Bishop Jerry shares this excellent article written by a good friend in Birmingham, Alabama - Bucky Wood:
"I present the following thoughts, not as a trite and inept attempt at a sermon, but as an example of the benefits of faith, the beauty of a belief in God, and the consequences of that belief. Even most non-believers recognize that a culture of faith and belief in God adds value to society. Kids are (perhaps) raised better, people in general understand better the differences between good and bad behaviors, and those in such an environment see that "doing for others" leads to a happier life. It nurtures a fellowship also, and that adds value to one's life.
Shouldn't the primary reason to believe in God, and a risen Christ as His Son, is that it is the truth? Shouldn't that fact, alone, be sufficient as a motivation for our faith? While it is an engaging prospect that such a belief allows for, and entitles us to, an everlasting life, that benefit should perhaps not be the only reason for one's belief. It is certainly a beautiful consequence of a commitment today to turn our life over to Him. And that eventuality can ameliorate many feelings of hopelessness one might have today. For many, that hope for an everlasting future adds the value we need to live a more fulfilling life.
Richard Simmons is the founder of The Center for Executive Leadership in Homewood. That is the location of a large number of Bible Study groups, and one that I attend. Richard had this editorial last week entitled The Hope of Easter in the Over the Mountain Journal. In it he discusses the nature of, and origin of true happiness and joy. He begins with an observation that there are some terrible things happening that portend poorly for America, including suicide and drug overdoses in the young. He relates it to a sense of hopelessness pervading our country. He then points out that this "baby-boomer" generation may also be affected as we near the end of our lives. This prospect can be a source of great fear for sure.
But one remedy for this, he observes, is found in the belief of an eternal life, and he cites many examples of this. He quotes someone that... "hope is the engine that drives your life", and this may indeed be true. Those without hope are hopeless. Those without the belief in a salvation gifted to us by God, through His Son Jesus Christ, may... "drift from life's great foundation and begin to feel we do not need God and can do fine without Him". The bottom line to Richard is that "We need hope".
His best example is described by him as an American POW camp in a German prison. They lived with great despair. They had no idea what the future held, nor what was happening in the outside world. Would they ever see their families again? But a few engineers were able to put together a make-shift radio and started getting news. They heard that the allies had moved across Europe, were coming into Germany and then that the Germans had surrendered. The German guards did not even know this yet, but the prisoners began to rejoice in celebration, laughing and singing, sharing jokes over meals. So their circumstances haven't changed a bit. They were still in prison, eating the same grub, sleeping in the same beds, abused by the same guards, but the knowledge of a better future created incredible joy for all of them. The guards were perplexed at this behavior.
Richard Simmons' conclusion is hard to dispute. God intends for His people to live their lives with great joy as we anticipate the future, because He has told us what the final outcome is and what our final destiny is going to be. This is how we should live each day. Both because of that glory, but also because it is the truth.
It prompted me to consider examples of things that bring joy, even absent the expectation of eternal life and salvation. The recall of happy events is one, as is the satisfaction of an achievement. The completion of a hard workout, e.g., or finishing a project, or getting a good score in a game or in the classroom. There are many future events that bring us joy in anticipation. Think about the joy of planning for a future trip or adventure! What about the joy when you get good news about a close relative or friend. Even good news about a world event such as a war ending. All of these bring joy, even without the invocation of religion. But only as long as the absence of religion does not create a hopelessness that we see so often today. Reflection on a life well spent, the experiences and successes that it nourished brings joy to the present, as does the feeling after running a personal best in a race, or hiking a favorite trail.
All of this brings me back to the original point, which was the joy inherent in the knowledge that there is a reward awaiting us following this life. In an ironic way, this is almost a given to most Christians, in fact we run the risk of taking it for granted. Indeed, I do not think I know of a Christian who is not already certain of his acceptance by God into his Kingdom. So that thought may not bring immediate joy to him because the opposite thought, of no salvation, rarely even occurs to him. We are secure in our beliefs and confident that God is aware of them and accepts us into his embrace.
The irony is that these are thoughts that, once expressed in this email, and put to paper, bring me a certain additional amount of joy also. As does the anticipation of another weekly gathering of fellowship to share our thoughts at The Center.
All the best,
Bucky
