Kingdom Come | Week 6 | From Despair to Hope

Teacher: Dave Brown Despair: Utter loss of hope.— Merriam-Webster Dictionary Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.— Job 3:20-26 3 Types of Despair:1 - Spiritual Despair2 - Emotional Despair3 - Physical Despair Covert despair—repressed hopelessness characterizes the spiritual condition of North American culture. Unlike the despair of the poor and afflicted around the globe who know too well their true condition, the despair of the dominant culture of North America is a denied despair, not merely hidden by wealth and power but forcibly refused It is the kind of repressive posture that must lie to itself constantly that ends in destructive behavior more devastating than the negating realities it fears to acknowledge.— Kathleen O’Conner The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.—Luke 4:18-19 Without lament our hearts remain devoid of the light of Christ. Lament is an essential practice for moving to hope. Prayers that erupt from wounds, burst out of unbearable pain, and bring it to language. Laments complain, shout, and protest. They  anger and despair before God and the community. They grieve. They argue. The find fault…Although laments appear disruptive of God’s world, they are acts of fidelity. In vulnerability and honesty, they cling obstinately to God and demand for God to see, hear, and act.— Kathleen O’Conner Hope: To cherish a desire with anticipation.— Merriam-Webster Dictionary 3 Kinds of Christian Hope:1 - Spiritual Hope2 - Emotional Hope3 - Physical Hope To hope for a better future in this world—for the poor, the sick, the lonely and depressed, for the slaves, the refugees, the hungry and homeless, for the abused, the paranoid, the downtrodden and despairing, and in fact for the whole wide, wonderful, and wounded world— is not something else, something extra, something tacked on to the gospel as an afterthought.— N.T. Wright The whole point of what Jesus was up to was that he was rescuing people from the corruption and decay of the way the world presently is so they could enjoy, already in the present, that renewal of creation which is God’s ultimate purpose—and so they could thus become colleagues and partners in that larger project.— N.T. Wright