26 Pentecost/Year B – Nov 17, 2024
Daniel 12:1-3; Psalm 16; Mark 13:1-8
Opening Prayer: (written by Michael Perry, adapted Psalm 16)
O God of compassion and generosity, you are our refuge, the One in whom we trust for all our needs; our Hope can be found in you. Guide us by day and teach us by night, be near us so that nothing can shake us, make us always aware of your presence, show us the path that leads to life, let your Spirit fill us with joy and HOPE, and let your service be our delight for ever. Amen.
If someone stopped you on the street today, and asked you…what gives you hope? What would you say?
How would you answer that? Do you think it’s a question that you could answer with one simple sentence? Do you think you would need some more time to think on it… Would you need more time to sit down with someone to talk more about this question, and process through your thoughts on hope together? Maybe you never to stop and think about it too much…It can be a word that we use frequently, yet not always thinking about its’ relevance and impact on our day to day lives…
Perhaps, you or someone you know is really struggling with this question about hope…in light of and in the darkness of personal grief and struggles…or as one considers the seemingly never-ending news cycles reporting disasters, and divisions, and violence happening all around us…where is the hope in all of this?
It’s an important question for all of us to consider: When you wake up in the morning, and when you lay your head down to rest at the end of the day - what gives you hope? Take a moment now to ponder that…
The scriptures are full of examples that teach us about hope…In the stories, we have heard from the bible throughout the years, there are people who have endured loss after loss, heart-break after heart-break, starvation, illness, disease, violence, persecution, and oppression that never seems to end…
We as the listeners, have probably struggled often, with trying to make sense of a lot of the stories we listen to and read in the scriptures…and shake our heads and wonder…where’s the good news in this story? Where is the hope in all of this…
Yet, right in the midst of all of these troubling and uncertain stories, we have seen signs of hope, where God walks with us, and when God has acted, time and time again, to instill hope in the hearts, and reignite the hopes in the hearts and minds of the people...
We have seen where the love of God has been poured out upon those who have cried out for mercy and grace….
We have seen how those, like the psalmist today, who have looked to God for their protection and refuge, have affirmed that it is God who upholds their lot, and allows their bodies to “rest in hope”, it is God who will indeed show them the path of life when they see no way before them, and it is God whose presence among them, in those moments of doubt, that they can hold on with unwavering hope in God’s promise of the fullness of joy, in Him.
We have seen how the love of God, in our own lives, has empowered us…to bring healing and hope for ourselves, and to those among us…YES…we can embrace and ever hold fast to the blessed hope of everlasting life …for God has shown us, in so many ways, throughout our lives…that she is faithful…they are trustworthy…God is with us, always….in all of our endings…and in all of our beginnings…
Yet, there are many among us today…who have not heard these hopeful stories nor have experienced these same types of hope-affirming experiences in their own lives, and whose lives could be transformed in the hearing and sharing of these good news stories about holding fast to this Hope…or perhaps they just need some reminders, as we do at times, that this HOPE is for them too…
One tenet of hope that stands out for me, in the scriptures…and in my own life experiences….is that hope is not an instant thing which is a one-time experience that sends us on our way, with a clear vision of what’s to come….never having to worry about anything, in future days…never having to hope for anything again, it doesn’t just happen because we say we hope for something….it doesn’t just encourage us to hope, all on its own….just by thinking about it…
Sure, one act of love and kindness can give a person hope, and restore hope in one’s life, once again… it can be a life-changing, transformative moment, when one life touches another….but it takes more than one time with the scriptures, it takes more than one time, to sit down with one another to affirm our hopes, and to keep the hope alive in our hearts and in our lives…
Life is hard…there will be hard days, there will be days when endings and death and loss make it so difficult and seemingly impossible to reconcile with what we hope, “hope” means…
It takes a lifetime, a way of life ...throughout all the seasons of our lives, to practice this kind of hope that is rooted in the love of God, revealed to us, in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ…
It takes a way of life, throughout all the seasons of our lives, to practice this kind of hope, committed to spending time with the scriptures, becoming familiar with the stories of God’s love for his people…and the promise of hope fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ…who lived among us, to show us the way of living in hope…and to give thanks, too, for those people in our lifetimes…who have reminded us so vividly what it can look like to embrace and hold fast to the blessed hope of everlasting life…
It takes a way of life, throughout all the seasons of our lives, to practice this kind of hope, committed to and rooted in relationship and community building that encourages one another to seek and strive to walk the way of love with God, one another, and all of creation
IN our opening collect today, we prayed:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ….
