On Hope

The following is the text of a talk I gave in church on Hope. I stole a little bit of the introduction and the conclusion from a previous talk (hey, why re-write good material). I hope to write essays on all the virtues.

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A week ago, the Bishop asked me to speak on a topic of my choosing, one appropriate to the new year, - a dangerous thing to do with someone who can talk as much as I can. Still, I was able to find a single topic to focus my verbosity on: hope. I have been pondering hope recently and how it operates in our lives. I have been trying to understand how Hope fits in to the Gospel Plan and why it is that hope seems always to be found in the company of faith and charity.

Language often obscures as much as it clarifies. Joseph Smith once remarked that words are not sufficient to explain the truth, but they are all that we have. And so, we pile on words and imagery, he hint, we imply, we obscure, we clarify. This we do in an attempt to explain the fundamental truths that can only truly be gleaned by direct experience with life. Thus the Prophet said: “The things of God are of deep import, and time, and experience, and careful, and solemn, and ponderous thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, oh man, if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation must stretch as high as the utmost heavens and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss and the broad expanses of eternity, thou must commune with God.”
The deep and important doctrines are not the obscure teachings about Kolob or the origin of God or whether Adam had a belly button. Rather, the sacred, immensely deep concepts of truth, mercy, love, hope, happiness, faith; these are the true “deep things of God,” as Paul calls them. The Savior said to his accusers:

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Matt. 25:25).

To put our gospel lives in perspective, we must focus on the weightier matters, the deep principles of the gospel upon which hang all the other peripheral but no less true teachings and practices of the gospel, but we must not neglect these less weighty matters, rather, we must ground them in the roots of the tree. Most of these often thorny doctrinal issues that some people, particularly in the age of blogs, have wasted hours and days debating are really of little importance for our salvation and everything we know about them from authoritative sources could be summarized in a paragraph or two. Mercy, hope and love, however, require entire volumes and lives to explore and even then the fountain is not tapped out.

Hope, too, is born of experience. As the Apostle Paul said, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:1-5).

Many of the doctrines of the restored Gospel can only be understand as we live them and apply them to our lives. The same is true of Hope, which we find will come to us as a gift of the Spirit in our trials.

In my ponderings and my meditations, I was drawn to the following poem by Emily Dickinson:

Hope is the thing with feathers--
That perches in the souls --
And sings the tune without the words --
And never stops -- at all --
And sweetest -- in the Gale -- is heard --
And sore must be the storm --
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -- (Poem 254)

Upon reading this, I was instantly drawn to the words of Paul:

"For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Romans 8:24-26).

It cannot be a coincidence that in these two passages, one from a Poetess and one from a Prophet, we see hope so intimately intertwined with those dreams and aspirations to which we cannot put words: the unutterable groanings of our spirits which cry out for things we do not even ourselves now perceive. And the Spirit of the Lord intercedes and communicates what we cannot express. Words remain the meager medium of communication to which Joseph Smith referred, but the Spirit of God can speak for us and share truth from soul to soul without any misunderstanding, so that "he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another and both are edified and rejoice together." (D&C 50:22).

But how, then, does Hope save us, as Paul assures us it does? Is hope faith, by means of which we believe on the Lord? Is it repentance, by which we receive in us the Spirit of the Lord and become born again, born from above? Is it baptism, the ordinance of salvation or the conferral of the Holy Spirit by which we become new creatures in Christ? Is it the long journey of life in which we endure well the trials, temptations, and tribulations that mankind is heir to through the fallen nature of the world or the sinful lusts of our flesh?

Hope is everywhere present. It is the first and the last of the virtues. It is the first seedling of faith and it is the final gift of the Spirit which confirms to us the hope of a glorious resurrection. It is by hope, Alma assures us, that we come to faith. Faith is to "hope for things which are not seen, which are true" (Alma 32:21). We cannot, however even arrive at that point without first hoping for hope, by desiring to believe and yearning for hope. Alma says: "Awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words" (Alma 32:27).

The cruel cynics and devilish doubters would have us believe that doubt can bring a man to faith, but they are misguided. It is hope that brings a man to faith. Hope and the sincere and humble desire to know. We, from there, are drawn to seek answers, to question. Not doubtfully, but, as the Apostle James said, "in faith" hoping for an answer as did the humble father of King Lamoni who, knowing he knew nothing, but hoping that he might, asked: "What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day?" (Alma 22:15). And Aaron replied; "Bow down before God, ... repent of all thy sins, ... and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the HOPE thou desirest."

Once again we see hope in a new light. Aaron promises the old King hope as the reward for his hope. Elder Neal A. Maxwell said the following:

"Faith and hope are constantly interactive, and may not always be precisely distinguished or sequenced. Though not perfect either, hope's enlivened expectations are "with surety" true. In the geometry of restored theology, hope has a greater circumference than faith. If faith increases, the perimeter of hope stretched correspondingly." Language again fails us, but experience and the communications of the Spirit can teach us.

