Letter from the Minister

EASTER HOPE

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1: 3)

Isn't it wonderful to know that we have fifty days from Easter day to celebrate Jesus' resurrection? Fifty days leading to the great feast of Pentecost – another cause for rejoicing!

Yet another cause for rejoicing is the hope we have in us through the resurrection of Christ, ''Christ in you, the hope of glory''. Christian hope is not merely wishful thinking, but a confident expectation based on the promises of God as revealed in Scripture. It is a hope rooted in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and characterised by certainty and assurance. Jesus has been raised from the dead; Jesus lives. That is the message of Easter and that is the basis of our hope in Christ. Hebrews 6: 19 describes hope as "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." This metaphor illustrates the stabilising effect of hope in our lives, providing steadfastness amidst life's trials and uncertainties.

After Jesus' crucifixion, the men and women who loved him, who had been his closest followers were left bereft and without hope. Their hearts were broken; they had lost the one who gave them life, and who gave them the hope that never vanishes completely. They did not seem to remember any of Jesus' words and yet, with hope, the women waited and kept vigil. The women carried that irrational hope with them as dawn broke. They climbed to the cave that served as Jesus' tomb, where a great surprise – the surprise of the ages – awaited them. The tomb was open, the body gone, and Jesus was alive!

For hope to be hope, it must be grounded in something real, otherwise it becomes this unrealistic ''pie in the sky'' optimism or fantasy. Like the Apostle Paul, our hope is concrete, rooted in our experience of the resurrected Christ, our Lord and Saviour. As the well-known hymn goes, ''My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness.''

Despite all the uncertainties and fears of the times we live in, let us continue to live as people with hope. Let us make sure that the wearing of ''the hope of salvation as a helmet (1 Thess. 5:8) becomes part of our daily dress code. Let us become hope for the hopeless, infecting all the people we encounter daily, with that sure and certain hope we have in Christ. The Holy Spirit enables us to do this.

Below is a beautiful piece I came across in the 2011/12 Methodist Prayer Handbook:

A Song of Hope
Hope is my companion when all else has been lost to me.
Hope urges me to rest and reflect in a place of possibilities,
so that re-creation and renewal are mine.
Hope is my guide when I am confused.
Even when the darkest of nights seems never-ending
I find that I am embraced, comforted and consoled.
Despair may threaten to overwhelm me,
but hope lingers and anxiety is quelled,
allowing the seeds of joy to be sown.
No matter what may come my way:
assaults from the ignorant,
abuse from the misguided,
silence from those who should stand by me,
I will not be overcome again. Amen.

(Bruce Thompson, Lincoln and Grimsby District Chair
taken from A Testament of Hope: Transforming Life in Troubled Times)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13)

Every blessing,
Georgina