Building Hope Amidst the Ruins

In the lonely haunts of forsaken places, the people of God are building hope.

What does building hope look like? It looks like a glimpse, a hint, a promise of God’s coming Shalom. The Lord rescues the children of Israel from a world built and sustained by slavery. He leads them on pilgrimage through the stark barrenness of the wilderness. Far away from the Nile and the bounty of Egyptian food, his people face the threat of no water and no food. Stripped of necessary provisions, the people of God learn that we do not live by bread alone but by “every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3).

In this desolate landscape, the people of God will not survive if not for the faithfulness of the Lord. They learn that He can quench their thirst with springs of water from a rock and He can feed them with “bread from heaven.” In this absolute dependence, they are called to practice Sabbath: a day of remembering the Lord’s faithfulness and expecting His coming Shalom. In the place where hope dies, they rehearse the faithful care of the Creator for His creation. They are becoming a people who are building hope at the very edge of extinction.

From generation to generation, the people of God must remember and rehearse afresh the faithfulness of God in the midst. They learn to trust by living out the deep memory of God’s lovingkindness. This living looks like trusting, praying, and acting in obedience to His call and His commands.

In the third century, St. Anthony leaves his wealth and comforts behind to live in the caves, to fight the darkness around him and within him, to discover the grace of God in the midst of the enemy camp. He sets off on a lonely pilgrimage. Over time streams of disciples follow. The abandoned desert becomes a city. Anthony and his fellow monks are building hope in the desert.

The Torment of St Anthony (Michelangelo)

Jean LeClercq suggests that medieval communities follow a similar pattern of the Desert Fathers by viewing the formation of monastic communities as a way of taming the terror of wild, raw nature. The heavenly Jerusalem is built through personal lives and communal relations, taking shape by cultivating community, land, and a symbolic culture.

Drawing from their personal devotional experiences as well as the Biblical, Patristic and Classical writings, they develop a legacy of writing that LeClercq refers to as a “literature of transcendence.” As I reflect upon their use of sources, I am struck by a pattern that looks familiar: it looks similar to the dynamic outworking of Torah in the community of Israel.

Obedience to the call and command of the Lord is not a means of salvation but a rehearsal and remembrance of the God who redeems HIs people and His world in grace. Each generation must return to the ancient memories. Each generation applies the lessons of past generations in new contexts, in new struggles, and in new landscapes.

As we look around our world through the distressing news of the moment, we may be tempted to lose hope. We may feel overwhelmed by a world, a society falling to ruins even as the never-ending flood of technology washes over us. Violence, harsh words, nations in conflict, human enslavement and more grips our world in an unravelling chaos.

And yet, the people of God continue to hear the call and the command. We have a long family history of building hope amidst the ruins. We look back to the faithfulness of our Lord in ages past when all hope seemed lost to the dark powers of oppression. Again and again His hand of grace shines out as light that overcomes darkness.

We continue to tell the story of the Lord in our midst, entering into the death of sin, the very end of all things. We continue to celebrate King Jesus who passes through death to life by the faithfulness of the Father and the power of the Spirit. That same Spirit is at work in us.

We do not lose hope, but return afresh to the Source of hope. We gather in communities of memory, rehearsing His faithfulness. We obey His call and live out lives of obedient love, kindness, gentleness, service, long-suffering, trusting that His love and light will sustain us and renew all things in Christ.

Image of ruins by Grant Matthews (used by permission via Creative Commons). The other two images are in public domain.