Living in hope

Romans 5:1-11

Results of Justification

​Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

I didn't intend to - but once the Polls closed on Thursday night, I found myself sitting in front of the Television, just to see the first few results declared.

But the first few Scottish results were so surprising that, I decided to wait for a few more and, before I knew it, it was 4am.

Knowing that Friday was going to be a busy day, I forced myself to go to bed. 

It was an amazing night in Scottish politics.

A night in which it was so easy to be swept up in the joy  - or despair - of politicians and electorate alike. 

While I was watching the results come in on TV, I was also monitoring my Facebook feed (I'm a woman, I'm good at multi-tasking!) and it was fun to see all the different comments and reactions, liberally peppered with the usual Scottish black humour.

Indeed, over the weekend there have been a huge number of jokes made about the changed face of Scottish and UK politics - that's just how we Scots cope with change and uncertainty:

When I posted on Facebook, yesterday  that I was visiting the Kelpies, a friend, quick as a flash, commented that there were more Kelpies in Scotland than there were Labour MPs.

But, after my late night/early morning on Thursday into Friday, in the cold light of day, I was reflecting on what the massive political change might mean, not just for Scotland but for the whole of the UK.

And one of the first things that struck me was how, in just a few hours, life had changed dramatically for lots of people - not least those MPs who had worked tirelessly for the constituencies they served and who, at any other time, might reasonably have expected to remain in place, but, this week, lost their jobs and all that goes with that.

I went to bed in the wee small hours on Friday, thinking that history had been made in Scotland.

But, waking up a few hours later, I began to realise what a fragile place it is to be - at the beginning of a new era, where the landscape seems to have shifted, where there is more uncertainty than anything else.

And where, above all, there is a lot of hard work to be done before we can forge the way ahead.

It's a tall order to fulfil all the promises made in the run up to the election.

And that work requires everyone.

It requires the elated, the devastated, the indifferent.

It needs all of us to be involved in shaping the future.

Delivering promises calls for courage and compassion, for patience and persistence, and, above all, for hope.

Hope that, together, we can create societies that care for the poor and vulnerable.

Hope that, together, we can deliver on the stuff that makes up manifestos and election promises.

Hope that, together, folk will work across party lines to make a difference in communities divided.

So, on this post election Sunday, I want to ask:

What gives you hope?

Last week, we looked at Paul's introduction to his letter to the Romans.

We noticed how he set out his stall.

He declared his credentials as a follower of Christ.

Paul had to do that because he was known to many as a persecutor of Christians.

So he had to work hard to convince people he had changed.

And I'm sure his words weren't enough.

I'm sure folk were waiting to see if his words tied up with his actions.

A bit like we are doing in this post election time.

Waiting to see if people can change.

Waiting to see if promises will be fulfilled.

If the actions match up to the words, the many words that have been spoken in the last wee while.

Right now, we are living in hope.

Our reading this morning speaks of hope - we read:

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

What gives us hope?

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, describes hope as something in which we can boast, something that does not disappoint.

There will always be pedlars of false hope, hope that is not realistic and cannot be sustained in the face of adversity.

The kind of hope of which Paul speaks, however, arises out of adversity.

The kind of hope of which Paul speaks is a response to suffering, a radical response that consists not in our gritting our teeth and willing all things to be well but in our enduring hardship in the faith that suffering will not have the last word.

The hope that, at the end of all things, God is.

I was intrigued to find a statement about hope from Vaclav Havel, former president of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic.

Havel was frequently imprisoned as he fought against the effects of Communism.

But here is what he said about hope;

"Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Either we have hope or we don't; it is a dimension of the soul, and it's not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation. ..(Hope)is an orientation of the spirit, and orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons ...Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed... Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out."

Vaclav Havel Disturbing the Peace

Isn't that the kind of hope that we need today?

People of all political persuasions have to be convinced to work together to create just communities, no matter how unlikely to succeed that task might seem. 

Because it is right. 

Because it makes sense.

That is hope.

And, however optimistic or pessimistic we are feeling in this changed political landscape, hope drives us to work together to build robust communities with care and compassion.

Communities where all know that they are valued, where all feel that their contribution matters, where strangers are welcomed and the poor and the vulnerable are not just cared for but enabled to break free from all that keeps them imprisoned.

Our task, our calling is to work toward those goals not because we are sure of success but because we know that it is the right thing to do.

That is hope.

It is well documented that when humans can summon hope, life takes on meaning and purpose.

Just as there is something life giving in the human ability to dredge up hope in every circumstance, however bleak, the hope of obtaining the gift of being reconciled to God is also life giving and life enhancing.

Paul, throughout his letter to the Romans stresses this point again and again, especially in Romans 8, when he reminds us that absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God which is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

All of life takes its meaning from the underpinning love of God.

Hope in that gift of love cannot fail to make a difference whatever else happens in life.

And so we ask ourselves again this morning, in the light of all the changes wrought this week:

What gives us hope?

Let me share with you a reflection, written long before I knew that, on this post-election Sunday, I'd be preaching on Paul's message of hope:

For what do you hope?

For what do you hope?

Is it some future event?

Something that can be planned, researched, engineered or financed?

Like a cure for cancer?

Or a way of regenerating brain cells destroyed in dementia?

Or marvellous DNA repairs for confused chromosomes?

For what do you hope?

Is it some notion that tomorrow will be better?

That the benefits system will serve those in need?

Or that Food Banks will no longer be necessary?

That no one will sleep rough on our streets but that all will know shelter?

For what do you hope?

Is it for signs of world peace?

The dismantling of refugee camps?

The sharing of clean water?

For what do you hope?

The promise of God

for God’s people everywhere

is to know peace in every situation

because we are loved by the God whose name is love

and who, in Christ has already gathered us up in love.

Now that is something for which to hope.

And a hope that will not disappoint.

Thanks be to God.