Loving God, just as you called Abraham, so you call us to be the presence of Jesus in the world. May we always be led and empowered by your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

If I were to ask you today what you can tell me about Abraham, I’m really not sure what responses I would get. Some of you might have heard about how he almost sacrificed his son, Isaac (Gen. 22). Some of you might know that Sarah was his wife and that she laughed when she heard that she would bear a son, even in her old age (Gen. 18:12). Some of you might remember how Abraham entertained angels unaware, and it was as if he welcomed God himself to his tent (Gen. 18). Some of you might even know that Abram from Genesis 12 becomes Abraham in Genesis 17 (He is given a new name.) Yet, at the same time, there are probably many things that you don’t know about Abraham, for his life spans 14 chapters in Genesis!

Abraham is remembered for his great faith, yet there were times when he exhibited the same doubts and poor judgment that plague every human being. Did you know that twice he almost lost his wife Sarah to another man because he pretended that she was his sister (Gen. 12:10-20; 20:1-18)? And then there were the times when Abraham kept proposing to God alternatives to the son that he and Sarah were supposed to conceive. He suggested to God that a slave born in his household might be his heir (Gen. 15:1-6). Then, when Sarah still hadn’t conceived, Abraham took Hagar as his wife and had a son with her. Yet, God still insisted that the descendants who were promised to Abraham would come from his wife Sarah (Gen. 17:18-19).

Abraham was not perfect by any means and even worshipped pagan idols before he was called by God (Josh. 24:2). Yet, God chose Abraham, and made a covenant with him, and promised him land, many descendants, and to bless all nations through him (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:1-6; 17:8). So why is Abraham remembered for his great faith?

Well, for one thing, he answered God’s call and left his homeland and started travelling toward Canaan. That in and of itself is a great act of faith. Of course, then there is the time when Abraham is asked to count the stars, if he can, for that will be the number of his descendants. We are told that Abraham believed God, and “the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Gen. 15:6). Abraham’s faith still wavered later on, yet God counts him as righteous because of his faith.

As it turns out, by the time that Abraham died he was still living by faith. He had seen one of God’s promises come to fruition: Sarah had, indeed, borne a son, and they had named him Isaac, as they had been told. Yet, Abraham and his family were still living in tents and didn’t have any land other than a burial cave and a field that he had purchased from the Hittites (Gen. 25:9-10). As well, Abraham did not live to see how all the families of the earth would be blessed through him.

Now, fast-forward almost a couple thousand years to the time of Jesus. The people of Israel pride themselves on being children of Abraham. They remember the promises made to Abraham, but only partially. They remember the part about lots of descendants, and they remember the part about inheriting the land of Canaan. However, they seem to have forgotten about being a blessing for all the families of the earth.

It seems, too, that by the time of Jesus, people had a sense of having God’s favour simply because they were descendants of Abraham. Yet, they were not living by faith, and neither were they obeying God’s commands. When John the Baptist was calling people to repentance, he ranted at them:

Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham (Mt. 3:9).

Jesus, too, told the people, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did” (Jn. 8:39).

It seems that being a descendant of Abraham had become a reason to exclude others. All kinds of rules had arisen as to who was welcome in the Temple and who was not, and many people, in spite of being descendants of Abraham, were treated as outcasts. Jesus, on the other hand, makes a point of referring to outcasts as children of Abraham. He refers to a crippled woman as a daughter of Abraham and reminds people that Zacchaeus the tax collector is a son of Abraham (Lk. 13:16; 19:9). In addition, the gospels remind people that all nations would be blessed through the descendants of Abraham – and that includes the Gentiles!

Gentiles in Jesus’ day were not only excluded, but hated. Many descendants of Abraham hoped for a future where the Gentiles would be their slaves. And so, the gospels remind people that Jesus is a descendant of Abraham, and that he has come for the salvation of all people. In fact, in the gospel of John there is quite a long section that is devoted to the subject of Jesus and Abraham (Jn. 8:39-59). In this section, Jesus points out how Abraham would have rejoiced to see his day. The implication is that the blessing to all the nations that was promised to Abraham will be achieved through Jesus.

At the same time, it is stated in the gospels that something more than simply being children of Abraham is needed. Nicodemus, who comes to Jesus by night in today’s gospel is a descendant of Abraham by birth and one of the religious leaders of Israel. Yet, Jesus points him toward the need to be born from above. We do not need to be simply children of Abraham, but children of God. Being born of water and the Spirit is open not only to people of a certain ancestry, but to all those who put their faith in Jesus Christ.

Abraham actually has many children, as the apostle Paul points out in our second reading today. The Jewish people are children of Abraham through Isaac. The Muslim people are children of Abraham through Ishmael. And Christians are counted as children of Abraham through having the same faith as Abraham (Rom. 4:16-17). Yet, once again, is it not a much greater privilege to be counted as children of God?

In baptism we are born of water and the Spirit and are received as children of God. Just as Abraham was imperfect and yet was counted as righteous because of his faith, so we are counted as righteous through our faith in Jesus Christ. Not only that, but we are given eternal life and salvation through Jesus!

It is an amazing gift that we have been given by God’s grace. Do we remember with this gift that we, too, have been blessed to be a blessing? It seems that it is just as easy for us to forget as it was for the descendants of Abraham. We have not been given salvation through Jesus Christ and eternal life in order to keep it all for ourselves and find ways to exclude others from receiving it. Rather, we are here in order to share God’s love with the world. So it is with those who are born of the Spirit!

At the same time, we – like Abraham – continue to live by faith. We have not yet seen all of God’s promises come to fruition: for instance, the promise that Jesus will come again. Yet, we have seen enough to know that God is faithful and that sometimes it takes close to two thousand years for a promise to be fulfilled. In the mean time, we have Jesus’ promise to be with us always, even “to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20). Let us then go out with good courage, having been blessed to be a blessing. Amen.

Lent 2(A) Genesis 12:1-4a
February 17, 2008 Rom. 4:1-5, 13-17
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church John 3:1-17
Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore

© 2008 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved