Homily

In the wake of the riots that have damaged many cities across our country, the question comes up: Why? Why are people rioting and looting? There is always more than one answer. Some people feel it is a way to express anger at injustice. Some people want to get into the excitement of violence and destructive behavior that a mob can produce. Some people just want a 60-inch flat screen tv and a six pack of Budweiser. But I think one big reason why we see such longer periods of destructive behavior recently is that so many people have so little hope. And as hope continues to fade, I think bad behavior and violence will increase, and people, in general, will give themselves more and more to just about any kind of sin.

Recent polls show that slowly but surely Americans are losing trust in their government and the institutions that play the biggest roles in our national life. Many people see little hope for a better future. What are the causes that have led to this lack of hope for a better life? Is it the Republicans, the Democrats, the economy, the media, our education system, Facebook? I believe it is because more and more people are abandoning the only real foundation for hope in this life, and that is the hope in the life that is yet to come, and are sharing in the very glory of God forever and ever. For Christians faith is where we begin, hope is what carries us on, and unmeasurable love is where we are called to find our ending, when faith and hope are no longer needed in the presence of the King of the Ages. Then, only love will remain.

Without that kind of hope the only things we can hope in are the ever-changing, limited and people and goods that can be found in this world. People need to have hope in something or someone, so they look for it in material goods and comfort, a better life that is just ahead, or they look for it in people who they believe can provide them with that better life. But hoping in goods or in people to bring me to that better life so often ends up in disappointment and frustration because life in this imperfect and sinful world will never be left untouched by evil, hardships, sickness and death.

I read a short article about the reasons people are hoarding certain goods during this virus time, and the author said that during times of great stress people often try to find comfort in possessing items that they think will help them get through the trouble. They feel better if they have a lot of this thing or that thing, because it is a way they can feel in control of the situation, at least to some degree. I can understand that. But I have to say it seems so very sad to see people putting their hopes into a 24 mega-roll package of Charmin. Without a faith in God all we are left with is this material world and death will simply be an end to it all. So avoid death, fear death above all things, and do your best to wring some pleasure out of life while you still can. How many people today suffer from this kind of hopelessness.

When St. Paul was writing to the church in Roman their situation was different than ours. Life for them was not easy. In fact it was, as one scholar says, ". . . harsh, brutal and short." There were no hospitals or clinics, no doctors except for the wealthy, no dentists, no orphanages or nursing homes, no welfare, food stamps or social security, no police department, no fire department, no public schools. If you survived the first few years of life you would be lucky to live to be 40 years old. And if you lived in the city of Rome it was even worse. The crowded tenements were firetraps, the sanitation was terrible and disease spread quickly. On top of that most of the Christians in Rome would likely be slaves or very poor people. I think it was easier for them to have hope in the Lord, because they knew they could not expect much good in this life. In our times though, so many people expect they have a right to an easy, painless enjoyable lifestyle. That’s their hope.

So what do we think when we hear St. Paul in today’s epistle to the Romans, when he tells them, and us, “ we even boast of our afflictions, our sufferings, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance proven character, and proven character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." He says that we boast in the hope of the glory of God, and we boast of it even when we suffer the hardships of life, as he certainly did. If suffering can lead us to hope, then we can boast even in our suffering because our hope is in God, Who will never fail us in the end. Hope is unshakeable confidence in our Savior.

It is always right to look for and pray for good things, for peace, for health, for our daily bread and all the other things we need for ourselves and for our families, and even for long life. But let us check and be certain that we are not, and that we never, ever put our hope into these things. Only One is worthy of our hope. Let us put it all in Him.