Dashed Hopes to Burning Hearts

“Our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. ²¹ We had hoped he was the one who would redeem Israel.”  Luke 24.20-21

We had hoped that he was the one who would redeem Israel.  These are a few of the saddest words in all of Scripture.  I don’t think there is a person alive who has not had their hopes dashed at one time or another.  Their hopes were that Jesus would redeem Israel. 

Our hopes might look a bit different.  

• “We had hoped that the tumor had shrunk.”  
• “We had hoped that our child would recover.”  
• “We had hoped that our marriage would last.”  
• “We had hoped to have a child.”  
• “I had hoped to get that job.” 

Few things are more painful than dashed hopes. 

If you take the time to read the story that surrounds these verses (Luke 24.13-35), you will see what Jesus does when hopes are dashed.  He comes along these two followers of Jesus, and asks them to name their loss. 

Naming our dashed hopes, naming our loss, naming our grief, is the first step in bringing healing.  That does not mean that we name them and forget about them or name them and move on.  It is a way of acknowledging what it is that we have lost.  Naming the dashed hope is a way of rising beyond it so that it is no longer what defines us. 

In the Harry Potter series the people refer to the primary antagonist as “He-who-must-not-be-named.”  As a result the people live in fear of him.  Harry does not seem to know any better and calls him what he is: “Voldemort” (which comes from the French word “mort” meaning death).   By naming Voldemort, the power Voldemort holds over the people is reduced.  When we name the power that has dashed our hopes, the power is lessened.  It does not happen right away.  But it is the first step. 

What are your dashed hopes?  What do you grieve.  When we name our grief, our pain, our disappointment, and our fear – in the midst of a caring community and with the assurance of grace, we find these things have less of a hold on us.  The result is that God can come alongside and surprise with God’s love and presence.  Like the two followers in the story from Luke, we may even move from dashed hopes to burning hearts.  We might be surprised by joy. 

It does not always (or even usually) happen quickly.  The road from dashed hopes to burning hearts might be a 5K, or perhaps a marathon, that we struggle to finish.  That’s okay.  Jesus will walk or run that distance with us.  And so will those who love us.