Sermon: The Power of Hope

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The Power of Hope

By Charles T Rush

Easter Sunday - April 4, 1999

ere is a vigorous intellectual debate that goes on annually about the place of the resurrection in the life of the church, what actually happened, how we can understand it. As you might imagine, I have poured considerable energy into that discussion over the past twenty years and it is important.

But equally obvious is the fact that resurrection faith operates on another level as well and that level is perhaps what actually brings us out on this beautiful spring morning to pray, listen and receive the communion. On one level, you either get the resurrection or you don't.

I am reminded of a story from 1918 in Russia, when the new Communist Commissars were fanning across the countryside preaching the gospel of Marx with evangelistic zeal to peasants that had been steeped in suffering for 10,000 years, steeped in Christianity for 1000 years.

A group of 7,000 peasants were assembled to hear a lecture in one of Moscow's largest assembly halls. It was entitled ‘Religion the Opium of the Masses'. The Commissar delivered his speech with great passion and enthusiasm, imitating the charisma of Lenin. He explained that the science of dialectical materialism was the true light, which would forever supplant the legendary mysteries of the Christian religion. He closed by making pointed reference to what he described as the ‘naïve, childish, ridiculous fable called the Resurrection of Jesus.' The people listened attentively.

When he had finished his lecture, he was very pleased with himself and with his performance, and in an act of confidence, he invited anyone in that huge audience that had a question or wanted to say something to respond by coming to the platform. There was absolute silence in the vast hall. Nobody moved, no one said anything.

Finally, a 26-year-old priest, just out of seminary and recently ordained, stepped forward. The commissar looked at him with scorn and contempt and said ‘you have two minutes and not a second more.' The priest replied, ‘I'll only need 5 seconds.' He mounted the platform, surveyed the vast throng of humanity, and in a loud and defiant voice said ‘ Christ is risen.' With that 7000 people spoke as one person and roared back ‘ He is risen indeed !'

Now that story may simply illustrate how effective the Russian Orthodox Church has been at teaching the masses the liturgy of Easter but I suspect it is more than that. I suspect that the masses also choose to memorize the Easter liturgy because it speaks to the incredible power of hope that overcomes despair in the midst of suffering. You have to go through Good Friday to get to Easter. And it is probably the case that only those who have had to live through suffering and despair can really understand the meaning of hope and resurrection.

Gleb Yakunin was a prisoner in the Gulag in Russia from 1975 onward. He had been arrested for having a bible study without a permit, which meant that he was effectively proselytizing and that was against the law. He had been in prison for 10 years when an organization that I worked for heard about him, CREED. They worked to get prisoners of conscience released from prison throughout the world but the vast majority of our cases in that era came from behind the Iron Curtain.

We wrote letters, testified, all to no avail, except for the important function of keeping this issue and these people alive in the conscience of the West. It was 1988 or 1989 when the director of our organization, Dr. Ernest Gordon, the Dean of the Chapel at Princeton University got a call from the White House. President Reagan was going to a meeting in Moscow with President Gorbachev. Did we have anyone we wanted released? Not more than five names.

Dr. Gordon gave them 5 names. The President was shaking hands with Mr. Gorbachev and he handed him a note that said ‘as a courtesy and a gesture of good will, could you have these 5 dissidents released from jail.'

At that precise time, with the Soviet Union falling apart, Mr. Gorbachev was intensely motivated in developing good relations with the U.S.

Gleb Yakunin was in his cell in solitary confinement. One morning the guards open his cell and say ‘Ronald Reagan knows who you are. You're a lucky man.' And three minutes later, completely out of the blue, he was walking down a country lane a free man. Wow! Fantastic, unexpected, unwarranted, life changing good news.

A couple years go by. It is 1991 and Dr. Gordon and I went to Moscow to give some lectures on Christianity, Democracy, and Human Rights at one of the colleges. We had heard that Father Gleb had been elected to Parliament in the first free elections. Tanks surrounded the Parliament at that time, as you may recall. We called his office, told them who we were and asked if we could meet.

His secretary called back in 2 minutes and asked for us to come over anytime, even immediately. We drove over, walked past the tanks and the army, were ushered upstairs to his office, an attaché took our coats and led us down a corridor. A committee meeting was in progress. It was stopped and we were introduced. Everyone stood.

From across the room strode this diminutive man in a clerical collar. Dr. Gordon extended his hand. Father Gleb brushed it aside and grabbed him in a bear hug that only a Russian can give. And he did not let him go. Two elderly men hugging. It was a profoundly holy moment I will never forget as long as I live.

Father Gleb's story was indicative of the era. Unquestionably for me, the most profound thing about being in Russia in the years immediately following the end of Communism was the realization that the end of Communism did not come because of the triumph of free market capitalism, although that is also true. And it was not because we spent them to their knees in an arms race that exhausted them, although that is true. It was a moral and spiritual triumph of hope in the midst of oppression. It was thousands of people praying with one voice for an end to the mangled human character. He is risen indeed!

