12-03-23

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 3, 2023
In today’s sermon, I will quote Dr. Emilie M. Townes, a Professor in Womanist Ethics at Vanderbilt Divinity School. In an article entitled Lament and Hope: Defying this Hot Mess (great title), she writes:

With our all-too-human unpredictability, lament can serve as an anchor to help us find our bearings on how to live as people of faith. We learn from biblical laments that it is imperative to name what is wrong with as much precision and honesty as possible, even if it hurts or causes us to wince. From the Psalms to Joel to the cross, laments tell the truth of the suffering that is smothering our worthiness, our dreams, our ability to work toward a better tomorrow.

As the title of the article suggests, lament and hope are inescapably tied together. Hope is never theoretical, but deeply rooted in reality. And if we do not name the reality and feel the lament, then there is no real possibility of hope. Hope exists honestly in one moment of time, while believing that the circumstances of that moment are not God’s final wish.

In the Season of Advent, specifically this first Sunday of Advent, we focus on hope, but not some abstract notion of wishful thinking. We claim a conviction that God, even when we find ourselves under the weight of despair’s shadow, is not finished. To some, it might sound like nonsense, but some of the greatest moments in history were birthed out of hope.

In this most sacred season, O God, draw us into the hope of the Christ Child, a hope that takes seriously the full range of the human experience while beckoning all creation toward your dream for life. Amen.