Maintain a Legacy Through Faith, Hope and Love

by Reverend Spencer E. Hardaway

And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. – 1st Corinthians, 13th Chapter: 13th Verse

Our ancestors had an undeniable faith in a God who could do anything — but allow us to fail. Regardless of austere, tragic, or unfair conditions, their resilience was a stabilizer that enables them not only to persevere, but to shape history by their actions. Africans in America spent almost three hundred years (1619-1863) enslaved in bondage. During those horrific years their families, though fractured and broken, survived and thrived, like the Hebrew children of Egypt. Faith, Hope, and Love were the qualities and characteristics given to them, to rise above the dissidence that sought to keep them enslaved, impoverished, and impotent.

Undaunted by unfair treatment and harsh living conditions,
African-Americans excelled in the fields of politics, academics,
religion, and science. During the years of Reconstruction, from 1865 to
1877, Blanche Kelso Bruce was elected the first black U.S. Senator from
the state of Mississippi. Africans in America built most of our
historically black colleges and universities during the Reconstruction
era: Wilberforce University in Ohio (1856), Shaw University (NC, 1865),
Howard University (Washington, D.C., 1867), Morehouse College (Georgia,
1867), Meharry Medical College (TN, 1867), Hampton University (VA,
1868), Tuskegee University, (AL, 1881), and Spelman College, (GA,
1887), to name a few. To date, these universities still provide
competitive and quality education, not only for our African American
students, but for all students.

In those same years, African Americans organized most of our churches
and denominations (with the exception of the AME denomination, which
has existed since 1796). A number of African-American churches were
also birthed in Asheville during Reconstruction, including St. Mathias
Episcopal Church (1865), Nazareth First Baptist Church (1868), Mt. Zion
Missionary Baptist (1880), and Rock Hill Missionary Baptist Church
(1898). These churches paved the way for freedom, and still today
remain a place where the wounded, weary, and worn can still come for
refuge, inspiration, and fellowship.
The life disciplines that allowed our ancestors to excel were:

Faith: Our ancestors were not perfect, but they possessed an unshakable
faith in God, an undaunted hope that tomorrow would be a better day.

We need to have faith in God above all else, but also faith in each
other, and positively in ourselves. Let us place the kind of faith in
ourselves and our children that was place in us by our ancestors. Keep
the Faith

Hope: Our ancestors had undaunted hope. They believe that whatever
happened to them in the course of a day’s events God would help provide
a way and the strength needed to shoulder another day. Their belief was
that the good they were engaged in would make a difference in the
scheme of life. They believed that God could do anything — except fail.

Hope can shape and determine your actions. We serve a God of hope who
can bring victory from defeat, beauty from ashes, and redeem our lives.
It is up to us to keep that hope alive. We need a hope that propels us
into positive actions and activity. A hope that will not be snuffed out
and extinguish by trials, tribulations, or testing and temptations.

Love: Deep inside our ancestors was a love that inspired those who
lived in the home, as well as those who dwelled within the community.
The kind of love that nurtured, disciplined, and directed. Our
ancestors loved us enough to teach us not only how to live, but what to
live for! They lived a life that counted for something, not a life of
just having something to count. Their love wanted the best for us.

Our foreparents were taught the Love of God from the Bible, and they
experience the love of God through worship, self-worth, endurance, and
fellowship. We need to cultivate that love; and teach that each and
every one of us has value and self-worth.

Yes, those who came before us left a legacy of Faith, Hope and Love.
What will we leave to those who come after us? Will they find us to
have been faithful? Will they see a faith that will inspire them to
believe and obey?

We must maintain a legacy of healthy faith in God, and in each other.
We do have our challenges, but we are not beyond hope. We are a
resilient, resourceful, patient, and persevering people.

As the old Negro spiritual says: ‘We have come this far by faith
leaning upon the Lord, trusting in his holy name; he’s never failed us
yet.’ We have come this far by faith, and it will be faith, hope, and
love that will carry us farther down the highway of life.

Reverend Spencer E. Hardaway is the pastor of Rock Hill Missionary
Baptist Church, 486 Caribou Road, in Asheville, and the Chairperson of
the Interdenominational Ministers Alliance. He also chairs the Social
Action committee of the Baptist Ministers Union. Rock Hill invites you
to join them on Sundays for 9:30 a.m. Sunday school, 11 a.m. worship
services, and 7 p.m. Wednesday night prayer and bible studies. 

For more information on becoming involved in the church ministries, call (828) 274-2533.