Hope

The Outside and Inside of Hope

Chapel – December 1, 2004

It is good to see you this morning. I want to talk to you for a few minutes about Hope. There are several reasons for my choice of topic. The first is that for the past two years I've tried to use these opportunities in chapel to say a few things about a some of the virtues that make up a person of good character. We talk often at GC about education for character, and much of that kind of education occurs in the subtle almost unconscious dynamics of personal relationships among faculty, staff, and students in our community. But other than pointing as often as possible to the character of Jesus Christ it's not often that we stop and reflect intentionally about what kind of character we are really seeking for ourselves. I have had occasion to speak about the virtues of truth, of courage, of faith, and even of discipline. Today I'd like to say something about Hope.

In fact, hope may well be the single most important virtue that should characterize Christians in general! Paul reminds us in Ephesians that “There is one Body, one Spirit, just as we are called to one hope!” (Eph 4:4). So unless we're constantly thinking about hope we may be missing out on the very thing which should distinguish us as followers of Jesus Christ!

But this leads to a third reason for my choice. That is that we are now officially in the advent season, the season of Christmas. While we often associate this season with the personal attitudes of joy and peace, we usually don't stop to ask about how people in general, but Christians in particular are expected to find this peace and this joy. The answer I believe is that joy and peace arise from the virtue of hope. For example, Romans 15:13 encourages us saying, “May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace.” So Christmas is really all about hope!

Finally however, it seems to me that we need to talk about hope because right now is a time when hope is much needed. Let me just mention two examples. First, with Thanksgiving behind us, many of us, students and faculty alike are beginning to realize how much must be done before Christmas. The pressure of papers, exams, and grading is suddenly very real. Some of you may be pretty discouraged about all this. You may be wondering if you can possibly make it through. You may be wondering if you even belong here and whether you should return next spring. For you, the picture may at times seem quite hopeless. So it makes sense for us to think together about hope.

A second example of why now may be a time when hope is needed has to do with things you may have heard about college finances. Rumors may be flying that the college is in crisis or that finances are desperate. It's always hard to know what to believe, what is true, what is false. This can be discouraging which makes it important to talk about hope!

Before I do that however, let me take a few moments to share with you a few facts and to reassure you. First, although new student class is large, and our overall enrollment is very strong, It is true that we had fewer returning students than we expected. So like many businesses in our country these days, financial responsibility requires us to make adjustments in our budgets. This is not fun, but it is not uncommon nor is it cause for panic. We are reducing our expenses by about 10% this year and planning to keep that in place for next year. This means for example, that most but not all departments will have about that much less to work with, that a few of the smallest classes may not be offered, that a number of currently empty faculty positions will not be filled this year or next, and unfortunately, that four staff members and two faculty will be released. This spring, individual departments will be considering whether a very few of the smaller programs may need to be changed or dropped for next year. All of this will of course be done before you need to make course selection decisions for next year, and for those few students affected, arrangements will be made to accommodate your needs.

As important members of our Greenville College family, and as young adults living in a culture prone to overwhelming cynicism, let me offer a comment or two before moving on. First, GC is not “in trouble.” On the contrary, as the recent visit of the Illinois State Board of Education suggests, we are a strong institution, even a model for others in the state! Like a number of our sister colleges and even major corporations in our country facing the same kinds of pressures, we are taking steps to make ourselves stronger. Few people hesitate to buy from Dell or fly with Delta merely because they have recently made adjustments affecting sizeable portions of their employees.

Second, If you hear things that bother you and have questions, I urge you always to choose to assume the best about the people in question and to please go to see faculty or administrators….come to see me if you like…before drawing conclusions. Your choice of attitude and decision to get the facts are the characteristics of people of hope.

PRAYER

Two weeks ago yesterday, Ellen and I left with 12 travel partners for Africa . Among other things we visited some of your friends studying at Greenville 's program in Mozambique . They are doing well and look forward to seeing you here on campus in a week or two. Africa is a continent that encourages one to become a person of hope. That morning two weeks, Ellen and I approached the Delta airlines counter in Atlanta and presented out tickets and passports. The agent looked them over and then reported matter-of-factly that “Ellen will not be traveling today.” “Excuse me?!” I said! Apparently she did not have the 3 empty pages in her passport needed for visas to enter South Africa . When I showed him 3 empty pages, he responded that they did not have the word “Visas” printed in faint blue letters at the top, so why we flew all night to Africa , Ellen would need to fly to New York City alone and obtain stapled additional pages in her passport. First I hoped he was kidding. Then I hoped that he would take pity. Then I just hoped he would let me talk to someone else behind security! When he did, I hoped the South African Airline agent would call Johannesburg and hoped they would accept my wife's evidence of an ongoing charter flight as proof she really did not want to stay in their country more than overnight. When that didn't happen, and I was forced to buy an ongoing ticket for Ellen alone to a city outside South Africa that she had never visited and that was not on our itinerary, I hoped our agent could arrange to drive my wife six hours up the coast to join us a day or two later. All through a 20 hour flight that night Ellen and I hoped those arrangements were being made. Then when we decided to at least try approaching South African immigration in Johannesburg , we hoped and hoped and hoped that waiting until last and picking the friendliest agent Ellen would allowed to stay with us. Hallelujah! The lack of empty pages turned out to be no problem…and now we are just hoping that we get a refund on that expensive ticket to strange city in a far off country.

Of course there are far more profound and sobering ways in which Africa forces one to consider hope. Our conversations last week with my friends in Zimbabwe about the ongoing meltdown of their economy, the progressive erosion of the rule of law, the fading of the free press, the precipitous drop in life expectancy due to AIDS, the unimaginable emigration of strongest and brightest among their fellow citizens. These are just a few realities that force them and force us all to consider hope. I could go on with many other stories from just the last two weeks; not the least of which would be the image I carry of the 4-year old girl with a red plastic cup and tattered dress, begging me for a penny or two while pulling her blind father along beside her. But the bottom line is that Africa encourages…maybe even requires a person to think about hope!!

