THE INSTILLATION OF HOPE

by Nick Osborne

December 4, 2024

“Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen.    

He is my Beloved, who pleases me.

I will put my Spirit upon him,    

and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

He will not fight or shout    

or raise his voice in public.

He will not crush the weakest reed  

or put out a flickering candle.    

Finally he will cause justice to be victorious.

And his name will be the hope    

of all the world.”

~ Isaiah 42:1-4 (as quoted in Matthew 12:18-21)

The guiding statement of The Wild Way is, "Christ formed in you, for the sake of others." The idea of Christ being formed in us comes from Galatians 4:19 where Paul shares how he labours and will continue to labour for the Galatian church until the presence and character of Christ is fully formed in their community.

Of course, this spiritual formation journey is not simply for our sake. The point is not that we would happier, healthier, more mature human beings (although our wellness in every facet of life is very important to God, because that's what his shalom is). The point is that we would be more like Christ, who picked up his cross and laid down his life for the sake of others.

The problem we face is this formation journey is not "onward and upward" all the time. There is some backward momentum and downward suffering and long pauses or stops mixed into the journey as well. In fact, put aside the concept of spiritual formation for a moment. The idea of joyful experiences, dark valleys of suffering, mundane moments, and peaceful pauses is the journey of life.

In order to keep going, especially in those difficult moments, it is crucial we grasp the theme of this first week of Advent: hope.

Irvin Yalom's Curative Factors

Over the last century, the idea of group therapy began to grow as powerful alternative (or supplement) to individual therapy. These therapist-facilitated groups generally target a specific issue, such as depression, social anxiety, chronic pain, grief, anger, low self-esteem, etc, and they have proven to be very effective.

In the 1970s psychiatrist Irvin Yalom identified eleven of what he called "curative factors" or "therapeutic factors" that are present in group therapy and have great positive effect on the participants. The very first factor he listed was the instillation of hope. Because a new group member can meet other people who may be further in the journey than they are at that moment, they gain hope that they too can grow and change and find healing.

It is this hope, said Yalom, that keeps group members in the group long enough to experience healing. Without hope, without the belief that they too can change and things can be different, there would be no reason to remain in the group and go through the hard, difficult work of the healing journey.

In our spiritual formation journey of having Christ formed in us for the sake of others, and, indeed, in life in general, we too need hope that the best is yet to come, and the incarnation of God, the coming of Jesus as a frail, messy infant, provides the greatest instillation of hope the world has ever seen.

Finding Hope Again

At times, hope seems fleeting. There have been moments in my life when the valley has felt so dark and so steep that the thought of light breaking through seemed impossible. Rather than hope, hopelessness and despair flooded my heart. I knew the Scriptures, I knew the character of God, but my emotional pain overwhelmed me.

If you are in this place today, I wish there was an easy answer or simple formula I could offer you that would make everything better. But there isn't. When all seems dark, trite words and empty platitudes don't help.

For me, the one thing that made a difference was the belief that God was OK with me in my despair and allowed me to be there - not in the sense that he didn't care, but in the sense that he honoured my suffering and was not trying to rush me through it or make me put on a plastic, happy smile that hid my pain.

I remember sitting in a therapist's office and describing how I was at the bottom of a very deep well, so deep I could barely see the top, and I certainly couldn't climb out even if I wanted to (which I didn't). I was just sitting in muck, all alone and wallowing.

Then the therapist asked, where is Jesus in this picture? So I looked. I expected Jesus to be at the top, maybe looking down, maybe offering me a rope, or maybe just waiting for me to get my act together and climb out. But then it dawned on me - he was right beside me, just as mucky as I was, not trying to make me climb or pretend everything was OK, but telling me we could sit here together for as long as I wanted or needed to be here.

And that's what gave me hope. His presence with me. Not trying to "fix me" before I was ready, but still with me.

That's the Incarnation. Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus, God with me, even in that well. Through the Incarnation God made himself fully enfleshed and present to our human condition, which sadly includes a lot of suffering. 

I know you've heard the platitudes (even the true ones) - Jesus is coming, he will make all things right, he will wipe away your tears, pain and suffering will be no more. Yes, these are true, and yes it can give us "assurance of what's unseen" to know this.

But when hopelessness abounds in my suffering, I don't need Jesus "one day." I need Jesus today, and that's the point of the Incarnation. Yes, he will come again, but he already has come and is still here through His Spirit. His presence with me in that well instills hope that God cares, and whether I climb to the top tomorrow or Jesus returns to right all wrongs, my God is with me.

PAUSE and REFLECT

Where are you? If you are in a "deep well" moment, where do you see Jesus? How might "God with us" bring you hope or comfort?

How does the truth of "Christ formed in you for the sake of others" challenge or inspire the way you live your life, even in your deep well moments?

NEXT STEPS

As mentioned last week, during Advent the church prays, "Come, Lord Jesus." Take some time this week (maybe a couple of minutes each day) to quietly sit and repeat that prayer. Imagine him coming to you in whatever life-situation you're facing. Maybe he talks to you, or not. Maybe he invites you to something, or not. Maybe he just wants to sit with you in solidarity, feel your feels, and be lovingly present to your moment with you.