Message of Hope

Here's an e-mail I got from a friend of mine who is a Lutheran Pastor in Minnesota. He's done a lot of mission trips to El Salvador and Haiti, and has been pastor at the Chippewa-Cree reservation in Montana and the inner city in Philadelphia, PA.

Here's his Advent Message - better than I could have said it!



Faith Matters

Pastor Joey Bailey
St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Alango

Of Elections and Wars and Poverty and One More Thing...

Grace and Peace!
What an election year. We've just come through nearly two years of name-calling, half-truths, and outright lies. At times the negativity hovered over our American community like a rain cloud that just would not leave. It was more than apparent in our own state of Minnesota where we saw U.S. Senate Candidates from all sides throw insults and hate-filled speech at one another. The rest of the country wondered, as it looked into our midst, "Where's the "Minnesota nice?" And a recount that invites more silliness. Many wonder where God is.

Two wars ongoing. Soldiers and sailors and marines and aircrews: all away from Turkey and cranberry sauce and carols and stockings and "Ho! Ho! Ho!" Those folks ache to be with their families and the people they love. Bombs burst and bullets fly. Bodies are wrecked. Spirits are challenged. The children of Iraq and Afghanistan are growing up to know all-too-well the cruel and brutal realities of war. It all hit home for me a couple of months ago when my dear friend, Ronald Phillips, called me and through a voice shaken by weeping, told me that his son, Sergeant Ronald Phillips, Jr. had been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq, leaving two little children behind. It made me wonder where God is.

Back to the election. I kept hearing about the middle class. It is true that the great middle is squeezed and is hurting. I kept waiting to hear of those who live in poverty-not just those here in the United States but all around the world. Poverty kills. It wounds deeply. As the folks who no longer have jobs at Ainsworth know, poverty can suffocate. To be a mom or dad and sit at a kitchen table piled high with unpaid bills can bring tears to any eye. Where were the people talking about people who are poor, living on the brink, living in cars, living in shelters, kids without coats, the elderly without prescriptions? Where is the voice that speaks for them?

Elections. Wars. Poverty. And one more thing... It is Advent. We now wait in this season for the coming of Christmas and the hope of the world. Advent inspires hope. It invites me to walk wet, dripping with the water of baptism. From the dry world of brokenness, Advent gives me that one more thing: hope. This is a hope that speaks into the midst of election cruelty the fact that, no matter our politics, we can rejoice as a people that a black man and his family will, on January 20, 2009, enter the White House as the First Family. Fifty years ago the only way for such folks to find themselves in the White House was as servants. There is hope.

One more thing...hope. I spoke with my friend Ronald Phillips, and he spoke through falling tears once again. But this time the tears were for love of God and a wonderful family and great friends. He is not alone. From the loss of a son has come radical love in action, and Ronald and his wife revel in that love, even as they grieve and hurt. Wars rage, but God will have the final say. No question. And the final words will be peace and love. There is hope.

One more thing...hope. There are people in our community without heating oil and coats and food and shelter and medical care. Friends in places like El Salvador and Haiti march through lives of poverty that strangles and oppresses. Recently, all the churches of the Cook Community gathered to give thanks. Canned goods and boxes of food and money were offered in thanksgiving. That's hope. Neighbors reach out to touch one another's lives that's hope. In Haiti and El Salvador, children will smile today, even as their bellies are distended. That is hope. May their smile be an invitation for all of us to do better. That is hope. There is hope.

As we wait through Advent, the broken world shows itself. But we also see it for what it really is. Yes, it is broken. But is is full of hope. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness just can't overcome it. The brokenness shows forth, but the people of the world will be defined by hope. Walk wet, dripping with the promise of baptism. Walk wet, in defiance of what the world hurls our way. Walk in hope. As we walk, we shout forth for all the world: "There is HOPE!!!"