Spirit of Hope
Ezekiel 37: 37:1-14; Romans 8:18-27
We’ve all heard the stories of finger pointing and
despair
In the
face of the devastation of the Hurricane Katrina
And
yet when we went down to
And
saw the same devastation and destruction:
Houses
leveled to their foundation,
Flood
waters up to the first story ceiling,
Stories
of family life disrupted and endangered
And yet
the people we encountered had hope
In
the midst of destruction.
In a hospital room a doctor tells a family
That
the treatments for a loved one are not working.
They
are going to have to try desperate measures
There
are tears and sadness and questions
And yet
there is also hope
In the midst of the disease.
A family gathers at the memorial service
to say good bye to a beloved father and
Husband
and grandfather and uncle and friend.
There
are tears and hugs and sadness
And
yet it is a celebration of life
And
in the midst of death
This
family had hope.
These are normal people going through the most difficult
times
that people
might go through in life
Without
any illusions that the pain they were enduring
Would
magically go away and yet they had hope.
Where
did this hope come from?
Sometimes we’re tempted to think that the hope comes
from us
When we
pull together to help each other
we gain strength.
Certainly when we went down to
We
encountered there were thankful that we were there.
We
were a sign of hope for them but we weren’t
The
source of hope.
We
didn’t stay there with the people.
We
had to leave.
And we could
only help one family.
Likewise when a pastor caregiver shows up at a
hospital room
We are
a sign of hope but we don’t bring any hope ourselves,
We
actually enter into the sadness along with the family
And
yet we are surrounded by hope
That
is bigger than we are.
At a funeral service we can offer words of comfort and
hope
And even a
meal that sustains the family physically
And yet
we are not the hope
that sustains people emotionally and
spiritually
When they
are deep in mourning for a loved one.
The Apostle Paul pointed the persecuted Christians of
Rome
To
the source of hope just as the prophet Ezekiel
Pointed
the exiled people of
Whose temple had
been destroyed
And
whose lives had been uprooted
And
were living (barely)
In
The
source of the real hope is neither Apostle or Prophet
But
the very Spirit of God in Jesus Christ.
When the exiled Israelites cry out
“Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost;
we
are clean cut off.”
They meant
it- they were a people without hope.
The word of God from Ezekiel says
I won’t let you be without hope:
“I will
put my Spirit in you and you shall live.”
The people
were in deepest despair
And
God’s Spirit breathed life into them.
The image of dry bones is a powerful one for us.
It does
describe how we feel when we have been
Knocked
down by disease or despair or death or
Destructive
conflict.
We feel dried
up, cut of, hopeless
And yet our God is a God of Hope.
And when we can hope in God we realize that there is a
plan.
It’s
not our plan, because our plan would not include
Any
of the pain that we feel.
The
plan is God’s plan.
Paul
says just that cryptically in Romans 8:
“The creation was subjected to futility
not of it’s own
will but by the will of the one
who
subjected it in hope.”
Paul reminds
us here in not so subtle ways
That
we are the creatures and
God is the
creator.
We
struggle with things that we think are futile
Only
to discover that they are part of a
Greater
plan that God has for us
And for the
world.
And
that plan and plan maker is the one who brings hope
Now the difficulty with what Paul says is that
We can’t
always see God’s plan.
In
fact, it is rare when we can see God’s plan.
So
we sometimes just go through the motions
Until
God’s plan is revealed to us.
And
that’s where hope comes in.
“Hope that is seen is not hope but hope.
For
who hopes in what he sees?
But
if we hope for what we do not see,
We
wait for it with eager expectation.”
Do you notice that Paul is not saying to resign
ourselves
To
life’s circumstances- just endure pain.
He
is saying just the opposite.
We engage the pain and suffering of the
world
Realize that
even our own suffering
Is moving toward a plan beyond our own
Toward God’s plan.
And beyond that we are to tell people about that plan
Because
it is part of us and we are part of it.
We
are to look around the world as a detective
And
see where God is at work in the world.
We hear this in Ezekiel where God says:
“Prophesy to these dry bones,
O dry bones, hear the word of God.”
We hear this is Paul reminding us that even when
We
can’t pray as we ought that
The
Holy Spirit prays for us.
And we hear it in the first Pentecost when the Spirit
Comes
upon the disciples and they move
From
being fearful disciples to being
Apostles
who speak out about God.
Today we are celebrating four young men
who are moving from being disciples to
being apostles.
They have gone through a time of learning
And
discipleship and certainly the Christian life
Is
one of continued learning and growth
But
now they are confirmed and commissioned
And
sent out as apostles in faith.
My charge to them and my charge to all
of your
Is
that as Christ’s apostles you are people of Hope.
Do not let the world drag you down into
despair.
We
believe in a God who can breathe life
Into
dry bones, raise Jesus from the dead,
And
birth a church by his Spirit.
IF you believe in this God then you are
Will
live and grow in a Spirit of Hope.
Amen