Dare to Hope
Scripture Reading:
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
Reflection
Sunday was All Saints’ Day, but I am still thinking about it.
My dad loved the fall and every year when the air chills and the leaves change I think of him. I would give nearly anything for a walk with him through the autumn woods, perhaps in the mountains of North Georgia where we spent so much time as a family. Others I have known and loved and who have died return to my heart and mind this time of year also, and I ache to see them and talk with them again.
So to me, it seems natural that All Saints’ is set in the fall; at the very time of year when I am thinking back on saints I have known and loved, we Christians set aside a day for doing just that. But for me, the day has stretched out into nearly a week. I want to see my people again!
This passage from Isaiah speaks to the messianic hopes of the nation of Israel but has sometimes been taken up by Christians as a heavenly vision, a peaceable kingdom in which there is no more suffering and no more death. Isaiah’s animals do not kill; natural enemies coexist in harmony; peace reigns among all creatures, human and otherwise. When we think of biblical images of heaven, Isaiah’s holy mountain stands alongside the New Jerusalem, distant shores, pearly gates, and golden streets.
I don’t know if it’s my scientific training or what, but I can’t say that I “believe” in heaven. Instead, I see it as a “blessed hope.” I heard one of my seminary professors describe heaven with this phrase and it stuck with me because it so perfectly expresses both my skepticism and my desire for an afterlife in which I might see Dad and other dear departed saints again. To see them, to walk with them, to talk with them in the mountains in the fall; that would indeed be heavenly, a blessed hope realized.
Exercise
Give yourself permission to hope today; to hope for a healed nation, a restored relationship, a healed body. Also give yourself permission to hope for what might lie beyond this world, even if it doesn’t make sense, even if you find yourself becoming emotional, even if you resist the idea at first. Remember: love is the greatest, but hope is way, way up there on the list of Christian virtues. Dare to hope!
Submitted By:
Dr. Paul Wallace, Pastor for Adult Education, First Baptist Church of Decatur