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“Hoping against hope” is the phrase that grabs my attention today.
It is literally translated, “who beyond hope in hope believed.”
I instantly find myself responding to these words in recognition of reality
and desire. The reality that both in my life and our life together, there
are situations that seem to be beyond hope. And in those times I am ready
to concede and say, “This is dead . . . this is gone.”
We have walked through some of those times together. We have seen marriages
crushed seemingly beyond repair. We have been with folks who were sure their
children were forever lost to them. We have known churches that had gotten
so small and finances so bad that they have said three more months and then
we are closed. In these circumstances we have sung songs of mourning and walked
away. These are times when all is bleak and death seems to reign. Sometimes
we do not fully admit these deaths to ourselves. And yet if we ponder the
situations in which we have simply stopped praying, we might begin to name
some things that we have buried and left for dead.
I have a feeling that Abraham and Sarah may have known that sense of bleakness.
While our passage from the epistle to the Romans says “no distrust made
him waver concerning the promise of God” we can look at the account in
Genesis and know that this did not mean the road wasn’t bumpy. The promise
for offspring had come early in their journey but nothing came of this promise.
Sarah became hopeless and asked Abraham to sleep with her maidservant Hagar,
so that she could have a family through her. It was an attempt to help God
along with fulfilling his promise, something we often do ourselves. This,
as you can imagine, only made things more complicated.
Again God speaks to Abraham and says that Sarah will have a son. Abraham fell
face down and laughed. Later interpretation claimed this was from joy but
the passage says, “he said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a
man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?’”(Genesis
17: 17). God re-assures him that this promise will be fulfilled. Later, when
“visitors” came and announced this baby would come in the next year
it was Sarah’s turn to laugh. The Lord said to Abraham; “Why did
Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’
Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:13b,14).
This is a great statement for us to ponder, “Is anything too hard for
the Lord”. Obviously the answer is “no!” I like this little
interplay in the passage that follows. “Sarah was afraid, so she lied
and said, ‘I did not laugh.’ But the Lord said, ‘Yes, you did
laugh.’” It is then a great play on words when their son is born
and named Isaac. For Isaac means “he laughs.” God has the last laugh
every time.
While Abraham did not waver concerning the promise of God, I do think he might
have had some questions as he waited for the promise to be fulfilled. Questions
like; “Did I hear the promise right? Was the child to be Sarah’s
or is Hagar’s child the promise? Is there something I am supposed to
do? We can be people of faith who have questions. And yet the promise we hear
is the basically the assurance we hear from our passage from Romans, “Is
anything to hard for the Lord?” Even when all seems lost and the promise
seems past due, if God is the one we are waiting upon there is reason to hope
against hope.
What is it that we can learn from Abraham? There are some wonderful lessons
here for us. That God creates life and it comes in the most unexpected places.
That God works wonders with just a little bit of faith. That God is not constrained
by the situations in which we find ourselves. Rather, God is the one who can
take Abraham and Sarah, who are beyond any hope of producing children and
brings forth life. This kind of miraculous hope against hope is found in Paul’s
letter to the 2 Corinthians when he says; “We were so utterly, unbearably
crushed that we despaired of life itself. Why we had received the sentence
of death: but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises
the dead”(2 Corinthians 1: 8-9). We are in the presence of this same
God, “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things
that do not exist”(Romans 4:17).
This passage from Romans gives us assurance that the promises of God rest
on grace and are guaranteed to all his descendents. That means that we too
are a people who are invited to turn to God and by faith receive the promises
he has for us. Those promises include such miracles as a restored relationship
with God and a faith that will be strengthened as we give God glory.
So when we find ourselves in those dark places of life or we admit to those
things we have given up praying over God calls us to be a people who “hoping
against hope,” turn to God again to receive his presence anew into our
lives. For where God is, there is hope. If we will just turn to him ever so
slightly, he comes, he creates, he saves, he sustains. God comes into the
most messed up of circumstances and by grace forgives and restores us into
right relationship with him and with each other. God comes into the most desperate
of times and holds us as we cry out our pain. God comes and begins the work
of restoring our faint faith that has survived a crushing blow. God comes
to us and, therefore, we have hope. For no matter how far gone we might think
we are, whether we be a ninety-year old Sarah or a hundred-year old Abraham,
God is not finished.
