December 3, 2017 Hope in a Hopeless World
Since we started
our prayer chain in the last month, I have been trying to figure out how to be
a good prayer guide. Two of the books held up for us at seminary as modern
prayer books were written by the Catholic mystic Thomas Merton and the other
the African American mystic Howard Thurman. Each book is filled with a page or a
page and a half meditation one topic, and each book has some 50 or more of these
meditations.
Each of these meditations is a meditation about a particular problem in human society, a darkness, or fear, or threat to the human community. In the course of these meditations, these mystics reflect upon the human sufferings caused by these problems, pray for ways in which they might address that suffering, and pray for God to engage it beyond their ability.
A week ago, I wrote a prayer meditation upon the human problem of sexual abuse and harassment. As the father of three daughters, and a brother to four sisters, I pray for them that they may not be subject to such harassment. I pray for all women that they may live in a world where this does not happen. I pray for all those whose lives have been scarred by these abominable acts. I pray that those who come forward may be freed of the power of shame and guilt on their lives. I pray that those who come forward may be freed of the power of shame and guilt on their lives - for they did nothing wrong. I pray that people might realize that acknowledging these acts, apologizing and asking for forgiveness for them is the path to reconciliation and healing. I pray that people in this nation, might realize that maintaining political power is not a reason to ignore the victims and reward those who deny the claims. I pray that a just legal process will be instituted in these cases. I pray that those who commit these offenses, might realize that acknowledging these acts, apologizing for them, and seeking forgiveness is the path to reconciliation for both victim and abuser. I pray that people may learn to draw a distinction between misunderstanding one another, and incidents of harassment and abuse, so that the divisions between men and women may not get out of hand. I pray for people who make false accusations, for they are not solving the problem, but only make it worse. I pray that in each of these cases that they will be handled with thoughtfulness, consideration, respect, seek justice for those who have been wronged, and reconciliation for those who are willing.
Now this is not a perfect prayer by any means, but in the process of reflecting upon this problem and in opening ourselves to listen for God's Word to us, I believe we can to a greater understanding of this problem, and allow God to speak to us about how to deal with it. The key is remembering Christ, and allowing ourselves to hear, sometimes even what we don't want to hear. Finally, I believe God grants us a sense of God's presence and the hope of a better world that comes from God's presence.
In future weeks, I jotted down a list of problems in our world to be addressed through these prayer meditations. I wrote down the problems of gun violence, out of control health care costs, partisan politics, the stewardship of our planet, and the need to care for the least and last in our community of Somonauk. Each of these meditations will seek to invite us to bring a Christ centered perspective to our problems, and challenge us to find ways to speak up and act upon them in ways that can change our world.
And that is where our gospel lesson this morning comes in, the 24th Chapter of Mark has a lot of darkness in it. Mark tells the disciples of the destruction of the temple, and the coming apocalypse. Jesus say that things will be worse after his death, and tells them to Keep Awake, to continue to look for his coming, and to discern the difference between the will of man and the will of God. One of the commentaries I read this week put it this way. At times we look at the world and believe things are just plain hopeless, but then we remember Christ, and we begin to see hope. We see a world that is better than the one we are living in, we hunger and thirst for that world, and trust that in following God's will for our lives, that this better world will come into being among us.
Brothers and Sisters, Advent is a season of waiting and darkness. The purpose of this waiting is to develop a sense of the hopelessness of the world and the hopefulness of Jesus Christ. The world would prefer that we celebrate Christmas from Halloween till New Years, that we will not think about the darkness until the end of time. But as Christian I say to you, Keep Awake, Look for Christ, Keep Hope Alive! Then you will indeed be able to celebrate a very Merry Christmas. And that is the good news of Jesus Christ!
Each of these meditations is a meditation about a particular problem in human society, a darkness, or fear, or threat to the human community. In the course of these meditations, these mystics reflect upon the human sufferings caused by these problems, pray for ways in which they might address that suffering, and pray for God to engage it beyond their ability.
A week ago, I wrote a prayer meditation upon the human problem of sexual abuse and harassment. As the father of three daughters, and a brother to four sisters, I pray for them that they may not be subject to such harassment. I pray for all women that they may live in a world where this does not happen. I pray for all those whose lives have been scarred by these abominable acts. I pray that those who come forward may be freed of the power of shame and guilt on their lives. I pray that those who come forward may be freed of the power of shame and guilt on their lives - for they did nothing wrong. I pray that people might realize that acknowledging these acts, apologizing and asking for forgiveness for them is the path to reconciliation and healing. I pray that people in this nation, might realize that maintaining political power is not a reason to ignore the victims and reward those who deny the claims. I pray that a just legal process will be instituted in these cases. I pray that those who commit these offenses, might realize that acknowledging these acts, apologizing for them, and seeking forgiveness is the path to reconciliation for both victim and abuser. I pray that people may learn to draw a distinction between misunderstanding one another, and incidents of harassment and abuse, so that the divisions between men and women may not get out of hand. I pray for people who make false accusations, for they are not solving the problem, but only make it worse. I pray that in each of these cases that they will be handled with thoughtfulness, consideration, respect, seek justice for those who have been wronged, and reconciliation for those who are willing.
Now this is not a perfect prayer by any means, but in the process of reflecting upon this problem and in opening ourselves to listen for God's Word to us, I believe we can to a greater understanding of this problem, and allow God to speak to us about how to deal with it. The key is remembering Christ, and allowing ourselves to hear, sometimes even what we don't want to hear. Finally, I believe God grants us a sense of God's presence and the hope of a better world that comes from God's presence.
In future weeks, I jotted down a list of problems in our world to be addressed through these prayer meditations. I wrote down the problems of gun violence, out of control health care costs, partisan politics, the stewardship of our planet, and the need to care for the least and last in our community of Somonauk. Each of these meditations will seek to invite us to bring a Christ centered perspective to our problems, and challenge us to find ways to speak up and act upon them in ways that can change our world.
And that is where our gospel lesson this morning comes in, the 24th Chapter of Mark has a lot of darkness in it. Mark tells the disciples of the destruction of the temple, and the coming apocalypse. Jesus say that things will be worse after his death, and tells them to Keep Awake, to continue to look for his coming, and to discern the difference between the will of man and the will of God. One of the commentaries I read this week put it this way. At times we look at the world and believe things are just plain hopeless, but then we remember Christ, and we begin to see hope. We see a world that is better than the one we are living in, we hunger and thirst for that world, and trust that in following God's will for our lives, that this better world will come into being among us.
Brothers and Sisters, Advent is a season of waiting and darkness. The purpose of this waiting is to develop a sense of the hopelessness of the world and the hopefulness of Jesus Christ. The world would prefer that we celebrate Christmas from Halloween till New Years, that we will not think about the darkness until the end of time. But as Christian I say to you, Keep Awake, Look for Christ, Keep Hope Alive! Then you will indeed be able to celebrate a very Merry Christmas. And that is the good news of Jesus Christ!
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