Melody Murton is Tearfund’s Head of Communications and Education.
Image by Tace Stevens.
My kids are still young enough not to know that the good guys always pull through. They’ll pause movies in the moments when all seems lost, and ask, but is it going to be okay?
Incomplete pictures. Unfinished stories. They pervade our lives, and on any given day we find ourselves mid-scene, watching from the outside or in the action ourselves: heartache, uncertainty, crisis, injustice.
We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist, as The Message translation of 1 Corinthians 13:12 says. We live wondering how the good guys are going to pull through, and the not-knowing can debilitate us.
In chapters 13-16 of John’s gospel, we find Jesus with his disciples, squinting into the fog, as it were. He speaks of things to come – a place prepared for them, an advocate, persecution, grief, joy – but they can’t quite see it all working out. They keep asking for clarity and assurance, and Jesus keeps responding with never-failing love.
Not long after comes the ultimate mid-scene moment: the Saviour nailed to the cross. Greater love has no one than this… because love means so much more than behavioural upgrades. It endures through thick, ugly stretches of fog. It doesn’t hold back simply because the picture is incomplete.
Christ’s transforming love releases hope in us, in turn deepening our capacity to love as he did. This type of love requires us to die to self, to lay aside our own agenda in order that we might receive his vision of the full story and live into it with renewed hope. To live in hope is to lean full-weighted into the God of love; and to offer love – towards neighbours, enemies, each other – is an astounding act of hope.
Think about a personal example or experience of persevering in hope. Where did you see God meet you in this? Read this story of persevering hope in South Sudan – how do you see God’s love and hope at work in this example?
1 Corinthians 13 talks about how so much of what we value and strive for in this life will ultimately fade away, but what will remain is faith, hope and love. How do you see this playing out in your context/in the world around you? What can help us to fix our attention and pursuit on what will remain instead of what will fade away?
How does God’s love make us more hopeful people? What’s the difference between persevering with love, and without it?
At Easter we focus on Jesus, particularly the lead up to his death, and then the power of his resurrection. These are two extremely powerful expressions of sacrificial love, and victorious hope. What stands out to you most in this? How does it shape your own practice of love and hope together?
God of herons and heartbreak,
teach us to love the world again.
Teach us to love extravagantly
knowing it may
(it will) break our hearts
and teach us that it is worth it.
– Sarah Bessey, in A Rhythm of Prayer
Dig deeper into hope and justice, and engage your church in conversations of hope, with Tearfund’s Global Hope Report.