So as soon as Father Gleb was released from prison he began to organize a party for democratic reform. He had no money to speak of. He had no political experience. He knew little about marketing of the political campaign. Their platform was all about human rights, about human dignity. It was spiritual and moral. And just after the fall of communism, in order to be elected to office, it was almost a precondition that you had done some time for the movement. Only former prisoners need apply. Only prisoners who have suffered really get it. If you hadn't done time, people weren't sure that you were authentic. You can't get to Easter without Good Friday. He was elected.

Hope filled Father Gleb with a determination, a sense of mission, and a follow through in the face of great odds. He might have been afraid, but there was no question that he possessed a great courage, which tanks around the parliament could deflate. He was beyond that. He carried with him the despair and inhumanity of every prisoner of conscience ever locked up and forgotten. He had a mission in life which mere circumstances could not derail.

And that is the point of the resurrection. The disciples were dispirited and despairing. They were lost and hopeless, confused, without direction. Something happened to them that was totally unexpected. There is no tradition in Judaism that looks for any kind of resurrection of wise or holy men. There is no tradition that looks for the resurrection of the Messiah. This was not expected, could not be expected.

But something happened to them, which was dramatic and tangible. They could not describe it. In some sense all mystical experiences are beyond the use of words because you are talking about an extraordinary reality and words are devised to describe what is ordinary, mutual, what we share.

This event was more indescribable because it was a unique event. So they could only use very stock images from apocalyptic literature. There is an angel. There are earthquakes. He is white as snow and shining. People tremble. The divine messenger tells them not to fear. There is a communication. All of these images are taken right out of the popular literature of the day, which describe the end of history. And the theological point is that with Jesus history has reached its fulfillment This is the point of our world.

Whatever happened we cannot know. It simply remains a mystical experience. But what we do know is that it was so real, the disciples felt as though they had ‘grabbed hold of Jesus feet and worshipped.' What we do know is that it was so powerful that it completely changed their lives. They went from fear to confidence. A group of mainly quiet, peasant fishermen devoted the rest of their lives to preaching, telling other people about what they had witnessed. They were not only willing to die for their witness, most of them did. Many died in even more torturous manner than Jesus. Surely that was incredibly hard to go through but they did it because they were changed men and the mere circumstances and hardships of this world were no longer a deterrent to their mission and purpose in life.

There is no question that the story of the resurrection has an incredible, fantastic quality to it. But we Christians have never been deterred by the incredulous or the fantastic. After all, we are a people who are looking forward to the coming of the Kingdom of God. We are a people who actually believe that forgiveness is more important than retribution. We believe that compassion towards those in need is vital, despite their dysfunction and morally compromised lives. We believe that humility and love are going to triumph in the end. We teach our children that reconciliation is more important than victory. We believe that ‘purity of heart' or integrity will ultimately triumph over power- as Jesus said ‘Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.' Silly us, we live out of a vision of peace that is more profound and real than violent aggression swirling all around us. And we believe that it is spiritually superior to let that aggression kill us rather than allow it to continue, however justified it might be.

We believe that God cares for each and every one of us. We believe that God not only knows us but that God forgives us when we sin and that God keeps after us until we get it right. We believe that our money and our resources ought to be used so that everyone is taken care of, so that all of God's children have dignity and self-esteem and worth. We teach our children that it is more important to look after the needs of others than it is to take care of our needs. We believe that the world around us is passing away and that a New World based on love is breaking out all around us. We believe that we can let go of this world and embrace the next and so we have a radical freedom from possessions and positions. We Christians do not have a problem with things that are incredible or fantastic. Fantastic and incredible fairly well describe our spiritual values all the way around. Those overworked bumper stickers still pretty much have us in mind, despite being canned- the ones that say ‘Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of mercy'. What are we crazy? Of course we are.

So let yourself go. There is a radicalness to the gospel that encourages a certain abandon and outrageousness that cannot be controlled. Go with it Let it fill you with the incredible, fantastic hope that it has to share. Live for something beyond yourself. Start doing things that will outlive you. Radiate love in all aspects of your being. Bless the world wherever you find yourself. Sense the divine aura that shoots through everything in our world. And live in joy.

The writer E.B. White once shared a personal story about his wife. She was dying and had only a few weeks left to live. He knew it, she knew it. Gardening had been the joy of her life. It is October, time for her to plant her bulbs for the spring. One day, she gets on her gardening clothes, takes trowel and spade and heads out to the garden beds. He goes with her. This is what he said ‘There was something comical, yet touching in her bedraggled appearance on this awesome occasion. The small, hunched-over figure, her studied absorption in the implausible notion that there would be yet another Spring. Oblivious to the ending of her own days which she knew perfectly well was near at hand, sitting there with her detailed chart under those dark skies in the dying October calmly plotting the resurrection.' My brothers and sisters, plot your resurrection today.

Amen.