3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,
7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ...
Yesterday, I was talking about true and lasting hope - a hope that cannot be found through this world, but through the One who came to redeem the world. Verse 3 describes that as a "living hope," and Hebrews 4 speaks of the Word of God as "living and active." We can possess a vibrancy that can sustain us day by day, that enables us to live through the Spirit and spread the love of Christ to those around us. That living hope can even sustain us in our times of grief, loss, and trial.
In the fourth chapter of 1st Thessalonians, Paul offers practical direction on how we are to reflect the presence of Christ through us, including how we respond to matters related to death. We can find these words:
(10) But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more;
11 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,
12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
Roma Downey and her husband, Mark Burnett, have made a significant contribution to Christ-honoring television programs, including their groundbreaking series, The Bible, as well as A.D.: The Bible Continues. She was an instrumental part of the television series, Touched By An Angel.
Recently, in a Faithwire article centered on her new children's book, she commented on the role of her Christian faith in helping to sustain her and her family after her mother's death, stating:
“If we hadn’t had faith to lean into, if we hadn’t been people of faith, I don’t know how we would have coped,” she said. “I really don’t know. … As Christians and as believers, we have an understanding of the promises of Christ around this issue, and the promise of heaven, and the resurrection of the body, and all the things that we’ve been taught and believe.”The book is called, A Message in the Moon, and she is quoted as saying, “This story for this book has sat in my heart for a really long time,” adding, “My mother died when I was just a little girl; I was only 10.” The article goes on to say:
As a result of such a monumental loss due to an unexpected heart attack, Downey said she became quite close to her father, whom she described as a “great dad.” The struggles that came along with her mother’s death, though, were profound.
“To say that we were heartbroken would be an understatement, because we didn’t even have the preparation of illness, which I know can be traumatic and painful for a child to see their parents suffer and go through a long illness,” she said. “But … there was no warning, and so it was as if somebody just turned the lights out in our lives.”
Downey continued, “If I was making a movie of my own life, my childhood would be in full technicolor, and then, when my mother died, it’s as if the movie then went into black and white.”
The Faithwire article states:
Downey said she believes the experience of losing her mother so young helped give her empathy and compassion. These emotions and attributes have since colored much of her personal and professional work and story.
Through her relationship with her father, she recognized that she was not going through struggles alone; in fact, as she prepared to go off the college and faced the anxiety of that life transition, her father took her to a garden, pointed her to the moon and reminded her that same moon shone down on them both, so she could be reminded that he "loved" and "cared" for her.
She also relates about the power of prayer; she says: “I do believe in the power of prayer and … I begin and end my day with prayer,” adding, “I ended my book with a prayer to encourage parents … to relax and create that peace in our little ones before they fall asleep.”Downey and her husband, Mark Burnett, have had great success in the past with the Emmy-nominated miniseries "The Bible," which was watched by more than 100 million people in the U.S., and the feature film "Son of God," which was the second-highest grossing faith-based movie opening of all time.
"It's all been an unexpected blessing, honestly,” Downey told CP. “Right back from the beginning, when I got my big breakthrough role-playing the angel Monica on TV, in 'Touch by an Angel.'”
“I guess we have stepped out boldly,” Downey added. “Someone a few years ago called us the noisiest Christians in Hollywood. And certainly, we have been noisy, it's true. But it's such an opportunity to be able to share our love of God, and to evangelize a little bit through our work. At the same time to make sure the work is still quality work and entertaining work.”
We can consider the degree to which we are making an impact on those around us. Roma Downey and Mark Burnett have demonstrated a propensity to share truth - and we can be challenged to realize that the Bible is more than just words on a page or scenes on a screen. It is living and active, and we can strive to have a living faith, a faith that demonstrates the Word within us.
People need to see whom we know and we can be prepared to show it to them, speaking and living the truth, but doing so with grace. How we deal with our struggles, how we respond when provoked, how we relate to those with whom we disagree - all of these contribute to how effective our witness is. We should always be mindful to have conviction, but to live it out with compassion.
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