Faithfulness

Genesis 15:1-6; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40

One of my first, and favorite, professors at seminary was Ralph Klein. From him I learned the fun of using images to illustrate my point, and that there were many ways to interpret the ancient languages used in scripture. In the case of our first reading, from Genesis 15, Ralph pointed out that the original language, Hebrew, uses only pronouns. This leads us to wonder: who reckoned it to whom as righteousness.

English translations usually assign the reckoning to Abraham. God/the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. But Ralph said it could just as easily be translated this way: Abraham reckoned it to God as righteousness.

This fits better with an understanding of God as gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Or, as our psalm today states: God’s lovingkindness settles upon us. God’s love comes first, and we are nourished by it. God is faithful first, and we respond with imperfect attempts to be faithful in return.

… The author of Hebrews summarizes Abraham and Sarah’s story. For 25 years they remained faithful, trusting that God would eventually bless them with children. Their faith was imperfect, as we read the story of their lives. They tried to make things happen on their own, believing it was God’s plan, but it wasn’t. Even so, God remained faithful to them.

As Sarah and Abraham raised their son Isaac, and their grandchildren, they taught them to remain faithful to God, ensuring that the trusting relationship between Abraham and God would continue for generations.

… By Jesus’ time, the simple faith Abraham had in God, the trusts that God wanted a relationship with him and his family has evolved into rules and rituals designed to prove that humans are faithful. People have it wrong, Jesus teaches. It’s not up to us to prove our faithfulness to God; rather, it’s up to us to see God’s faithfulness to us.

Jesus challenges us to have no fear, to trust God as a sheep trusts its shepherd. However, we are not much like sheep, willing to be herded to greener pastures and to allow our fleece to be shaved off us yearly. We are more like …  

a flock of emus, who resist being controlled, who prefer to go our own way, who find it hard to believe that God is faithful to us.

Jesus insists that we need to be persistent, determined … to think, believe, behave differently than the way we have been taught. We must be willing to give up everything we have in order to learn that God wants to give us everything we need.

To discover that God is faithful to us, we need to be aware of what is happening around us. We need to be alert to God’s activity among us.

Of course, 2000 years ago, many people failed to see that God was walking among them, talking with them, teaching them about God’s faithfulness. I wonder how many people of that time realized too late that they had missed the very moment to meet God in person.

… It would seem that we who are gathered here this morning have a sense of who God is, have a reliance on God’s provision, trust God to be there/here! for us. But, when we are with people, do we look for Jesus to be among us?

Do we look for him to be at the bedside of those who are dying? In the grocery store with those who struggle to feed a family healthy meals? In worship with us?

Are we Jesus in those situations? For example … A parishioner from another congregation told me this story. Anna was a woman with an ample figure, standing in line at the grocery store on a Saturday afternoon. In front of her was a young mother with a crying baby. The more mom tried to quiet the baby, the harder the baby cried.

Anna reached out her arms and asked if she could hold the baby. Mom said yes. Anna said babies always loved nestling into her soft chest, and this baby was no different. It only took a moment for the baby to snuggle down into Anna’s arms and stop fussing. By the time the mom had paid for her groceries, the baby was happy and smiling.

… This week, I hope that you rediscover that God is faithful first, before you begin to trust God to give you everything you need.

And second, that you will help someone else see that God is faithful, giving them something that they need, maybe as simple as cuddling a crying baby.