12-11-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 11, 2025
In Sunday’s sermon, I mentioned a movie that might be among the Frogges’ Top Five, though as I think more about it, I’m pretty sure we have seven or eight movies in our Top Five. Though one that is close to the top is Shawshank Redemption, starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. At one point in the movie, the two of them are having a conversation, and Robbins’ character, Andy Dufresne, says, “Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” In this Advent Season, when we speak of hope, I would echo the words of Andy, but add that the power of hope is what keeps things alive. When the world around us seeks to dismiss, or even crush what we believe to be true and life-giving, hope sees past the negative and oppressive forces. It clings even while others give up and walk away. When people say, “Oh, it’s just hope,” my ‘hope’ is that they glimpse a church that both believes and lives in the power of hope.

Hope is a gift, a gift rooted in your eternal love, God. As we cling to hope, we learn that it holds onto us no matter how hard some people will try to rip it away. Amen.