The Righteousness of Faith
“No distrust made him waver concerning the promises of God…” our text in Romans says this morning of Abraham regarding God’s promise to him.
Abraham was given a promise and he believed it. Promises and covenants have been around as long as the world has existed. People enter into relationship with one another and promises and agreements are made, covenants are made. Some have been sealed by blood, some written down, some with a good ole handshake, some sealed with a kiss. But all have the intention that both parties will adhere to their end of the agreement.
Abram had been given a promise by God in Genesis 15 that he would become the father of many nations, and by Genesis 17, when Abram was 99, still nothing had happened, there was no heir. Sarai his wife we know had given up and attempted to use her maidservant Hagar to fulfill God’s promise.
Sarai decided to make things happen and had taken matters into her own hands; Abram becoming the father of many nations did not happen in the timing she thought was reasonable (given her age and physical condition) and so she took some action of her own, and gave Hagar her maidservant to Abram for him to father a child through her.
We are told in Romans that Abraham “did not weaken in his faith”. (He did go along with the plot of Sarah though, but that is a different story…)
I mentioned last week that here in Lent in Year B of the lectionary calendar we are exposed to various covenants that God makes with His people. God is a covenantal God.
When we make covenants or promises with others, we are expected to keep our end of the promise, and dependent on the other keeping their promises. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. It depends on who we make the promises with, as well as sometimes events and natural occurrences over which we have no control.
It requires faith on the part of both parties.
Abram had been given a promise by God and Abram had faith to believe it.
Faith requires us to trust and believe in something that we may have not witnessed.
Faith can be reasonable or unreasonable; it depends on what or who you have faith in.
Lent is a season of penance and of turning inward and examining ourselves. It needs not be a season of deprivation, (though that may be a part of it for you), but rather a season of deep reflection and re-centering. A season of changing things in us that we may need to change.
Our Collect begins exhorting God to “…Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith.” Penitent hearts is listed before steadfast faith and it may be that penitent hearts - hearts that are humble before God and understand their standing before a righteous God, are required for our faith to become steadfast and unshakeable.
It may require us opening ourselves up to new possibilities and new understandings, not only of who we are, but of who God is.
Being a penitent and faithful Christian may require us to challenge our assumptions of the ways the world works and God works.
God moves, calls, and operates in ways that are surprising and unpredictable, consistently throughout Scripture.
The story of Abraham and Sarah is one of surprise. They have made a logical assumption that they won’t be able to have kids of their own together, (they took matters into their own hands with Hagar and that didn’t end well), and now they are just living their lives not really expecting much new to happen.
Abram is now 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram again, and reiterates that God was going to make Abram exceedingly numerous. He states again that Abram would be the ancestor of a multitude of nations and God changes Abram’s name from Abram to Abraham.
God blesses Abram and Sarai in ways that no one would have predicted. A covenant that they would be exceedingly fruitful.
They get new names to go along with their new identities that they receive very late in life.
God kept His promise to Abraham.
We are told in Romans that this promise of exceeding abundance and numerous ancestors did not come to the Abraham through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Faith may require us to believe in the seemingly impossible. Not a foolish faith, but a faith based on the character of God.
What could happen in our own lives if we opened ourselves up to the seemingly impossible? How would our lives change if we walked around being open to being transformed and to experiencing God in unexpected ways? How might our lives change if we operated out of faith sometimes even just a little?
Letting go of assumptions of how God works and what our future holds could puts us in a place full of wonder and possibility.
Abraham and Sarah were certainly not prepared at the age of 99 for the birth of a son - Isaac- who would change their world.
We are rarely prepared for acts of God in our lives. Are we open to the possibility?
In our Gospel today, Jesus says we must lose our life in order to save our life. While this passage may seem frightening in its extremity, maybe it means giving up predictability, a sense of control, in order to surrender to God’s mystery. Opening our lives up for God to move in them in ways that we may not have planned for.
