there is no need for us to suspend

this feeling inside

A sermon from God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:1-6:

Well, what are we going to do with a God like this? 

This God who won’t be practical. This God who seems to think promises are more important than power. This God who won’t play by our rules. This God who, frankly, we’re not so sure what to do with…

In fact, before this God is through with Abram, the poor guy will change his name, so different does he become! Apparently, Abram wouldn’t recognize the guy who comes out on the other side of it all. Abraham, a child of God who lives by faith, and faith alone.

But the problem for folks like us is, many days we have more in common with Abram than we do with Abraham.

In the scripture for today, Abram is doing the sort of thing we concern ourselves with; he’s filling out his life insurance policy. When he gets to the next of kin blank, he writes in the name, not of an heir, but a servant. 

Before the ink can even dry, God interrupts. And God doesn’t console Abram. God doesn’t tell Abram he gets it. God doesn’t even ask Abram how he’s feeling. No, God just pulls Abram outside and points up. 

“You see all those stars,” God asks. As Abram’s eyes adjust, God tells him to try and count them all, if he can. Before Abram can even get a word in, God puts it to him, “If I can do all that, Abram, don’t you think I can keep my word?

…You see, Abram was putting Eliezer in the insurance policy instead of his own kin because he and Sarah didn’t have any. And although God promised them some way back in chapter 12, nothing had changed since then. So in the mean time since had decided it was high time to get practical.

Without letting Abram explain himself, God doubles down. “Numerous as all those stars are, Abram,” God says, “so shall your descendants be.” Going so far as to insist, the promise will come to pass, and without any legal finagling, either!

…Abram was just trying to get on with his life, and God tells him to stop and count the stars!

What are we to do with a God like this? This God who won’t be practical. This God who seems to think driving out into the country to take in the night sky, is more important than having your insurance in order. This God who won’t play by our rules. This God who, frankly, we’re not so sure what to do with…

The truth is, we understand Abram. We get him. We share his concerns. The trouble, though, is God won’t deal with us in such a way. We will be children of Abraham, or we will be forever at odds with God…

Now, the way God works with Abraham and his descendants is to give them a promise. A promise too big to turn into any insurance policy! A promise so large all you can do is believe it. Trust the one who makes it!

Which is precisely the way God prefers it! 

Abram does nothing more than stare into the starry sky, over the moon by the promise the creator of the stars of night has just tossed in his lap. And what does God make of it?

Well, God doesn’t ask about Abraham’s family tree? God doesn’t ask to see Abraham’s 23 & me report. God doesn’t even ask about his political affiliation! No, God just counts it as righteousness! 

Righteousness. Being right with God. Being God’s kind of people!

What assures your spot in God’s good graces isn’t any ethnicity, nationality, or morality. It’s God. And trusting this God! And that, that is all you can do with a God like this; trust this God!

…So you, you count YOU lucky stars, because God has put your name on a promise!

In the forgiveness of all your sins, God has reckoned YOU as righteous! In your baptism, YOU have been incorporated into God’s holy history! By Jesus Christ, YOU have been adopted into God’s chosen kindred!

And by these promises, you find yourself on the right side of the family of faith! By these promises you too are a child of the promise to Abraham. As St. Paul says, we are people of the promise. 

…Which means, you realize, you are on the other side of a whopper of another promise. A promise so big all you won’t be able to do anything but count on the God who would dare to make it to YOU, and die to keep it for YOU!

Are you ready? It’s a doozy. YOU are God’s fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham! The promise that transformed him from an Abram to an Abraham. Let me say that again, YOU are God’s fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham!

By your adoption in baptism, God has added one more star to the constellation of the great genealogy of grace! The lineage that proves God’s fidelity to Abraham, and all his descendants!

…So, seeing as God has gone through such great lengths to stay true to Abraham, don’t you think God can be counted on to stay true to you, too? 

Go ahead, take your time. Try and count every promise God has stayed true to if you’re not so sure. Count them, that is, if you can…