Hi, good morning! I know, this is a little late this week. Hope you are all enjoying the beautiful almost fall weather. The message today is based on Chapter 2 of The Story (Zondervan, 2011, Grand Rapids) and Genesis 12:1-9, 15:1-6.
For those of you who are as unco-ordinated as I am, can you remember the first time you had to take a step on a balance beam in gym class? I do. It was terrifying. In fact through the four years of high school, I never did walk on that beam by myself. Never. Someone always had to hold me by the arm to give me balance. I just never had much of it on my own. Still don't. But to pass gym class, I had to at least give it a try. Pretty scary to take that first step. It's a good thing someone was holding me up.
That's how it is for many of us when God calls us to take a step out in faith. You know, a challenge faces you that you haven't faced before and you think, " I cannot do this. it is impossible. Lord, is this really you?
In our story today, we meet two people who are challenged by God beyond their understanding or imagination. Even beyond their physical capabilities. Yet they accept the challenge.
The world has recovered from the flood; the earth is getting repopulated pretty quickly, peopled are farming the land, kingdoms are being built, economies are developing. Many people remember who the living God is, many don't. Those that don't remember, they just produce their own idols to worship.........some things never change. That rebelliousness that began with Adam and Eve is alive and well; it's time for God to act on the next step of the plan to bring humankind back into relationship with him.
So God picks a young, dynamic man, full of energy and determination, to build this nation. A person people will look at, be amazed by, and follow to the ends of the earth. It will all happen quickly and, poof, with a wave of God's Holy Ghost magic wand, a nation will be built. Yay, God!
Except......nope......that's not what happened. That God. Never does things the way we expect, how we think it should all be done. And not in our time frame either. Hmm. What really happened was that God approaches a 75 year old man named Abraham, takes the guy aside, and says to him, "Go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all people on earth will be blessed through you." Abraham is 75 and his wife, Sarah, is 65 and childless. Great nation? Pretty outrageous of God. But that old gentleman, Abraham, believes God and moves his household and travels a long distance to where God leads him.
Now Abraham and Sarah are in their new location in Canaan. God now tells Abraham that his offspring will be given this land. Time passes and passes....and passes....and......passes....but no offspring yet; no heir through which this promise will take place. Abraham is waiting patiently for God to act. Sarah is waiting, too. Her patience is not quite as extensive as Abraham's. Sarah decides that Abraham will have a child by another woman, her maid Hagar. Did Sarah lack faith? Maybe....maybe not. Why does she decide that Abraham's only chance to have a child of his own will be by another woman? Does she have a character flaw or is she spiritually lacking?
Or does she think she is not included in God's promise because of her age and the fact that she never has been able to bear children? Then again it might be that she just may have the personality to want to get things done. As the wife of a very wealthy man, Sarah is in charge of a large household. She is used to making decisions. Maybe she was thinking, "Okay, Abe, God promised you a child and it's been now 10 years since we left our home and moved to Canaan, years since God took you outside and said, 'Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them; so shall your descendants be.' But nothing has happened, Abe, my darling. So maybe God is waiting for us to take the initiative and do something. After all......you're not getting any younger....."
So she comes up with a solution. Yes, her maid Hagar does get pregnant and a child is born. But instead of solving the problem, life just gets more complicated. She and Hagar are not good to each other and it turns out that the child born to Abraham by Hagar is not the child through whom God will make the great nation that was promised.
Now what? It's not looking too good for a new baby for Abraham and Sarah. Did God really make all those promises? Maybe Abraham was just projecting his own yearnings and confused his own thoughts with God's words. It happens......sometimes the words from God's mouth to our ears get pretty garbled. Not for Abraham, though. He trusts God and he is still confident that it was God speaking. As the apostle Paul wrote many, many centuries later, "He [Abraham] 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, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised." (Romans 4:19-21)
More years go by and it is now almost 25 years since Abraham was promised an heir. Twenty five years......think about it. His centennial birthday is coming up real soon. This amazing man has not given up. And his faith is finally rewarded. The miracle that he is waiting for does happen. Sarah does give birth to that promised baby, Isaac, and he is the heir through which the promise of a nation will be fulfilled.
That's Abraham and Sarah's story. What is your story? Where is God leading you in your life? Is there a first step that you need to take? Are you facing a challenge that you haven't faced before? Are you the one who is thinking, " I cannot do this. It is impossible. Lord, is this really you? Am I the one now, not Abraham, who is projecting my own yearnings, my own disappointments, my own ambitions and confusing my own thoughts with your words?"
I know, so many questions, so many things to think about. So stop worrying so much! Take some deep breaths and be still and quiet..........
That first step of faith can be just like taking the first step on the balance beam; it can be terrifying for those who don't have a good sense of balance.......standing up there alone, knowing that you can fall at any time. Keep in mind, though, that when we take that first step of faith, we don't do it alone.
There is someone present to hold us up; we have the presence, strength, and sense of purpose of God with us. We also have each other to encourage us alone the way.
Maybe you feel you are not up to the direction your life has taken. Are there excuses that keep stopping you from taking that first step? Maybe you lack confidence in your abilities, your knowledge, your age, your gender, etc.
Again...stop....be quiet.....take some more deep breaths. If those reasons are so compelling, why did God call you anyway to this new path? To make your life more complicated? Consider this, "But God chose what is foolish to confound the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God." (1 Corinthians 1:27).
You are not alone in this life's journey. God still has a plan for this world, for each one of us. Remember who you are. As Christians, we believe that Jesus died and rose to life to bring us back into relationship with God. You are now empowered by God's Spirit so that you can face that journey ahead. No matter how impossible and scary it might seem........Remember, Abraham never lost faith.........100 hundred years old......babies.......diapers.......midnight feedings...............
Amen.