That is why faith, wherever it develops into hope, causes not rest but unrest, not patience but impatience. It does not calm the unquiet heart, but is itself this unquiet heart in man. Those who hope in Christ can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it. Peace with God means conflict with the world, for the goad of the promised future stabs inexorably into the flesh of every unfulfilled present.
Jürgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope: On the Ground and the Implications of a Christian Eschatology
I have written several articles and sermons on faith and hope in the Christian faith. In one of those sermons, I defined hope as faith on tiptoes. The image intended was a craning of the neck as people of faith rise on tiptoes looking for a better future. Something better must be coming if this universe is the fleshing out of God’s dream of love, shalom, and joy and not just a cosmic accident.
The danger of this image is that it can foster an attitude of “watching and waiting” for something to happen in which we play no part. Hope in the Jewish and Christian traditions is a radical, dangerous, and transforming stance in the face of a world driven by greed, violence, bigotry, and idolatry. Any faith which does not lead to this kind of conspiratorial hope is bogus. Authentic living cannot exist in the navel-gazing copout and convenient inaction which pass for faith among too many Christians. We cannot be content simply to make our “reservation” for a future in some grand “resort” in the sky. Neither are we invited to sit on our blessed assurances and refer to that apathetic counterfeit as authentic faith. We are commanded to follow Jesus into a future which must be radically different from the past and present.
Fifty years ago, theologians writing about the glories of the secular city and the greening of America were naïvely optimistic about the future. I remember sociologists in seminary predicting that the future was going to be so wonderful that everyone would have an unbelievable amount of free time—time the church could use to expand its mission. The Age of Aquarius was just around the corner.
None of us could have predicted what we face in 2021: the rise of racism, neo-Nazism, fascism, the acceptance of lies so blatant that they can only be explained by willful ignorance and stupidity, the fate of the earth teetering on the edge of an unthinkable abyss, the blatant attempts of Republican legislatures to reverse the progress made over scores of years to allow for all citizens to vote in free elections, and a lamentable decline of reason and decency. We live in a time when spineless and immoral politicians willingly sacrifice everything that is good about our noble experiment of democracy. They neither love this country nor have an ounce of human decency. They only care for their political futures. A world cursed with such monstrous evils cannot long endure in any way that might be called humane. Disaster is on the horizon on many fronts in our world UNLESS WE DARE TO HOPE FOR A DIFFERENT AND BETTER FUTURE. We can’t afford to do nothing. We must name the demons which threaten not only our democracy but the very future of this planet. We must dare to hope for a better world.
I’m weary of those calling for compromise with evil as a tactic in finding common ground to end the divisions among us. There can be no compromise with racism, fascism, and willful ignorance. We must be goaded by the Spirit of God to help create a better future for our children, grandchildren, and the very planet on which we live.
I’m weary of those calling for compromise with evil as a tactic in finding common ground to end the divisions among us. There can be no compromise with racism, fascism, and willful ignorance. We must be goaded by the Spirit of God to help create a better future for our children, grandchildren, and the very planet on which we live. Pussyfooting around with the likes of today’s demagogues and their toadies invites disaster. Such compromising reminds me of Neville Chamberlain waving his document of capitulation with Hitler and claiming that he had achieved peace in his time. We cannot compromise with the likes of Hitler in our day. Such despicable counterparts call for the violent overthrow of our government (January 6, Michael Flynn) and the imprisonment or execution of Democratic leaders (Donald Trump, Roger Stone). Meanwhile, much of the American public apparently is content to “watch and wait” while the best hopes of humanity go up in flames.
Authentic hope is a fiery refusal to accept the status quo of this world. Such hope is not blind to the realities of evil and the horrible possibilities which can occur if such realities are ignored. We tried that tactic throughout the 20th Century, and as a result, the peoples of this world suffered through two World Wars, the Great Depression, the cruel greed of American capitalism and imperialistic foreign policy, and the apathy and collusion of supposedly “good Christians” with attitudes and actions which are in direct violation of the teachings and character of Jesus. Faith must be transformed into radical hope. Without that movement, we who are called to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and the agents who turn this world upside down may as well close our doors and admit that what we call faith is a disgraceful blasphemy which is already dead and beginning to stink. In the words of John Lewis, we need to be the source of a lot of “good trouble.” Without the living out of such radical hope, we are at best irrelevant and at worst contributors to the very forces which threaten the soul of our humanity. As Dr. MLK reminded us, all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Today, the only problem with that statement is the question as to whether such people were ever good to begin with.
If you hear anger in this article, you have heard correctly. I am angry that so many Americans still support a pathological liar, a sexual predator, a demagogue who seeks to destroy our constitutional system, a racist, a misogynist, a homophobe, and a coward who disparages and mocks war heroes, the parents of Gold Star soldiers, and people with physical and mental challenges. I am even more angry that 85% of white Evangelical Christians continue their cult-like worship of such a scoundrel. Their blind allegiance constitutes a dangerous form of idolatry. I am angry that Americans in the millions still vote for and keep in office politicians who are hellbent on destroying a democracy of, for, and by the people as they build on tactics of the past used by Jim Crow, fascism, and Nazism. The disenfranchisement of people of color in this country, which is happening in most states controlled by Republicans, could well be the bitter foretaste of an even more monstrous evil in the near future.
St. Augustine said that hope has two sisters: anger and courage. If we are to hope authentically in this world, we should be angry at the suffering and injustice so prevalent around us. And we must use that anger to find the courage to change this world into a better and more just place. I am aware than anger must never be the last word for a follower of Jesus. But in times like these, perhaps anger should be the first word as long as it goads us into joining God in transforming this world into a Beloved Community. Reconciliation may be the ultimate goal, but there can be no reconciliation without justice and repentance. And I see no evidence that 40% of this nation even understands the dynamics of or the need for justice and repentance.
