Hoping Against Hope – Br. Curtis Almquist

Br. Curtis Almquist

1 Kings 17:8-16
Psalm 146
Mark 12:38-44

I’ve been thinking about Russian babushkas. This past week I have been visited with the memory of the old women of Russia, the Russian babushkas, lighting candles. Especially during those nearly 70 years of Soviet atheism, those faithful old women, wrinkled, kerchiefed, sometimes stooped and hobbling as they kept candles burning in abandoned churches and in little crèches at home. They were keeping a tiny light aflame amidst the carnage from what was being extinguished by the USSR. Lighting those candles was an agency of their resistance, an affirmation of their faith, and a claim on their hope. It was a profound example of “hoping against hope,” as Saint Paul says, these amazing women holding onto hope in the absence of any justification for hope: “hoping against hope.”[i] Very simple; very profound.

In the two scriptures appointed for our liturgy, it is the widows’ day. I am hearing these two stories from scripture also as expressions of hope. Our lesson from the First Book of Kings is one of those desperate stories about a widow and her son facing imminent starvation, with only the paltry amount of flour and drops of oil for their last supper. And we hear of the widow’s hope. Amidst such destitution and emptiness, she shares this ever-so-meager portion of food with the prophet Elijah with the hope that some provision would also happen for her and her son… a miracle indeed which happens in abundance. And then from the Gospel we have Jesus’ story about the poor widow who makes an offering of the tiniest copper coins, which for her is a treasure. This also is an act of hope for what shall come forth.[ii]

Hope is not a skill. Hope is not something we muster in our own souls. Hope is implanted into our very being at our birth. Hope is of our essence. We have been created in the image of God, who is the beginning and end of all hope. Our God of hope. Saint Paul’s description of hope is that hope “abides” in us; hope makes its home in us.[iii] Hope is there for keeps. In the New Testament, the metaphor used for hope is an anchor, an anchor to the soul, something that is sure and steadfast, even amidst the roiling tempests of life.[iv] The psalms speak repeatedly of hope in this same certain way: “For you are my hope, O LORD God, my confidence since I was young.”[v]

Several weeks ago I listened very compassionately to a young man who was desolate. With tears in his eyes, he spoke of how he had lost his way in life. It’s not that he had acted out in some egregious way; it’s that his life had become meaningless. He said, “I feel hopeless.” I asked him if he could tell me about hope? “No,” he said, “I have lost my hope.” He invited my response, and I replied, “But I don’t believe you.” I said he had not lost “his hope” because hope does not belong to him. Hope belongs to God. It is God’s hope. The source of hope is the God of hope. We will never lose hope. We can lose touch with hope or misplace our experience of hope, but hope is never lost. Hope abides with us, because hope is of God.

And then I told this man, much to his surprise, that he was actually experiencing a revelation of hope. I told him what I would say to you. If you feel hopeless, you have the memory of hope in the past. The memory is a sign that hope is alive in you. You remember hope; you have hope. “Shall we hunt for hope in your life?” I asked this man. He nodded, and so we set off on a search, because hope was already a word in his vocabulary, and already an experience in his life. We looked way backward in his life moving up into the present which, as we discovered, was full of miracles. Mostly tiny events stretching back to his childhood that have made all the difference: a passing comment someone had made to him; an unplanned and unwelcomed detour he had had to make; an addiction that nearly killed him which proved to be a to be a passageway into real life; doorways that were opened for him, and doorways not opened for various things along the way; an enemy who had become a cherished friend… On and on he spoke as he recollected the miracle of his life, which enlivened his sense of hope for the future.

And you? Do that! I suggest you try that yourself. The groundswell of hope for the present is to be found in the experience of your past… how you have maybe-impossibly survived and, I trust, have thrived. The seeds of hope in your life were planted in your soul in your birth, and those seeds want to grow… which requires your attention. Reclaim, retrieve, recover the miracle – the miracles – of your life which will germinate the seed of hope planted into your soul from the very beginning..

For many people, this may be very important to do now. The results of last Tuesday’s election have been desolating for some people. Like the extinguishing of light in their souls. “How can this be?” they may ask; you may ask. What good can come from this? Very, very difficult for some. Not difficult for all. Clearly not for half our population: one half jubilant; one half desolate. And on both sides of the divide there are many professing Christians, as we know.

Momentarily we will be invited to pray the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer Jesus taught to his very fractious, partisan disciples. Jesus’ opening pronoun is all inclusive: “Our father,” he prays. And then Jesus presumes there will be breakdowns amongst us when he prays, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.” Very sobering words; confronting; inviting. If you elect to join in this prayer this morning, call to mind not just yourself, but also the offending other people whom you imprison in your heart. “Forgive us,” Jesus teaches. “Forgive us our sins.” Forgiveness opens the prison door of resentment, and will enliven hope in your heart.

Going back to the opening pronoun of Jesus’ prayer, “Our” – “Our father” – you might need the help of others to be able to reclaim hope. I am finding it inspiring, humbling, helpful, hopeful to be reading the experience of African Americans, going back to accounts written when slavery was legalized, during the Jim Crow era, and up to the present. There was and is so much appalling suffering and injustice, and, in the midst of it, so much of the inspiration of hope in testimonials, in biographies, and in hymnody and spirituals. You also may find a help and a claim to hope in listening to others, others who are “other” than you are, and who are living in hope. They are in the media and online. They are also our neighbors. Pursue opportunities to listen to others in real time. Ask them a simple, inviting question such as, “Where do find hope?” and then listen.

You might find this very challenging time in which we are living – and by “we” I mean many here in the States but all around the world – to re-open your theology. Jesus lived in a culture and at a time which was shot with injustice and discrimination. Look again at Jesus’ work and words through the lens of egregious political and religious injustice and persecution. And the same for Saint Paul, who was repeatedly tried and jailed unjustly, and who died by capital punishment. It was Saint Paul who wrote as he faced his own death: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”[vi] Re-theologize!

And lastly, to return to the witness of the Russian babushkas, what might be that for you? What practice could you incorporate into the rhythm of your day which is a reminder, both to yourself and a witness to others, about hope. Is it lighting candles? Is it helping in some way to lift someone up? Is it praying your heart out for those who suffer, especially those who capture your heart’s attention? Is it practicing unbridled kindness? The words kindness and kinship come from the same etymological root. We belong to one another. We are kin. Kindness goes a long way in bridging and healing the gap that divides.

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” Reclaim the gift of hope God has given you.

[i] Romans 4:18.

[ii] Mark 12:38-44.

[iii] 1 Corinthians 13:13.

[iv] Hebrews 6:19.

[v] Psalm 71:5.

[vi] Romans 15:13.