"I Believe in Hope"
Hebrews 10:11-14, 19-25
And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “he sat down at the right hand of God,” and since then has been waiting “until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.” For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
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Recently I finished an Apple TV+ show called Ted Lasso. It's a comedy-drama and sports show about an American "football" coach (named Ted Lasso) who finds himself coaching at a football club in England. [Sample of Humor: “What does a British owl say?” “Whom?”] There's a scene before a season important match where the team is down, and Ted gives them a pep talk, "So I've been hearing this phrase y'all got over here that I ain't too crazy about. 'It's the hope that kills you.' Y'all know that? I disagree, you know? I think it's the lack of hope that comes and gets you. See, I believe in hope. I believe in belief." They end up losing the match and are relegated to a lower league, but that's not the point; I wanted to share this quote from Ted Lasso as it fits our reading from Hebrews and the exultation and encouragement that it offers for us today. The author of Hebrews offers three exultations:
“Approach [God] with a true heart…”
Up to this point, the author of Hebrews has dedicated time to show us that we are worthy to come before God. Christ offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice; therefore, we are perfected in body and spirit as people who carry on in the high priest's work. Now, if you're like me, you might not always feel like your heart or your soul has been changed by this great sacrifice Christ made. On some days, I don't know about you, but I feel hesitant and embarrassed in a way captured in this meme that shows a Jesus looking shocked at what is inside the heart. Yet, regardless of whatever Jesus finds, he beckons us to come before God with a "true heart," a heart that is open to worship, a heart that is open to growing, and when we come as ourselves, having been made perfect by Christ, we are free to go out and serve with joyful hearts.
“Hold fast to the confession of our hope…”
This second emphasis is not meant to constrain us but liberate us by revealing the hope of what we profess as the people of God. When we confess, we state what we believe and what we are willing to put at stake for something we genuinely follow. Our confession, the source of our hope, is not found in words alone. While we pass on the oral and written traditions of our faith, we have the history of our ancestors that also reveal the ways in which God has fulfilled the promises made to us and continues to remain faithful for generations to come. It may not always feel as though God is making good on God's promises, yet we persevere knowing that our faith ties us to one another and that we are not alone. As we profess a belief in hope, based on our understanding of Scripture and the people God called before us, where do you see yourself in the unfolding liberating confession of divine hope?
“Consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds…”
This third and final exultation from the author of Hebrews hits home for us today and brings us back to the quote from Ted Lasso, particularly the part where he says a lack of hope will come back to get us. Today, we hear that we are called to provoke one another to love and do good deeds, yet look around; there's a lot more provoking that needs to be done. Perhaps it's a lack of hope in ourselves, a lack of hope in others, or a lack of hope in God. Maybe it's a combination of these things, yet either way, we're seeing that lack of hope come to bite us in the proverbial, you know what.
But God doesn't give up on us. God keeps saying, keep going, keep pushing, don't give up on hope. And the author of our passage today would agree with Coach Lasso's belief that we should never give up on hope. Hope, our faith in hope, is what motivates us and gives us the power to live into the fullness of life that Christ has set before us. And this promise of hope is made even richer when we come to worship together not for the benefit of ourselves but the benefit of each other. We build one another up in our worship and give each other hope, even if we think what we offer isn't valuable. Because hopeful encouragement, even in its meekest form, has the potential to spark reinvigorating change.
As we continue in a series of reflections on stewardship and discipleship, we are asked this day to consider how we live out the message of hope found in our reading. How are we coming before God with hearts that are true and earnest? How are we relying on our faith's confessions, traditions while adding our unique spark to the blazing fire that gives hope? And how are we leaning into a practice of embodying an attitude of love and righteousness that hones our neighbors? I believe that if we can answer these questions, we can cast a clearer vision for who we want to be as a church and who we want to be as individuals who are following in the footsteps of Christ. At this point, I fear I might be overcomplicating things, so I'll end with the simple truth reiterated once more by Ted Lasso, who said, "I believe in hope."