[ii] Hebrews 11:8
[iii] Luke 12:32
August 8, 2004; Proper 14, Year C
The Rev. Harold "Skip" Comer, Rector
I’ve always been fascinated by the story of Abraham and Sarah. God picks an old man, although I must admit as I get older, maybe he’s not that old after all. God tells Abram, who is later in the story renamed Abraham, to pack up all of his belongings and take his wife to a foreign country without any idea of where they was going to live or what he would do for a living once they get there. What was Abraham thinking? Did he believe that he was about to inherit the American dream?
Abraham obeyed the instructions of God even though there was no promise that his life would be better once he got to his destination. God simply said to Abraham, pack up your belongings, take your wife, Sarai, and go. If you do this, “I will bless you.”[i]
The story doesn’t make a lot of sense. Why didn’t God choose a younger man? Abraham, who was about seventy-five at the time, could have died on the journey, and then what would God have done? And what about Sarah? She is almost as old as Abraham and he is dragging her away from her family and friends, and the only home they had ever known. The story is really incredible. The Bible simply states that Abraham listened to God, packed up his belongs, took his family and went.
Centuries later the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews, reflecting on this historic move, said, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going.”[ii] The author of the Letter to the Hebrews proclaims that because Abraham obeyed God he was righteous. In essence, he is saying, “Folks, this is what faith looks like.”
On the one hand, the story of Abraham’s journey of faith is quite an inspiration to me. But on the other hand, it is very discouraging. I am inspired by the fact that God takes ordinary people, people like you and me, and does something fantastic with them. I get discouraged though, when I read about some of the major league people of God in the Bible – like Abraham – and then really wonder if I have as much faith and trust in God for him to lead me where he wants me to go. It was one thing to respond to God’s call to move up here from Indiana. When we came we knew where we were going to live, at least temporarily, and I knew that I would be your next rector. It is hard for me to imagine us packing up our belongings and moving up here at the beginning of the search process, before any decision was made, trusting that God would provide. I want to say like the disciples, “Lord, increase my faith.”
Let’s take another look at Abraham, the man who was held up as the ultimate example of faith by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. In our reading from Genesis this morning Abraham has arrived in the new land God directed him to and he has finished setting up camp. That night God appears in a vision to reaffirm his promise to Abraham that he would have countless descendants. In fact, he took Abraham outside and told him to look up at the stars. “Abraham, that’s how many descendants you’re going to have.”
There was just one problem. Abraham and Sarah did not have any children. Both of them are now in their nineties, well past the time that people would be expecting a visit from the stork. Worried about dying and leaving no heir, Abraham had already taken things into his own hands, designating one of his trusted servants, Eliezer of Damascus, to inherit his estate. Sarah, too, got into the act. She was deeply saddened that she had not been able to give any children to Abraham. While the custom seems foreign to us, she arranged to have Abraham sleep with Hagar, her personal servant. She reasoned that, in this way at least, they would have an heir that was at least fostered by Abraham, instead of picking one of their servants as the heir. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.
My reason for bringing this up is to illustrate that even the great leaders in the Bible had times when their faith was put to extreme tests making them waver in their loyalty and trust of God. It is difficult to let go when things are not going right and trust that God will come through. And even when he does come through, it is sometimes difficult to accept. I am thinking of the incident recorded later in the story of when angels visited Abraham and Sarah to inform them that they were going to have a child. Sarah’s immediate reaction was to break out in laughter, something that did not sit to well with God. But then, Sarah was in her nineties, and just the thought of becoming pregnant was absurd. The rest of the story is that Sarah bore Isaac who was the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise.
We, spiritual descendants of Abraham, are children of the new promise in Jesus Christ. Our hope, that is unseen to the naked eye, is the new land of our inheritance, the kingdom of God. We like Abraham have been invited to make an incredible journey, full of uncertainties and surprises that like Abraham will challenge our commitment, our trust, our faith in the God we believe in. There may be times that we wonder how reliable God is – will he come through for us? There may even be times when we wonder if the inheritance really exists. What if it’s not there?
When Abraham set out for the new land, he did not know if it really existed our not. But he trusted that God would not lead him astray. In the same way, Jesus told his disciples, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give the kingdom.”[iii] This is the assurance we have been given, the kingdom exist and is waiting for our arrival.
Yet our journey will be different than Abraham’s. He packed up all of his belongings and took them with him. Jesus says that we are to pack nothing, as a matter-in-fact we’re supposes to give it all away. Maybe like Sarah, we laugh, because it is absurd to think of living right here and now with nothing – no house, no car, no food in the refrigerator, oops I forgot, we don’t have a refrigerator because we have given it away. What is Jesus getting at, are we really suppose to get rid of everything? Jesus is trying to make a point. If we become so concerned about tomorrow, about making sure that we have enough “things” for our comfort and pleasure, then we loose focus of the journey we are suppose to be taking. We don’t like putting all of our eggs in one basket. We would rather diversify, just in case God is like the Stock Market and all of a sudden, we who were once rich are scrambling to pay the bills. Just in case the kingdom does not come tomorrow we hold back a little nest egg, or maybe a big nest egg. We would rather trust in our own ability to provide for tomorrow than wake up and ask God what he has in store for us today. I do believe that God is more reliable than the Stock Market, and if his Son advises us to invest everything we have in the kingdom, then that it is a sure thing.