Why faith, hope and love matters
LAST Sunday was Easter Sunday, also known as ‘Resurrection Sunday’ to more than 2.4 billion Christians, accounting for 31.2 per cent of the world’s population.
Easter marks the ‘Resurrection of Jesus Christ’, three days after His death by crucifixion on Good Friday. It is the joyful end to the Lenten season of fasting and penitence.
The English term is itself derived from the Saxon spring festival ‘Eostre’, linked also to the Jewish Passover by its name in Hebrew and Aramaic.
This past week has been an important period in the calendars of Christians and Buddhists around the world. On April 4, it was the annual Qing Ming Festival when Chinese around the world had gathered around ancestral tombstones and burial grounds to pay their respects to those souls who had departed.
Easter, a yearly Christian celebration, is traditionally observed on the first Sunday following the initial full moon after the vernal equinox, with its timing determined by specific tables aligned with the Gregorian calendar in Western churches.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, signifying the fulfilment of God’s plan for redemption and offering believers the promise of eternal life. It is a day of immense joy and hope, as Christians celebrate the victory of light over darkness, life over death and the triumph of God’s love for humanity.
Easter Sunday serves as a profound reminder of the transformative power of faith and the enduring message of hope and love that resonates throughout the ages. For Christians worldwide, the importance of Easter is praising and acknowledging Christ’s resurrection from the dead, and His glorious assurances of eternal life for all who believe in Him.
We celebrate Easter because we can recognise that we can die to our old ways of living and be ‘born again’ into a new life with Christ.
Christianity does require for us to experience a ‘death to self’, and in our own resurrection, we experience in a spiritual sense and the resurrection of the body that we have yet to experience, gives us ample cause for celebration.
In John 11:25, the Bible says: “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”
As virtues, faith, hope and love have long been celebrated and are considered an integral part of the Christian faith. They represent values that define humankind’s relationship with God himself.
Paul mentions these three virtues together and then goes on to identify love as the most important of the three: “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13, NKJV).”
Extolling the supremacy of love above all other virtues, the other verses within the same context is often included in modern-day Christian wedding services in one form or another: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
I am certain that this exhortation can be found in all religions in one form or another, differently worded perhaps, but still being taught and preached as virtues and godly deeds and proclamations to be heeded and adhered to by all their respective followers.
It is tragic and sad to come across some of those who profess to adhere to their faiths who are aware of these teachings and yet, either turn a blind eye to or choose not to follow such virtuous teachings.
The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:6: “...Without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God, must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (NKJV).”
Without faith, there would be no Christianity; without faith, we could not come to Christ or walk in obedience to him.
Faith motivates us to move forward even when the odds are stacked against us, and faith is closely related to hope.
None of us can live without hope, that expectation within us telling us that we can and will obtain what we desire.
Hope keeps us moving forward, and it is a special gift from God through His grace for us to turn our routine daily lives into facing our more difficult and trying circumstances.
We never give up hope, none of us can really imagine living a life without hope. There are two beautiful verses in The Bible regarding hope: “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” (Isaiah 40: 29-31).
“…Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character, hope (Romans 5; 2-5).”
It is indeed gratifying that our early motto for the ‘Kingdom of Sarawak’ under Rajah James Brooke was built on a motto of hope, ‘Dum spiro spero’, which in Latin means ‘while I breathe, I hope’, and is attributed to Theocritus and Cicero.
The Bible states that love is greater than both faith and hope – we simply could not live our lives without faith and hope; love itself is ultimately the message of Jesus Christ.
Because without love, the Bible teaches there can be no redemption. In Scripture, we learn that ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:8), and that He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us — a supreme act of sacrificial love.
Love is what motivated God, the Father, to send His only Son to die for us.
As Christians celebrated the resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ on Sunday; from the smallest chapel to the largest cathedral; from All Saints Church in Bengoh to St Thomas’ Cathedral in Kuching; from the priest of the smallest congregation in a remote village reachable by only a four-wheel drive vehicle, to the largest gathering of believers addressed by the Right Reverend Bishop Datuk Danald Jute at St Thomas’ Cathedral in Kuching; the joyous occasion was shared with praise songs, gospel music and traditional hymns, and a thankful and grateful Christian congregation praising the Lord God Almighty and celebrating their faith with hope and love towards their neighbours near and far.
We praise and thank God for this land of ours in which we continue to dwell and live in peace, harmony and goodwill towards all men.