Holding On to = Hope (Romans 8:18-27)

Holding On to Hope (Romans = 8:18-27)

Rev. = Jennifer E.=20 Barrett Siegal

March = 15, 2009

Old = South Union=20 Church

May the words of my mouth and the=20 meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our = Rock and=20 our Redeemer. =20 Amen.

They were at a stand = off. Haji Mehdi and Haji Ali stood=20 face-to-face in the small Pakistani village of Korphe. Both men were village = leaders=97Haji Mehdi=20 of the village Askole, and Haji Ali of Korphe. Unlike Haji Ali, though, Haji = Mehdi was=20 not an honest man. He = operated more=20 like a mafia boss, demanding a percentage of every business transaction = in the=20 entire valley where both villages were located. As a man who acquired power = through=20 intimidation, Haji Mehdi had brought four club-bearing cronies with him = to=20 confront Haji Ali, demanding that Haji Ali stop the construction of the = new=20 school in his village. = Haji Mehdi=20 had learned that the school was being funded by an outsider, an infidel = named=20 Greg Mortenson.

As Mortenson writes in = the book Three Cups of Tea, his = relationship with=20 the village of=20 Korphe began a = few years=20 earlier when he recovered there following a failed attempt to reach the = summit=20 of the world=92s second tallest mountain. =20 The villagers had nursed him back to health for seven weeks. In return for their care, he = promised to=20 build the impoverished town=92s first school, as long as the villagers = agreed to=20 educate both boys and girls. = And=20 that was what brought Haji Mehdi to Korphe. Haji Mehdi believed that the = Koran=20 forbade the education of girls, so he ordered Haji Ali to stop the = school=92s=20 construction. When Haji = Ali=20 refused, Haji Mehdi demanded a bribe of twelve rams to keep his men from = putting=20 their clubs to good use. = So Haji=20 Ali collected twelve rams from the families of Korphe and handed over = half the=20 village=92s wealth to Haji Mehdi. As=20 the villagers wept, Haji Ali said to them, =93=91Don=92t be sad. . . . = Long after all=20 those rams are dead and eaten this school will still stand. Haji Mehdi has food = today. Now our children have = education=20 forever.=92=94

Later that night, as = Haji Ali and=20 Mortenson sat together around the fire, Haji Ali =93picked up his = dog-eared,=20 grease-spotted Koran and held it before the flames. =91Do you see how beautiful = this Koran=20 is?=92 Haji Ali asked.

=93=91Yes,=92 = [Mortenson replied].

=93=91I can=92t read = it,=92 he said. =91I can=92t read = anything. This is the greatest sadness = in my=20 life. I=92ll do anything = so the=20 children of my village never have to know this feeling. I=92ll pay any price so they = have the=20 education they deserve.=92=94[1]

Living in between the = reality of=20 the world as it was and his vision of a different future for his = children, Haji=20 Ali held on to hope. But = holding on=20 to hope is nothing new=85

Like so many Negro = spirituals,=20 =93Down to the River to Pray=94 was more than just a song=97it was a = reminder of=20 freedom. As Terry shared = with us in=20 the first two sermons of our Lenten preaching series based on the Negro=20 spirituals sung by our choir, spirituals were the songs of faith created = and=20 sung by slaves working in the fields. =20 As they worked and endured long hours of physical labor, they = sang songs=20 that affirmed their humanity and gave them hope, faith, and courage to = go on=20 living when life seemed to be nothing but endless physical toil, = punishment, and=20 deprivation.[2] Their deeply emotional and = expressive=20 songs gave voice to their sincere desire for freedom and their great = hope for a=20 better future.

