HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

May 16, 2010
Easter 7
John 17:20-26
Acts 16:16-34
[slide]
Space: the final frontier, these are the voyages of the starship Enterprise - its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. [fade out]
(prayer)
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I loved Star Trek.
I was too young to appreciate the original series when it was first on TV in the late sixties. I’m not even sure if it ran on one of the two Canadian TV channels, we had at the time. But I certainly grew up on the syndicated episodes. I was eager and excited when Star trek the Motion Picture came out in 1979 and when the Next Generation TV show first aired in 1987. It was Captain Picard’s voice we heard earlier with the 24th century (more politically correct) version of Kirk’s famous opening monologue.
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I am pretty sure that I have seen every single episode of every one of the six TV series (including the animated cartoon version and the all too short lived prequel: Enterprise. And I have seen each and every movie in the theatre: and I loved them all.
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Now in mid-life, as I reflect on my years as a Trekkie/Trekker, I think that a major reason why I have been drawn to Gene Roddenberry’s universe, is the overlying “hopeful” theme that permeates throughout the various Star Treks.
“Live Long and Prosper” – what an incredibly hopeful phrase. It is a phrase that values the life of others. It is counter to the “everyone for themselves” attitude that seems all to dominate in the real world.
I love the idea that was made explicitly clear in the eighth motion picture – Star Trek: First Contact: when humankind realized that they were not alone, they set aside the eons of quarrelling and domination. They effectively ended hunger and need among the people of the earth. We are desperately aware in our world today, we have the resources to feed and care for every man, woman and child of every nation. We simply lack the will to make the distribution possible. I love the idea that the hope of that day is possible, even if it is not today.
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When the Apollo 8 (the first space craft to carry humans out of earth’s orbit) [slide] took the first pictures of the earth hanging alone in the darkness of space, the images made a startling point.
The world was nowhere near as ordered as we sometimes think. South (on this famous “earthrise photo”) is to the left; north to the right. Actually, it was December 24th when this picture was taken, so Antarctica is fully in the southern summer sun at about the 10 o’clock position of the photo. The day is just ending for west central Africa which is at the bottom of the image.
In this picture one can see land, and water and cloud – shadow and light. But there is no national boundaries; in 1968, there was no sign of English or French Canada, there was no capitalism or communism, there was no arms race or Viet Nam; there were no divisions of race or creed. There was one world – and we were seen as we truly are > one!
I know that the Apollo 8 astronauts read the creation story from Genesis chapter 1 that night, but they could have just as easily have read Galatians 3:28 – There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one [in Christ Jesus].
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Both of today’s scripture readings contain words and actions that point to a hopeful future.
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The verses from John 17 are part a long section of that book. John’s gospel doesn’t talk about the last supper Jesus and his disciples had on the Thursday before the Passover; instead the gospel writer devotes four-and-a-half chapters to a summary of what Jesus meant to the early church – it is part teaching and part encouragement. In today’s passage, John writes about how (because of Jesus) the disciples are brought closer to God. Jesus was sent by God, God made things known to Jesus. And Jesus sends out the disciples with the knowledge he has given them. Therefore (in essence) it is God and God’s knowledge that the disciples bear.
For the community of the early church who first read John (late first century), these were hopeful words. They were not alone. They were messengers of the most high God, because they pass on the gospel of Christ and Jesus and God are one!
Because of this divine unity – the church is united. The purpose of all this Jesus says is that “all may be one”. [Slide] John 17: 21 is (in fact the motto of the United Church – it’s the latin phrase at the bottom of our crest (ut omes unum sint = that all may be one).
These words are encouragement for the present and hope for the future.
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Our other reading is chalked full of hope.
First Paul and his companions (which as I said last week – include the author of the book of Acts – “we”, “us”), encounter this slave girl, who has some ability to get people to pay her owners for fortune telling services. In the understanding of the time, she is said of be dominated by a “spirit”. In our modern age, we might have determined that she may have been suffering from some physical or mental disorder. Regardless of the cause of her problem – whatever it did to her – possibly causing convulsions or fits of screaming (certainly something disruptive or to Paul ... annoying) – it added to her credibility as one who could divine the future. How accurate her predictions were, is unclear – what is clear is that she made her owners a lot of money.
So when Paul healed her of this ailment - when he forced the spirit out of her – she was not only free of the effects of her problem, she was also free of her owners’ will.
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I caught a bit of the congressional hearings in the US about the gulf oil spill. The leaders from BP, the company who own the blown out rig, pledged to compensate those damaged by the effects of the oil leaks: of course the phrase BP President Lamar McKay kept using was they would pay all legitimate claims. Sounds like a very carefully worded phrase, most likely aimed at discounting as many claims as possible. And there will be claims, a lot of people and companies will lose a lot of money. And we can see that the government and legal system will most certainly be involved.
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The slave girls owners want to make a claim that Paul and Silas had harmed the economic viability of their business, but even they wondered how legitimate that would be seen, so they played the race card: ‘These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews 21and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe.’
Outsiders: it’s a good thing Paul wasn’t in Arizona. Paul and Silas are jailed.
We heard the story: they were not distraught but joyful – they sang hymns and praised God as loudly from behind bars in the high security cell, as they had down by the river with Lydia and the others at the place of prayer: maybe even louder! They flaunted the charges – further highlighting their strange customs and practices.
Then an earthquake: escape for the prisoners was available. When the jailer awoke and realized that the walls were breached, he quickly decided that suicide would be quicker and easier than the painful punishment that surely awaited him when the magistrates learned of the escape.
Then a voice of hope from inside the prison: we are all here!
This was a strange response indeed – compassion from a prisoner towards his jailer. But Paul cared not about his early incarceration, for he was not alone – he was accompanied by the very spirit of God and that was his true liberty.
This hopeful compassion changed the jailer’s life and the live of his family.
If I had read on a few more verses, we would have heard that Paul went back to jail after he visited the jailer’s family. Even when the orders came in the morning to let them go, they refused until the magistrates came down and personally apologized – which (incredibly) they did!
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Hope is necessary. It is belief sometime in spite of evidence. Hope is faith that we are not alone and that we have the skills and support to see us through whatever happens to be coming our way.
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In today’s scripture, we see hope in what unites us, what liberates us. Peace is our hope, not conflict or imprisonment or death.
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I know that hope is often not very practical. Some people laugh and mock the hopeful, as naive or manipulative. Hope actually gets in the way of greed and domination. The powerful try to crush hope –because it is so threatening.
But how do you counter real hope. You can’t! The walls of the prison could not halt Paul’s singing. Jesus’ impending arrest could not break the relationship between humanity and the divine.
Let us boldly go into the future, with eternal hope as our companion – hope and confidence that as Jesus said: the love with which you [God] have loved me may be in them, and I in them.
We are not alone. Thanks be to God!
Let us pray:
Free us God, from all that hinders hope. Amen.
#37MV “Each Blade of Grass”