Preaching Without Hope

Preaching Without Hope

When Hope Died

I received a text from a preacher friend of mine this week. He told me that, because of some things he had seen on social media, he was about to have a conversation and wanted me to pray for him beforehand. This is not an entirely unusual request, because often, as preachers, we need prayer for tough or challenging conversations. The person he was about to speak with was someone in his circle who was prone to posting some hurtful and borderline racist things. The challenge was that the person he was going to speak to was a leader at another local church. After the conversation, my friend called me. He stated that the person did not see how anything he posted was wrong or antithetical to the gospel. My friend was, to say the least, frustrated. He wonders how they could read the same Bible and come to such stark differences over things that seemed so obvious. My friend lamented to me about how sometimes ministry can feel hopeless. I pushed back and said we have to have hope, but he pointed out that Hope had died. This was a play on words because he had a dog named Hope who passed away not too long ago, and for him, the dog's death signaled the loss of hope. He stated she came when he needed her, and now she was gone, and with her also went the hope he had for things.

The challenge for many of us is as preachers of the gospel. We are called to stand in front of people and preach a gospel of hope, when, much like my friend's dog, hope died for us years ago. We are called to stand before people and offer them the hope that things will get better. We are called to explain to people that God is still moving, even when he feels so quiet in our own lives. We are called to push people on when we feel as though we have nothing left. One of the challenges of preaching is when you feel God has given you the same mandate that he gave Jeremiah in the Bible.

Preaching to the Void

The book of Jeremiah is interesting. Jeremiah is a young preacher who is called by God to preach to the people of Judah. He is called to preach to the people, and in Jeremiah 7:27, he is told that even though he is going to preach the word of God. Even though he is doing exactly what God is calling him to do, no one will listen. No one will listen to him, and the people in Judah will be taken over by the Babylonians. You would think if God called you to do such an arduous task, he would take care of you. He goes through things because of adhering to what the Lord calls. He was persecuted and imprisoned by the king for his prophecies. He was thrown into a cistern, a place where water is stored underground. He is told not to marry. He is considered a traitor for stating what God told him. He is even said to have endured the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. He goes through all of this all because he is doing what God called him to do. God told him they would not listen, but imagine being called to preach to a people that will not change and eventually have to face destruction.

You can see some of his feelings about this in the beginning of his lament poem in Jeremiah 20. He opens by stating how he felt tricked. How, even though he did not want to, God prevailed. He speaks of how God has made him a laughingstock. He kept preaching about how they would be destroyed, but for them, since they were God’s chosen people, how could this happen? He was compelled to tell them about the violence and destruction that was coming, and if he did not, he felt this deep burning that forced him into speaking. Because of that, people were shouting him down. Jeremiah has one of the hardest preaching assignments, and you could argue that the opening of this poem in Jeremiah 20 reads like a resignation letter. Many of us, as preachers, after a hard week, month, or year, sit and think about doing something else. If we’re honest, we feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of preaching, especially when it feels like no one is listening.

The Fire inside

Coming from the Black church tradition, Jeremiah 20:9 takes on deep theological significance. For people in the Black church context, the fire shut up in my bones is not a fire that consumes, but a fire that pushes us. It is a sustaining fire that compels us to act. It is our hope in times we feel hopeless. Even within the Black church tradition, many preachers can feel like our fire is fading. The trials and tribulations of life and the world can start to dim that fire, but the fire Jeremiah speaks of and the fire my church tradition holds on to is a fire from God. Though Jeremiah does not want to speak these things, it is the fire of the living God that forces him to. When we, as preachers, reach a point where we do not feel like preaching and feel overwhelmed and beaten down, it can be hard to tap into the fire within us. Here are some practical ways to do so.

Preaching through Hopeless seasons

1.      Preach with honesty

a.      One of the things that we have to do is be honest with frustration text. The Bible is replete with texts in which the writer is facing frustration. We often want to overlook that many people can be frustrated not only with their circumstances but also with God. We need to wrestle with the text from a place of honesty. Many of the Psalms are full of lament, in which the writer feels not only hopeless but even frustrated. Habakkuk famously opens with the writer asking God how long he would have to witness injustice. We as preachers need to begin at a place of honesty.

2.      Lean on others

a.      As the preacher, we feel the burden of having to carry everything ourselves. We’re the leader; we are the subject-matter experts, but even leaders need to rely on those they lead at times. Some days you have to allow the faith of the congregation and or trusted friends to carry you through that season. Being honest with your people can give your congregation permission not only to help you but also to deal with their frustration openly. Many times, expressing our concerns in faith gives people permission to deal with their own.

3.      Redefining Success

a.      For many of us, hope is lost because we feel that we have to achieve a certain goal or outcome. By the world's standards, Jeremiah's ministry was an abject failure. He preaches to people, and they do not change. For many of us, we can feel just like Jeremiah; we are preaching and preaching, and we are not seeing any change. True success in preaching is being faithful to the mission Christ gave you. Given that Jeremiah is told in chapter seven that the people will not change, preaching anyway makes him a success. What if God wants you to serve that dying church so that congregation can die with dignity? What if God wants you to preach to that congregation, but it will take twenty years for any fruit to be seen? Success should be measured not by numbers all the time, but by faithfulness to the mission.

Hope resurrected

For my friend, his faithful dog Hope cannot come back and encourage him in these trying days, but we can maintain hope because God is still in control. What we have to understand about the fire shut up in Jeremiah’s bones is that much like great poet Billy Joel said, we didn’t start the fire, it was always burning since the world started turning. The fire in your bones is from God. If you’re feeling as though the fire is going out, you can always turn to God for your sustaining. We see in Jeremiah 20 that, though the first half of the poem reads as resignation from ministry, the second half reads as a resignation to follow God, because he is the only one who can revive our hope whe