Hoping against hope

Genesis 18: 1-14;

 18 The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.

 Romans 4: 18-22

 ¹⁸ Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become ‘the father of many nations’, according to what was said, ‘So numerous shall your descendants be.’

 ‘If God exists, how does He make Himself known to us?’

 This Genesis story, explained by Paul writing to the disciples in Rome is one of my favourite of the Hebrew Scriptures. It’s about two elderly people who have a long frustrated heart felt desire. One day when both were going about the ordinary things of life, doing all they could to keep their minds from the subject that no doubt fuelled no little conflict between them, an unexpected guest arrives. The Lord appears in the midst of their life’s difficulty. We see difficulty in personal relationships; they live in a contested land holding on to promises perceived to be long forgotten or misunderstood while time is running out for both of them.  It is into these hurts of life that God appears. The Lord appears as three men ready to share a meal and a message of hope. A hope that the promises of God are not delayed but scheduled. ‘Hoping against hope he believed’, God reveals Himself in faith and trust. The gift of God is not just the promise but the faith to trust in the promise. God visits us, eats with us and reminds us that we are an indispensable part of His story of freedom and justice. There will be times when the fulfilment of the promise of God feels distant and out of reach and that our time may have gone. But time does not run out on God’s promises and time does not run out on us. The Lord promises to return to this elderly couple and He does; in the fulfilment of the promise and the faith to keep going until that day arrives. God continues to make Himself known to us, He reveals Himself to us with the promise of a soon return and the strength to believe that He is faithful and will establish His peaceful Kingdom based on love, justice and freedom for all the peoples of this troubled world.

Maranatha