Hope Is a Strategy

Scripture — Psalm 25:1-10 (NRSV)

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
do not let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me.
Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.
Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right
and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

Devotion

The Road to Emmaus by Robert Zünd (1877)

Where I live in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, Advent is the darkest time of the year. The sun rises around eight in the morning and sets around four in the afternoon. That means two-thirds of the day is dark during Advent. Because of the modern power grid, I can mask the darkness with artificial light. Nevertheless, the greater darkness remains.

The Advent season reminds us that the darkness we experience is not just physical. As in ancient times, darkness is a powerful metaphor for what is wrong in the world. Despite our exponential growth in modern technical knowledge and skill, the problems of our world continue to worsen: a climate rapidly becoming inhospitable to human (and other) life, increasing political gridlock and violence, and a growing sense of powerlessness to do anything about any of it.

How do we face the realities of our current dark moment in history without giving into despair? Where can we find genuine hope at times like these?

The good news is that Advent doesn’t just tell us of darkness, but it offers the hope of the coming of light. As Isaiah prophesied long ago:

The people who walked in darkness

       have seen a great light;

  those who lived in a land of deep darkness –

       on them light has shined (Isaiah 9:2, italics added).

But even though this “great light” has come in the person of Jesus Christ, that light hasn’t eliminated the world’s darkness. Instead, the light of Christ offers us an alternative way of life where we ourselves can become “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) amid deep darkness.

So, how do we learn to embody such life and light this Advent season? Our text from Psalm 25 suggests that biblical hope is at the root of such a different way of life.

First, biblical hope disrupts our modern view that everything depends on us. As someone who has led a new business venture, I know what it’s like to feel that everything depends on me. Those of you who have built your own businesses or non-profits or planted new churches probably know what I mean. Unfortunately, because we live in a broader culture that reinforces that view, it is easy to adopt the same posture even when we know better.

Biblical hope emphasizes that all our work is meant to be a divine-human partnership. Our role in the partnership begins with putting our trust and hope in God and not in ourselves. That’s surprisingly difficult. It would be easier if we were mere spectators. But God created us to be active partners in God’s work. To make it even more difficult, our work usually demands so much of our attention that it is easy to lose sight of God’s role. Psalm 25 begins by modeling the fundamental disposition we need to continually cultivate: “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust” (vv. 1-2). That’s where all of our work (and hope) must begin.

Second, biblical hope is a journey of learning and discovery. Biblical hope is not something static: “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me” (vv. 4-5). One challenging aspect of being a leader is demonstrating that kind of humility by being willing to learn from others. That’s especially true when others tell you things you don’t want to hear. Nevertheless, both for our sake and for the sake of those we lead, we must be willing to be “taught” and “led.” And given that we are fallen as well as finite creatures, we have much not only to learn but to unlearn and relearn.

Third, biblical hope shapes our expectations for the future. Paradoxically, our hope is rooted in “what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). What we do know is that God’s grace and goodness are far greater than anything we could imagine and that we can trust God with the fruit of our labors. In the words of today’s psalm, “All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees” (25:10).

Further, biblical hope is nothing if not realistic about our own brokenness and failure in the present time. Encouragingly, the psalmist writes, “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way” (v. 8). God delights to restore and transform us. As biblical scholar John Goldingay observes, “Whereas human uprightness can make people intolerant of failure, it increases (the Lord’s) commitment to people who fail to walk in that right way of which vv. 4-5 spoke” (Psalms Vol I, pp. 372). That’s helpful not only for when we fail but also as we learn to treat others who fail with generosity and grace.

As we hope and trust in God, as we are taught and led by the Spirit, and as we confidently believe in God’s final redemption and restoration guaranteed by Jesus’ resurrection and the coming of the Spirit, we can face even the darkest prospects in our current time with hope.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The Goodness of Work Restored (Jeremiah 30-33).