Sermon: "The Fulfillment of Hope"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

This is the time of year that some of us begin to daydream of tropical islands and other warm and sunny places. In fact, we may even peruse magazines in search of advertisements for cruises to such places and, then, look longingly at pictures of the scenery. However, sometimes things are not what they seem to be. I heard a story recently about someone's experience that you will not find in travel brochures. It seems that on one particular cruise a passenger became quite seasick. In fact, during the cruise, his usual spot on board the boat was at the rail, which he often hung across as he turned various shades of green. One day a boat steward came along and tried to cheer up that passenger. The steward said, "Don't be discouraged, sir. No one yet has ever died of seasickness!" But the passenger looked up with a wretched expression on his face and said, "Don't tell me that! It is only the hope of dying that has kept me alive this long!"

Hope is a valuable aspect of our humanity. Surely it is one of those traits that set human beings apart from other animals. And further, hope is a characteristic that we quickly distinguish as being more present in some people than in others.

The theologian Emil humanity wrote of the importance of this characteristic in his book Eternal Hope: What oxygen is for the lungs, such is hope for the meaning of human life…As the fate of the human organism is dependent on the supply of oxygen, so the fate of humanity is dependent on its supply of hope" (p7).

According to Brunner, then, our hope supply is as crucial for living as our supply of air. And I think that he is correct - at least in terms of the quality of our lives.

The Catechism in the back of the Prayer Book tells of the centrality of hope for Christian living. There we may read, "The Christian hope is to live with confidence in newness and fullness of life, and to await the coming of Christ in glory, and the completion of God's purpose for the world" (p861).

It occurs to me that is a good description for keeping a faithful Advent - living with confidence in the newness and fullness of life, and awaiting the coming of Christ in glory, including the completion of God's purposes for all creation. Thus, in Advent we focus on the theme of hope. And it is to this theme in particular that our readings direct our attention this morning.

The selection from the Book of Psalms indicates at the outset its concentration on hope: "Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help; whose hope is in the Lord their God"(146:4). And then the Psalmist follows this affirmation with a listing of some things for which a person of God may have hope: freedom for the prisoner, opening of eyes for the blind, lifting up of those who are bowed down, caring for the stranger, and sustenance for the orphan and widow.

These are things which one needs to experience life in its fullness as God intended - that is, abundant life. And the requirements for abundant life are in the hands of a generous God. In fact, it is precisely there that hope lies. Notice this. It is not freedom and sight and support and care that give hope. Rather, it is God who offers hope, and God can provide for our needs.

The reading from Isaiah offers a similarly-hopeful promise. The author of that book writes, "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing"(35:1-2). The theme of abundant life is there too. Life is the subject of hope - life, that is that blossoms, even in the desert. Some familiar themes from the passage in Psalms are repeated here: "The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy"(5-6).

In this passage, hope includes wider manifestations within its embrace. There is eager anticipation here, along with confidence and trust. That trust is clearly directed at the source of hope once again. "They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God"(2).

Yet, in this world of disillusionment and disappointment, hope can run dry. It is sometimes not easy to maintain hope in the face of our own experiences. Indeed, what we encounter in real life may be quite distinct from that for which we hope. So, it would sometimes seem that we must choose between experience and hope … between what we can observe and what we may wish for. And that is true of us all, at least some of the time.

However, the good news of the Gospel indicates that for which we have hope has indeed become part of human experience. God has become a person in Jesus Christ. And that person - Jesus - is the fulfillment of all hope. Thus, we do not have to choose between hope and experience ultimately, for in Christ the two have become one.

Hope is indicated in the hesitant question from the disciples of John the Baptist in our Gospel reading. Their question has a kind of "dare we ask" quality to it. They get up their nerve, approach Jesus, and ask, "are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?" (11:2). "do we dare hope that you could be the One sent from God, or must we wait still longer?"

And Jesus replies not with a theological description, but in terms of experience. He tells of what has happened, of indications from experience that hope has been fulfilled. His examples recall signs of hopeful expectation found in Psalms and Isaiah: "The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them"(11:5).

You see, Jesus himself fulfills the hope for which they have been waiting. He proclaims in his actions as well as in his words that the reason for hope has come in the flesh. Signs of the Messiah accompany him and testify to him … signs foretold long before point to Jesus of Nazareth.

Thus, we too now have reason for hope. That hope is not vague and uncertain in focus but, rather, precise and exact. Our hope is in Jesus Christ.

This hope has an ultimate quality to it. That is, it transcends our often-stated, trite reasons for hope - that things will work out; that all will be made better somehow; that time will heal; that what seems bad now will seem to be better later on; that good someday will win out. Often, these things may be true themselves.

However, our hope is more profound than any of those - more profound by far. Our hope is that God in Christ will transform the world. Jesus has come once in humility, and he has promised to return again in glory. Thus, we see an image now of what will be - but we only see it "through a glass darkly." When Christ returns, he will be in charge of his kingdom, completely and totally. It is precisely, exactly, and only in Christ that our hope will be realized. Thanks be to God!

Copyright © 2001 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee