Hope Against Hope

“ABRAHAM AND THE THREE ANGELS,” detail. Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1670-1674.

by Robert Mohns

The Apostle Paul, when writing the letter to the Romans, lifted up our forefather, Abraham, saying of him that “in hope he believed against hope” (Romans 4:18). On its own, this is a rather curious statement. The context, of course, is the promise that God gave to Abraham that he would be the forefather of many nations.

Natural hope, or hope born of our flesh, quickly sees the impossibility of God’s promises. Abraham at his age was “as good as dead” (4:19). He and his wife Sarah were far beyond the years of childbearing. Moreover, Sarah was unable to bear children. Abraham had left behind his homeland and dwelt in a land that was in the possession of other nations. Yet Abraham hoped with God-given faith. He believed God’s promises. With divine hope, he hoped against what his senses, his gut, and his reason told him. His trust was that God would do what He promised. God does not promise what He is unable to fulfill. Paul goes on to say that Abraham was never swayed from this faith.

We who live in this time also live under God’s promise. Paul reminds us that the promise of God was not for Abraham alone; it was intended for all people. As with Abraham, so it is with us. “It will be counted to” all “who believe in Him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (4:24-25).

Paul reminds us that the promise of God was not for Abraham alone; it was intended for all people.

We see the outcome of Abraham’s life lived out in the promise of God. We hear how he handled family conflict with his nephew Lot over scarcity of grazing land, how he interceded for and saved Lot and his family, how he did not waver even when the Lord commanded him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. His trust in God’s promise never wavered, and God’s promise sustained and upheld him through all the days of his life.

The Apostle Paul commends Abraham to the Church and—even more so—he commends to the Church the promises of God which remain as unwavering to us as they were when they were first given to Abraham.

As an aging church body, we do well to pay attention to the words of St. Paul. Sometimes I think we see ourselves as good as dead—and that could be true. God has certainly crushed us down. We have suffered internal and external trials, tests, and temptations. Much has been written about the hopelessness of our situation. Perhaps you have felt it personally within your own body, your own family, and your own congregation. Our external, worldly, fleshly hope has suffered much. It is being put to death. Yet, against our hopes and dreams God’s promise remains dauntless and unwavering. This is what our God-worked faith grasps onto. 

Our external, worldly, fleshly hope has suffered much. It is being put to death. Yet, against our hopes and dreams God’s promise remains dauntless and unwavering.

Our external, worldly, fleshly hope has suffered much. It is being put to death. Yet, against our hopes and dreams God’s promise remains dauntless and unwavering.

I have been blessed to encounter many of the children of Abraham in my life, just as you too have likely encountered many children of Abraham. This summer I attended the celebration of two of our pastors who are marking the fiftieth year of their ordination into the office of holy ministry and who continue to serve faithfully. I am reminded of many more pastors and workers who have faced impossible situations and who continue to serve God’s people and their community. I have met lay leaders and members who continue, against all earthly hope, to faithfully serve the Lord. These are all children of Abraham. 

I have met immigrants and pastors from all over the world who have lived in impossible, horrific situations and who have suffered and sacrificed much for the faith—and I have heard them tell stories of other brothers and sister who sacrificed their very lives for the sake of the Gospel. These too are children of Abraham. This summer I encountered a group of almost a hundred people from our congregations at the IMPACT Youth Gathering, where I met youth, leaders, workers, and pastors whose faith and life are clearly deeply rooted in God’s promises. Daily I work with Lutheran Church–Canada leaders whose faith and life are lived out of God’s promises: hope against hope. 

All of these and so many more are children of Abraham. And by the grace and mercy of God, you too are Abraham’s child—a child of the promise, a child of God. By the grace and mercy of God, we are a church who in faith hope against hope. God grant that we would live out our days by the grace and mercy of God upheld by His Word of promise.

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Rev. Robert Mohns is Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC)’s West Regional Pastor.

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