Absurd Hope [Lent 2C]
The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Absurd Hope I wonder if the first step was the hardest. Or if it was the next. Or the next. Maybe every step felt hard. Each step toward hope was also loss. Each step in pursuit of the promise meant an old dream had to die. Each step created more distance between him and everything upon which he had come to rely. Each step was a step he would never get back. He was leaving his homeland; he was leaving his family; he was leaving the protection and provision of his father's house. And for what? Because he heard the voice of a God? Is that enough? Abram had nowhere to go. He just went. The first words God whispered to Abram in the book of Genesis dismantled the patriarch's life: “Leave your land, your family, and your father's household for the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation and will bless you.” And he went. Now, let's be clear: the offer sounds appealing, to be th...