December 19, 2020
Sharing from the Congregation – David Petty
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believer, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13
Jurgen Moltmann is a German theologian whose career spans six decades —he is 94 and his latest book was published in 2019. He writes about what he calls “theology of hope.” I know very little about theology; I haven’t read much of what Moltmann wrote and probably would not understand much of it if I did. However his basic idea seems pretty straightforward. (You don’t have to be an aeronautical engineer to appreciate what the Wright brothers did.)
The word ‘hope’ occurs 291 times in the Bible, by one count. Most of the usages fall into two categories, which I will call national and eschatological. “National” hope, the predominant type in the Old Testament, is hope for Israel, either hope to reach the promised land or, after the exile, to return to it. “Eschatological” (end times) hope, which is mostly New Testament (there’s some overlap), concerns a future life in heaven or “heaven on earth.” Moltmann speaks of eschatological hope, but he means something a little different from what I mean.
For Moltmann, eschatological hope is not simply a consolation that sustains us until we reach some better time in the future. Rather, it infuses and energizes the present, such that we are moved to work to advance God’s kingdom now, in real time.
Sam here with a little addition – The idea of eschatological hope comes from an ancient idea that the Christ that has already been here is the same as the one who is to come. It’s why we have our great creeds that reminds us that He “was, and is, and is to come” the combination of these things helps us to recognize that we are part of a hope, a peace, and a joy that is “already and not yet” at the same time. Therefore, even if our present circumstances aren’t as great as we would hope, we can look both backwards to good time, and forward to better time, and know that God has it all in his hands.
Here are some [Moltmann] quotes: “Christian hope draws the promised future of God into by the present day, and prepares the present day for this future.” “Those who hope in Christ can no longer put up with reality as it is, but begin to suffer under it, to contradict it ...” this hope “makes the church the source of continual new impulses towards the realization of righteousness, freedom, and humanity here in the light of the promised future that is to come.”
I have written that John Wesley believed in an “active peace.” Somewhat similarly, Moltmann seems to believe in an “active hope.”
At the end of this horrible year, it’s good to have a season of hope. May we carry that hope with us as we enter a challenging new year.
Gracefully submitted,
David Petty