Hope, Faith Set On God

by Una Jones

Blessed be God, the Parent of our Lord Jesus Christ! By God’s great mercy God has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith -- ... being tested by fire -- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed....

Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance....

Through Jesus Christ you have come to trust in God, who raised Christ from the dead and gave Christ glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

1 Peter 1:3-21

In 1994, when I was 40 years old, I voted for the very first time in my life. As a South African living in United States, I had to go to one of five poling stations set up in the United States. Voting was an opportunity of a lifetime for Black South Africans.

The experience is beyond description. I had a feeling of elation and unbelief. I gained a new sense of dignity, courage and strength. I thanked God because hope was realized, prayers were answered, new hope was established for a new South Africa.

Growing up in Johannesburg, South Africa, during apartheid, I was made to believe I was a second-class citizen who would never have rights as a human being. I lived through the struggle. I especially remember 1976 when Hector Peterson, a young boy, lost his life because of the injustices of apartheid.

Through those years, my faith and hope in Jesus Christ was kept alive with passages of Scripture like 1 Peter 1:21: ...so that your faith and hope are set on God.

Peter’s first letter was written to give encouragement and hope to Christians who were being persecuted. In today’s world, we need all the encouragement and hope we can get. We find ourselves seeking answers:

Why should we have hope?
Why should we keep hope alive?
How do we offer hope to the hopeless?

Reading Peter’s letter to the ancient church provides insight. The first few verses refer to living hope. This is the kind of hope we need in the 21^st century for our United Methodist Women units, for our churches, for our personal lives. Our world is going through such turmoil, we need ways to deepen our faith to keep hope alive for ourselves and for the hopeless. The United Methodist Council of Bishops’ initiative, "Hope for the Children of Africa," calls us to provide hope for children confronted with poverty, hunger, drought, illness, war, homelessness, loss of parents. We are called to bring hope to the hopeless.

Christian hope

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of Christian hope. African churches are growing by leaps and bounds as more and more people place their hope and trust in the resurrected Jesus Christ. Amidst widespread poverty, the AIDS pandemic that is killing millions, injustice and corruption within governments that destroy lives, African peoples display a sense of hope. They are able to hope because they see Jesus through the lives of people who care and have shown them love and support. Imagine more people caring and showing love. We could eradicate poverty and injustices.

Their model leads us to look at ourselves. Where are we in the western world placing our hope? Can our children experience the same sense of hope as the children of Africa who greet you with smiles and laughter when you meet them.

I am sure the bishops’ initiative comes from looking into the hopeful eyes of any African child. Their smiles speak volumes. Their smiles are cries for help, for love, for acceptance, and especially for action to assure hope.

Trials and faith

In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith -- ...being tested by fire -- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:6 and 7).

Even as Peter challenges us with these words, he reminds us to always rejoice.

Bishop Mmmutlanyane Stanley Mogoba, the former presiding bishop of the Methodist Church in South Africa wrote two books -- Tears of Hope and Convicted by Hope -- in which he explains that unless we are challenged our faith is not stretched and hope cannot be kept alive. Bishop Mogoba spent time on Robbin Island, the prison where President Nelson Mandela spent 27 years. Both men are Methodist. Both struggled. And both emerged from those struggles to give us hope for the future of South Africa. Today we celebrate and rejoice despite the struggles, because hope was realized in South Africa.

We have just celebrated the season from Good Friday to Easter, a time of trial, suffering and rejoicing. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus reminds us that if we follow Jesus, each of us must carry her or his own cross. By calling each of us to take up the cross, Jesus reminds us that it is not going to be easy but God will be with us always.

The challenges of everyday life and the awareness of our commitment to justice will lead us through the Good Fridays of our lives. The radical change that occurs when we bring hope to others allows us to rejoice on the Easter Sundays with the risen Savior.

I visited Senegal in West Africa recently to witness and experience the birth of United Methodism there. Senegal is predominately a Muslim country where at least 85 percent of the people follow an Islamic lifestyle. I was delighted to witness the efforts of Muslims and Christians working together in the prisons, providing nutritional education to young mothers, offering a feeding program for babies, and supporting a home for abandoned pregnant girls.

Poverty and need is on every street corner in Senegal, yet the people are finding ways to rejoice and celebrate. They thanked us as United Methodists from the United States for giving them hope and perseverance to move forward. They will never know how much they gave me. The experience challenged me anew to be pro-active, to advocate for justice, to believe that every small effort makes a difference.

Confidence and prayer

Through Jesus Christ you have come to trust in God, who raised Christ from the dead and gave Christ glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God (1 Peter 1:21).

Peter is reminding us to put all our confidence and trust in God. A word that defines confidence is assurance. The writer of a well-known hymn says: "Blessed assurance Jesus is mine" (Hymn No. 369, The United Methodist Hymnal).

We cannot have hope without depending on Jesus Christ. In fact, there is nothing we can do successfully if we do not seek God’s help. Prayer is our sustaining power. It keeps us connected to God and each other.

I quote from a keynote address of Bishop Mogoba to Methodists of South Africa as a challenge to United Methodists in the United States:

"Life. Health. Peace.

"These are the formidable actions of hope that we bring to a society of sorrow and fear. There is no place to hide our faith. We are charged to bring life, health and peace.

"Go out and tell this to the world. Thus, may God’s fire continue to burn in us, as it burned in Wesley’s heart at Aldersgate."

The good news is that the one who sent us has promised to be with us to the end of time. Keep hope alive. Provide hope to the hopeless.

From response May 2000 Issue