What Helps Hope

The scriptures referred to are Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17,20-21 and John 17:20-26.

I watched the recent HBO documentary on George Carlin and I noticed that he was the kind of atheist C.S. Lewis had been before his conversion. Lewis said he didn't believe that God existed and he was angry with God about that! Carlin, raised an Irish Catholic, seems to have been the same—not just an atheist but an anti-theist. He was not indifferent to the God he didn't think existed but hostile to him. And I noticed that his final, really dark comedy phase came after his first wife died of cancer and his own health was worsening due to heart disease. That's when he started saying not merely that humanity was doomed (he actually used a word you can't say on television) but he said that he loved hearing about deadly disasters. He said, “For centuries now, man has done everything he can to destroy, defile and interfere with nature: clear-cutting forests, strip-mining mountains, poisoning the atmosphere, over-fishing the oceans, polluting the rivers and lakes, destroying the wetlands and aquifers...so when nature strikes back, and smacks him on the head and kicks him...I enjoy that. I have absolutely no sympathy for human beings whatsoever. None. And no matter what kind of problem humans are facing, whether it's natural or man-made, I always hope it gets worse.” He also said, “Somehow I enjoy watching people suffer.” Some of his fellow comics said that was just a comedy bit but he said the same stuff in supposedly serious interviews. Though he had married again, it really does seem he lost hope, at least for the human race.

And maybe that's why Carlin, though he died in 2008, still seems relevant when things are so bad. His observations on humanity's stupidity, on the abuse of power by everyone in power, and on our ability to get outraged by trivial stuff but not what is truly outrageous still resonate. Carlin said, when problems arise in our country we ignore them and when they are overseas, we bomb them. We do seem to be reluctant to tackle big problems, like climate change, mass shootings, income inequality, racism, drug abuse and overdose deaths, at least with the same fervor and massive effort we are willing to put into war. And in many cases it's not that a solution to these problems, or at least effective ways to reduce them, don't exist. We just lack the will to do what needs to be done. Let's face it, if Carlin was right that there is no God, there is no hope.

In Jesus' day it was popularly believed that when the Messiah came, he would end the present evil age and start the Messianic age, setting up a physical kingdom of God on earth. That's one reason why some doubted Jesus was the Messiah. He didn't come as a holy warrior or claim the throne of his ancestor David or drive the Romans out of the land God had given his people. And we can understand their feelings. We Christians do believe Jesus is God's anointed prophet, priest and king who came to earth—and still the world is full of evil. Why didn't Jesus set it right?

Operation Mincemeat was a British intelligence operation that was to set up the Allies invasion of Europe from the south. The problem was that the Nazis rightly anticipated that Sicily was the most logical place for the Allies to land. So a special group of intelligence officers, including Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, came up with a scheme to get the Nazis to move their troops. They selected the corpse of a recently dead man, dressed him up as a major, gave him a common English name, put personal items in his uniform and secret papers in an attache case handcuffed to his wrist and dropped him in the water off Spain, making it look as if the plane carrying him had crashed into the ocean. Though neutral, Spain was crawling with spies. And sure enough, the Nazis got hold of and made copies of the papers, sent them to Berlin, and moved their troops to Greece, where the fake documents said the Allies were to invade. Originally the British expected that 10,000 of their men would be killed or wounded taking Sicily; the actual casualties were a seventh of that. They expected to lose 300 ships: only 12 were lost. They expected to take Sicily in 90 days; it took 38. Thus a dead man saved the lives of thousands and this operation, which took place a year before D-Day and the Normandy landings, is considered a vital first step in the war against the Nazis.

But the war wasn't over, of course. They still had to push the Nazis out of every part of Europe they occupied. Even when it was obvious the Axis troops could not win, they still fought the Allies. Operation Mincemeat was not the end of the war in Europe but the beginning of the end.

And Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection was the beginning of the end of the present evil age. In a sense, the present evil age and the Messianic age overlap somewhat. Just as the Allied troops had to finish up what was started in Sicily, so too the church is expected to take up and continue what Jesus started. But instead of killing and wounding the enemy, Jesus sent us out to teach and show the love of God.

On the night he was betrayed Jesus prayed for the church. As we read in our passage from John, he said, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, so that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them, even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23)

A lot of people, including some Christians, think our primary duty is to make others into Christians by spreading the gospel verbally. But as we see here, the word is to be backed up by a unity that mirrors the unity of the Father and the Son. It is a unity of being in complete harmony with not only each other but with God. And it is a unity that comes primarily from sharing the love of God. As Paul said, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophesy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” (I Corinthians 13:1-2) God's word is not like a magical incantation. If we speak God's word but do not back it up with love, it will have zero effect. Or it can have the opposite effect of what is intended. George Carlin went to church and Catholic school as a child. Atheist comedians Bill Maher and Ricky Gervais were both raised as Christians. They all claim to have abandoned their faith as kids for intellectual reasons but if you listen carefully, you'll learn that their real beef is with not so much with Christ as with Christians.