Jesus’ entire ministry reflects the surprising ways that God works in the world, the way God takes human assumptions and turns them on their head. The disciples, the Jewish people, were expecting a king who would come to rule.
In this scene from the gospel, when Jesus reveals that he will suffer, and be killed, the disciples are shocked. This is not what they were thinking.
Peter even took Jesus aside and rebuked him.
Jesus then rebuked Peter and exonerated Peter that he was setting his mind not on divine things but on human things.
What things are our minds set on?
God’s story isn’t ours.
Peter’s expectations are dashed by what Jesus says. They were looking forward to overthrowing Rome and restoring the throne of Israel. Now Jesus tells them that he will be defeated, arrested and killed.
Things weren’t going to look like what they were expecting.
Our lives rarely do. Lives of faith rarely do.
Faith takes us from death on the cross to the new life of resurrection with Jesus. It is not a faith that requires us to close our eyes and hope for the best or to just quote platitudes and be observers in our lives, “Well, everything happens for a reason…”, but rather it is a faith that requires us to take stock of the life of discipleship that Christ call us to, and to act in faith, accordingly.
Some Christians throughout history have paid the cost of discipleship with their lives, but most of us won’t have that required of us. We will carry the cross one step at a time, one day at a time, one act of generosity or sacrifice or love at a time.
It may require us to be vulnerable at times in ways that make us uncomfortable.
When Abram and Sarai committed to God’s covenant with them they were changed at a fundamental level and God even changed their names, to Abraham and Sarah.
Changing at a fundamental level is the cost of discipleship. It is what Jesus is speaking of when he says those whose lose their life for my sake, will save it.
Following Christ may require you to lose life as you know it. It may require you to get rid of and change some things that you hold dear. It will reorder your priorities in life.
And when you can let go of the image of what you think God may be like, and some assumptions you may be holding on to (like Peter), of what it was going to be like, you may just find yourself open to what it is, and a new life that through faith will make us more like Christ.
Lent, invites us to a posture of humility and openness - an openness and vulnerability as we look inward at our lives and things we may need to change.
And it may be that in losing our life as we know it,
we may find ourselves there.
Amen.
Abraham was given a promise and he believed it. Promises and covenants have been around as long as the world has existed. People enter into relationship with one another and promises and agreements are made, covenants are made. Some have been sealed by blood, some written down, some with a good ole handshake, some sealed with a kiss. But all have the intention that both parties will adhere to their end of the agreement.
Abram had been given a promise by God in Genesis 15 that he would become the father of many nations, and by Genesis 17, when Abram was 99, still nothing had happened, there was no heir. Sarai his wife we know had given up and attempted to use her maidservant Hagar to fulfill God’s promise.
Sarai decided to make things happen and had taken matters into her own hands; Abram becoming the father of many nations did not happen in the timing she thought was reasonable (given her age and physical condition) and so she took some action of her own, and gave Hagar her maidservant to Abram for him to father a child through her.
We are told in Romans that Abraham “did not weaken in his faith”. (He did go along with the plot of Sarah though, but that is a different story…)
I mentioned last week that here in Lent in Year B of the lectionary calendar we are exposed to various covenants that God makes with His people. God is a covenantal God.
When we make covenants or promises with others, we are expected to keep our end of the promise, and dependent on the other keeping their promises. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. It depends on who we make the promises with, as well as sometimes events and natural occurrences over which we have no control.
It requires faith on the part of both parties.
Abram had been given a promise by God and Abram had faith to believe it.
Faith requires us to trust and believe in something that we may have not witnessed.
Faith can be reasonable or unreasonable; it depends on what or who you have faith in.
Lent is a season of penance and of turning inward and examining ourselves. It needs not be a season of deprivation, (though that may be a part of it for you), but rather a season of deep reflection and re-centering. A season of changing things in us that we may need to change.
Our Collect begins exhorting God to “…Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith.” Penitent hearts is listed before steadfast faith and it may be that penitent hearts - hearts that are humble before God and understand their standing before a righteous God, are required for our faith to become steadfast and unshakeable.
