Bishop Joemath – April 2024

Watchword for the Month

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (But do this with gentleness and respect.)” – 2 Tim. 3:16

Dear reader/listener, you and I have been called to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to anyone we know and meet or who shows interest. Jesus took some time preparing his disciples for this. In fact, He did more than this: He led by example. He was a man of hope. He lived in the faith and hope that his Father in Heaven is in control and shared this hope in many ways with all his followers. All his messages spoke of hope for a future filled with love and forgiveness and all He taught about his Kingdom. We have just celebrated a period of intense celebration of a particular era in the life of Jesus that speaks specifically about the hope an individual can exude during every difficult period in life.

The people of Philippi were taught or one may even feel commanded to display a culture of hope under all circumstances of life. And we may say this was a demanding expectation under conditions that never favoured a peaceful culture from them. They were under constant surveillance should they bring their newly found faith into the public arena. So the deliberations would have been ongoing: What is expected of us and how do we bring others into the faith?

When I saw this text for this month of April I immediately thought of the very positive and encouraging words of Ps. 121. The writer is so full of hope in everything life throws at you and he sees the hand of God in everything he experiences. Help comes from the Lord because everything is his and He never slumbers nor sleeps as He watches over your life.

So my first question in hearing our text, and meditating on it, was: ‘Are you also a person full of hope? Are you a person inspiring others with a spirit of hope that is visible in you? What is the hope all about that you have?’ This leads one to so many thoughts and answers. I am so grateful for people who, despite a disposition, still inspire others to continue boldly and can think of various names to mention. In accordance with the text we should find ways to gently radiate such hope. Our Lord Jesus Christ was never a person of force or harsh persuasion but we can take from Him the ‘Gentle Jesus meek and mild’ approach in all his interactions with people, that till today still serves as
our example as followers of Jesus.

But let us be absolutely clear about this: You can only live and display and answer people about your hope if it there deep inside your heart and person. If fear or insecurity is driving you then your actions will clearly speak about it to people. Similarly, if hope is in your make-up, you will be an inspiring person of hope. I often see vendors on the street advertising their creations boldly to make an income and one of those is based on our very own I Cor. 13v13: Faith, Hope and Love! We are called upon to freely share the reasons for our Hope to the world in trouble. There is a song that has in recent times become very popular and speaks clearly about the Hope that is in me:

My hope is built on nothing less / than Jesus’ blood and righteousness / I dare not trust the sweetest frame / but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. / On Christ the solid Rock I stand /all other ground is sinking sand / all other ground is sinking sand. (Get and teach yourself the full song on YouTube.)

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you to keep my Faith, Hope and Love focussed on your living example of who I should be. I confess that I am easily shaken by the testing circumstances I have to face every day. May my life become filled by the strengths I see in You, my Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Augustine Joemath (Bishop)