These scriptures, are the living Word of God…and by the gift and inspiration of the Holy Spirit given to us, they have the power to comfort us, sustain us, inspire hope in us, and equip us for the often difficult times we will endure throughout our lifetimes…and they can help us as we navigate the many mysteries, and the many unanswered questions, that rest heavily on our hearts…and to help us turn again and again to the God, who walks with us always…and to hold fast to that Hope…the hope that endures forever…when the rest of our world seems to tumbling down all around us…
The scriptures are meant to inspire and inform our lives, guiding us and leading us in ways to provoke one another to love and good deeds…They are meant to remind us of the importance of meeting together regularly…to worship with one another, pray with one another, encourage one another, create a community, rooted in compassion and hope, for one another, not only with our lips, but in our lives….
There are no shortcuts to hope…it really does matter…that we gather together, with one another…to provoke one another to love and care for one another...it really does matter, that we make time to meet together, to encourage one another, support one another, and help one another to hold fast to hope, without wavering…
Hope is built in community, where the love of Christ unites us…Hope grows and thrives where compassion and forgiveness, kindness and generosity unite us to one another.
And in this community, we learn what it means to continue to hope, even when we hear of wars and rumors of wars, even when we hear of destruction, division, turmoil, violence, disasters…even when all the signs of endings are all around us…even when all the signs would lead us to give up hope…in the goodness of God, and in the people around us, who disappoint us, betray us, and cause us to question whether there are any compassionate and generous people around us anymore…
Vestry member Lisa Moore shared an experience she and some of her fellow travelers had recently with having their favorite items stolen, and how it angered her to think that this person or persons had no compassion at all. She could have given into the despair of this experience, this disregard for their personal belongings, but instead, she was able to think about those who helped her in the aftermath of discovering their belongings had been stolen, and with the wise words of the 15 year-old who was with her, who reminded her to focus on the fact that most people are compassionate and kind…she was able to re-direct her focus on a compassionate response by praying forgiveness for this person…And looking back at the whole story, the whole experience…she wrote: “This experience will certainly strengthen my resolve to show compassion and generosity to others who have unexpected, difficult situations.”
An experience like this could easily have led someone astray, from wanting to respond with any compassion or kindness…it could have easily led someone to give up in despair…
Jesus warns the disciples and us in today’s gospel reading of how easily this could happen…
Jesus said to Peter, James, John and Andrew in our gospel reading today:
“beware, that no one leads you astray.”
There will be many people who will try to steer you away from hope…they will convince you that these wars, this violence, these disasters…are all signs that the end is near…they will instill fear and distrust and despair in your hearts…
But, Jesus goes on to re-orient us to the HOPE that endures… even when “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; even when there will be earthquakes in various places and famines.
This, he says, is but the beginning of the birth pangs.
This is but the beginning of a new life to come…a new hope…a new understanding of what it means to embrace and hold fast to the blessed hope of everlasting life, which has been given to us, in our Savior Jesus Christ
When we seek and strive to walk in love with God and one another, and all of creation…Hope…holding fast to this hope that endures forever will transform us and our communities to be a place where HOPE is always being renewed, where HOPE, compassion, forgiveness, generosity and kindness is the dominant story of our lives together, where HOPE grows and thrives, for the well-being of all, so that one day we will join our voices together in a spirit-filled song of HOPE as the psalmist proclaims today: My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; my body also shall rest in hope.
In closing from a short hymn of praise:
Sing and rejoice. Sing and rejoice.
Let all things living now sing and rejoice.
*Closing Prayer/Hymn: Hymn of Praise: Sing and rejoice - Enriching Our Music, #103
Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, AK