Hope in Hard Times
The Rev. Mike Sorsen, Emporia Presbyterian Church
Friday, May 8, 2009
It seems like the economy is a huge topic for all of us these days. Unemployment, company cutbacks, fears of shortfalls in tax revenue and so many other fears. I don’t think there are any areas of our community that haven’t been impacted in some way by the downturn in the stock market and the concern over the financial future of many of the institutions we all thought would last forever.
The difficulties the economy brings can be quite a challenge for all of us. There is no doubt that the poor in our community feel the most pain from an economic downturn, but there is no one that is isolated from the fears and panic that take place when huge amounts of wealth disappear from retirement accounts, home budgets and company balance sheets.
I was reminded today about the definition of hope. I think we all have some sort of grasp on hope, but it’s not something we do a good job of embracing. Fear and panic seem to be much more prevalent in our society today. The Bible contains the word hope in many different passages. The Hebrew and Greek words we translate into hope in our English versions of the Bible have slightly varied meanings of what hope is. Some of those nuances are: expectation, trust, looking to the future, eagerly waiting, longing and to anticipate with pleasure. The Bible would have us embrace a confident expectation of what is to come. This confidence would be focused on the joyous nature of our relationship with God and the wonderful thing God did for us through Jesus Christ. Jesus accomplished what we couldn’t — forgiveness of our sins. Our hope is in the everlasting relationship we will have with God because Jesus bought it for us.
When we think of hope in this way, we must remember that hope doesn’t come from inside of us. Biblical hope comes from the immense love God has for us and it is a confident hope when we realize God will go to any length to save us.
We live this hope by being there for each other, just as God is there for us. Hope comes from relationships of trust and love that go beyond economic struggles and status. Hope comes to people when they know that someone loves them enough to be there for them during their struggles. It comes from the personal relationships we build when we are a listening ear or when we go out of our way to let someone know we care. Each of us has different skills and resources to share. We may not have financial resources to help, but just letting people know you are there for them goes a long way. It is in these caring relationships for one another that we find a confident hope for our community! We won’t find it by trying to convince ourselves of it. We will find it when we live out our loving relationships with our neighbors rather than waiting for someone else to act or expecting government to show up and help. You can be the one that helps someone accomplish something they couldn’t accomplish on their own. You might even be surprised and find that reaching out to others in the community brings a greater sense of hope and belonging to you as well.
The economy will get better, but the relationships we build by loving each other will continue to strengthen our community for many years to come.
It is the relationship we have with God that pulls people of faith together. For our community, it is our relationships with each other that make us a community with a confident hope for our future together!
• “Sunday Sermon” is a forum for Emporia area ministers to share their sermons, thoughts and observations. This week’s sermon is from the Rev. Mike Sorsen of the Emporia Presbyterian Church.