Hope

Running at the same time as crying is not easy. But that was me yesterday, out on a Monday morning run with tears streaming down my face. I was listening to a podcast and something about it hit home. It was the first talk in a series on the Beatitudes, by Tyler Stanton from Bridgetown church (listen here). And maybe it’s just me, maybe it was just what I needed to hear at the time, but something awoke in me that I haven’t felt in a while. I think the feeling was hope.

So often the good news of Christianity is stripped back to a message of personal salvation. In this way it can have an individualistic focus, a sense that if we pray the sinner's prayer we will be rescued and go to heaven. We zoom in on the courtroom image of the cross - Jesus dying in our place so that we can be saved from our sins. Don’t get me wrong, I believe this. But as a young girl growing up and trying to explore my faith, I think that having a theology that mostly stopped here led me to feel stuck. It’s like we zoom in, but there is so much more to discover when we look at the whole picture. The cross is the how of Christianity, it is the means through which God’s rescue plan has been accomplished, and it is central. But it doesn’t answer the why. Why were we rescued in the first place? What have we been rescued for? What’s the whole point?

Picture Jesus, standing in front of a large crowd of people. There are all sorts here. The working class, women, religious leaders, zealots and tax collectors. And Jesus is stood before them, not in royal robes or with any tokens of worldly power, and yet he begins to introduce a Kingdom. He starts with his inaugural speech. He doesn’t launch into his teaching on how to live just yet. That is describing how those in his Kingdom will behave. But he begins instead with who this Kingdom is for. With the weighty backdrop of the whole of Israel’s history behind him - from their desire for an earthly king to becoming a powerful earthly kingdom, to being ruled over by other nations - Jesus begins; ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven…’ (Matthew 5:3-12, whole text below). 

And so begins a radical and, in some ways, nonsensical, set of sayings. These are not trite little proverbs that offer comfort when feeling down. Instead, they provoke and maybe even offend. Jesus isn’t using the version of the word ‘blessed’ here that means spiritually blessed. It would be easy to suppose that he’s saying that if we endure hardship we receive a sort of inner blessing (although this can happen). But the word is actually closer to ‘happy, fortunate or lucky’ in a worldly sense. This poses a problem - those described here are the very opposite of happy. They are those who mourn, the weak, the poor and those who long for justice - these are not all states that God desires for people. The only way these people could be called happy in a practical, earthly sense is if there was a new regime coming that would overthrow the pain they were living under. There is only hope in poverty if a new economy is coming. There is only comfort in mourning if death will be defeated. And there is only hope for the meek if the power structures of the world are flipped on their head.

Jesus is stood in Roman occupied territory, on the same land where his ancestors built an earthly Kingdom that crumbled, announcing a new Kingdom that offers hope to the hopeless and belonging to those who don’t belong. His Kingdom is for those who don’t know where else to turn; the desperate and lowly. It is for those who are overlooked and invisible to society; the lonely and the odd. It is for the peacemakers and pure in heart; those who stand out from the normal and easy way of doing things. This is not an exclusive list and these are not all attributes to aspire to, but they are circumstances we can find ourselves in. He is daring to say that there is a place where these kinds of people can find hope, if they choose to. It is a new Kingdom, and the King is here. It is a future hope, one that we can look to and long for when all feels dark. We feel all the ways that it has not arrived yet. But it has also started now, and we are invited to join in. To be different, to bring hope to the world. Not simply attending a few Christian mission events, but becoming who God has made us to be. Finding out how we can bless the little bit of earth around us by being ourselves. 

The ‘good news’ is so much wider than personal salvation and forgiveness from sins. It is a Kingdom where every pain and longing will be met; now in part and in the future in wholeness. And more than this, Colossians paints a picture of Jesus holding together the entire Cosmos, remaking all that has become broken or defiled (Colossians 1:15-23). His death and resurrection conquered sin, but it also conquered all of the powers of evil, as well as death, illness and brokenness in every form; for creation and humankind. He is bringing the reign of heaven to earth. And where will we find this Kingdom growing? Look in the dark places. Learn to sit and dwell with what is uncomfortable and scary. Whilst culture teaches us to distract ourselves and avoid anything hard, Jesus says his Kingdom grows in the midst of pain. Like a deserted and barren patch of land that begins to sprout flowers, we can notice places where struggle and darkness begin to be redeemed. The most beautiful moments of kindness and bravery I’ve seen are often from people who have it most difficult. The pain isn’t how things should be, and the moments of beauty don’t justify the pain. But the beauty is there nonetheless. Sit with someone who is lonely, meet the needs of someone who is desperate and take time to hear people’s stories. There is so much darkness it can be overwhelming. But we will also find Jesus here. Slow down enough and we will begin to notice that hope is springing up in the most unexpected of places.

Matthew 5:3-12

He said:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

    for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

    for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

    for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful,

    for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

    for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

    for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.