NOVEMBER 30, 2003
Jeremiah 33:14-16; I Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36

Among the impressive aspects of the Judeo-Christian faith and tradition is that although it comes from a background of tribulation and hardship its primary message has been one of faith and hope. It might be said that BECAUSE it comes through a strong people who often found themselves in trouble, its primary message has been one of faith and hope.

The Abraham story is one of leaving an unsatisfactory environment with faith and hope that he could find something better. The Old Testament story of the "promised land" is a story of a people who had faith and hope that they could find something better than the desert. The message of the Old Testament prophets is one which emphasizes that even when taken from home by an enemy and made to live captive in a foreign land there is faith and hope that there are better days ahead. Given the fact that their history had so often produced a leader who could lead them from their distress and enable them to experience the reward of their faith and the fulfillment of their hope, it was only natural that the theme of longing for such a leader would repeat itself again and again. The Babylonian captivity produced such a message and the theme of faith and hope was formulated in a belief that one day God would send a Messiah who would deliver the people from their distress and bring them as a nation to the fulfillment of their dreams as a special people chosen by God to make a special contribution to the world in harmony with the plan and will of God. And so it is that Jeremiah took up that theme again and spoke as a prophet indicating that the time would come when God would provide a "righteous Branch" which would come forth from the house of David and give deliverance to a chosen people who were in bondage, i.e. the Hebrews.

The elements of faith and hope often brought out the best in a tormented people, as it still does. They had faith that God was on their side and that if they expressed their lives in a manner that was harmonious with the ways and will of God, God would see to it that they eventually triumphed and that their hopes would be fulfilled. The prophets were no small factor in nurturing this faith and keeping the hope alive. Prophets often explained how the people were out of harmony with God and thus told them how they could experience the forgiveness of God and get on the right track again. Prophets served the purpose of informing and inspiring while at the same time they kept the hope alive. As time went by and as history was remembered someone came along who helped them believe that help was either near at hand or being experienced at that very time. In hindsight they could then align the past prophecies with present experience or glimpses that the reality of hope being fulfilled. Thus there came to be a confidence in prophets and their utterances which strengthened faith and increased hope. Sometimes this faith was strengthened and the hope was increased to the point where a vision of participation would be created and a person or people would begin asking what they could do to facilitate complete fulfillment. One is reminded of the O.T. question of "who will go and whom can I send" with the answer coming back, "here am I Lord, Send me!" Jeremiah was one of the prophets who nurtured faith and hope that a Messiah would come to deliver the people from captivity and national embarrassment to a level of happiness and respect. King David had historically been a fulfillment of past faith and hope and it would be through his lineage that the Messiah would come to do it again.

The Gospel writers took up the same theme again as is evidenced by Luke reporting a discourse credited to Jesus about the end of time and how people could know by certain happenings that were signs indicating that the time of the end was at hand. If Jesus in fact uttered these words he was no doubt utilizing the same principles of prophesy that others before him had used. Sometimes prophesy came as a result of a dream or vision in which people believed God declared a special message. More often than not it came from a common sense approach to knowledge. Many times prophesy was the result of someone observing that on the basis of "event A" and "event B", "event C" could be expected. Certainly with the Romans in power over the Jews and with the undercurrent of rebellion so often circulating among the Jews, it would be natural for Jesus to speak in this manner. It should be kept in mind that the Gospels were not written until some time after the death of Jesus and the drawing of certain conclusions from the words of Jesus and more current events would not have been unusual. If Jesus uttered these sayings it is likely that they were related to his expectations for the Roman-Jewish relationship. After the fact, Christian theologians have often applied these utterances as a forecast related to the "last days" of our contemporary world. The danger in this kind of thinking is that it can become "self-fulfilling prophesy" in part or in whole, especially when it is embraced and espoused by persons in positions of political and/or military power. We hardly need, for example, a U.S. President who sees himself as a tool in the hand of God to facilitate the fulfillment of prophecies related to the end of the world! Better that he have no religion than to have a commitment to this kind of religion!

The words from I Thessalonians are of considerable interest. Both letters to the Thessalonians have traditionally been credited to the Apostle Paul. Whoever the author, the message is interesting in the context of the Christian interpretation of "what happened to Jesus". Keep in mind that the early Christians, and many today, believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Messianic prophesy. It is reported that Jesus was sometimes asked if the was the Messiah. Disciples of Jesus had concluded that he was such a special person that God had indeed sent him to usher in a better time for the Jews. Some began to think of him as "The Son of God". Peter is reported to have made such a confession. It is an understament to suppose that the fact that Jesus was killed by crucifixion as a common criminal was a shock to those who believed in him as the promised Messiah. He had not finished his job! He had been killed and now his disciples were left "holding the bag" with an empty hope! Very quickly there developed a belief in the resurrection of Jesus. It was clear, however, that Jesus was no longer with them in body. They could tell stories about how he had been, but they would not lead people to him and listen to his admonitions as once they had. Therefore the belief developed that he had ascended into heaven to be with God but that he would come again. Thus the creation of the doctrine of the Second Coming. It is the Second Coming which is being addressed in the letters to the young church at Thessalonica. In the first letter Christians are being told to "be ready" for the return of Jesus which might happen at any time, and those who were ready would go to heaven to be there forever. Believing that such an event was at hand, many of the Christians "pulled their robes about them and sat down waiting", doing nothing to make their lives or the world better. The second letter was written in response to their response to the first letter. It essentially told them to quit doing nothing as they waited and to get busy "...may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men, as we do to you, so that you may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

The hope that Jesus was the Messiah who would correct the ills of the world had not been fulfilled. It remains a hope, however, and is the only hope that many can "see" in a contemporary world that is plagued with troubles. Thus the annual celebration of Christmas and the renewal of hope through the reign of "love".