This week we will consider four aspects of the practice of hope...hope from the God of life, hope toward the neighbor - as Walter Brueggemann says it. Today is part two.
The divine disclosure sets in motion a community on the way. Indeed, the purpose of the divine self-disclosure is to be on the way to a new place and to a new history. The word that counters Pharaonic decree is a generative, emancipatory word that moves the community along from slavery to well-being, and eventually from exile back to the land. To be sure, there is each time a rear-guard action of despair; the "National SecurityState" of Pharaoh and then of Nebuchadnezzar has a deep grip upon Israel's imagination. Thus in Exodus 16, just after the departure from Egypt, some want to return to oppressive security. And in Babylon, some shrank from departure from the Babylonian empire... Such timid collusion, of course, will not prevail in the community of hope, for the God of Hope comes to occupy the life of the hopers.
The God who "will cause to be what will be" keeps moving even when we may not have the courage to press on. Too often, I want to have things in place. I want to have markers down and some point of reference available to me to show that things will be alright. Unfortunately, "alright" means "as it was once before." No matter how much I try to convince myself that I know what is best and I know the way I am to go, this God of hope will not let my limited vision rule me. For each of us that means we must listen again to Scripture and to others who are moving along the way. We must keep in mind who is the Lord of Life even as we attempt to pursue our own limited goals that often keep us bound up and paying homage to the cheap and hope-less gods that have ruled over us time and time again. One of the beautiful things about the God who pulled Israel out into the wilderness is that as the people were being overwhelmed by despair, this God gave them the guide of the covenant. Sure God is going to take them to a place and time they have not yet experienced. But...along the way, there would be this guide that will help to keep them (and all of us) within the realm of hope that is always pushing the edges. Out in the wilderness at Sinai and then again when the exiles returned from Babylon, they were able to put there hand onto something from which they would push off into the future of God's Reign. Those laws were not meant to be the future...they guided the people into the unbounded hope of God's unfolding nature.
Connection: It may be so comforting to stay put or pull back in any of the areas of our lives. If that is where you find yourself today, look around to see who God is sending into your life to help you take a fresh look at what is to be and a fresh step in your way.
God of Hope, when you abide with us you do not let us retreat into the life that robs of life simply because we are unssure of what is to take place next. When you call us and walk with us and promise to abide with us, we are continually being invited into your expansive and creative Reign. Amen.
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