(Editorial note: these thoughts are part of a Sunday School lesson taught to the Elliott Class of Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas. Their beloved teacher, Jim Smith, was in the end stages of cancer.)
I Corinthians uses three simple words with complex meanings to summarize the essence of the Christian life.
1. Faith in God - we as Christians don't have faith in faith, but we have faith in a personal God. When we talk about "the faith," it is a noun; but when we talk about "my faith," it is a verb. The best definition I know of faith is, "acting as if it is so." Faith results in doing what he says - obedience.
2. Hope - hope is shown by how we extrapolate the good of the present into the future. It is important to avoid hopelessness, for that is sure death. So many cases have shown where a patient who became hopeless died very quickly. Hope is the lifeline, and we must develop the reflex of extrapolating the good. So often we project the bad, or we counter-balance the good by saying "it's good now but I know it won't last. Hope is vital.
3) Love - Our relationship with each other is lived out in our actions ---- love is a verb. May I suggest three acts of love?
a. Prayer — I do not understand intercessory prayer. I know that God loves Jim more than I do. Christ died for Jim. And how can my petitioning God in Jim's behalf have any additional meaning? Yet as I ride in the car praying for Jim and Jan and the girls, I realize how much I need to pray for Jim, and since God commands me to do it I know it has value. In a word, I need to, He says to, and that's enough.
b. Stay in touch - with each other. Writing is so important, because it is not limited as are visiting and calling. Each letter is another little urge to the immune system to strengthen Jim's chances.
Use this experience to bond the class in spiritual love. As evidence of that let me quote the old hymn before we stand and sing it:
"Blest be the tie that binds,
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. "
Faith, hope, and love ---- sounds simple, but it is a lifetime of learning and practicing. Bless us as we grow together.
