On Hope, Faith and Action
Sheena Rolle
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
-Hebrews 11:1
One Sunday this Hebrews scripture was sitting with me and it popped up as a flippant response to a friend, leading to a moment of serendipity. It reminded me of conversations that my seminary brother,
Brenton Brock, and I have had about what it means to see justice work as an act of faith.
For me, faith is HOPE in action.
So often, looking at our circumstances logically and practically could lead us to believe that we’ve already lost. If faith is the substance of things hoped for, then the decisions to organize, to move forward against powers that seek to destroy you, and to build when you know some force is already plotting to tear you down, are decisions based on hope. This radical faith is the will to do something about the world that we hope will bring change, faith until it manifests. Hope for something different drives us to keep showing up. Hope is at the core of that kind of radical faith. It is the desire for something better.
Hope drives our faith when we fight for healthcare reform, not just as a matter of justice, but because we love so many who deserve so much better in times of sickness.
Hope drives our faith when we push for voting rights, not as a matter of simple politics, but because the voices of those who directly experience society’s problems desperately need to be raised up in the process of fixing those problems.
Hope drives our faith when we work for racial justice, not as a pathway to colorblindness, but because we know that racism has always drawn lines of life and death and we are tired of dying because we crossed the line; or dying because the line crossed us.
Hope drives our faith when we show up to worship, preach, teach and love each other in fellowship as we wait for the second coming of a Messiah seemingly gone too long.
The hope inside of us is so big, that it pushes its way through our consciousness and our breath until it takes up space in our faithful actions.
Before there is faith; before there are campaigns, or organizing committees, or deacon’s boards, or choirs or slogans or posters or fasts or prayer lines or any sort of faithful action, there is hope.