Weekly worship: second Sunday of Lent, 17 March

• Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

Abram is being asked to take the long view in this passage in Genesis. God promises him innumerable descendants and that they would all own land. Yet the circumstances of Abram’s life suggests this is very unlikely. He and Sarai, his wife, are both elderly and childless. 

And in this time of Lent as we reflect on our lives and on the seeming chaos of our world we might feel that the blessings and promises of God have passed us by.

However, Abram's faithful response to God’s promise present us with both a challenge and an inspiration: ‘And he believed the LORD, and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.’ (15:6)

Just as Abram gazed at a night sky brimming with stars, light years away, we are asked to look into a future that goes far beyond ourselves. Particularly when it comes to the work of ending poverty and the restoration of Creation.

As we hear daily news reports of species extinction and of events linked to climate change, we as the people of God are asked not to look at our immediate circumstances, but to lift our gaze to the stars. To believe that another world is possible, and to participate in that other world by working towards a future we may never see come to pass.

We are given inspiration and examples in this by our partners in the Philippines, as we listen to the stories of the community living at the sharp edge of climate change on the small island of Tabugon.

They're choosing to care for creation by planting mangrove trees, so their small island home can be protected from the effects of storm surges as a result of climate change.

But more than that, mangroves absorb three times more carbon into the land than the rainforests! They're planting for the future of the planet – a future they will not get to see.

And for all of us this Lent as we count our blessings, we are invited to give, act and pray for a world we may never see, but believe is possible.