It may require us opening ourselves up to new possibilities and new understandings, not only of who we are, but of who God is.
Being a penitent and faithful Christian may require us to challenge our assumptions of the ways the world works and God works.
God moves, calls, and operates in ways that are surprising and unpredictable, consistently throughout Scripture.
The story of Abraham and Sarah is one of surprise. They have made a logical assumption that they won’t be able to have kids of their own together, (they took matters into their own hands with Hagar and that didn’t end well), and now they are just living their lives not really expecting much new to happen.
Abram is now 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram again, and reiterates that God was going to make Abram exceedingly numerous. He states again that Abram would be the ancestor of a multitude of nations and God changes Abram’s name from Abram to Abraham.
God blesses Abram and Sarai in ways that no one would have predicted. A covenant that they would be exceedingly fruitful.
They get new names to go along with their new identities that they receive very late in life.
God kept His promise to Abraham.
We are told in Romans that this promise of exceeding abundance and numerous ancestors did not come to the Abraham through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Faith may require us to believe in the seemingly impossible. Not a foolish faith, but a faith based on the character of God.
What could happen in our own lives if we opened ourselves up to the seemingly impossible? How would our lives change if we walked around being open to being transformed and to experiencing God in unexpected ways? How might our lives change if we operated out of faith sometimes even just a little?
Letting go of assumptions of how God works and what our future holds could puts us in a place full of wonder and possibility.
Abraham and Sarah were certainly not prepared at the age of 99 for the birth of a son - Isaac- who would change their world.
We are rarely prepared for acts of God in our lives. Are we open to the possibility?
In our Gospel today, Jesus says we must lose our life in order to save our life. While this passage may seem frightening in its extremity, maybe it means giving up predictability, a sense of control, in order to surrender to God’s mystery. Opening our lives up for God to move in them in ways that we may not have planned for.
Jesus’ entire ministry reflects the surprising ways that God works in the world, the way God takes human assumptions and turns them on their head. The disciples, the Jewish people, were expecting a king who would come to rule.
In this scene from the gospel, when Jesus reveals that he will suffer, and be killed, the disciples are shocked. This is not what they were thinking.
Peter even took Jesus aside and rebuked him.
Jesus then rebuked Peter and exonerated Peter that he was setting his mind not on divine things but on human things.
What things are our minds set on?
God’s story isn’t ours.
Peter’s expectations are dashed by what Jesus says. They were looking forward to overthrowing Rome and restoring the throne of Israel. Now Jesus tells them that he will be defeated, arrested and killed.
Things weren’t going to look like what they were expecting.
Our lives rarely do. Lives of faith rarely do.
Faith takes us from death on the cross to the new life of resurrection with Jesus. It is not a faith that requires us to close our eyes and hope for the best or to just quote platitudes and be observers in our lives, “Well, everything happens for a reason…”, but rather it is a faith that requires us to take stock of the life of discipleship that Christ call us to, and to act in faith, accordingly.
Some Christians throughout history have paid the cost of discipleship with their lives, but most of us won’t have that required of us. We will carry the cross one step at a time, one day at a time, one act of generosity or sacrifice or love at a time.
It may require us to be vulnerable at times in ways that make us uncomfortable.
When Abram and Sarai committed to God’s covenant with them they were changed at a fundamental level and God even changed their names, to Abraham and Sarah.
Changing at a fundamental level is the cost of discipleship. It is what Jesus is speaking of when he says those whose lose their life for my sake, will save it.
Following Christ may require you to lose life as you know it. It may require you to get rid of and change some things that you hold dear. It will reorder your priorities in life.
And when you can let go of the image of what you think God may be like, and some assumptions you may be holding on to (like Peter), of what it was going to be like, you may just find yourself open to what it is, and a new life that through faith will make us more like Christ.
Lent, invites us to a posture of humility and openness - an openness and vulnerability as we look inward at our lives and things we may need to change.
And it may be that in losing our life as we know it,
we may find ourselves there.
Amen.