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The 2nd Sunday in Lent (B) In the Name of our Lord. Amen. Why is it that the biggest disasters always seem to coincide with events on which we pin so much of our hopes? The times in our lives that we hope to be the best often turn out to be the very worst. How many big family get-togethers – Christmas, Thanksgiving, family reunions – start out fun, and then turn into fiascoes? You know what I’m talking about – you hope that you will all have a wonderful time together, but it almost never works out that way. Some persons do not really want to be there, and that affects the atmosphere. Maybe you end up being snubbed or picked on by a mother-in-law who doesn’t exactly approve of you. Cousin Jim still won’t talk to Uncle Frank, and the stains from Aunt Margaret’s pie will never come out of the carpet. I know that for Carol and myself – we have had a number of experiences of going to a family gathering with “high hopes” – and have left feeling very disappointed and frustrated that it wasn’t at all the wonderful experience that we had hoped that it would be. Yes, sometimes it seems that whenever we expect the best of times, we end up getting the worst of times instead. Thankfully, the reverse is also true. What may seem bad can sometimes lead to something good. My wife Carol, a year before we started going together, had interviewed for a job at a hospital in Tacoma, Washington. The interview had gone very well - she had come back thinking that it was almost a sure thing. She was excited, and even was preparing to put her house on the market – when at the very last moment the hospital decided instead to go with a candidate from within their ranks. Carol, needless to say, was extremely disappointed. But if she had been offered that job, we would have been out of each other’s lives forever. Instead, a year later we started seeing each other – we got married – and constantly so THANKFUL and BLESSED that we have a life together as husband and wife. And one of the major reasons why this happened was because she did not receive the job that she really wanted! Yes, sometimes the worst of times can eventually lead to the best of times in our lives. And also, after going through some of those bad experiences, we can then better appreciate the blessings that happen afterwards. Today’s first and second readings about Abraham and Sarah are a good illustration of this. As we heard in today’s second reading: “Hoping against hope, (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, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” (Rm. 4:18-21) “Hoping against hope…” Think of what that phrase means. It does not mean having a peaceful serenity, of having an absolute confidence that things will be OK. That is not what it was like for Abraham and Sarah. Indeed, their hopes seemed to be disappointed again and again and again. God had given Abraham a great promise that he would become “the father of many nations”, but for many years that promise seemed to be nothing more than a mirage. Nothing happened for thirteen years – and I can imagine Abraham and Sarah thinking that they certainly were not getting any younger! But yet they “hoped against hope” – hoping and trusting that somehow God would accomplish what he had promised despite all outward evidence to the contrary. And eventually, God indeed did turn their hope into a joyful reality with the birth of their son Isaac. About four months ago I shared with the students and guides in our confirmation program my own story about this. About thirteen years ago I was about as low as I could get in my own life. Due to financial problems, I had gone through bankruptcy. My first marriage had ended – and largely because of problems associated with that, I eventually had to resign my Call as the pastor of Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Pensacola, Florida – with no guarantee that I would ever be considered to become a pastor again.
During that period in my life, I felt like Jacob wrestling with the angel in Genesis 32:24-29 (that was the story our confirmation program was dealing with when I told them about this) – and telling the angel “I won’t let you go until you bless me!” I knew that I certainly did not deserve a “second chance” in anything, but somehow – despite all outward evidence to the contrary – I “hoped against hope” that God would bless me – so that I could then maybe become a blessing to others. And now, twelve to thirteen years later, I can only laugh with wonder and praise of what God has done for me in my life! God has blessed Carol and me in our marriage together – and here I am with you at Pella Lutheran Church as your pastor! After going through the “worst of times”, I truly feel that I am having the “best of times” here with you! It has been like experiencing a resurrection from the dead – and I thank God every day for it! “Hoping against hope” is the theme of today’s scripture readings – and it is good news for all of us here. As we experience and go through the fears, frustrations, and failures in our lives – whatever they might be – may we then know and hope that God promises to love us, bless us, and redeem us through Jesus Christ. Even when we can not see or feel the hope of this promise, we can still “hope against hope” that God will bring us through the “worst of times” into the “best of times”! And at the end, we have one more “hope against hope” to experience. For when it comes time for us to die, we can then “hope against hope” that we shall rise again to a new and eternal life that is more glorious and wonderful than we can ever conceive of right now! That is the hope that Jesus had in today’s gospel when he told his disciples that he “must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” And so shall it be for us in our lives as God’s people as well – though we may suffer, though we may be rejected, though we may fail, and though we die – WE SHALL RISE AGAIN! We shall rise again, and the worst of times shall indeed become the best! I know that this has been true for me, and WILL be true for me in eternity! So may it be for us all in our lives, and in our lives beyond the grave. Hoping against hope! Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen! -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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