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Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene |
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Texts:
Date: Sunday, March 3, 2002
Cancer continues to be a word which takes on epic meaning for us.
Our joint prayer chain with Saint Bartholomew’s is constantly bombarded
with requests of friends, family members, co-workers, and neighbors diagnosed
with cancer. Mae, Joan, my
mother, Geoff, and now Rick have all heard those dreaded words “you have
cancer.”
The suffering and pain victims of cancer endure is, at times, horrific.
Round after round of chemotherapy draining the body of every ounce of
energy (not to mention the loss of hair and appetite).
Day after day of radiation leaving the skin burned and blistered.
Battery of tests, surgery, and blood transfusions -- all take their toll
weakening the body. As we
watch we try to remain hopeful even when the situation looks bleak.
Indeed, those of us standing by the bedside try to speak words of hope;
words of comfort; words of assurance. We
try to speak words of meaning to their situation.
We try to muster these meaningful words -- all the while questioning why
this, why now, and why this person.
And into life situations like these you and I cling to the hope that a
divine act of God will intervene; that a divine act of God will alter and change
things -- all the while bringing meaning and
sense to the situation. We pray and
long for a divine act of God like the water gushing from the rock which brought
hope and meaning into the lives of the wandering Israelites. We pray and long for a divine act of God like Jesus
speaking words of hope and meaning to the Samaritan woman at the well.
From time to time in our lives -- especially when confronted with the
realities of our own mortality -- we need to hear “life giving” words --
words that sustain when we are weary and worn down; words that refresh when the
landscape of our lives is dusty and dry. Read
Romans 5:1-11
Today’s Word from God does, indeed, speak a word of hope; of meaning to
our life situations! Earlier in
this letter Paul asserts that “hoping against hope he [Abraham] believed that
he would become ‘the father of many nations,’ according to what was said,
‘So numerous shall your descendants be. 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. No
distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his
faith as he gave glory to God” (Romans 4:18-20, italics mine).
In Romans, Paul makes a case study of Abraham’s lifelong journey of
faith. Becoming more familiar with
Abraham’s story will shed greater insight into today’s lesson.
Returning to Genesis chapter 12 we discover that God articulates a
promise to Abram that unfolds over the next 13-plus chapters.
In chapter 12 the promise is that God will bless Abram and make him a
great nation. In chapter 13 the
promise expands to include all the land that Abram sees and his offspring will
be numerous.
Often we get the sequence of events in the story of Abraham confused.
We sometimes think that the promise of a son is prior to the birth of
Ishmael. In reality, that expanded
promise occurs over 24 years after Abram initially leaves his homeland.
In fact, Abraham appears to assume that is as good as it will get and
pleads that God might accept Ishmael as fulfillment of the promise.
Like you and I sometimes, Abraham began to believe that his hope rested
in his own ingenuity; his own initiative. Abraham
thought his son Ishmael through his wife’s servant would satisfy and bring
fulfillment to a divine plan. God
was not satisfied!
In chapter 17, God says to Abram: “4As
for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude
of nations. . . 15As for Sarah your
wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
16I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her.
. . 17Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to
himself ,‘Can a child be born to man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah,
who is ninety years old, bear a child? 18And
Abraham said to God, ‘O that Ishmael might live in your sight!’
19God said, ‘No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son,
and you shall name him Isaac. I
will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring
after him” (17:4). “hoping
against hope he [Abraham] believed”.
Hope is not merely wishing for something like a child hopes for chocolate
ice cream; merely wishing or relishing the idea of something that might come to
pass. Instead, to hope is to expect
that which is certain to occur. And
hope that never disappoints is always based outside of ourselves -- it is rooted
in God. Abraham’s hope was based
outside of himself! Ishmael was not
acceptable fulfillment of God’s promise because it was based in Abraham and
not in God. God Himself gives
meaning to our lives; to our very existence through the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus the Christ! And
this is why Paul is so anxious to come to Rome!
Consider the ridiculous, unwavering hope illustrated in the life of
Abraham who believed God could bring new life out of a nearly dead body.
It’s okay to laugh! Both
Abraham and Sarah laughed at the promise! A
son? Now? No way!
But . . . we know they acted on the promise of God because there’s only
one recorded immaculate conception in Scripture (and it’s not this one)! “hoping
against hope he [Abraham] believed”
“And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured
into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the
ungodly” (Romans 5:5-6).
For in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ God gets the last
laugh. . . but it’s not a mocking laugh nor is it a jeering laugh!
Rather, it’s a doubled-over, belly-aching laugh so loud that leaves the
very foundation of our earthly existence forever altered!
A divine act so profound that finite creatures like you and I can be
transfer into an eternal kingdom -- the very kingdom of heaven!
“And hope does not disappoint us.” “Thus
it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living being’; the last Adam
became a life-giving spirit. But it
is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual.
The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from
heaven. As was the man of dust, so
are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are
of heaven. Just as we have borne
the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We
will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, at the last trumpet. For
the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be
changed. For this perishable body
must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality, then
the saying that is written will be fulfilled: ‘Death
has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where,
O death, is your victory? Where,
O death, is your sting?’ The
sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ” (I Corinthians 15:45-57, NRSV). “hoping
against hope we believe”
The Lenten season is a time to recognize our own mortality.
It’s true -- we won’t be around forever!
The cemetery surrounding this church bears witness to this reality!
But. . . the Good News is that being born anew; being born from above
ushers us into eternal life! Think
of it -- we can live forever! (Albeit in the spirit by faith!)
There’s a trite saying we sometimes make use of in the church: “God
said it. I believe it.
That settles it.” For
Abraham there was no wavering in his faith in God’s promise. . . and the
content of God’s promise was that Abraham would be the father of many nations.
God’s promise was fulfilled!
For you and I there must be no vacillating in our faith in Christ’s
death and resurrection and the promise of new and unending life.
For the hope that never disappoints is not found within ourselves, but,
rather, rests solidly on the work of Jesus the Christ in this world!
Hope looks forward to what is unseen -- an eternal crown of glory --
knowing that it is certain to occur! This
hope is not blind for it is based in the promise of God solidified in the person
and work of Jesus the Christ. Jesus
has unlocked the door to eternal life. He
invites to join him . . . we enter by faith!
In these days I am coming to a greater understanding of Paul’s dilemma
when he boldly asserts “whether I live or whether I die it makes no matter.”
Consider it: Paul sitting in
a prison cell awaiting a trial which could end with the death penalty pens these
words to the fellow believers at Philippi: “For
to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.
If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do
not know which I prefer. I am hard
pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is
far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.
Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with
all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in
your boasting in Christ Jesus which I come to you again”
(Philippians 1:20-26).
To hope -- to hope in the Lord -- is to expect that which is certain to
occur. And what is certain to
occur? That by faith accepting
Jesus’ death and resurrection we receive the eternal life-giving Spirit of God
and we live forever! And that Hope Never
Disappoints! May Almighty God, to whom we have been reconciled through the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, make you steadfast in faith, abundant in joy, and unwavering in hope today, this week and forever. Amen. |
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