Moltmann 1

 

Jurgen Moltmann

                I am switching from Coffin’s Credo to Jurgen Moltmann’s “In The End—The Beginning: the life of hope. As I had stated, he was one of my favorite theologians that I studied in seminary. He was a professor of systematic theology at the University of Tubingen, Germany. Between he and the Latin American liberation theologians, they shaped my theology and challenged me to be willing to challenge the ultra-orthodoxy of the church. This book is a series of lectures was written and translated in 2004. I wanted to share some of his insights about transitions and hope.

                I will start with a quote in the introduction. “Christ’s hope-less end became his true beginning. If we remember that, we shall not give ourselves up, but shall expect that in every end a new beginning lies hidden.  Yet, we shall only become capable of new beginnings if we are prepared to let go of the things that torment us, and things we lack. If we search for the new beginning, it will find us.” As I think about this, I cannot but help thinking about what I am doing that prevents me from letting go and opening to a new beginning. What are the torments, the old hurts, the present hurts, the guilt, and regrets, that tie me to my past and not to a life of hope? I recently preached on this passage from Isaiah. “Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert (Isa 43:18-19).”

                One of my favorite hymns from the United Methodist Hymnal is the Hymn of Promise #707. The lyrics are as follows:

Stanza 1]
In the bulb there is a flower;
In the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise:
Butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter
There’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season,
Something God alone can see.

[Stanza 2]
There’s a song in every silence,
Seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness,
Bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future;
What it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season,
Something God alone can see.

[Stanza 3]
In our end is our beginning;
In our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing;
In our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection;
At the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season,
Something God alone can see.

Copyright Brett Piper, 2014-2020

We have used this hymn in several services and even in funerals. Pairing this with what Moltmann said, indeed it is in what appears to be the end is the beginning.

                I leave with these thoughts. What is hindering you from opening to a life of hope? What are you holding on to that prevents you from what new beginnings God has in store for you? We are reminded that despite what appears to be the end, there is a new beginning and it does spring forth around us.

Shalom