April Week 1 — Mission Cleveland Parish

Virtue: Hope
Resolution: I choose to hope in God’s promise that all broken things will be made new.

Human Story: Melody Green (1946 - )

Today I have more faith in God’s goodness and ability to provide than ever before. Even when terrible things happen He can turn those things towards our good…but only if we have the patience to wait while we are hurting. –Melody Green

Melody Green, writer of the beloved song “There is a Redeemer”, is not a stranger to grief. Melody had a simple and quiet upbringing near the beaches of California. For lack of a safe place to play as a child, she became well acquainted with nature: the sand, ocean, and sunsets. Although born into a Jewish family who believed strongly that there was a God, Melody’s interaction with nature helped her to believe even more deeply that there was a Creator behind it all.

In her twenties, Melody dabbled in the hippy drug culture; she studied philosophy, astrology, even Buddhism in order to “find” and connect deeply with God. However, she did not find what she was looking for until years later after she married aspiring musician Keith Green. In 1975, Keith and Melody were invited to a bible study that changed both of their lives forever. It was here that Melody found what she was looking for: Jesus Christ, and her life’s trajectory immediately changed. She and Keith began opening their home to struggling adolescents as a form of ministry, and they hosted dinners with neighbors in their community. Their ministry grew quickly and was established as LDM, Last Days Ministries. They were thriving as a family, both with their ministry and Keith’s music until it all came to a screeching halt.

In 1982, Keith and two of their young children boarded a small plane for a quick trip, but it crashed only 20 minutes after taking off, leaving no survivors. Melody was left with their one-year-old daughter and she was six weeks pregnant with their fourth child. Speaking of this time in her life, Melody says, “The rug was yanked out from under my whole world that day…Without the Lord and the support of my friends and the LDM community I never would have made it.”

In spite of this tragedy, Melody went on to continue leading LDM, which has become a large international ministry serving disaster victims, the sick, the needy, and those in need of rehabilitation. In 1985, she rose to the forefront of the Pro-Life Movement, receiving death threats and even being arrested once during a peaceful protest. She also established the Good Neighbor Mercy Fund which has served victims of the Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, and others in need.

Today Melody resides in Hollywood, CA. Her daughters are married and follow Jesus, lucky to have a mother who set an example as one who was able to grieve with hope in her Savior.

Lesson: (NIV) 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Some of the Christians at Thessalonica had recently died (most likely due to persecution), and some of the believers there were concerned that those who had died would be at a disadvantage when Jesus returned, possibly missing out on something. Paul reassures them in our text that this is far from the case.

Any notion of the afterlife was a minority opinion amongst the populace in ancient Greco-Roman society. Death was considered final. Archaeologists have uncovered tomb inscriptions in Thessalonica which reflect this hopelessness, with sentiments of death being the end. There was certainly no concept of an afterlife. Paul is telling believers to grieve differently than “the rest who have no hope.” Grieving is assumed. We grieve because sin and death still permeate life, but we grieve knowing that sin and death have been defeated. We grieve knowing that death and evil will finally be eradicated at the consummation of the kingdom, when our hope is fully realized.

Life is full of heartbreak. Grief will most certainly come. When it does, don’t repress your grief; don’t try to explain it away or justify it or pretend you aren’t hurting. Just grieve. But grieve with hope, being assured that, though death may have won the battle, it has most certainly lost the war.

Remembrance

Death, Be Not Proud by John Donne

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

Challenge

We all know people who are hurting. Reach out to someone you know this week who has experienced the death of a loved one. It may be a neighbor, family member, or church member. Let them know you care about them and are remembering their loved one. It just might mean the world to them.

Reflection

Have you had circumstances in your life that have caused you to doubt God’s goodness and despair of hope? Think back to Melody’s story. How do you think she was able to continue in whole-hearted ministry after the death of her husband and two of her children? Remember that she acknowledged it was through her faith in the Lord and her community of friends and co-workers that she was able to carry on. Do you have a faith community you can turn to in times of doubt or struggle or crisis?

Further Growth

Virtue: Hope Resolution: I choose to hope in God’s promise that all broken things will be made new.