yourself – never give yourself permission to move from spiritual immaturity to maturity – never to give yourself the privilege and the joy of being in this moment right now – in each bit of each day -
My partner Scott is a wise man. In one of our late night conversations when we were dating I asked him: what was the meaning of life. And his answer, which I thought rather trite at the time, I have come to embrace and to understand – he said the purpose of life is to experience. Period. No great philosophical expounding full of 10 syllable words – just one word: experience –
The picture on the front of the bulletin this morning – of children playing in a waterfall – communicates to us something of Scott’s one word meaning of life. The uniqueness of each moment – the holding close of the remembrance as we grow older of newness, of awareness of our selves – the astonishment and delight of experience.
But what you say – what about the experiences of suffering and sickness and hate and hurt? I turn to the words of Viktor Frankl, a concentration camp survivor and neurologist and psychiatrist in his book Man’s search for Meaning. He is speaking of his experiences in a concentration camp.
“A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth — that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way – an honorable way – in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, “The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory….”
And here too is experience but inner experience – just as the children know the feel, the texture, of the water in the waterfall, so too did Fankl know, the feel, the texture, of God. ‘That man may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved.’ There is union, there is wholeness, there is Love. From Luke we hear of the baptism of Jesus of the heavens opening and the Spirit descending like a dove and the words “You are my son – the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” With these words – with this passage – re experience your own baptism – with these words – with this passage – remember times of immersion in H20 – give yourself over to the delight of bathing – of swimming – of drinking – of contemplation of the incredible gift of the taste and the touch of clean water – glean something of the words of Frankl – ‘the salvation of man is through love and in love’ – know that you are marked and claimed as a child of God. In this time of rest of renewal of Sabbath – breathe in and out – slake your thirst – immerse yourself in the mind blowing – Spirit inflating – coming to an understanding of Frankl’s statement : “The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory….” And out of this place of grace, let this present and perpetual hope be your guide in all of your actions – all of your decisions – in each moment in each experience in your life.
The Bible in 50 Words:
God made,
Adam bit, Noah
arked, Abraham split, Joseph
ruled, Jacob fooled, bush talked,
Moses balked, Pharaoh plagued,
people walked, sea divided,
tablets guided, promise landed,
Saul freaked, David peeked,
prophets warned, Jesus born,
God walked, love talked, anger
crucified, hope died, Love rose,
Spirit flamed, Word spread,
God remained.
God made – God remained – Hope is a gift given freely and received gratefully – just like my scarf. Intentionally and with attention put your hand into the hand of God. You will find it is there, already and always. Amen