October 26, 2018, Note From the Preacher Woman

Beloved:

If I had a “word of the week,” today’s word would be HOPE.

When I read the news, it feels as if the entire planet has been infected by a “lethal absence of hope.” Father Gregory Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries,uses this phrase to describe why young people end up in gangs. But, lately, it seems like this is a phrase that is apt for all of us.

Many of us have been up close and personal with despair. We have observed it in loved ones. We have felt it when the losses of life have just become too much. We have seen it in the casual cynicism of many young adults who believe their future was doomed before they ever came of age, by the harmful choices of preceding generations. We have seen it in crowds of people shouting threats to one another. We have read and heard it in the acrimonious conversations surrounding the future of the United Methodist Church. So where is the hope?

Here. Right now. In this place.

One of the inmates with whom I have been working got released this week. As he prepared for the transition, he got increasingly anxious. There were so many unknowns. And he had some good reasons to be fearful—housing, job, support—would there be anyone on the outside who would take a chance on a parolee? As it happens, he had more going for him than he even realized.  The education department at Deer Ridge goes the extra mile to give inmates as much support as they can. They are an awesome group. He also had some unexpected help from what we know as  “the Methodist Connection.” I was able to connect with some pastoral colleagues in the area to which he was going, who were able to suggest some local resources. He was surprised there was anyone out there—especially churches, who were willing to help a former inmate.  But there was. There is. I give thanks that he has teachers, mentors, and people on the outside that may just prove to him that there are people of hope in the world.

After all, when Jesus said we are the “salt of the earth”, he wasn’t talking about seasoning French fries. Jesus was calling us to a ministry of hope.  We are not the wishful thinkers, the naïve, the taken advantage of—we are the risk-taking “hopers” of the world. We are the doers of grace that move the world in the direction of love, of grace, of justice. And even when we fail, we get back up and do it all again.

One of my favorite authors and mentors, Eugene Peterson, died this week. He was the man who gave us “The Message.” I will be telling you more about him soon, but for now, I want us to think about his interpretation of Romans 12:

So, here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.”

 What a good reminder. For that, beloved, is who we are. We are a people who choose Hope. We are a people who keep our eyes on God. We are a people changed from the inside out. We will walk around in our everyday, ordinary lives and live the Hope that God has given us to live. And the world will indeed change. Hope is contagious! Go spread it around!

Blessings, Pastor Nancy