What is hope? Hope it seems is a desire or need we have that we hold with an optimistic expectation of attaining it! “I hope we win!” In other words, I want to win, and I'm optimistic we will. “I hope she comes!” In other words, I want her to come, and I'm optimistic she will! “I hope I pass!” In other words, I want to pass, and I'm optimistic I will.

So the first obvious element of hope is that to want something means there must be a need or a goal….something desirable is lacking! Hope makes no sense if we have everything we want and need. If you did not need to pass those exams next week or turn in that paper this week to graduate, then you could not really be said to “Hope that you pass them!” If my wife Ellen did not need relief from pain caused by her cancer then I could not begin to hope that our appointment in St. Louis tomorrow will bring good reports from her doctor!

Until we have such desire; until we have such need, there can be no hope. Regarding our hope for salvation, Oswald Chambers puts it this way in his devotional for this morning. “Conviction of sin always brings a fearful binding sense of the law, it makes a man [or a woman] hopeless!!” My student and faculty friends, if you are like me this morning, it is easy at times like these to know only my need, only my own inadequacy, only my inability to do what it seems I must do. If that is all we know, then we are men and women without hope. Merely wanting, merely needing, without expectation is at best mere wishful thinking, or at worst resignation and even hopelessness!

But this brings us to the second, and what I think is the most interesting, part about hope; the “attitude” part. The expectation, the optimism, that what we hope will come to pass. If hope is a virtue of character that we should strive to cultivate, how do we get this attitude? It seems to me this involves two parts: an OUTSIDE part and an INSIDE part.

The OUTSIDE part of hope has to do with what we know about the thing hoped for. For example, the more I know about South African immigration law, or about Delta airlines policies, or about the subject of my course, or even about the nature of cancer, the easier it is for me to have hope about these things! This is of course why we often hear it said, especially among the underprivileged, that education is a key to hope. Knowledge can provide the OUTSIDE part of creating the expectant, optimistic attitude that makes hope hopeful!

Consider for example our hope for meaning or hope for everlasting life. To some extent, our knowledge of the world, based on experience and thought can help us to be hopeful. Romans tells us that nature is such that every person has enough evidence of God's presence to be able to hope for everlasting life.

But unfortunately, sometimes our knowledge is inadequate. Or perhaps what knowledge we do have gives us no reason to be expectant and optimistic. How then can there be hope? Perhaps I don't know South African law, or know much about the course material, or know much about cancer. Perhaps I am not a scientist or philosopher who can see God's hand at work in the world. What then?

In such cases there can still be hope if we know something about the persons who control these circumstances. If we knew the Delta agent personally, or even what he had for breakfast….. If we knew that smiling South African immigration officer or what her family was like….. Or if we knew Dr. Weilbacher, and her educational and research experience….. If we knew these things, it would be much easier to have hope…in spite of our own inadequate understanding.

Consider for example how our knowledge of God and his love for the world can give us hope even if our knowledge of this world is limited and inadequate. A personal relationship with the one who controls this world, gives us the knowledge we need to be people of Hope! As Oswald Chambers puts it, “Think Who the New Testament says that Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meanness of the miserable faith we have….I haven't had this and that experience! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims…..then stand in implicit adoring faith in Him.”

But once again a barrier arises. What if we don't know about these people? What if we don't believe we know about God? In other words, what if our knowledge is just too limited. Can we ever expect to have hope? Can we ever hope to hope?

This brings us to what I like to call the INSIDE part of hope. Like so many other virtues; like so many other aspects of character, hope often comes down to a decision. It often comes down to a choice. My decision often makes the difference. I choose to hope about the Delta agent. I choose to hope about the Johannesburg immigration lady. I choose to hope about my wife's doctor. Sometimes we call this INSIDE part of hope, trust. In fact the dictionary tells us that hope is often used synonymously with trust.

To become people of hope then we must recognize our need…sometimes our desperate need, seek to know all we can about the particulars of our hope, learn all we can about the person who controls the circumstances, and ultimately make decisions, make choices to trust.

The application of this principle to hope about immigration, hope about exams and papers, even hope about the health of Greenville College is clear. Our ability to hope depends on our choices, on our decisions. These are not matters of mere feeling. Hope need not be limited by our feelings of discouragement, or by our circumstances or personal inadequacies. Hope even in the simplest things will depend on what we decide.

But how does this apply to our hope for peace, for joy, or for meaning in life? Or how does it apply to hope for eternity? In a nutshell, it seems to me that the inadequacy of our own ability to know the God of our universe forces us to decide whether to choose simply to trust Him. If we are unwilling to contribute this INSIDE part of hope, if we are unwilling to take this step, we are unable to have hope. If on the other hand we give up the control of our lives, the ambitions and goals we have, even the need to know, and instead choose surrender to Christ, we become people of hope.

It is of course quite clear that the validity of any hope found in this way then depends on the trustworthiness and reliability of the one in whom we choose to trust. It is central to the hope of those who follow Jesus Christ that he is utterly trustworthy. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But of course one can never have that hope unless you bring the INSIDE part, the choice. If you are feeling hopeless today, I invite you to make a decision now. Bring that INSIDE part to hope. Choose to place your hope in Christ, and share that decision with a friend.

One final word. I have found the evidence of hope in my life is always a surprising, amazing sense of profound peace and joy even in the midst of crisis. I pray you will feel that amazement this Christmas season as I do this very day.

As we close our time this morning, I want to invite you to hear from the Word of God, through the voices of your fellow students, the call to be people of hope today.