And the sad thing is just as Jesus was originally betrayed by someone who was supposed to be his follower, we have seen so-called Christians sell out Jesus, not for 30 pieces of silver, but for millions of dollars and for power and for sex. We see evangelists who have sold out the one who had “no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20) so they can live like kings with huge mansions. We see church leaders who have sold out the one who said his “kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36) so they can have political power regardless of whom they have to get into bed with. Speaking of which, we see pastors who have sold out the one who condemned adultery and said the person who harms a little one would be better off at the bottom of the sea “with a millstone around his neck” (Matthew 18:6) so they can abuse members of their flock including children. The sex scandals that started with revelations about the Catholic church have now come to the megachurches, like Hillsong and others, and to the Jehovah's Witnesses, and now to the Southern Baptists. A report just released reveals that for 15 years the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention kept silent about a secret list of more than 700 abusive pastors, moving them quietly from church to church rather than protecting the people under them. They kept mum about this, listening to their lawyers rather than to Jesus who said, “Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is secret that will not be made known. So then, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms will be proclaimed from the rooftops.” (Luke 12:2-3) But they were not quiet when it came to the abused, whom they maligned to keep the blame from falling on fallen preachers. Where is the Christlike love in that?

One purpose of us regularly confessing our sins to God is to keep such things from continuing and from growing to nightmare proportions. Yes, God is forgiving but God is not fooled by empty words. In Isaiah we read, “The Lord says, 'These people come near me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.'” (Isaiah 29:13) Or as the villain of Hamlet says about his insincere prayers, “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: words without thoughts never to heaven go.”

In Jesus' speech to his disciples before his arrest, he says, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” (John 14:15) And what does he command? That we love one another. He says this 3 times in this speech. 16 times in the New Testament alone, we are told to love one another in those very words. And that doesn't include all the variations such as in Galatians where Paul says, “...through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13) Or in Ephesians where he talks about “...bearing with one another in love...” (Ephesians 4:2) Or when he commends the Christians in Thessalonica for their “brotherly love.” (1 Thessalonians 4:9) Or in Colossians where he says, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (Colossians 3:14) Or where the author of Hebrews says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” (Hebrews 10:24)

That last part is important because this love is not to be a mere feeling but something that manifests itself in concrete ways in a Christian's life. Paul said, “Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) The law he is talking about is Jesus' command to love one another. If you love someone you help them. We see this in loving families, where spouses help one another with chores or problems, parents help their children with schoolwork and personal difficulties and children help their aged parents with illness and disability. And if we love our neighbor, which Jesus cited as one of the 2 greatest commandments, we help them.

We see this after sudden and devastating natural disasters: hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, floods and so on. Everyone pitches in to help those affected get back on their feet. After hurricane Irma, various groups from the Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans and Episcopalians came to help. But we don't see this quite as much when it comes to ongoing problems that don't have simple solutions involving hammers and nails and bottles of water and mosquito repellent—like racism, mental health, gun violence, and poverty. I'm not saying that there aren't ministries addressing these things—there are—but they don't seem to attract as much enthusiastic support from Christians.

Jesus said the world would know we are his disciples by our love for one another. (John 13:35) But does it? When the world thinks of Christians, is the first word that pops up “love”? Or is it “judgment”? Or “anger”? Or even “hatred”?

Even atheist George Carlin understood the gist of Jesus' message. In pointing out that the persons who say we should love one another often get assassinated, among people like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., Carlin listed Jesus. So why did he abandon the teachings he was raised in? Because he did not see them practiced by Christians. When atheists claim they don't see proof for the existence of God, though they say that lack is found in the intellectual arguments for God, they often reveal that where they really they don't see it is in the lives of those who supposedly believe but don't act like it.

Jesus told us to go out into all the world and make disciples and teach them to obverse all he commanded. The best way to teach is to show something in action. If we don't show Christ's love in all we think, say and do, how are we to convince anyone?

Mr. Rogers said when he was a child, watching the news of disasters upset him. And his mother told him to look for the helpers. That changed his perspective. Instead of despair at what was happening, the helpers gave him hope. He became a Presbyterian minister. And in an unique ministry, he helped children through puppets and songs and by not being afraid to discuss real problems. I think we Christians, instead of crosses, should wear name tags that say, “Hi! I'm _____, a follower of Jesus. I'm here to help!”

Jesus said as much. He said we are to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, take care of the sick, visit the imprisoned and welcome the alien. We are to treat them as if they were Jesus because that is how he sees our actions. (Matthew 25:40) After all, how did Jesus show his love for others? By healing and feeding and helping them. We are Jesus' representatives. (2 Corinthians 5:20) If we are to get people to trust him, we have to get them to trust us. And the best way to do that is to help them. Helping builds trust. And knowing there are people who will help gives hope.

Ultimately our hope is in Jesus, who promised to return in the end and set things right. We cannot put the world completely right by ourselves. Only he can. But that doesn't excuse us from doing what we can. And we can do a lot more than we have been doing. For one thing, we can stop getting in the way of efforts to help those who are suffering. One of the things that causes despair is the fact that there are people who, in the face of undeniable problems, choose to do nothing. Some, because we don't have perfect solutions, don't want to do things that will at least make things better than they are. And some, not content with stopping solutions from being implemented, want to make matters worse. And it doesn't help when some Christians are against any solution not found in the Bible. The Bible is not a master “how-to” book, especially when it comes to problems that didn't exist 2000 years ago. It's about the ageless problems of the human heart, one of which is not helping others. Leviticus says, “You must not stand idly by when your neighbor's life is at stake.” (Leviticus 19:16) The Bible condemns not only doing wrong but not doing what's right. As Jesus said, what we do not to others in need we are not doing to him. Standing around when others are suffering is just plain wrong.

Christians are supposed to be helpers. We are supposed to be like Jesus. We are supposed to demonstrate his self-sacrificial love to the world, as did the early Christians. That's what spread the faith. Of course we cannot do that under our own power. Which is why, before ascending, Jesus said, “I am sending you what my Father promised...power from on high.” (Luke 24:49) In other words, the Holy Spirit of God in us. Whom we'll look at next week on Pentecost.