Hopeful Realism

²⁴For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. ²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.²⁸We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.    --Romans 8:24-28

      As in the times of the apostle Paul, today persons of faith and persons with no faith fall on a continuum of approaches to faith and life-outlook.  At one extreme are those who follow the cynic Ecclesiastes, and throw up their hands and say, “There is nothing I can do!  Whatever will be will be.  Whether good or bad that comes to me, I am basically a pawn, a helpless victim.”  At the other extreme are those who, claiming to rely on their faith in God, declare, “Nothing is wrong.  Everything is rosy, and as long as I don’t think about it, everything will turn out OK.”  Many of us struggle to find our way between these two equally unrealistic and unhealthy responses to the difficulties of life.

      The apostle Paul charted a different course, a middle course if you will.  One I call HOPEFUL REALISM. 

Paul recognized that indeed there are things in our lives which we CANNOT control.  Bad things happen to bad and good people alike.  Life includes much suffering, heartache, disappointment, and ultimately death.

  But despite the trials of life, Paul affirmed that God is work in such a world. Paul was confident that in time and in eternity, God’s goodness will prevail.  He concludes Romans 8 with those lofty words that “neither life nor death, nor anything in all of creation is able to separate us from the love of God.”

Paul also recognized that in this life, those final victories to which we aspire are seldom fulfilled.  Our faith, however deep and fulfilling to us, remains always somewhat unfulfilled.  Our fulfillment, our ultimate and lasting fulfillment, awaits us. In this life we will know only partial fulfillment.  As Paul says elsewhere, we are IN Christ, but we are not yet FULLY in Christ.  There is more yet to come.

All of this translates into a stance in life I call HOPEFUL REALISM.  Confident of God’s promises, Paul was hopeful of that which was to come beyond death.  His feet firmly on the ground, Paul knew of the trials of daily living. 

That’s the realism part.  Putting his realism and his hope together, Paul was able to face whatever challenges came to him.  Out of his hopeful realism and realistic hope Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “We are afflicted, but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair.  Christ is always with us.”  With such faith Paul faced adversity, suffering, and death.

Hopeful realism.  The faith of Paul.  And the faith of Martha Brinkley.

      Hopeful realism guided Martha as Pete’s Alzheimer’s unfolded. She did the best she could and left the rest in God’s hands.  When her own health declined and the cancer came and returned and spread, Martha did not despair.  Nor did she ask for pity.  She faced her illness.  She entrusted herself to God’s care, confident that however things turned out, she would not be separated from God’s love and presence.  And when her last days approached, Martha faced death with a hopeful realism grounded in a lifetime of God’s grace.

And hopeful realism will see us through these days as well. 

The loss of a mother, a grandmother, a great grandmother, a dear friend – such a loss is hard to take.  Hearts ache and spirits are troubled. We wonder, "How will we get through this?" 

We certainly will NOT get through these dark days by denying our loss. Our loss is real and our loss hurts.  Nor will we find fulfilling and peace by giving into our grief with despair, declaring life has no meaning or purpose or anyway.

Yes, friends, our loss is real.  And so also the hope God gives us in Jesus Christ is real as well.  And it is through that hope, that realistic hope, that we have the strength to go on. It is through that hope, that realistic hope, that by God’s grace we find comfort and peace. It is through that hope, that realistic hope, that we gain the strength to not just go on, but to go on with joy and hope.

Friends:  Hear and receive the promises of God for you:  in our weakness, God hears our prayers, our sighs too deep for words.  God is with you and God will BE with you through it all.  And in Jesus Christ we have a powerful living hope that we will endure, we will find peace, we will be one with God and with our loved ones in Christ.  “⁸For [with the apostle Paul] I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  This is God’s word for us.  This is God’s word for you.  AMEN.

R. Charles Grant

Pastor, Bon Air Presbyterian Church

Richmond, Virginia

Memorial Service for Martha Brinkley

September 1, 2008