Hope Grows in a Dump

There’s a scene in the Office that is deeper than the characters looking in a dump for sales leads they had mistakenly thrown away. Standing in the middle of the Scranton City Dump Michael and Dwight repair their relationship. Andy and Erin finally share a kiss. In the middle of the devastation and trash they look out and say, “Only humans could do this”. They then imagine a flower growing in the middle of it all and the tag line, “Hope grows in a dump.”

There are moments in life when things seem like they can’t get any worse, and it’s hard to see how life could ever be better, either. In the middle of devastation and desperation, we are out of our depth and we look out over the trash heap of life. The promise of Scripture is that even in the most hopeless of situations, hope grows.

I think of passages like Psalm 23. It’s a beautiful and comforting Psalm that reminds us of God’s loving care for us like a shepherd caring for his sheep. Then halfway through the metaphor switches from the 3rd person “He”, to a more personal 2nd person “You” in a military setting.

What sparks the change?

Right in the center of the Psalm are the words, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

If you observe a chiastic structure of the Psalm, you will see that the doublets at the beginning and end of the Psalm mirror each other, and the poem hinges on God’s presence with the writer. Follow along with the italicized lines:

_{1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.}

In every human life, there are times of green pastures and quiet waters and right paths, but there are also times when darkest valleys and enemies abound.

I will fear no evil, “for You are with me.”

When enemies surround me, hope grows. I can trust that God will take care of me, “for You are with me.”

In the middle of devastation, hope grows. I can trust that God’s goodness and love will follow me, “for You are with me.”

Hope grows… in a dump.

And this is the hope of the Christian message.

In the devastation of sin and death, brokenness and disordered loves, Christ entered into our world. Emmanuel, God with us. And He suffered as we often do. And He died as we almost certainly will.

But our hope lies in the fact that He did not stay dead. God wasn’t only with us in that moment, but He IS with us now. Hebrews tells us that He is our ideal High Priest because He suffered just like we do, and maybe worse. He understands and He offers us green pastures, quiet waters, a banquet table, an overflowing cup, goodness and mercy, and a place to belong for eternity.

 Hope grows in a dump.