Hoping Against Hope

Female martyrs, hoping against hope. 

Scripture:

Rom. 4:13   For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

Rom. 4:16   For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, ¹⁷ as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 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.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. ²² Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” ²³ Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, ²⁴ but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

Observation:

Paul continues looking back historically at the life of Abraham and affirms that the promises of God were given to Abraham long before the law. Again he is wanting the Romans to understand that Abraham was justified by his faith and not by the letter of the law. Paul was a good Jew and recognized the value of the law, therefore he made intentional connections between the Old Testament and the work of Jesus Christ. These are not two separate stories, but are one and the same. 

Interestingly, “Paul adds parenthetically: And where there is no law there is no transgression (parabasis; v 15b)” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). In other words, he affirms that we are not saved by the law, but that the law does give us parameters for life, and if we have no law, we don’t transgress. It’s just a little footnote that humanity needs to have laws so that we understand what is right and wrong. 

Paul then connects the dots between faith and grace — and this, for all of humankind. This is an affirmation of prevenient grace which reaches out to all of humanity, both Jew and Gentile — both follower of Christ and those walking in sin — providing a pathway through faith to salvation. Even for those who may be considered dead, Paul uses creation language — “calls into existence the things that do not exist.” The same power that brought about the creation of the world provides gracing power to bring new life to those who are lost. 

The next phrase is fascinating where Paul says that against all hope, Abraham hoped. The Greek says that Abraham was beyond hope in hope.  He persisted in hope, even when, in the earthly sense, he had nothing more to hope for. Käsemann tells us that believers who hang onto this kind of hope, “do not bypass realities but are aware of them and hold their ground just the same. They do not escape into illusion. They dare to trust the divine promise, contrary to every earthly reality” (Käsemann 1980, 124). For Abraham, the earthly reality was that God asked him to sacrifice his son, and asked him to believe that he would become a father when he was an old man. Abraham trusted “in a reality beyond the ability of eyes to see, in the God who allows a barren old couple to conceive a child of promise” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). This hope beyond hope meant that Abraham was fully persuaded [plērophorētheis] that the promise was not to be fulfilled through his own personal striving, but by faith in the all-powerful God could accomplish that which had been promised. 

Finally, Abraham believed in the God “who gives life to the dead” (v.17); “Christians believe in the God who raised Jesus from the dead” (Edlin & Modine, NBBC). The connection has been made between the Old and New Testaments and the lives of Jews and Gentiles alike have been united in the story of God. Just like Abraham, we can hope against hope and trust in our all-powerful God. 

 

Application:

Probably the danger in emphasizing the persistence in hope is that we all know those who have done so and haven’t seen their prayers answered — at least in the way in which we think they should have been. One of my brothers is currently working on his doctoral dissertation on ethics and the holocaust. He is examining the ways in which people were manipulated and used to commit atrocities beyond our imagination. Last evening as we sat over dinner he was sharing some horrific details that he has discovered in his research and leaves you wondering where God was in those moments. Not just moments, but days and weeks and months. At one point the camp that he is studying was killing 5000 Jews every three hours! How in the world do we do that to one another? And didn’t those people hope against hope? 

I don’t have the answers for those times when it seems that God is distant or not answering our prayers but there is still something that we need to embrace about hoping in God, even when we are beyond hope. Even today there are friends and family members who are facing their own, what appear to be, insurmountable problems. 

Abraham’s example challenges us to examine our own responses to what we are facing in life. No matter how hard we strive, we will not be able to retain healthy young bodies. The older we get, the more our bodies begin to wear out and as my dad used to say, “getting old is not for sissies.” We get to “enjoy” the addition of glasses, hearing aids, and maybe new joints. Walking up a few flights of stairs may leave us winded and going to bed earlier in the evening seems like pure bliss. The world’s economy is on shaky ground and those who have been striving to plan for retirement may suddenly find themselves stretched and perplexed at what is happening around them. Young people are challenged to be able to enter adult life as housing prices are out of reach and the cost of living is rising monthly. People are concerned that the Church is going to drift away into oblivion! With the realities of life staring us in the face, how do we hope against hope?

The lesson that Paul (and the Lord), wants us to learn is that when we can no longer put our hope in our own resources, we are to reach beyond and and hope in God alone. When we get that horrible diagnosis — reach beyond and find God. When we are crushed by a failed relationship — reach beyond and find God. When we are persecuted — reach beyond and find God. When we are unjustly treated by the world — reach beyond and find God. The same God who breathed this beautiful creation into being is the one who reaches out to us in grace and wants to save us from our own striving. This salvation isn’t necessarily for this temporal season, but for all of eternity. Somehow Abraham seemed to understand that reality, and when he had to hope against hope, he found faith in God. 

Prayer:

Lord, I know there are days when I’m putting my trust in my own striving, and so I need you to help me increase my faith. I need your power to hope against hope and trust in you. Amen.