Many slaves hitched = their hope to=20 the Underground Railroad, the network of secret routes and safe houses = that led=20 to freedom in the northern United=20 States and Canada. So when they sang of going = down to the=20 river, they were imagining the Ohio = River, the=20 river they needed to cross to escape the bonds of slavery. And they wondered who would = wear the=20 robe and crown=97who would be the next ones to take the journey to = freedom. They encouraged each other: = =93Sisters,=20 brothers, fathers, mothers, let=92s go down to the river to pray. Let=92s make our way to = freedom. Good Lord, show us the = way.=94 Living in between the reality = of the=20 world as it was and their vision of a different future for themselves = and for=20 their children, the slaves held on to hope. But holding on to hope was = nothing=20 new=85

When Paul wrote his = letter to the=20 Romans, he was preparing to travel to Rome to use=20 that city as a launching point for a planned mission into Spain. Throughout the letter, Paul = focused his=20 writing on the theme of God=92s righteousness, or God=92s promise to = bring forth=20 justice to redeem the world. = Paul=20 was certainly aware that Rome prided itself on being the = capital of=20 justice, the source from which justice would flow throughout the = world. But Paul wasn=92t blinded by = the empty=20 promises of political leaders. = He=20 trusted instead in God=92s promise of cosmic justice, justice that would = bring=20 healing and wholeness to all of God=92s creation. =93If it is justice you want, = [Paul=20 implied], you will find it, but not in the [good news] that announces = Caesar as=20 Lord, but in the [good news] of Jesus.=94[3]

So Paul encouraged the = Roman=20 church to wait with eager longing for the glory that God had promised to = reveal. He reminded them = that God=20 was always faithful to God=92s promises, so he asked the Romans to hold = on to=20 hope. =93For in hope we = were saved,=94=20 he wrote. And then he = went on to=20 name the hardest thing about holding on to hope: =93Now hope that is = seen is not=20 hope. For who hopes for = what is=20 seen?=94 Indeed, but how = do we hope=20 for what we cannot see? = In the face=20 of an uncertain future, how did Haji Ali, how did the slaves, how did = the Roman=20 church, how do we hold on to hope? =20

As N. T. Wright has = written,=20 =93Those who cannot see that for which they eagerly hope need assistance = to peer=20 into the darkness ahead and to pray God=92s future into the present.=94 = [4]=20 So Paul went on to = reassure the=20 Romans, to reassure us, =93Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; = for we do=20 not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with = sighs too=20 deep for words.=94 I = think this is=20 one of the most comforting verses of scripture. Paul reminds us that we = don=92t have to=20 hold on to hope alone; the Spirit will hold on right along with us. =93The Spirit empowers us so = that we do=20 not resign ourselves to what is, but live in hope for God=92s = future. The Spirit gives us =91fresh = legs=92 and=20 lifts us up. . . . [In our weakness,] we pray that God=92s Spirit will = lift us,=20 straighten us up, and empower us.=94[5] It is the Holy Spirit that = enables us to=20 hold on to hope.

And God knows that we = need hope=20 these days. We are living = in=20 between the reality of the broken world as it is and God=92s vision of a = different=20 future for creation, and as Christians we are called to hold on to = hope. In the face of the global = economic=20 crisis, home foreclosures, and increasing job loss, we must hold on to=20 hope. In the face of the = war in=20 Iraq, continuing = conflict in=20 Afghanistan, and a = tenuous=20 cease-fire in Israel and=20 Palestine, we=20 must hold on to hope. In = the face=20 of genocide in Darfur and killing = sprees in our=20 own nation, we must hold on to hope. =20 In the face of our own fear, anxiety, grief, and despair, we must = hold on=20 to hope. For =93the cross = of Jesus=20 Christ stands in the midst of this lonely, forsaken world, and this = cross is the=20 sign of hope. [And] = Easter [reminds=20 us] that at the end of our possibilities God creates a new = beginning.=94[6]=20

Friends, as we live in = between the=20 reality of the broken world as it is and God=92s vision of a different = future for=20 creation, let us hold fast to the promise of God=92s kingdom. God does indeed keep God=92s = promises=97the=20 kingdom will come. But in = the=20 meantime, sisters and brothers, let=92s go down in the river to pray = because=20 sometimes we have to fall on our knees in order to hold on to hope. Amen.