April Week 3 — Mission Cleveland Parish

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

Human Story: Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983)

Corrie ten Boom demonstrated hope in the face of adversity. She was born into a Dutch Christian family who believed their faith compelled them to serve others in need. For them, serving others was a natural expression of their faith and a way to share with others the hope they had found in Christ. Among the recipients of their kindness included displaced Germans at the end of World War One, numerous foster children, and members of the Jewish community in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

During World War Two, when the Nazi Holocaust began to persecute Jews, Corrie and her family secretly opened their home in Amsterdam as a hiding place for those in danger. Although this act of Christian hospitality placed their own lives at risk, the ten Boom family helped Jewish refugees find other safe houses in an effort to flee the Gestapo. Some estimate that the ten Boom family rescued more than 800 Jews during that time.

In 1944 the family’s home was raided and all ten family members were imprisoned for their efforts. Corrie and her sister, Betsie, were sent to Ravensbrück, a German concentration camp near Berlin. It was during their time at the concentration camp, disconnected from their family, that Corrie and Betsie demonstrated the power of hope in their lives.

Despite rapidly failing health, Betsie maintained a hopeful outlook that encouraged Corrie and, together, they encouraged other prisoners. Betsie also began to make plans for their life outside the camp, even though their release seemed impossible. Among those plans included a home to help rehabilitate former prisoners and even to turn a concentration camp into a mission where they could minister to their German captors and help them learn how to love again. It was Corrie’s and Betsie’s strong faith in God that kept them hopeful even in the midst of their suffering.

Betsie died while imprisoned at Ravensbrück, but Corrie was released from the camp twelve days later due to a clerical error, which she believed to be God’s providence. Freed from the suffering of the camp, Corrie did not forget Betsie’s plans and returned to the Netherlands. There, after the war, she set up a rehabilitation center for former prisoners and even cared for those who had cooperated with the Nazis. Her hope and faith were greater than any hatred she could have chosen instead. Two years later, she began a ministry which opened doors for her to share her faith and hope in Christ in more than 60 countries over the next 30 years. She also wrote several books, including her autobiography, The Hiding Place, based on Psalm 119:114: “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.”

When thinking about Corrie’s trials—being taken from her home, separated from most of her family, imprisoned at a concentration camp, and watching helplessly as her sister became sick and died—one might consider it reasonable for Corrie to lose hope. Yet, undaunted, she experienced the power of living hope through her faith in Jesus Christ. It was this hope that compelled her to look beyond her circumstances and trials and to continue sharing God’s love with others in need until her death at age 91. It was this hope that allowed her to proclaim, “With Jesus, even in our darkest moments the best remains and the very best is yet to be….”

Lesson: 1 Peter 3:1-9 (NRSV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

These words of hopeful admonition were commissioned by Simon Peter, an early church leader in Rome, and written by his co-worker Silvanus to Christians scattered throughout modern-day Turkey. Peter reminds his readers of the new life and identity given through the resurrection of Christ, and he offers encouragement that faith in Christ brings protection and salvation for one’s soul despite the suffering one may encounter. For followers of Christ, this offers not only hope for our future eternal reward, but also an active hope for each day in the here-and-now.

Faith in Christ does not exempt us from trials and difficulties. Relationships and possessions may prove to be temporary, and we may suffer because of the actions of others or even from consequences of our own actions. Even then, we can have hope because our souls are safe in Christ who will keep us as we trust in Him. Remembering that Christ rose from the dead and has promised to come again with full victory over evil can fill us with hopeful anticipation.

One way to live out this hope is to pray how Christ taught us—asking for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven so that his kingdom will be established among us. These are more than words we recite as we corporately invite God to allow us to be vessels through which His kingdom principles are realized in our community. It reminds us our hope is not in the systems and structures of this world, but our hope is in Christ. This active hope reminds us that all is well with our souls despite what might be happening around us, and it compels us to share Christ with others through our words, our witness, and our actions.

Remembrance

A Liturgy for the Ritual of Morning Coffee – Every Moment Holy: New Liturgies for Daily Life

Meet me, O Christ
            In this stillness of morning
Move me, O Spirit
            To quiet my heart.
Mend me, O Father,
from yesterday’s harms
From the discords of yesterday,
            Resurrect my peace
From the discouragement of yesterday,
            Resurrect my hope.
From the weariness of yesterday,
            Resurrect my strength
From the doubts of yesterday,
            Resurrect my faith.
From the wounds of yesterday,
            Resurrect my love
Let me enter this new day,
Aware of my need
            And awake
To your grace,
O Lord
Amen

Challenge

Reflect on the situation of Corrie ten Boom and how distant hope could have seemed. Consider people you know in your community that lived in eras when hope would have also seemed distant (World War II, health issues, financial crisis, death of a child, etc.). Ask them how they found hope during such difficult times and ponder in your heart what they say.

Reflection

Corrie ten Boom was in her 50’s when she was sent to Ravensbrück. Think about how many lives she touched for Christ in the second half of her life because she chose hope instead of anger or bitterness. No matter what your current age, think about how different your life will be in 5, 10 or 20 years based on your choice between hope and bitterness.

Further Growth

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