Meeting 2021 with confidence and hope
“Singapore should meet 2021 with confidence, hope: PM”. This was the headlines of The Straits Times on New Year’s Day. In the article, our PM observed the relative success of Singapore compared to other countries, and praised the trusting relationship between the government and the people, and in one another.
“What has stood out in our response to COVID-19 is the trust our people have in our system and in one another. In many countries, COVID-19 has deepened old fault lines and created new tensions. Singapore has thankfully avoided major divisions among our people, and the pessimism and loss of trust that has happened elsewhere…. Let us meet 2021 with renewed confidence and hope.”
The observations of our Prime Minister are spot on. And as the Church of Christ, we lift our hearts and gratitude and praise to our God and Father for His wisdom and guidance upon our nation - her leaders and her people.
But I would like to deepen our observations on this first Sunday of the year. Through 2020, it has been interesting for me to see our Prime Minister employ the language of the NT - a spiritual language. Confidence. Faith. Hope. Charity and Love are all concepts and ideas that the Church has long ago spoken of as “theological virtues”. And so rightly on this first Sunday, let me ask this question - Confidence in who? Hope for what?
Can we hope for things to get better? Do things around us actually get better? Do our husbands become kinder and more generous towards us over time? Do honeymoon lovers naturally fall in love more and more over the years? Do we get more healthy and strong with each new year? The facts of life point to this - everything around us is subject to decay, corruption and ultimately death. The facts that the natural order of things spirals downwards. Given these basic facts of life, why would we ever believe that things will get better and better? How can one speak about hope for a better future?
But this IS the mysterious fact of our human existence. Despite the scientific data all around us, we continue to hope. We continue to believe. With a shift of a second, a turn of the hour, and a few fireworks in the sky, we suddenly feel hope. 2020 is now gone. 2021 is now here. And things will be new. Isn’t it strange that something within us causes us to just believe against all logic that things can be better?
This is another fact - human beings have to hope. Without hope, our souls would enter a downward spiralling black hole of depression and we would experience death before our physical bodies. It is this basic and pure fact that also explains why we can be so easily fooled. Aging women are being conned into forever young beauty treatments; Aging men are being conned into by the promise of feminine youth and beauty. Health and fitness packages promise eternal youth and strength and thousands of dollars are given away on a promise of change. Hope is both a necessity and the bane of our existence.
Are we stuck in this ironic existence? Are we condemned to this foolishness? Do we really have anything to hope for; and just what IS the confidence of our hope? Jesus is the basis of our hope, the ground of our confidence. Because He lives, we can face tomorrow.
In our journey 2021, we have a Leader who knows the way.
For our work 2021, we have a Foundation that is sure.
Through our life 2021, we have Someone is promises to be with us, mountain high, valley low and plain plateaus.
Let’s make Jesus the Centre of our lives. He is our hope. And our confidence in Him will not prove wrong. He is risen. And He not only can, but will make us Strong, if we let Him.
Because He Lives, Happy New Year!