Never give up HOPE - Father Dave's Blog

“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.” (Luke 21:25-27)

Welcome to Advent!

We’ve reached a new season in the church calendar. This coming Sunday is, in fact, the first day of the Ecclesiastical new year. This may well reflect how out of touch the church is from the rest of society, but It also means a whole new series of Bible readings, with our Gospel focus moving from Saint Mark to Saint Luke.

This First Sunday in Advent is always celebrated as the Sunday of HOPE (to be followed by Sundays of Peace, Joy and Love, respectively, between now and Christmas) and, for some reason, this Sunday of Hope has always been associated with prophecies of the imminent collapse of society, such as today’s Gospel reading from Luke 21. None of this looks particularly hopeful, any more than the news coming in from around the globe at the moment.

I should be rejoicing over the ceasefire in Lebanon. Less violence in Lebanon means less homes destroyed, and less people killed. That is a great thing. Even so, the words of the late Hassan Nasrallah keep coming back to me – that Hezbollah will not stop fighting until the Gaza genocide stops. And then I watched a clip of the Israeli Prime Minister explaining to his people how the Lebanon ceasefire will allow the IDF to intensify its focus on Gaza! What will happen to these people now?

I should add that I also heard reports that the leadership in Gaza has been encouraging their Lebanese partners to accept the ceasefire, and I appreciate that it’s not my place to be critical of people who have already sacrificed so much. Even so, it seems like a bad joke to label this a week of HOPE!

My friend, John Shipton (father of Julian Assange) always disparages ‘hope’ when I mention it. I think he sees hope as what you are left with when you have no real chance of success. John would prefer we come up with realistic ways of achieving our goals rather than fall back on fanciful dreams. Even so, in the Biblical record, dreaming plays an important role, and hope is integral to FAITH.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

From the perspective of this Biblical writer, hope is, by definition, unrealistic, in the sense that it is not the product of any science or human logic. Common sense echoes the wisdom of Thucydides – that ‘the rich do as they will, and the poor do as they must’. It is only faith that grasps the bigger picture – that behind the grinding machinery of power and violence lies one who makes for change – ‘bringing down rulers from their thrones and lifting up the lowly.” (Luke 1:52)

This is the faith that gives birth to hope. It’s not a faith based on empty dreams, but a trust in the promises of the God whom we believe is shaping human history.

“The arc of history is long”, said Dr Martin Luther King, “but it bends towards justice”. This is the testimony of the Biblical record, and it is confirmed in our own experience. We have seen God bring down the mighty from their thrones and lift up the lowly, and we are confident that we will see it again – even in Gaza and Lebanon!

I guess it makes sense that this week of hope is filled with images of people fainting with fear and foreboding (Luke 21:26). That’s when we need hope. I could do with a solid injection of hope now. I think we all could.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13)

Our Sunday Eucharist

We celebrated another wonderful Eucharist last Sunday. A special thank you to my friend, Rev. John Jegasothy, who filled in for our beloved brother, Doug, joining Andrew Logan and myself on the panel. Doug was busy driving across the US to get back to his home and I trust he returned safely. We enjoyed catching up with Doug’s son at the coffee catch-up after the service. They are a wonderful family!

As ever, I’ve included some ‘shorts’ from our Bible Banter below. You can, of course, find the full broadcast (and all our broadcasts) on my YouTube channel, and you can scan the library of shorts on the Sunday Eucharist Instagram page.

This Sunday is, once again, the first of the month, and I’m looking forward to having our good friends, David Baldwin and Tom Toby, back with me on the panel. I believe we will also have an offering from Dr Stephen Sizer this month which will be a special treat. We have missed his wisdom over the last couple of months as he has been taking some long overdue respite, subsequent to the death of his dear wife.

Do join us at noon this Sunday on TheSundayEucharist.com and on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Faithia and Streamyard.

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What’s On?

November 29 to December 1^st – @Binacrombi. Please join me.
Sunday, December 1^st – Our Eucharist from noon via thesundayeucharist.com (or through Facebook , YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Faithia or Streamyard).
Tuesday, December 3^rd – Boxing at The Mundine Gym in Redfern, 7 to 9 pm

I know the calendar above looks a little thin this week. I’ll be skipping my regular Thursday boxing session to take a couple of days off with Joy and her family on the Central Coast. As to Saturday, I am open to suggestion. I don’t have my regular kids boxing session happening at Fadi’s gym at the moment and I would be open to doing a session at Legend’s in Kensington if anyone wants to join me. Let me know.

I have one other thing I want to share with you before I let you go today. I’ve had in my mind for a while to publish a series of ‘ripping yarns’ in the format of fireside chats. I never know whether these ideas come as moments of divine inspiration or just random thoughts that are better off abandoned, so I thought it best to create a pilot episode and get your opinion on it.

Please find ‘Ripping Yarns, Episode One’ below. If you find it of value, please let me know. If you can think of a way of improving it (such as substituting more suitable background music), let me know that too. If I don’t hear anything, there will be no episode two. Not every bizarre idea I get comes from above.

I wish you a week ahead where you can embrace your reality with hope. This is never easy, but I will leave it to Saint Paul to give us the final word:

“We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

Your brother in the Good Fight,