Prisoners of Hope

This world is a mess. MLK's three evils of society - militarism, racism, and poverty - are rampant and out of control. News headlines describe war, mass killings, brutality, suicide, and pain. Countless people have sunk into deep cynicism with no hope that things can change.

 

Desmond Tutu: "I'm not optimistic, no. I'm quite different. I'm hopeful. I am a prisoner of hope."

 

He's draws upon language from a prophecy in Zechariah 9. The prophet refers to God's people as "prisoners of hope." To be prisoner of hope means that you refuse to give up hope no matter what. You go on, moving forward, holding on to his promises.

 

The resurrection makes this kind of hope possible. I love the line from this song, "Adelina" by Johnnyswim.

 

"Darling can’t you see that you’re my sea and sun?

Oh, the battle rages but the war is won.

Adelina, Adelina, Adelina, oh, there’s hope for us.

Adelina, oh there’s hope."

 

Jesus rose. His countercultural life and message were vindicated. He is the way, the truth, and the life. The battle rages but the war is won.

 

There's hope for us.

 

Check out my Easter sermon here: 

 http://www.embraceyourcity.com/audio-sermons

Holy Week Events

Maundy Thursday Foot-Washing Service

April 13th at 6:00pm in the Chapel

Good Friday Service

April 14th at 6:00pm in the Chapel

Easter Breakfast

April 16th at 9:30am in the Fellowship Hall

Easter Worship

April 16th at 11:00am in the Sanctuary

Holiness: justice, mercy, truth

In the linked article David Field points out that John Wesley (founder of Methodism) believed the outward expression of holiness is a life characterized by "justice, mercy, and truth." My hope is that my life is characterized by these three distinct qualities.

He gives Methodist churches a challenge: (I particularly like his comment that churches ought to become "critical and troublesome communities within society." Similarly Shane Claiborne calls Christians to stir up "holy mischief".)

 

"Methodist Churches need to (re)discover their identity as communities of ‘justice, mercy, and truth’...such a (re)discovery will not lead to a position of passive submission to the state nor to an alignment with conservative political forces. Rather it will lead to Churches becoming critical and troublesome communities within society whose identity is shaped by its creative embodiment of ‘justice, mercy, and truth’. Their proclamation, but above all their praxis, ought to become a constant challenge to society, representing an alternative to the dominant culture, an alternative whose primary characteristic is not legalistic moralism nor increasingly exotic piety, but rather concrete engagement on behalf of and in solidarity with the excluded and suffering other."

 http://www.wesley.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/03-field.pdf

Lent

When we first moved into our house in Castlewood the bathroom needed some work. Instead of a nice wall of tile around the bathtub, we had massive mirrors that revealed more about me than I cared to see 😳.

 

For me, Jesus serves as a spiritual mirror that reveals more about my soul than I sometimes care to see. In the last 24 hours of his life we see humanity at its ideal in Jesus: humble, self-sacrificing love for others. We also see humanity at its worse: betrayal, self-centeredness, violence, deceit, and pride. The contrast between Jesus's self-sacrificing love and his followers' self-centeredness cannot be overstated. His refusal to conform to the way of violence, greed, and fear clearly revealed the hard hearts of everyone else.

 

It's much easier to see the faults of others than to see the faults within in our own hearts.

 

"This X-RAY at others is called 'naked truth,' 'unvarnished truth.'  In literature and art it is called realism.  But to spot it in one's self is not only difficult but painful, and no one wants to take the descending path to that naked, unvarnished truth, with all its unacceptable humiliations.  It is much more comfortable to stay on the level of the plain and ordinary, to go on being just plain and ordinary.  Yet it is to this path that Lent invites us."

-Edna Hong

 

Jesus's friends were on that difficult, descending path of seeing themselves as they truly were. It's hard for me to see the 'naked truth' about me, but it only serves to remind me how much I need God's grace. Lent shouldn't be easy, but the good news is that it ends in grace.