HOPE’S PERSISTENCE
Zechariah 9:9-12; Psalm 145; Matthew 11:25-30
Rev. Tiare L. Mathison, Pastor & Soul-Tender
This is a circular sermon this morning. The dots are not going to connect vertically, rather round and round and round. When I first read Zechariah 9:9-12, I was struck by the phrase, ‘prisoners of hope.’ I asked myself, “what is the context of these words? How is it these words fore-shadow Jesus’ final journey to the cross on Palm Sunday?”
Ancient Israel suffered greatly at the hands of others. In 587 BCE the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem, burned it to the ground, including the Temple. 80 years later the Jews start drifting back, but are besieged by the Persian Kings, then Greek & Roman rule. This is when Zechariah writes about a king riding a donkey, the foal of a donkey. No war horse for this king. Comes in righteousness, saved by God, all of creation will experience Shalom. Imagine this word, lifting up the weary. All of creation.
Hope’s Persistence
Another thing happened too. I heard in its cadence Martin Luther King Jr’s voice speak these words. I went searching for his exact quote: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” He was a prisoner of hope.
In last Sunday’s New York Times, there was a long article entitled, “Let freedom ring from Georgia.” A complex story of the fault lines in the great racial divides of that beautiful state. At the very end of the article, Andrea Young, Executive Director of the ACLU for Georgia, daughter of Andrew Young, first Black mayor of Atlanta, United Nations Ambassador and civil rights icon, says this:
Quote: “Nobody has believed more in the promise and mythology of America than blacks. We have believed all people were created equal, fought over generations for the truth of the statement. The fact I am here means I am descended from people, who, even enslaved, did not give up hope. To do so now would be a betrayal. Unquote Say twice.
For as James Bevel put it in his funeral sermon for Dr. King, in 1968:
“There’s a false rumor around that our leader’s dead. Our leader is not dead. Martin Luther King is not our leader. Our leader is the man who led Moses out of Israel. Our leader is the man who went with Daniel into the lions’ den. Our leader is the man who walked out of the grave on Easter morning. Our leader never sleeps nor slumbers. He cannot be put in jail. He has never lost a war yet. Our leader is still on the case. Our leader is not dead. One of his prophets died. We will not stop because of that.”
For the hope of racial unity in the church and the culture, let’s reflect on the life and death of Martin Luther King Jr. and not stop in our pursuit of the hope of all people (Romans 15:12), Jesus Christ.” Unquote.
THE HOPE OF ALL PEOPLE, JESUS CHRIST!
Let’s just stop for a moment and meditate on this. (WAIT!)
If we give up being prisoners of hope, we risk betraying Jesus. That’s what I think.
The yoke Jesus invites you to put on this morning is designed by Him to fit you well.
‘Come to me,’ Jesus says. ‘Give it all to me, whatever you are carrying. I’ll take it. You get to rest. Once you are rested, put on my yoke. It adjusts to every body size, yours included. Chubby and beautiful. Short and stout. Tall and languid. Middle-aged and sagging. Young and strong. Old and tired. Look into my eyes and see my love. Its for you. There’s plenty.‘ Each yoke is this big, inch and 1/2, maybe 2. Who you are called to be in Christ fits you for the work Christ asks you to do. Everyone has their own yoke yet together as a community of faith we generate so much more power than going it alone.
And, What’s so fascinating to know is the word yoke, defined as burden in Hebrew, is understood in rabbinic teaching to mean the burden of obedience to Torah. Jesus wants you to follow His Law - Love God, love your neighbor, love yourself - and live the way He lives: open, welcoming, generous, tender, forgiving, merciful. In other words, to be prisoners of hope.
So this is how you do it:
Like the Jews, you pray Psalm 145 3 times a day. Seriously, Psalm 145 is central to two morning Shabbat services and an early afternoon prayer, also. It offers the scaffolding to hold the jailhouse in which we all want to live - this cathedral of hope.
Listen carefully to all that God is:
You are gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, good to all, compassionate over all creation!
YOU ARE FAITHFUL IN ALL YOUR WORDS AND GRACIOUS IN ALL YOUR DEEDS. YOU UPHOLD ALL WHO ARE FALLING AND RAISE UP ALL WHO ARE BOWED DOWN.
You are just in all Your ways, kind in all Your doings, and NEAR. Near, within arms’ reach. You watch over all who love You.
We have to remind ourselves and one another of the Presence of the Holy One who neither slumbers or sleeps but is always bringing redemption for the whole of creation. Our hope is not generated by our feelings nor by what we can see right in front of us. Our hope is generated because of what God is doing, right now.
Remember Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Now we can sing Redemption’s Song. And get to work. Stand up and be counted as supporters of Black Lives Matter, because you have been redeemed. Stand up against white supremacy and its sneaky stranglehold’s on your ways of thinking and being. Stand up for the poor and the powerless, because you recognize your own sin and weakness and have been saved.
Develop capacity for tenacity. Take the long view. LIke MLK did - I Have A Dream - ‘I might not get there with you, but I’ve been to the mountaintop and I’ve seen the glory of the Lord...”.
The Light of Glory shines even in these chaotic times. It might be little, but it is not snuffed out.
Hope’s Persistence