Hope, Suffering, And The Sabbath
Published on Nov 06, 2015
Hope sustains us in the moments of suffering and points us to the future. The Sabbath experience is a paradigm of this suffering hope that works in the world.
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
"Where there is hope, there is religion."
- Ernst Bloch
Photo by kevin dooley
"Where there is religion, there is not always hope."
- Ernst Bloch
Photo by Anuj Chaman
Theodicy
God's righteousness in the face of evil
Theodicies are traditionally attempts to justify a good and powerful God in the face of evil and suffering.
Irenaeus
Irenaeus (120-202 CE) was bishop of Lyons in France. He did not build a theodicy as such but laid the groundwork for one.
St. Augustine
St. Augustine (354-430 CE) provided the theodicy that has become the default position in the West. Creation began in perfection, suffered the Fall through the willful disobedience of Adam and Eve, and now lives in the redemption offered by Jesus on the cross. Evil is parasitic on the good, a privation of the goods that characterize the Christian life.
Theodicy's Questions
- Why do people suffer?
- How can a good God allow this?
Rephrased . . .
- What can WE do to relieve suffering?
- What does evil reveal about God?
Rephrasing the traditional questions as "What can we do to relieve suffering and resist evil?" and "What does the situation of evil and suffering reveal about God's nature and actions?" asks us to actually do theodicy by cooperating with God to relieve suffering and nurture hope.
Theodicies are global, suffering is local.
Theodicies are speculative, hope is transformative.
Risk Hope
- Anticipate good over evil
- We are called to act
- Hope shapes our ethics
Hope is primarily a staking of one's life on the premise that ultimately good will triumph over evil, that humans are called to act on such beliefs, and that hope becomes a formative influence on moral action.
It is the essence of hope to be realistic about the dangers faced and to refuse to concede the field to evil and apathy.
It is the very essence of Christian hope to stake one's spiritual existence on the longed-for establishment of the kingdom of God.
It is the essence of hope to be realistic about the dangers faced and to refuse to concede the field to evil and apathy.
It is the very essence of Christian hope to stake one's spiritual existence on the longed-for establishment of the kingdom of God.
Photo by martinak15
A Theodicy of Hope
Experiential
The experiential viewpoint is characterized by an honest realism about evil and its power. Secondly, this realism acknowledges the evil that we are a part of and transforms it where it is found. Finally, this viewpoint inspires concrete, practical actions and away from merely theoretical interest in evil and suffering.
Hope suffers
. . . protests, and proclaims
Hope is the force which not merely suffers but protests the suffering produced by evil and proclaims the day of liberation.
Hope exists in the same conditions which give rise to despair.
Hope exists in the same conditions which give rise to despair.
Photo by Amir Kuckovic
'Not-yet' Future
'Already' Present
Hope presses into the future which is 'not-yet' and remains firmly committed to the present, the 'already.'
Present
Experienced now or not at all
Hope may be eschatological and future-directed, but in practice it is either experienced in the present or not at all. It is a response to the present, a response both realistic and visionary.
Photo by fabiogis50
Relationships
. . . Not abstractions
The difficulty in coming to grips with the 'realness' of hope is that it is always experienced in relation to other elements often more concrete than hope itself. Hope does not exist in the abstract apart from relationships.
Photo by samcaplat
Gabriel Marcel
I hope in thee for us . . .
Gabriel Marcel, French Christian existentialist, philosopher and playwright, speaks of hope's attitude as 'I hope in thee for us.'
Sabbath
Symbol of Shared Hope
Rest
Resting on the Sabbath is a revolutionary activity in a world which is driven by constant acquisition and production.
Photo by Alessandro S. Alba
Creation
The world is ours for six days, but the world is most specially God's on the Sabbath day. The Sabbath thus stands as a reminder of our connection to nature, our charge to care for it and preserve it, and the necessity to realize that behind the creation stands the Creator.
Liberation
The Sabbath is a symbol of the divine act of liberation which takes place in our struggle through time for justice and relief from suffering. And it points forward to the revolutionary inbreaking of the kingdom of God.
Photo by angela7dreams
Sabbath as a Dangerous Memory
When the Sabbath is celebrated by the suffering community through time it serves as a constant witness to the patience and endurance needed for the struggle. But as it is also the remembrance of a long-ago deliverance it becomes the basis of hope in the present. The Sabbath as a symbol of God's historical liberating activity is a dangerous memory. (146)
Photo by VinothChandar
Sabbath as Promise of the Future
Our past experience of God's creative power in our lives confirms our trust that we shall continue in the present and points us to the future of God's continuing creation in the world. Thus, the Sabbath is promissory of the future in an anticipatory way, an eschatological symbol pointing both back to the past and forward to the future. (141)
Hope for the Journey
Oh, spirit of metamorphosis!
When we try to obliterate the frontier of clouds which separates us from the other world guide our unpracticed movements. And, when the given hour shall strike, arouse us, eager as the traveller who straps on his rucksack while beyond the misty window-pane the earliest rays of dawn are faintly visible! -- Gabriel Marcel, Paris, 1944
When we try to obliterate the frontier of clouds which separates us from the other world guide our unpracticed movements. And, when the given hour shall strike, arouse us, eager as the traveller who straps on his rucksack while beyond the misty window-pane the earliest rays of dawn are faintly visible! -- Gabriel Marcel, Paris, 1944
Photo by Zuhair Ahmad
The cost of hope, like the cost of discipleship, lies in learning to live with ambiguity and with suffering.
References
- Casey, Barry (1988). Hope, Suffering, and Solidarity: The Power of the Sabbath Experience .
- Marcel, Gabriel (1978). Homo Viator: Introduction to a Metaphysic of Hope.
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