Sermon for Lent 3 -- Hope does not disappoint.

LENT 3: Hope Does Not Disappoint

In today’s reading from Romans, we read that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  We are encouraged by Paul to boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  We are told to boast in our sufferings.  And we are told that hope does not disappoint us.

This past Tuesday, over dinner we watched Brene Brown’s two TED talks and discussed how shame gives us a fear of disconnection, while recognizing that our universal desire as humans is to be connected to one another.  Brene explains that in order for us to experience connection, we must disarm shame with vulnerability.  When we engage in this, we tell the story of who we are -- we are courageous.  This courage can be called wholeheartedness.  

The beauty of our conversation at the ESC is that while we talked about vulnerability, we were vulnerable.  As we learned what courage is, we responded by telling our stories.  As we talked about shame, we disarmed it by being vulnerable with one another.  What we learned from Brene, we practiced.  I can’t think of a more beautiful way to be a Christian community than to practice what we learn.  And for that, thanks be to God.

When we hear that we must boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God, I want us to also remember to boast in the glory of God that is shown through us sharing the story of who we are.  When we hear that we are to boast in our sufferings, I want us to hear that we boast in our sufferings because our sufferings are part of the truth of who we are.  And nothing to be ashamed of.

When we hear that hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us, I want us to hear that the Holy Spirit poured into our hearts is our identity.  It is our story.  It is the voice we listen to - it is the voice that says “we are enough.”

When we hear that we will be loved, we will be saved, we have been reconciled, it seems we often imagine that God will protect us.  But God’s protection doesn’t seem to look like freedom from suffering.  Paul’s life shows us that.  But it does seem to look like the gift of the authentic, real joyful lives we lead when we are courageous - when we are vulnerable - when we dare greatly.

Sufferings can lead us into depression, anxiety, and even loss of faith.  But what does the Scripture say?  It says that suffering is met, in God’s time, with hope.  And hope does not disappoint us.  It doesn’t, however, say that suffering is easy to deal with in this life.  It also doesn’t say that suffering makes you weak.  Instead, I believe it says that suffering makes you human.  Suffering makes you, one of us.  Our sufferings are part of our stories.  Part of our identities.  Our sufferings are never meant to be felt alone.  We feel them together - we tell our stories together - and hope springs out of that, and hope does not disappoint.

Suffering is messy.  Suffering never has a bow tied on it.  And while we believe that hope does meet us, we don’t know when, and we don’t know what it will look like.

And that’s why we don’t force hope onto anyone.  And we don’t rush others into healing.  We just listen to them tell the story of who they are, with their whole hearts, and we tell our own stories.  And when they suffer, we meet them where they are.  And when we suffer, we believe we will be met there.  We meet each other in the brokenness, rather than selling one another a quick fix.

And together - not alone - we wait for that hope we believe in, believing that our suffering has given us the endurance to be patient.  And we wait, believing that hope will not disappoint.