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Moving Forward
No matter how good life is at the moment, it is never complete. As long as we live, there is still more to live for. As long as I have breath, my work is not yet done.
This is how St. Paul lived. He did not remain comfortable or complacent in the present. He continually strained toward what lay ahead.
Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 3:12-13)
The expectation of what lay ahead fueled St. Paul. The expectation of something better, something more complete than the present. If we don’t have expectations, something we’re striving for, we’re not really living. We just exist mindlessly day after day. Life has to move forward. If we stay still, we’re dead.
Even though we are wired to want more or expect more, we experience many disappointments. I am never the person I want to be. I keep making mistakes. No matter what I do, things are never quite right. No matter how hard I try, things just don’t change.
After a while, we are tempted to give up and lower our expectations. I see so many people living with lowered expectations. They just accept whatever life gives them.
Losing Expectations
This is the issue that James is addressing in today’s passage. When his community first met Christ, they received the good news with joy. The good news for them was that Christ would come again. Christ coming again meant that God would come and make all things right. No one knew exactly what this would look like. But somehow, God would come and restore the world as it should be. There would be no more suffering. No more injustice. No more hard struggle that others take advantage of.
The idea of Christ coming again raised expectations that life would get better soon. It gave energy and strength to endure difficulties. But over the years, nothing really changed. Their lives remained just as difficult as when they first received Christ. They became disappointed and disillusioned. They began to lose their expectation that God would come and make things right.
James is telling them to not lose heart.
“Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord… Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.” (James 5:7, 8)
Strengthen your hearts. Do not lose heart. Do not lose faith.
Struggle
The foundation of hope is faith.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Faith is belief in the thing you hope for. Without faith, there is no hope. Without faith, hope is merely wishful thinking. For hope to have any power, you need to believe it will happen. In that sense, faith and hope are deeply connected. Hope is what you expect or desire. Faith is the belief that it can happen.
We need dreams and hopes to fuel our lives. But we need faith to keep those hopes and dreams alive. No dreams, no life. No faith, no dreams. St. Paul lived his whole life believing that God would fulfill his promises. Toward the end of his life, this is what he said:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)
Keeping the faith was like a fight and arduous race. Faith is not faith because it’s easy. Faith is faith because it’s a struggle. Faith cannot exist without struggle. One can struggle without faith, but one cannot have faith without struggle.
God promised Abraham that he would have a son, but for many years nothing happened. He struggled to keep believing in that promise. He wavered in his belief at times. It was tested many times before the promise finally came true. But by the end of his life, his faith was secure. We call him Father Abraham because he is the father of faith.
Jesus said:
If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20)
Faith has the power to move mountains. Faith keeps our hopes alive. Faith overcomes disappointment. Faith keeps on believing even when there is no reason to. Faith is the most precious and powerful gift because it keeps us going when nothing else does. We should ask for this faith more than anything else. We need belief that our hopes will come true.
Our Eschatology
The most basic, foundational Christian hope is that ultimately, God will make all things right. That is our eschatology – theology of end things and final destiny. If you truly believe this, then this hope gives you power for life. You don’t need to worry – because God will make all things right. You don’t need to fear – because God will make all things right. Your own hopes and expectations may not come to pass, but that’s alright, because God will make all things right. You can be free to dream and strive toward your expectations – because whatever happens, God will make all things right.
We give up our expectations because we lose belief that they will be fulfilled. We are cynical and jaded because we don’t believe. Anger at our circumstances is really a reaction against our loss of belief that things will get better.
What do you really want in your life? What does God want for you? We avoid such questions and we’ve stopped dreaming because deep down we’ve lost belief. Our dreams are not dead. They are merely dormant, buried underneath because of our lack of faith. They are waiting to be unlocked by faith. My friends, I believe that the struggle for faith is the spiritual battle of our lives. The currents that kill belief are so strong. We get swept along by these currents of unbelief, pessimism, cynicism. But, my friends, I don’t want to merely be a victim of these currents. I want to fight and keep hope with the power of faith.
One That Keeps The Faith
Long time ago when I visited BC, we watched sockeye salmon trying to get back to their birthplace to lay eggs. Out on the west coast, they are born in rivers and lakes high up in the mountains. After they’re born, they make their way down to the sea. They live there for a few years. If they’re not eaten by other predators or caught by humans for sushi, they begin an arduous journey back to where they were born. They have to enter the river against the current. They have to jump over rocks and make it all the way up to the high lakes where they were born. It is the fight of their lives. You see fish soaring in the air to make it to the next level. They crash their bodies against the rocks and the rushing water. Their bodies get torn up and even their eyes get ripped out. But they don’t give up.
Watching this in person was so inspiring and filled me with awe. Everyone there was vocally rooting for them and cheering when they made it to the next level. People were even crying. There was something so beautiful about their struggle and their all consuming effort. Many of them don’t make it and get swept back downriver by the tide. But those who do make it enter the calmer rivers and lakes. They lay their eggs there and then die. All of that arduous struggle and effort end with the birth of new life. It’s beautiful.
You know what a beautiful life is? One that keeps the faith. One that refuses to stop believing. It’s not about how great our dreams and expectations are. Everyone’s hopes and expectations are unique. What is most beautiful is not the size of your dreams, but the amount of fight you have to keep believing in them. Faith that believes against all the odds.
Mary was just a teenage girl. She had no power, status or position. God revealed the most unimaginable vision to her – that she would give birth to the Saviour of the world. Almost anyone would have thought that such a vision is ridiculous. But not Mary. She had deep faith. She believed. Her response was so profound yet simple:
Let it be with me according to your word. (Luke 1:38)
Our response to the dreams that God plants in us should be with such faith. The greatest temptation is to give up belief that our expectations and hopes can come true. It is so easy to give into this temptation because our experience in this world makes it so hard to believe. But let us not give in. James says this:
Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)
Fight The Good Fight
Keep the faith, and you will receive the crown of life. You will truly live. Yes, I often get discouraged in life. When my problems don’t go away no matter how hard I try, I get down. When things stay the same no matter what I do, I get discouraged. My faith starts to waver. I start to lose hope. But I don’t want to live life without hope! I want to fight to keep on believing! Until my dying days, until my final breath – I want to fight the good fight, I want to run that race, and I want to keep the faith.
Advent is the season of expectation. We wait in expectation for the coming of Christ, for God to make all things right. Right now, things are not alright. But still, in the darkest time of the year when the days are shortest and nights are long, we rekindle our belief that God will make all things right.
What is the deepest desire and longing of your heart? Place it in God’s hands. Believe that God will make all things right in your life. If you don’t believe, ask God to give you faith. Keep the faith, and do not lose heart.
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