so just keep on letting go / 'cause i must be close
to being delivered for the first time
Did anyone have anything unusual happen this morning? For instance, did something surprising happen this morning? Or how about funny? Did anyone have anything funny happen on your way here? Anyone?
Well, shoot! I don’t have anything, either! It’s been a pretty humdrum morning for me. I was just asking because I was looking for a little comic relief. But I guess we’ve all had a relatively normal day so far. Haven’t we?
They’re not all typical, though. Are they? No, the truth is, the uncommon is relatively common. Our lives are awash in a sea of change. And while that change can be welcome, just as often, it’s not.
Those are the tough times. Aren’t they? It’s no laughing matter when change comes unplanned or unwelcomed. When that happens, our neat and tidy little lives are thrown on their heads. It puts our past into question and makes the future a threat.
Now, I could give examples of what I mean. But then again, I don’t really need to. Do I? First of all, we’ve all had more than our fair share of times when the past became a hole and the future a void. As we said, disruption is more commonplace than we wish.
Plus, we have Abram and Sarai as an example today. And notice, at this point, their name is still Abram and Sarai. God hasn’t changed their name yet. That won’t happen for two more chapters. In today’s Scripture, they’re still plugging away under their old identities.
If you’re curious, and I hope you are, Abram means “exalted ancestor,” whereas Abraham means “ancestor of a multitude.” And Sarai means “princess.” While Sarah means, well, “princess.” Yeah, that one isn't as big of a change. But the larger point, I suspect, is that their journey with God’s promise has affected them both so deeply that now their names need to be adjusted to reflect this.
Even so, that hasn’t happened when our passage picks up. Truth be told, Abram and Sarai are in a hard spot in today’s Scripture. They’re childless. And back then, that was a big deal. Children contributed to the family’s income, they were caregivers for their parents in old age, and they carried on the family name, too.
Childlessness was bad enough. But one day, out of the clear blue, and for no good reason, God chose Abram and Sarai. And God chose them to be forebears of a great nation. God promised them land to settle and, notably, multiple offspring to inhabit that territory.
On first blush, this sounds like the jackpot! Doesn’t it? But then, nothing happened! And as time went on, that unfulfilled pledge began to fester. After a while, God’s promise just made their predicament that much more painful to bear!
When God speaks to Abram in today’s passage, Abram has moved on. He’s not happy about it. But he has made other plans. Abram and Sarai have arranged for Eliezer, an enslaved person born in their house, to be their heir.
…There were laws for this back then, too. Although not biologically kin, you could include servants who were born in your household in your will. And this seems to be what Abram and Sarai have consigned themselves to. It’s not what they expected or wanted, but given the cold, hard facts, it’s the only option they can imagine.
We do this, too. Don’t we? When life doesn’t pan out, we start making contingency plans. And sometimes, we’re so pessimistic, we make these arrangements preemptively.
Ironically, that’s just making a plan to fail! We think it’s reasonable. But in reality, it’s really just fatalism. It’s not wise, it’s woeful.
Notice, though, that God refuses to have any truck with Abram and Sarai’s concession in today’s Scripture! On the contrary, God doubles down on the original, caveat-free promise! And just in case Abram thinks God’s fooling around, God puts up all the stars in the heavens as collateral! And if that wasn’t enough, God also puts Thyself on the line, too!
That’s what that covenant ceremony is all about! When God passes through those corpses, God puts the animals’ fate upon God’s own head! God is making an oath! In this ceremony, God is saying, “May this befall me should I fail to make good on my word.”
And then, something unexpected happens! In response to this dramatic gesture, Abram believes! The magnitude of the promise doesn’t put Abram off! On the contrary, it turns him on!
That, fellow believers, is all faith is! Faith isn’t ginning up nice thoughts about God. And it’s not tamping down those nasty doubts, either. No, faith is just standing on the receiving end of a promise so good you can’t help but want the payout!
You know what, though? That’s just the entrée! As incredible as that is, and it is incredible, something even more stunning happens! When God gets a load of Abram’s hankering, God counts it to him as righteousness! Righteousness!
…Now, righteousness is a loaded term. Isn’t it? On the one hand, righteousness conjures up images of sanctimoniousness. And on the other hand, it also brings up feelings of guilt and inadequacy, too.
At its heart, though, righteousness is a much more down-to-earth word. Righteousness, tsedhaqah, in Hebrew, just means “as it should be.” Righteousness is when all the pieces are in place. Righteousness isn’t a moral word so much as it is an existential one.
Honestly, you have personal experience with righteousness. Righteousness is when life comes of its own accord. Righteousness is when you’re not trying to force anything. Righteousness is a free and easy conversation. It’s a nice long walk. Or it’s a peaceful evening.
Simply put, righteousness is those sacred moments you can’t plan for but wouldn’t change a thing about! Yes, they’re rare. But they do happen. Don’t they? And when they do, there’s nothing better!
