April Week 2

April 10, 2022 Virginia Estes

Virtue: Hope
Resolution: I choose to hope in God’s promise that all broken things will be made new.

Human Story: Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498)

Hope, though a concept which dreams of a better future, is never true hope unless it aims to make the present a better place to be. Hope is expecting new creation to be finally realized as God has promised. Being a person of hope means bringing foretastes and signposts of that new creation in the present. One such individual who did this was Girolamo Savonarola. Born to a wealthy family, Savonarola went against his family’s wishes for him to become a physician and instead became a Dominican friar.

Savonarola was a mature believer. He knew one didn’t have to choose between being academically rigorous and working for justice. He was known for educating others in the deep truths of Scripture, and his preaching attracted people by the thousands. He was also known for his service to the poor and for calling the church to renewal. He taught against luxury, secular art, secular culture, church corruption and exploitation of the poor. He organized periodic “burnings of the vanities,” giving others an opportunity to burn “stuff” that may have been idolatrous in their lives, for he firmly believed that the purpose of life was not in the accumulation of things. His hope for a better day in the future factored into his decision to sell most of the property of his convent and give the proceeds to the poor. His hope for a better future gave him the courage to preach about the evil of luxury and how a life of excess indicated a person’s Christian faith was not truly Christian at all.

Early Protestant reformers including Martin Luther read some of the friar’s writings and praised him as a martyr and forerunner whose ideas on faith and grace informed Luther’s own doctrine of justification by faith alone. The larger Reformation would have been much smaller had it not been for men like Savonarola, whose hope for the future made him work for reformation in the present.

Lesson: Isaiah 40:27-31 (NIV)

Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah’s hope was for a new Jerusalem, and the future hope would come about through a Messianic king. This new Jerusalem was not solely for the benefit of Israel alone, but for all nations. God always chose Israel for the sake of blessing other nations. Israel’s disobedience features prominently in the prophets, as the prophets are calling them to repentance and warning them of what life will look like if they continue on their current path. Isaiah has been warning them of this but then begins to give them a message of hope as seen in our lesson text.

Although some like to speak as if the days keep getting worse and worse, one only has to read a history book to find out that evil has reared its ugly head in every era. Though looking to the past or our current news headlines could lead us to despair, our faith demands that we hold out hope that God will renew all things. As Christians, we know how it all ends. We do not have to despair over uncertainties! Our God is the creator of the universe, and we cannot grasp His wisdom. He works through the powerless and those we typically see as weak. It is this God who will right all wrongs. He sees the oppression taking place. He is aware of the perversion of justice. He will destroy all evil, and this fact should spur us to desire that future fact in the present time. It should also spur us on to devote ourselves to love and good deeds, bringing God’s will to our lives and our community.

Remembrance

After the Last Tear Falls – Andrew Peterson

After the last tear falls, after the last secret's told
After the last bullet tears through flesh and bone
After the last child starves and the last girl walks the boulevard
After the last year that's just too hard

There is love, Love, love, love, There is love, Love, love, love, There is love

After the last disgrace, after the last lie to save some face
After the last brutal jab from a poison tongue
After the last dirty politician, after the last meal down at the mission
After the last lonely night in prison

There is love, Love, love, love, There is love, Love, love, love, There is love

And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales

'Cause after the last plan fails, after the last siren wails
After the last young husband sails off to join the war
After the last, this marriage is over
After the last young girl's innocence is stolen
After the last years of silence that won't let a heart open

There is love, Love, love, love, There is love

'Cause after the last tear falls there is love

Challenge

As the human story stated, hope is not true hope unless it aims to make the present a better place to be. Most of us won’t be civic authorities with power to change legislation to aid the oppressed. However, we do have power over a small sphere of life, such as our children, our co-workers, and those who look up to us. If sin didn’t permeate this life, what would look different in how those people live? Take steps to implement the vision that may come as a result of this exercise.

Reflection

Virtues cannot be divorced from one another. As our story indicates, Girolamo Savonarola required love, courage, and hope to make meaningful change in his culture. When you consider broken things or people that need renewal, what are the main virtues that come to mind for that dream to become a reality? Share examples with others as they arise.

Further Growth

Virtue: Hope Resolution: I choose to hope in God’s promise that all broken things will be made new.