We talked earlier about marriages crushed seemingly beyond repair, of folks
who were sure their children were forever lost to them, of churches that had
gotten so small and finances so bad that they have said three more months
and then we are closed. I have known marriages that have risen from those
ashes of despair to live and thrive. I have seen children come home to the
embrace of their families. I have seen churches made alive for a new generation.
We have witnessed some of those things here together. So we know that God
is not finished even after the last song of lament has been sung.
Illustration - Share a local story of despair and resurrection.
What is it that we can do when difficult times of waiting on God arrive again?
Perhaps a cue can come from Abraham’s life. In the midst of all the evidence
that told Abraham that life was not possible, and that God’s promises
could not be fulfilled, the scriptures say, “he grew strong in his faith
as he gave glory to God.” Though weakened when he looked at his present
circumstances he was strengthened when he looked to God. This response of
faith, this turning to God, brought him into right relationship with God.
We too get lost when we focus on the limitations of our personal resources.
There is sadness about us, there are ramifications of sin, there is still
free- will which makes some outcomes unpredictable. This is all true. But
there is also God. A God, who when we are open to his presence, comes to us
and offers new possibilities, revived hope, and the radical optimism of grace.
We do have to release certain outcomes regarding some situations. Nevertheless,
we know that God is not finished working in the hearts of every person for
whom we have prayed. God is not finished bringing the fullness of his life
to our own.
It is also interesting to note that it was as Abraham gave glory to God that
his faith was strengthened. There is something important for us in this example.
In the action of giving glory to God he was strengthened. We often think that
giving praise should arise from a strong place in our lives, when hope is
easy. We need to join Abraham in giving God glory in the times when hope is
hard to find. Worship opens our eyes and hearts to ponder what God can do.
Joining others in praising our God also helps us to see the way God is at
work even now. This kind of praise helps us to be a people who are “hoping
against hope” in all things.
When I have been in one of those times where I am waiting on God’s presence
and promise to be made known in some situation in my life it can be hard to
worship. I am easily distracted and even bothered by what’s going on
around me. There is something unsettled in my soul. My mind, in every silence
returns to the concern I am carrying in my heart. And yet I am there, in worship
with all my angst and weariness joining those who have gathered in praise
to my God. And there is healing in that place. I may not be singing my strongest
but there is a strength that begins to return to my faith. There is a ministry
that happens to my soul when I bring all the “stuff” of life and
join the gathered people of God in a sacrifice of praise.
This is not to be a solo challenge. It speaks of the necessity of the church
community. As we worship even in a small tired voice, the congregation can
lift us and their voices can carry us. When we can hardly pray, their prayers
speak for us, their affirmations of faith become ours and we are strengthened.
So many times when we are weak in faith we pull away from the community, when
the opposite is our call and need. Come and join in giving glory to God and
see what might happen to that little seed of faith!
The word of God assures us that in Christ there is a future. Through faith
in Christ we enter into the presence of a God who brings life from death,
wholeness from brokenness, and healing where there is sickness. Let us give
thanks for these gifts of grace. Let us look to God in all circumstances.
Let us be a people who are filled with a “hoping against hope!”
AMEN
Barker, K., (General Editor) The NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids,
Zondervan Publishing House.
Bruce, F. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Revised Edition: Romans.
Leicester, Inter-Varsity Press, 1998.
Dawn, M. Truly the Community: Romans 12 and How to be the Church. Grand
Rapids, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1992.
Fitzmyer, J. Romans: A New Translation with Introduction and
Commentary. New York, Doubleday, 1992.
Harrisville, R. Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Romans. Minneapolis,
Augsburg Publishing House, 1980.
Soards, M., Dozeman, T., McCabe, K. Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary.
“Year A: After Pentecost 1”. Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1992.
Moo, D. The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Epistle
to the Romans. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996.
