Betting Against the Odds; Romans 4

May the mumbling commence!

Sometimes you play the odds.  Sometimes you go with your heart, with your faith.  I am not talking about horse betting or any other sport betting or at the casino.  I am talking about how we live our lives.  In this passage from Romans 4, Paul wrote to the Roman church about the faith of Abraham.  Abraham held out and believed in a hopeless situation.  Read the passage below:

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."  Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah's womb was also dead.  Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.  This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."  The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Verses 18-25)

What did Abraham have to base his hope on?  He was already half way to the grave and his wife Sarah was not far behind.  Yet, Abraham believed that he and Sarah would have a son together.  Again, I ask, what did Abraham have to base his hope on?  He had God’s promise and that was enough – even the in face of public ridicule.

We may look at the situations that God has put us in and believe we are as good as dead.  But we should never lose hope – no matter the dire nature of the situation nor the length of the wait.  The promise that was given to Abraham is fulfilled through us.  We are his children because we believe in the promises of God.  We, too, can fully claim the promises of God through our faith in Jesus.

So we wait – even as Sarah and Abraham waited, even as Zechariah and Elizabeth waited.  They were waiting not only for a child in their waning years but also for the Messiah.  Mary, too, believed the promise of God, and she bore Jesus, God’s Son.  The Messiah has come.  His Spirit saturates the church and the world.

But we wait.  We wait for Jesus to come again.  In the world’s eyes, we wait and hope against all hope for an event that the first Christians thought would happen in their lifetimes – including the Apostle Paul.  What foolishness this must seem to those on the outside looking in!  We base our hope on God’s power to do what he promised.  In my eyes, nothing is more certain.

In the middle of this Advent season, I await to celebrate the birth of my Messiah, my Lord, my Redeemer.  I wait to welcome Jesus into my life in a new way so that I may be God’s instrument better than I was yesterday.

Will you wait with me?  Will we wait with a purpose to make the reign of God more visible by the way we live our lives?  Or will you and I finally give up our hope in God.  It’s the hope that the world calls a fool’s hope.

Hope in God’s promises is the only true hope that I know.  To give it up will mean insanity, lunacy.

Help us, O God, to focus on your one and only Son, Jesus the Christ.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out