Isaiah 61: 1-4; Luke 1: 45-48

Reflection December 17, 2017

Carrying Hope

Last week we talked about raccoons.  So it only seems fair that today we talk about: Gorillas.  There was a well known Gorilla (named Koko) who lived at a researcher’s house in Woodside, not far from the San Francisco airport.  She became famous appearing on the cover of National Geographic, and in one  of them she cradled a small kitten. Her owner believed that her pet proved that Primates had language. She had taught her how to sign. Well-respected scientists rejected categorically the claim and the story went away.  Inside the Gorilla was the hope of words and language and her owner never stopped believing.  It is funny about humans: we have a tremendous need for other species to communicate with us on our level.  Maybe there is another issue: part of it is our desire for what was considered impossible to become possible. If that can be true, then perhaps other unlikely things can be too.

Last week there was a moment of hope on television (The View) Joe Biden and Meghan McCain were on television together and they talked about cancer.  The grieving father tried to console the frightened daughter as they discussed a disease that both her father and his son had been stricken by.

It was a moving moment as Biden explained that John McCain was one of his best friends.  Then he talked about what he knew about the disease and how there were new developments.  Not only were there words of hope for these two people, there was hope for our nation.in that moment  In the poisonous political atmosphere where so little of common good seems to be happening, these two people (and I imagine Biden has known Meghan since she was a baby) reminded is that we are still one nation where we long for the health and healing of all our loved ones.

Friends, we have already talked about how important Elizabeth and Mary are.  Mary understands she is the carrier of hope.  Because as John says in the first chapter of his Gospel that Jesus is the “Word,” the Word in capitals, itaiics, bold and underlined, in actuality Mary was pregnant with the Word. It is that awareness that makes her speak with joy of God’s greatness).

Friends, pipes carry water or oil or gas, bags carry groceries, bowls carry food, boxes carry presents, but how do we carry hope?  Hands or hugs may transfer love, but how do we transfer hope?  Mostly we do so my words, as in a doctor bringing the good news of a better result, or the news in a text one that a missing loved one is safe after a natural disaster.  Hope can also come in the form of an “I’m sorry” which gives a relationship one last chance.  The hope of Mary and Elizabeth is about words, even as Elizabeth’s husband is dumbstruck.

Friends, the words of the Bible carry hope. They flow like a river that never stops flowing.  They do so not by themselves, as the words of the Bible can perplex, confound and annoy us.  They do so because of God’s Holy Spirit moving them toward our hearts.

How has hope made it to you, friends? How have the words of the Scriptures given you hope and when and where?  And more generally how has hope made it to you throughout your life? Is there an instant you remember?  Bill Moyers tells the story of his PBS series of interviews in the eighties without scholar Joseph Campbell about the meaning of life and how people are always looking for it.  The woman stopped Meyers on the street and told him something amazing. Just as she decided life was no longer for her, after a broken relationship, she heard Moyers talking to the scholar on television and somehow she got pulled in and as the program ended, the announcer said:”tune back in next week.” That’s how she went on to stop Meyers on the street. God’s grace reaches us in surprising ways sometimes.

Friends, what about your capacity to be a conduit of hope? How do you carry the word of hope? Do you know if you do? And if so, do you know how you do so?   How many words do we have at our disposal every day or every week, every month, every year? And I agree, most of our words have no use. We might as well wash them down the drain. They just fill the air and dissipate like a gas. But there are these crucial words: the yesses and some no’s and the “of courses” and the “oh my,” and the “poor things” and the “carry on,” or “hang in there” or the “well done” or the “nice try” and the “don’t give up.”  We never know when the words that roll off our tongues are the ones that will be remembered for half a century or more,  perhaps spoken to a ten year old who at ninety-five remembers almost nothing but the words that kept her from giving up.  This Advent, thank God for hope.