The Talk Place

A young minister was visiting an elderly woman on her 99th birthday.

They talked at length about her long life and at the end of the visit the young minister said " I hope I am able to do this with you again on your 100th birthday.

The sprightly 99 year old replied " I don't see why not young man .... you look healthy enough to me."

Hope springs eternal. Hope I think is the most marvelous word in the English language.

This year we could look back and say “What a disaster”. And there certainly has been no shortage of terrible times. I remember one of the most terrible times in my life. It may surprise some to know that it was not this year.

In that time I read a book called “The Power of Positive Thinking”.

He quotes Isaiah chapter 40:31:
“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

This verse was the start of my journey to learn all about hope and it was hope that got me through that year and many others.

The true Atheist has hope because he has faith in his belief that all suffering will end with death.

The Buddhists have hope in their faith that suffering is an illusion.

The Hindus have their hope in their faith that if they mess up they will come back and have another go and hopefully in one of these incarnations get it right so they can progress eventually to oneness with god.

The Muslim has his hope in his faith in the Justice of god.

And what about Agnostics. It has been my experience that there are few true Agnostics. Usually someone who says that they are an Agnostic is using it as an excuse to shed themselves from what they see as restrictions on their freedom. This freedom usually results in the freedom to destroy oneself or others without having to feel guilty about it.

But one thing that the true Agnostic has in common with the pseudo Agnostic. A lack of hope.

For if they say that they have hope in something then they inevitably have faith in that thing and that means that they are not an Agnostic.

Why do so many throughout the world turn to religion?

Because people need hope. Don't let anyone fool you. Some in this country and in fact through most of the western world would like to convince us that religion is dying and that most of the world now believes in nothing and are turning to Humanism.

It is not true!

The facts are that more people are turning to religion than ever before.

Why ?

Because people need hope and the human condition continues to let us down. Believing in nothing leads to nothing. And because, as Paul says, hope is inseparable from love.

In 1 Cor.13:7. Paul says "Love never gives up; and it's faith, hope and patience never fail." People are desperate to fill their lives with love. A particular kind of love. God's love.

As has been said many times before, we all have a God shaped hole in our lives that has to be filled.

Christians have their hope in their faith in the boy child that was born over 2000 years ago.

Are we nut's ?

Lets see.

Job says in Job chapter 9 v32 & 33. "If God were human, I could answer Him; we could go to court and decide our quarrel. But there is no one to step between us... no one to judge both God and me."

Job's problem was there was no mediator. No one that could understand his position and yet, know God well enough to present his case.

For Job it was a bit like the lawyer in the Australian movie "The Castle". This guy rocks up at the high court to present his case and the best argument he could come up with when arguing the injustice of the situation his client had been put in was "it's just the vibe".

This didn't really go down very well in the high court.

He was right of course but without an understanding of the workings of the court he had no hope. He was doomed to loose.

Then along comes a Queen's counsel. Someone who was used to dealing

If you haven't seen "The Castle" yet it is a very funny movie. There is a bit of swearing in it but once you get past that it's still a great movie.

With Jesus we have one thing that no other religion has. We have something that even Job didn't have.

We have a mediator.

Someone who has been one of us and therefore understands us and even loves us. But also someone who, being God, knows and understands God himself. Who could ask for a better mediator. Who is better equipped to present our case to God.

There is a Song on the radio that goes "what if God were one of us. Just a stranger on the bus, trying to make his way home."

I have know idea if the person singing the song is a person of faith or is just struggling with it, but she is right on the button. Jesus was one of us. A stranger in a world that not only didn't understand Him but didn't even know itself. Who better is there to put our hope in. Where could we better put our faith.

I have learned that in dark times we sometimes also need symbols to help us remember that there is always hope. What greater symbol could there be than the birth of a child. This One child in particular is bought to mind every Christmas. The baby Jesus.

If we keep our eyes on Jesus there will always be hope. No matter how dark things get there will always be light.

Amen
regularly on this level. He gets to know the plaintiff and decides he likes him so much that he presents the case. The outcome is completely different.