Even better, though, is that God counts that as righteousness! What it means to be good with God is nothing more than to be caught up in God’s goodness! Righteousness isn’t being good, for goodness sake! No, it’s God’s goodness! Righteousness is God’s goodness.
That’s what bowls Abram over! And it’s what holds it all together, too! Abram thought playing it safe was the best way to keep hold of God’s promises. But all he really was doing was losing the thread!
The promise always hung on God, and God alone! And when God goes through those carcasses, God puts it all back into place; on God! And that, fellow believers, is all righteousness is! Righteousness is simply pinning everything on God.
Righteousness is not a decision. And it’s not an action, either. No, righteousness is simply counting on God. It can be expectation. And it can be desperation, too. But, so long as it stops with God, it’s nothing less than the very beginning of saving faith!
…That said, I know it’s not so cut and dried. Life is rarely so straightforward. Is it? No, more often than not, it’s hard to corral your desires. And when life goes belly up, desperation flails to and fro with little rhyme or reason, and even less restraint!
The truth is, what we’re witnessing in today’s passage is hindsight. And I know we think hindsight is self-correcting, but it’s not. After all, think of all the times we draw the wrong conclusion! Or consider the many ways our perspective is colored by self-interest, anger, resentment, disappointment, and the like.
No, the truth is, it’s always a miracle anytime hindsight actually happens! It’s not the future God lets us see. And that’s probably a gift. But, what God does let us see is the past in light of faith. And this new understanding of what has been is the clarity we need to lead us into an uncertain future!
That’s what happens for Abram and Sarai. Although, they don’t just turn everything over to God. No, in the very next chapter, Abram and Sarai will try to force God’s plan one more time. But all that does is create a whole lot of heartache.
Their scheme to have a child by a surrogate totally backfires. It doesn’t seem as though Abram is altogether comfortable with the plan. And it only makes Sarai frustrated with herself and the poor surrogate, Hagar, their innocent servant-girl. Nevertheless, God doesn’t let their faithlessness override God’s faithfulness!
God provides for all! God takes care of Hagar and Ismael. And God even stays true to God’s promise to Abram and Sarai. And God does this despite their obtuse unrighteousness! In the very next chapter, just two after today’s, God gives Abram and Sarai their new names, and God gives them their long-awaited child, too!
…And that inscrutable, irrepressible, and irresistible promise is the power that moves your life, too! Yes, I know it doesn’t always seem like it. Like Abram and Sarai, it's hard to discern that red thread of God’s promises through thick and thin. Plus, unlike them, God hasn’t plucked you or me out of obscurity. No, our lives are much more ordinary. Aren’t they?
But you know what? I’ve got to tell you, nothing could be further from the truth! In your baptism, God chose you out of the clear blue, too! And God made you a promise just as breathtaking! God promised to make you one of Abraham and Sarah’s kin! At your baptism, God adopted you into the family of God’s chosen people!
That’s not all, either! God also promised you a place in the promised land! Like Abraham and Sarah, you, too, are on that great pilgrimage of faith! And, like them, God has even pledged that nothing will stop God from leading you to thy kingdom come! In fact, should God fail to make good, God will suffer the fate of baptism; God will let Thyself be drowned!
Curiously, that is what happened. Isn’t it? At the cross, Christ, the only-begotten son, was drowned in the world’s sin. The thing, though, is that God didn’t need to! God didn’t fail to hold up God’s end!
Nevertheless, God still suffered the consequences of all our tired old compromises! God goes more than the full distance! And God does this to bring everything under the power of God’s promise! Now, those unforeseen changes can no longer derail God’s plan. And neither can those times when life refuses to change stop it, either!
And that’s all of us. Isn’t it? There’s not a one of us here who doesn’t have some spot in life that won’t change or won’t stop changing. More than likely, though, it’s a confusing combination of all of it. Regardless, it’s all been drowned in God’s bottomless love!
…What does this change? Nothing. Nothing, and everything! Yes, nothing is any different. But now, absolutely everything has changed for you!
Now, all of your death and life, in that order, is submerged under God’s love! You don’t have to force life anymore! No, now, you can just get swept up in the tide of all your baptismal promises! It’s God who holds it all together, come what may!
A miracle as incredible as the one recounted in today’s Scripture has just occurred! And it’s occurred for you! God has led you in here! And God has done so to show you, not the stars, but the creator of the stars! God has brought you here to show you God and all the promises thereof!
God has done this so you might look to God, so you might set your hopes on God, place your trust in God! God has done this to give you true righteousness! Or, to say it another way, grace has led you safe thus far, and grace will lead you home! But that sounds a lot better sung! Doesn’t it? So, let’s do that! Shall we?
Our Hymn of the Day is hymn number 779, Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound. Hymn number 779. Let’s sing!
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