God With Us Through the Gift of Hope
with Rev. Barbara Gorsky
December 3, 2023
The Scripture
Mark 13:24-37
24 “But in those days, following that distress,
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
1 Corinthians 1: 3-9
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Happy New Year! Wait it’s not January 1st, is it? No, but it is the beginning of the church’s new year, and it all begins today, the first Sunday of Advent. The beginning of this new liturgical year starts images of Mary riding on a donkey anticipating the birth of Jesus. It is a time of waiting and preparing. Yet in the waiting and the preparing, we already know that Christ has come. The passage just read in 1 Corinthians helps us hold both of these beginnings together. The beginning of a new church in Corinth living beyond the shadow of the cross and the beginning of new life and abundant hope that is gifted to us in and through the birth of Jesus. Paul is writing words of hope that are to encourage these new Christians; a hope realized in knowing Christ the risen Lord. Paul tells them this…that God gave to them a gift of grace through Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ who is their source of hope. Now understanding exactly what “grace” means can be challenging, yet Paul helps us to know his understanding of grace by listing the manifestation of “grace”. He’s telling them that because of their belief in Christ, they are enriched in speech and knowledge, not lacking in any gift and strengthen to the end. He sums up the benefits of having this grace by telling them they are enriched by knowing Christ. Enriched is a mighty word. Paul is telling them that knowing Christ makes life fulfilling, makes life meaningful, filled with joy.
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I think that is worth pondering this morning. How are we enriched by knowing Christ? And are our lives fulfilling, meaningful and filled with joy? You might say, that depends on my circumstances like my health or my financial security or a million other things…but hope, hope that is at the core of this enriched life we are seeking waits for us at the manger. It is a hope that goes far beyond the superficial trimmings of Christmas. I don’t believe fulfillment, meaning and joy comes from the frenzy of events that lead up to Christmas. Every year we go through this same routine; we fly from Thanksgiving right into Advent. We decorate the sanctuary, we decorate our homes, we start going to Amazon to order gifts, we gather up the energy to make it through the weeks leading up to Christmas, often just wishing for Christmas to be over. Doesn’t sound enriched, does it? How can we make hope, hope that is embedded in Paul’s words to those ancient people in Corinth a reality for you and me?
This morning we lit the candle of hope, any maybe just maybe we can embrace hope in a new way. Cynthia Bourgeault, an Episcopal priest, and a modern mystic describes hope in this way. “Hope’s home is at the innermost point in us, and in all things. It is a quality of aliveness. It does not come at the end, as the feeling that results from a happy outcome. Rather, it lies at the beginning, as a pulse of truth that sends us forth. When our innermost being is attuned to this pulse it will send us forth in hope, regardless of the physical circumstances of our lives.” Pulse of truth! That is what gives us hope, hope that is a true gift from God.
Truth is what led Carol to finding hope. She has a story of hope that reaches beyond the superficial to the depths of that place where hope lies. Her story comes from the website Daily Inspired Life. For Carol the journey to find hope began with a sudden awareness that her body was failing, she experienced a progressive health decline. I think you know what she means here, day by day things got worse. She called it “ soul-destroying fatigue” along with vocal challenges sometimes leaving her unable to talk at all. Now one thing that is important to know is that Carol loved dancing and movement. She was a fit active person. At this point of “soul-destroying fatigue, she asked herself a poignant question, how do you befriend the unknown, the invisible and the unpredictable? What a question, have you ever asked that same question? As time went on, Carol descended into what she describes, “inexplicable exhaustion and a plethora of symptoms.” With this she experienced a pervasive sadness and a growing sense of worthlessness. Carol continues, “After an extended period of wallowing in self-pity, I reoriented myself to align my thinking with truth.” Through writing and meditation, she realized she had intrinsic value because she was made in the image of God; created with purpose, created for purpose. This sounds like an enriched life doesn’t it, a life that brings fulfillment, meaning, and joy. Carol found hope in truth, the truth of her inherent value. I like what she says here, this truth of my inherit value had to percolate in my mind until it was ready to travel from my head to my heart, where it settled into the fabric of my being and became embodied wisdom. Carol ends her story by saying this, “So, as I navigate chronic illness’s winding, unpredictable, unwelcome, and messy path, I do so with hope.” Carol found this enriched life, the same enriched life that Paul is talking about, a life that embodies hope. And we can too! We are people of hope, and this amazing hope comes to us in the infant child lying in a manger. It is because the birth of Jesus reveals to us God’s great love for us. It is a love that seeks intimacy, and connection, a connection that uncovers that truth about ourselves. It is a deep seeded truth that gives us intrinsic value, the truth that we were created with purpose and created for purpose. This truth that gives us courage to hope for what seems impossible. Hope that gives us the capacity to embrace diversity and believe as Haleigh Smith, one of our own 6th graders that “there are 7.8 billion people living together on Earth, each one of us with our own ideas, and most of those ideas, waiting to be shared.” Yes that is hope. Thank you, Haleigh!
When we embrace the truth about ourselves, hope settles in and we can befriend the unknown, the invisible and the unpredictable. When we embrace the truth about ourselves, hope helps us overcome pervasive sadness and that sense of worthlessness. When we embrace the truth about ourselves, hope guides us down this messy path of life and there awaits a life of fulfillment, meaning and you! God is indeed with us in the gift of hope! Amen