Prisoners of Hope

The expression “prisoners of hope” appeared in the first lesson on July 3 and is recorded in Zech 9:11. I suppose we refer more frequently to ourselves as prisoners of fear/terror, or prisoners of our glands/lusts, or prisoners of our past/upbringing. Prisoners of hope are not enslaved by hope but liberated by it. That is, prisoners of hope wait for and even expect liberation; they do not take their imprisonment as inevitability. Prisoners of hope are living, breathing oxymorons. They see things that never were and ask, “Why not?” They are peccatores who are also, at the same time, already, justae and justi. People on an interfaith journey or repentant criminals on Calvary are such prisoners of hope, as we shall see.

Harold Vogelaar tells the story of his own interfaith journey as he invites readers along for the trip. He structures his reflections around the affirmations of the Apostles Creed. The First Article, he finds, makes interfaith dialogue possible, with its confession of God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. The Second Article’s emphasis on Jesus as God’s Son makes interfaith dialogue significant. In our various cultures, languages, colors, and races, we are bound together by the light that shines in the life of Jesus. The Third Article’s belief in and dependence on the Holy Spirit helps us grow in our dialogue journey, keeps it on track, and eventually makes what we do fruitful. The Holy Spirit enables us to get out from behind closed windows and locked doors and into the world. Jesus’s promise that the Spirit will guide us into truth means that there is a cutting edge to the work of the Holy Spirit. The urge to do things right may sometimes need to give way to doing the right thing.

Robert O. Smith asserts that an integral part of the mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem is to develop and nurture Palestinian nationalism. The ELCJ is a small church, part of the declining Christian population in Palestine/Israel. As Christian emigration continues, the community’s moderating influence in Palestinian politics will also depart. Religious nationalism is a factor in both Israeli and Palestinian political considerations. When religious nationalism influences Israeli discourse, Palestinian Christians suffer with all Palestinians the increased intractability of the political situation and the hardening of the occupation. Perhaps the most important witness of ELCJ members to their Palestinian brothers and sisters lies in their effort to provide excellent educational opportunities for Palestinian students. Beyond the important domestic work of building bridges between Christians, Muslims, and Jews, the Christian communities of Israel/Palestine have reached out to their fellow Christians around the world to garner support for their political aspiration.

David D. Grafton outlines the Pax Romana, which was the context for the earliest Christian mission, and contrasts it with the Pax Americana that prevails today. The advantages Paul claimed through his citizenship are quite different than the liabilities that come with an American passport in many parts of the world today. If North American missionaries wish to provide a faithful witness to the gospel, they must recognize the challenges and problems that come with their association with an imperial power and begin to develop a new mission paradigm. The story of two short-term missionaries in Afghanistan provides a parade example of how not to conduct oneself on the mission field today.

Carrie L. Lewis offers narrative insights into the crucifixion account in Luke. The apparent vulnerability of Jesus on the cross calls into question how this one whom God sent can possibly save the people. Jesus asks for forgiveness for those who crucified him and shows that he still has power in the last moments of life by offering the promise of paradise to the evildoer on the cross. Jesus did not lose hope but trusted in God even in his hopeless situation. In the moment of his greatest vulnerability, when those with earthly power show that they have the power to condemn Jesus to death, God saves Jesus, and through God’s saving of Jesus offers salvation to others.

Ralph W. Klein preached on ministry at the opening service for the Institute for Liturgical Studies at Valparaiso earlier this year. In many ways the vision for ministry outlined in Matt 10:24-42 is in radical discontinuity with the ministry to which we are called today. The gap between the first and the twenty-first centuries is matched by the chasm that separates one ministry in the church from another, or by the differences between ministry now and what it was twenty, thirty, or forty years ago. Ministry today is trust in God and God’s future, confession of God’s acts in Jesus through word and deed, living toward God’s future, letting go of material possessions or of fear of what others might do to us, and placing loyalty to God above all other loyalties. God’s “I am with you” in the splash of the font, the tastes of the holy supper, and the liturgical work of the people makes such ministry possible.

Ralph Quere writes an extensive and enthusiastic review of a recent book on evangelism: The Evangelizing Church: A Lutheran Contribution. This book has seminary professors and deans calling the church to the evangelistic dimensions of its mission. One essay adds the words “for the sake of the world” to the usual “justification by grace on account of Christ through faith.” Practical evangelistic advice includes modeling, mentoring, small group conversation, and public testimonies in worship services. The call for “a new culture of evangelizing” is a call for a new reformation. A Postscript reflects on the evangelistic power of the sacraments.

Kenn Storck enriches us with his poem “Encounters.”

“I will return again to you,” said the God of the Old Testament to her exiled people. “I am coming soon,” says the risen Christ in the Apocalypse (Rev 3:11)

Oh, what sweet imprisonment to a revolutionary promise! What a rebuke to those who seem to thrive on nay-saying, despair, division, and the past, or who are imprisoned by memories of the good old days! In our cells, standing on tiptoes, we wait for tomorrow because....


Ralph W. Klein
Editor