Romans 4:13-25

"For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For 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 there is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 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 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since 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 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:13-25)

Most people tend to buy into the belief that their significance is based upon their performance. That performance may be being successful, traditional, cutting edge, moral, sexy, athletic, intelligent, popular, influential, and so on. It is almost inconceivable to most of us that you could be an ugly, unsuccessful, awkward, failing, social outcast, and still be extremely significant. Even those among us who want to believe that the useless of society have importance, nevertheless, struggle immensely when we find ourselves in the useless category.

Doggone it, people like me. American has never been more saturated with messages of self-esteem then it is today. Before his senatorial ambitions, Al Franken mimicked and mocked this somewhat absurd movement as Stuart Smalley in his SNL acts, and Christ Farley did the same with his “I lived in a van down by the river” motivational speeches. I still remember the absurdity of watching my favorite athlete Michael Jordan (I’m from Illinois, so I have a claim to him) looking into a mirror with Franken saying “I’m good enough. I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.” Ironically, despite the onslaught of positive reinforcement, most Americans feel that they simply are not good enough, smart enough, and well liked. So Paul’s claim in this passage sounds as unrealistic today as it did when he wrought Romans.

Hope against hope. The claim is simple. Significance doesn’t come through personal performance but purely by grace. God didn’t keep his promise that he would save the world through Abraham’s offspring because Abe was a stud or because Abe kept God’s law. In fact, Abraham was the epitome of a late-bloomer. A hundred years old and he hadn’t even got started on the “promised” offspring. Of course, Abraham tried, but all his efforts were totally unsuccessful, if not destructive. The way Abe received the promise was “in hope believing against hope”(4:18). In hope, Abraham believed that all that was against hope (his hundred year old body, his wife’s ninety year old body, and the fact that she was about as fertile as pavement) was not enough to thwart the promise of God. In other words, Abraham believed that he had no hope left but God. It was when Abe believed he was useless that God used him and his wife to start the process of saving the world.

Pure grace. The bottom line is that ultimate significance and acceptance comes not when you perform well, but when you realize that you have no hope of performing well. Hope is found when all is “against hope.” When we come to this point, we are ready to see that we are accepted because of what Jesus has done on our behalf. His death and resurrection form the basis of our significance. Thus, whether I’m good enough, smart enough, or whether people like me, I am treasured and loved by the Creator of the universe and will be for all of eternity.