Faith, Hope, and Love…

 By Bishop Brian Maas

“Now faith, hope, and love abide, these three. And the greatest of these is love.”


I’m confident it would be far easier to tally the number of weddings I’ve presided over or attended that didn’t include this passage than it would be to tally those that did. It is of course a beautiful and powerful passage, even though it’s targeted not at a couple’s relationship but at an entire people living in community.

While that’s the passage that immediately pops to mind, it’s not the first time Paul lifted up this trio of virtues, and certainly not the only. Already in the opening of 1 Thessalonians, the earliest of his letters, Paul writes that he keeps the Thessalonians in prayer constantly, remembering “your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope.” These are clearly three essential marks of the Christian’s life, as far as Paul is concerned.

It’s nothing new to note that faith is a matter rooted in the witness (and our experience) of the past, that hope is oriented toward the future, and that love is a matter ever in the present—hence love is the greatest because love is always about now.

I can’t argue with that, but for the duration of this pandemic (and grief and divisiveness and so much more), I’m proposing we let hope occupy a higher spot. Love is probably more important to practice now more than ever, yet physical distancing, viral infection, crowd limiting, and more have made loving all the more challenging. When have you ever felt down or depressed and thought, “I could really use a Zoom call right about now?” There’s no substitute for a hug—or even close proximity.

Still we are called to love, but it’s a challenge. This is why I’m suggesting we need to lift hope a little higher. Hope is that light that shines in the future, pointing not only ahead, but reflecting into whatever deep shadows we’re struggling through in the now. It’s what lets us put one foot in front of the other even in the dark. When those shadows—pandemic, division, loss, fear—make it harder for us to see others enough to let us practice fully loving them, hope shines just enough for us to make out others, bridges the dark gaps between us, moves our hearts toward one another even when our bodies (or minds, attitudes, or memories) keep us at a distance.

Mind you, I’m not talking about mere optimism. I’m talking about HOPE. Optimism says, “I’ll be okay because things will get better.” Hope says, “I’ll be okay whether things get better or not.” Optimism is the practice of magical thinking (and it’s not without value—but it’s limited). Hope is the practice of deep trust; trust in the God who created, sustains, and holds us. When we have hope, the petty things that divide us in the moment don’t seem so significant; we can manage to step over them and towards one another to practice true love.

“Faith, hope, and love abide…” The greatest of these is love, but in the midst of all we’re experiencing now, the most needed of this is hope.

May God grant us the faith to live them both richly. 


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