What calls us to hope?

What calls us to hope?

Martin Luther wrote that Habakkuk, whose name means “to embrace,” was the prophet who comforted and encouraged the people as one who tenderly comforts with the assurance that with God, conditions will mend.

Habakkuk was written just before the invasion of Judah by the Babylonians, when armies were ready to invade. Devastation and violence had broken out. Habakkuk describes the rising Babylonian threat as a punishment sent by God against the evil leaders of Judah.

This book is a protest to God for unanswered prayers. This is how Habakkuk describes his context: 2”O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save? Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble?”

The phrase “How long, O Lord” is found throughout the Psalms as an introduction to a lament. These laments were sung prayers and the “I” was not simply an individual who suffers. Rather, the Psalmist spoke on behalf of a larger community. In other words, this was not just Habakkuk’s lament, but rather gave voice to the suffering of the whole community.

As the reading continues in Ch 2, the prophet makes his plea in the face of God’s apparent silence. Habakkuk chooses to stand at his watchpost until an answer comes. Another translation reads, “I will go up to the lookout tower. I'll station myself on the city wall. I'll wait to see how the LORD will reply to me.” Waiting and patience are always a hard test of faith.

We are always looking for hope outside ourselves. Do we often think hope is something that has to happen; something somebody else does? The Hebrew people are waiting for just that. And in their wait, they had lost hope. They had lost the sense that God was listening and responding to their cries for help. Perhaps they were looking for hope in the wrong places.

God answered in a way that the prophet did not expect. From verses 2-3 ( chapter 2: 2-3 NIRV), “The LORD replies, ‘Write down the message I am showing you in a vision. Write it clearly on the tablets you use. Then a messenger can read it and run to announce it. The message I give you waits for the time I have appointed. It speaks about what is going to happen. And all of it will come true. It might take a while. But wait for it. You can be sure it will come.’”

Habakkuk told the people to write the vision and make it plain on tablets. It is a daring proposition because in our anxiety we are mostly not available for such a vision. To imagine a scenario of a coming future that is willed by God. This vision, grounded in faith, is enough to find hope within ourselves.

An interesting thing is that the Hebrew word for “hope" and the word for “to wait” are the same word. We tend to think of hope and waiting as two different ideas. But, the Hebrew language demonstrates a basic understanding that waiting is the same as having hope.

In our reading from Lamentations, we see this connection between hope and waiting taken a step further. This book is also a lament, 5 long poems of sadness and grief over the Babylonians destruction of Jerusalem. The holy city was the focus of all their hopes and dreams. In verse 8, the Hebrew survivors speak of the absence or silence of God. So it is hardly surprising to hear the cry in verses 19-20, (NIRV), “I remembered how I suffered and wandered. I remember how bitter my life was, I remember it very well. My spirit is very sad deep down inside me.”

And what comes next in verse 21 is totally unexpected, we hear“yes, but…” “But here is something else I remember and it gives me hope” (NIRV).

What could suggest even the possibility of hope? What is the basis of this hope? The reason for hope is found in their foundational belief that the “steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” This conviction that is active inside of us makes hope possible.

Perhaps you are familiar with the wise saying that says it is not the last swing of an ax that fells the tree.. It is not the 100th stroke, but the accumulated force of the previous ninety-nine. We tend to focus on the large swings instead of the small acts in keeping a vision and hope alive. Small stuff doesn’t get enough respect. Respecting each small stroke allows us to sustain patience and clarity as well. Hope is like that. It comes in small strokes, not big ones.

The writer of Lamentations ends our reading with, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

Where do we find our hope? How do we keep vision and hope alive?

Walter Brueggmann tells this story,

“The task of those grounded in faith is to act, to embody the vision as a wondrous alternative to fear, anxiety, greed and violence that are all around us. You may know the story of the little French village of Le Chambon that hid Jews in their homes during the war. After the war, journalists asked the village people why they took such a risk. They shrugged their shoulders and said, ‘Well, that is what we do. It seemed right because that is who we are.’ Such visioning action is in our baptismal DNA. We do it because we are called out of anxiety, summoned beyond violence to obey hope.’”

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in God, and God will act… Be still before the Lord and wait patiently before him.” May it be so.