FACING THE NEW YEAR
January 3, 1999
Romans 5: 1-5
Well, here we are at the beginning of a New Year. It’s particularly important, for it’s the year in which we march into the millennium. And because of that I have a question for you. What is it you are hoping for as we approach the year 2000?
Think about it. What are you looking to have happen in the coming year? Are you looking for Ed McMahon to send you that letter from the Publishers Clearing House? Are you looking for a more lofty expectation like peace in the Middle East? Or, maybe your hopes are a little less grand. Maybe you’re simply hoping for a bit more spendable income, or a better relationship with your son or daughter-in-law?
And maybe you have come to church this Sunday with the expectation that God will hear your prayer, and that somehow God will see to it that your hopes will be fulfilled.
Which leads me to another question: do you feel that God will meet your hopes or your needs in the coming year?
I know that’s a difficult question. Fm beginning to stop preaching and begin meddling now. But I think this is a crucial question for us Christians. Do you think God will grant our wishes?
There are a lot of people out there who would answer that question with a resounding, “No.” They have given up hoping. They have done that, tried that, and have been disappointed time and again. Their hopes have been dashed. Their fondest wishes have collapsed. And so, they have not dared to hope for anything in the coming year. After all, if you don’t expect anything, you can’t be disappointed.
I suspect this is the reason the fastest growing denomination in the country are the “ex-” dhurchgoers, ex-Episcopalians, ex-Baptists, ex-Catholics. And I have a hunch they are a part of this group because of disappointments. They have been led to believe that God will take care of their problems. These “exs” felt let down by God when their needs were not met or their desires were not fulfilled. Maybe, maybe, you’re feeling somewhat the same way. You hoped for a Christmas like it used to be. And it wasn’t. You hoped for peace and reconciliation with Iraq, and it didn’t happen. You may have even hoped that the mess in Washington would sort itself out. And it hasn’t.
Therefore, even though we’re in dElurch at the beginning of the New Year, I think many of us are doubtful whether we want to hope that God will somehow fulfill our wishes. I think the mood is more skeptical than hopeful. And I don’t think many would disagree that the feeling of the country as a whole is more cynical than positive regarding the future.
So it is Monday, I want to simply say two things to those who agree with this assessment. First, there is a place for skepticism, Christian skeptics. We need people to remind us that God is not here to work on our agendas. The fundamental sin of many sincere Christians is the attempt to manipulate God. We want to create God in our own image, and it should be the other way around. We expect God to work on our timetable, and we forget that it is God’s t{rne and we are simply His creatures.
Wherever did we get the idea that it was God’s job to answer our spiritual and moral shopping list? Wherever did we learn it was all right to turn to God and say, “Here’s my problem, solve it.” Wherever did we come up with the notion that if God really were all-powerful, He/She would fix our dilemmas?
We need people to remind us to grow up in our understanding of God. God is not here to make us successful or happy, or even safe. There’s a bumper sticker that I see every so often and it always bothers me. It says, “Our God Reigns.” it usually implies that your God doesn’t. Or, our God is more powerful than your God is. Or, our God doesn’t disappoint. Well you might believe that, but it’s Christian imperialism at its worst. In a sense, that makes God your personal lawyer, therapist or Commander-in-Chief.
That’s minimizing the greatness of God. Remember that we are made in God’s image, not God in ours. Remember who God is and that God is the same for everyone. Remember God does not exist to take care of your personal agendas.
And secondly, I believe that rather than throwing out hope, we should be able to re-envision our understanding of this important factor in life. Taillard de Chardin, the great Christian anthropologist, once said, “The world tomorrow will belong to those who brought it the greatest hope.” I believe those words, and therefore, I feel strongly that we need to take a long look at what hope is, and be prepared to make the distinction between hoping and wishing. Most of what we call hope is simply a buntIh of wishes, desires, that we might ask for from Santa Claus. Hope, real hope, is in a different category. Hope, real hope, comes from God and legitimately is addressed to God. Wishes are a dime a dozen and are simply outcomes that we would like to happen. Hopes are grounded in a relationship with God, and calls for a change in our life.
Paul, one of the giants in the hoping field, reminds us that God neither leaves us in our problems, nor solves them for us. The God of Paul joins us in our dilemmas. And Paul reminds us, that in the joining we become something rnore than we had anticipated. Hoping does not change God, but real hoping will change you, the person doing the hoping.
Listen for a moment to Paul’s words that we read in our Epistle. He is speaking to people who have known disappointment, to people who have suffered, who are aware that the future is not guaranteed. But this is what he affirms. Rejoice in your hope. More than that, rejoice in your suffering, 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
Do you believe those words from Paul? They are more than the creed of an optimist. But who believes in what he said? Who here believes that suffering produces endurance? Who still believes that endurance produces character? Who believes that character produces hope, and that hope does not disappoint?
That sounds like what your mother taught you at 14. “Son, adversity will make you stronger.” Who really believes that?
For most of us, adversity produces migraines. Can you imagine anyone hoping for suffering? You have to be some kind of a masoclhist to believe in Paul/s words. Yet there it is. Hope, real hope, and not just wishing, not just optimism, real hope, Paul tells us comes out of the crucible of suffering. And only those who are in touch with suffering can know anything about the presence of God.
Have you ever wondered why there are so many more Anglicans in Africa than in America? Have you ever wondered why the Episcopal ChurCh flourishes in Latin American and Africa, but is rapidly declining in the USA? I think it’s because when you know suffering and hardship intimately, it’s easier to find God. And it is easier to focus your hope on the basics in life. Why? Because suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. The hope that God will be a part of whatever befalls us. Not that God will fix it – but that God will change us and be with us.
This sermon is not as clear as some of my others. If you’ve followed this muddy-headed preacher’s thoughts, you are probably wondering whether to hope or not to hope in the coming year. Ah, that’s the question. Let me end this sermon with three statements to ponder as we move into the New Year.
1. Remember who God is. He’s not your servant, not Santa Claus at large.
2. Remember there is a difference between our wishes and Christian hope. Between optimism and faith.
3. And remember that if you dare to hope, you will find yourself changing, embracing suffering, and finding God at the darkest point.
What am I hoping for? I hope that in ’99 when it’s over, it’s not over. That God does not leave us as we move into 2000. And that in ’99, 1 will learn that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces Character, and character produces hope. And, so I hope that God’s love will be poured into our hearts for the coming year. For each of us. Amen.
‘ I am indebted to the Rev. Dr. Peter Gomes’ sermon ”Tempting God” for many of my ideas.