In a way, we could say the whole Christian story is an answer to the questions we’ve always asked in one way or another, “Where does our hope come from? Where will we find security, peace, assurance, and redemption? How are we going to be OK in this wild world?”

It’s not just religion with answers to these questions. Our power structures and culture also have answers to these question. They’ll say we just need to vote the right way. Or we need to amass power and exercise it in the right way. Or we need to get our policies right, then life will be good. Or, what you really have to do is have a perfect morning routine that obviously starts at 5am. Or make lots of money and invest it right. Or get your parenting just right. Or just focus on protein and fiber intake and you’ll be fine. There are so many answers!

I actually agree that getting these things right is important. There are indeed ways to do life better, which are ideally grounded in our faith and values.

But are these things the source of our hope for salvation in the world? Do we put our hope for deep peace, redemption, and grace in just getting life right? Is that really digging deep enough for a real foundation? Well, as a preacher, you know I’m obviously going to say no. But where do we look in our real world today to see God’s hope when we scan our world for redemption.

The story of Palm Sunday is the story of the poor and non-powerful people of Jerusalem celebrating Jesus’ entrance into the city for the celebration of Passover. These people praising God knew from where and whom their hope was to come. It was from God, from Jesus, from the Messiah. They knew the rest of the power structures around them were not designed for their well-being. They had already received that memo. So, they were looking for hope when along comes Jesus, a man who didn’t care about the rules of the power structures and culture that kept them down and out. He gathered them in and told them they were beloved of God. He healed them, fed them, loved them, saw into their hearts, and blessed them. Jesus was a source of real hope for the people.

On the other side of Jerusalem, while Jesus entered the city with his beloved people, a very different parade was happening. At Passover, Roman soldiers would parade in Jerusalem with all their miliary stuff to remind the Jewish people who was boss. Afterall, Passover was a wonderfully symbolic time for the Jewish people to challenge the Roman occupation, since it’s the festival commemorating the exodus of the people from Egypt and slavery, right? There would have been no better time!

So, in this moment in Jerusalem, you have two very different expressions of hope. One was Rome, which provided a lot of stability and therefore “peace” throughout the empire through their domination. That’s one way people try to create “peace,” right? This is one way to answer that initial question, from where does our hope come?

Now, the people praising Jesus saw their hope in the one they identified as the messiah, crying ‘Hosanna!’ with his entry. Hosanna is a declaration of praise, but it is also a call for salvation and an expression of hope. The Hebrew translation of this is also ‘Save us!’ This was joyous praise, but the people were full of anticipation of what God was going to do for them.

The people already knew the existing power structures and dominant culture were not providing real hope for them. But they did see this hope for all people in Jesus because they saw the hope in tangible, experiential ways. They saw him heal, feed, love, touch, and provide new life.

So, where are the tangible places we see God’s hope today? Where have you seen and experienced deep and real hope recently? Where have you seen God’s action in the world? I have two stories to offer from this week.

Barbara told the Bible study group a story this week from her work as a funeral director. A young man (only 21 years old) recently lost his mother and he has no other family. His father had already died and his brother is estranged. He is, at this tender age, quite alone and had to find the money to pay for burying his mother. The bill he was facing was $1,200 and what he had in his bank was $200, but he was willing to work off the debt.

One of the employees heard this story and jumped into action. She and a friend baked for two days for a bake sale at her church and together they raised enough to pay the his bill, but also give him $3,500. In addition, the young adult group there gave him a card with their names and phone numbers if he ever wanted to reach out for friendship and support.

That’s God’s love in action, wouldn’t you say?

Also this week, I read about a wonderful and unique restaurant owner in New York City who’s life mission was to love people through food.[i] Through an unfortunate series of events, he’s still pouring his soul into his restaurant at 76 years old with his lifesavings swindled away and $200k in debt. He was terrified. The Humans of New York social media project (best thing on the internet!) shared his story with a GoFundMe link. I donated as someone who understands the soul and heartache of restaurant work, but so did 8.500 other people raising $300,000. And I bet that restaurant has a line around the corner.

That’s God’s love in action, wouldn’t you say?

We may want God to just fix everything, but Jesus’ death and resurrection tells us that’s not how God operates. Jesus’ life and teaching shows us this is not how God operates. God acts through love and how we love one another. 

The powers of the world would have us believe that domination is the only real path or that squeezing ourselves into the dictates of culture is the path. But then God moves in unexpected places and we see a more beautiful world open up. We see a glimpse of God’s kingdom, God’s reign that is not a flexing of power or following of restrictive rules, but lifting us all through the grace of love. That is the source of real and abiding hope.

I do believe one day that love for all people and all creation will indeed define the parameters of human power structures. I do believe that our cultures will also be rooted in love. Who knows what that will someday look like and really mean. But for today, for this moment in history, our hope needs to be grounded in God’s love and the real and abiding hope that springs out of this love to give us the courage, strength, and power to be a part of God’s action in the world, however we feel called to put that into action. May our souls be refreshed and redeemed in God’s powerful hope as we find our ways to get involved in God’s great action in the world for the sake of ourselves, all people, and this beautiful world.

AMEN

[i] https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork