This week.
Hope or fear? While these may seem like good Halloween concepts, they’ve been powerful concepts for religion as well. We’re invited to live as a people of hope, focused on the promise of a future by transformation. But fear plays a role; first, our fear is that God has forgotten us or is just absent altogether. Israel needed to be reminded again and again that God hadn’t abandoned them and they hadn’t been left to fend for themselves. But there’s a second fear, and it’s the fear that God is angry with us, ready at a moment’s notice to get revenge by our misdeeds and unfaithfulness. There are lots of voices to tell you what to fear, and fear is so certain, so immediate, that the voices which call us to hope over fear often get lost in the noise.
At the heart of our faith is a unique claim about the intimate relationship between God and humanity. The prophet Jeremiah speaks to our greatest fear, the fear that we’re being punished for what we didn’t do because God is angry with us, displeased with us, and might just reject us unless we please God. In a section known as the oracles of consolation, Jeremiah asks us to see a reversal of the future we imagine. Using the image of grapes that have become sour, Jeremiah promises that God isn’t about revenge, or continuing punishment on one generation after another. What Jeremiah promises is a new covenant, a new start, the continuation of the relationship towards a new future. It’s not just about having motivation to get through today; it’s about living with a framework of values and purpose for our whole life.
Do you enter this week with hope or fear? Perhaps it’s a false choice because, if we’re honest, we probably live with both; the better question is which voices help you navigate the way forward with God? May this week be an opportunity for you to name and let go of your fears about God, the Church, and your life so that you find the voice to utter a hope for what may not see clearly, but you trust is possible with the help you need.
–Thomas
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