We cannot attain to faith without hope and through our faith, we attain to still greater hope. By hope we begin to believe and, as Peter tells us, by faith we obtain virtue, with virtue we attain knowledge, with knowledge temperance, with temperance patience, with patience godliness, with godliness brotherly kindness and with brotherly kindness we attain charity, the highest of all. (2 Peter 1:5-7).

Paul tells us that all things of this world will pass away, save "Faith, hope, and charity." (1 Cor. 13:13). The Prophet Mormon, in a speech on how to obtain faith, hope, and charity, asks us plainly: "And what is it that ye shall hope for?" (See Moroni 7:41 ff). And he answers:

"Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise. Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope. And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart."

Our hope, like our faith, is to be centered in Jesus Christ, in whom we have hope not just for this world, but for the world to come (See 1 Cor 15:19). Paul said that our greatest hope in Jesus Christ lies in the world to come, because the life of a disciple offers few worldly rewards in the here and now. We are promised this hope in our struggles here on earth as a gift of the Spirit given to those who trust in Jesus. Our Hope is in the saving power of Christ, which serves as an anchor to our souls in the tempests and trials of life. Bearing that hope, we can endure the sudden setbacks and failings of mortality knowing that all things are promised to the faithful and that justice and mercy await those who endure well.

Hope is what remains to us when we have lost everything else, when we have nowhere to look, but up. When things fall apart, we can still have hope for a better tomorrow. We can still hope, as Mormon tells us, on the mercies of Christ with that hope that "strengthens not slackens the spiritual spine.” Through this hope we can endure the trials and temptations of life and like the Prophet Ether we can do the work of the Lord "from the morning, even until the going down of the sun." It was Ether who taught us that "whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God (Ether 12:1-3)."

Hope is what gives us the strength to toil anonymously in the Kingdom of God knowing that in this life we have little hope of reward, but knowing with surety that a better world awaits. It is by hope that we remain anxiously engaged in following the example of the Master by going about doing good. It is by hope that we turn to the Lord, trusting that he will receive us no matter how many times we have fallen.

I testify that we can have hope in the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. His way is the path that leads to happiness and eternal life. He does not abandon his faithful servants. Perhaps because these are trying times, I was led to read the final words of Mormon to his son Moroni. After reciting the horrible scenes of wickedness and death that surrounded them both, Mormon said this:

“My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.”

Perspective and patience is required for our hope to be full. Christ has overcome this world and our joy may be anchored in Him and in the hope of his mercy and kindness and patience with us, his errant children.

There is always hope. There is virtually nothing we can do that will put ourselves outside the saving grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

I am reminded of the poem by Myra B. Welch:

"Twas battered and scared, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
"Who'll start bidding for me?
A dollar, a dollar - now who"ll make it two _
Two dollars, and who"ll make it three?
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice,
Going for three". . . but no!
From the room far back a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet,
As sweet as an angel sings.
The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said: "What am I bidden for the old violin?"
And he held it up with the bow;
"A thousand dollars - and who'll make it two?
Two thousand - and who'll make it three?
Three thousand once, three thousand twice
And going - and gone," said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
"We do not quite understand -
What changed its worth?" The man replied:
"The touch of the masters hand."
And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and torn with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd.
Much like the old violin.
A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on,
He's going once, and going twice -
He's going - and almost gone!
But the MASTER comes, and the foolish crowd,
Never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul, and the change that's wrought
By the touch of the MASTER'S hand.

Do not give up. For those that struggle, do not give up. For those who find it easy, do not judge too quickly those for whom the path is not so simple. The infinite goodness and perfection of God is equally distant for all of us. It is when it is the darkest, when nothing remains, that we will find that one thing remains to us: hope.

We are all finite beings with struggles and challenges which we are called upon to bear. Why some struggle where some prosper is a mystery, but what is clear is that we all called to bear up with one another: to dry the tears of the sorrowful, to bear up the burdens of the heavily laden, to bind the wounds of the injured. It is a much graver sin to judge others in their weakness, than it is to combat, even unsuccessfully, our own failings. We are not promised relief from sorrow in this world, nor release from the temptations and the weaknesses that beset us. But, as C. S. Lewis said, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting it, not by surrendering. Every battle, even those we lose, can build strength in us and teach us hope.

We are not promised riches and easy days. What we are promised, however, is strength for the journey, peace in our hearts, and the hope that all will eventually be made right in the due time of the Lord. Jesus Christ as the only sinless person, is also the only person who know to perfection how to resist temptation. He has descended below all things becoming in his ignominious death, the lowliest of all and he has ascended above all things become master of all and so He encompasses all that lies between: the totality of our experiences both good and bad. He knows how to succor the weak and the tired, because He has felt more what it is to be weak and tired than we could bear, but His perfection was not compromised and his mastery is not diminished.

I do not know everything. In fact, the more I learn, the less I feel I know. However, I cannot deny my testimony of the Book of Mormon and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel like Peter whom the Lord asked, after many disciples turned away from following Him, “Will ye also go away?” and Peter answered: “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.” This testimony binds me to this the Restored Church of Jesus Christ. I cannot go anywhere else, because despite the weakness of us, the membership, this Church has the words of Eternal Life. I hope and pray that I will continue to be humble enough to recognize this. Amen.