Pat and Me

Pat and me, May 2001

Pat

Ms. Pat to my children

Mrs. Spencer to me when I was a child

I was young enough that I don't remember meeting the Spencer's. I was 6, almost 7, when we moved to Maryland and joined the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. Somewhere around when my youngest sister was born (when I was 9) I became more aware of them and my middle sister played a lot with their oldest granddaughter.

The first big role they played in my life was when I was 17. Their house was the place my mom chose to tell us that she and my dad were separating. Even more important (as if that weren't enough), John and Pat were the only family friends who did not choose sides in the divorce. It really hurt that so many did, but John and Pat did not and they made sure we kids knew we were loved.

Pat is actually the one I had the most conversations with about my parents' divorce, and about their marriage. I asked her the hard questions and the questions I didn't dare ask anyone else. Pat was a good observer, and patiently explained to me many of her observations from over the years.

As a young adult, I started visiting Pat and John any time I had a free week, beginning with spring break of freshman year of college. I went many times over the years, finding Pat and John's house a place I could sleep, read, fully relax, enjoy the sunshine, reflect, and just be. Pat didn't expect anything of me. And I just followed their schedule. It is still a place of sanctuary and peace.

My longest visit was when I was newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I lived with Pat and John for about six weeks in 2006 and learned from Pat how to live life with a chronic disease. Pat did it for practically her whole life, and freely and willingly taught me, mostly by example. Living daily with a chronic disease means everything changes. And you don't have control over the changes. Some days are good, some are bad, some you can predict, some you can't. Chronic disease affects everything in your life. Pat knew about that. And I learned all about it from her.

Finally, Pat could say things to me that no one else could, or would. She said things I needed to hear and said them out loud. I'm sure others thought I already knew them or something, but she'd pick out the ones I needed to hear and be told. Heather, you're like this. Heather, this is you. Or, "It's like this." She was good.

It's hard to know how to categorize her. Friend? Aunt? Godmother? Confidante? Mentor? I hadn't had a good conversation with her since my last trip, a week in February 2014, with my 17 month old daughter and newly pregnant with my son. Between her declining health and my preoccupation with two babies, I didn't see her again until a hospital visit in late December 2017. She was in the ICU, barely responsive, but she knew my mom and I were there and she joined in when we prayed for her and John. She KNEW we were praying. That was her faith. That's why, if I'm ever asked like Elisha, whose spirit I want a double portion of, my answer is my grandmas and Pat.

The Heart Covenant

5^th Sunday in Lent

March 18, 2018

Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12

Twenty years ago, contemporary Christian artist, Michael W. Smith, released a song called “Missing Person.” The refrain says, “There was a boy who had the faith to move a mountain/ And like a child he would believe without a reason/ Without a trace he disappeared into the void and/ I've been searching for that missing person.” This kid “…used to want to try to walk the straight and narrow/ He had a fire and he could feel it in the marrow/ It's been a long time and I haven't seen him lately but/ I've been searching for that missing person.” And the songwriter wonders what happened to him, how’d his “…heart evolved into a/ Rock beating inside of me”? And “Is there a way to return,” is there a way to find his way home? What happened to his faith? Is it possible for his faith to be as strong and on fire as it once was? Michael W. Smith doesn’t answer the question in the song. However, it’s the first song on the album, “Live the Life,” and if you keep listening, you’ll hear the answer in the other songs.

The truth is it’s a familiar problem. Psalm 51 that we read this morning we also read back on Ash Wednesday. That psalm is attributed to King David, his confession and prayer when the prophet, Nathan, confronted him with his own wrongdoing. You see, David was God’s chosen one. He was the one God sent Samuel to anoint, and his father, Jesse, had to go send for him in the fields where he was keeping the sheep. David’s the one who slew Goliath with nothing but some stones, a sling, and his unwavering trust in God. David was anointed King, even though he was not an heir to King Saul. God calls David “a man after my own heart.”[1] But even this handsome man of faith, handpicked by God, was not perfect. He saw Bathsheba bathing, and he wanted her. He was king, so he sent for her, and slept with her. She got pregnant. The problem was her husband, Uriel, was a soldier in David’s army and hadn’t been home in quite some time. David arranged for him to come home on leave, but Uriel wouldn’t sleep with his wife while his fellow soldiers were still in the midst of battle. So David sent him back to the battle and had him stationed in the front lines, where, as expected, Uriel was killed in battle. Then David sends for Bathsheba and thinks he’s gotten off scot-free. Except God knows what he’s done. And God is not pleased. God sends his prophet, Nathan, to confront David, whom Nathan does, and David confesses his sin and pours out his heart in Psalm 51. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions… Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”[2]

This might also be the same prayer of God’s people when Jeremiah was the main prophet. By Jeremiah’s time, God’s people had reached the Promised Land, they had lived there for generations, they had tried to live according to God’s law, they had kings, including King David, and they had built a temple for the Ark of the Covenant, a place for God to dwell.  But now, Babylon has invaded and destroyed all that. The temple is gone. The line of kings descending from David has ended. And they’re in exile from the Promised Land. They lost it. They had it and they lost it. They are now also asking, “Now what? We messed up. We lost it. And we don’t even know our way back. The temple is gone. How are we going to worship God now?” Being settled for so many centuries, they had forgotten their history of worshiping God in the strange land of Egypt and through the forty years of wandering in the desert. Therefore, through Jeremiah, God says, “The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel… It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt… The new covenant that I will make with the people of Israel will be this: I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”[3] Israel has a way to return. The temple is rebuilt within the century, and then they have their place of worship back. And God offers a new covenant, one written on their hearts.

If you’ve noticed, the covenants have gotten closer.[4] We began Lent five weeks ago with Noah and “the rainbow with its promise is way up in the sky.” Then we had Abraham and the stars, also up in the sky. “The Ten Commandments are rules written on stone tablets kept in the holy of Holies in the Temple.” Last week we read about the snake up on the pole, another symbol to look up toward. Now, “Jeremiah says that one day God will write a covenant on our hearts.” In other words, it’s gotten personal, within our very person. God’s gotten personal, and not just with us. God is preparing to send the person of his son, Jesus, to come and save us and restore us. A new covenant. One right here in person. One who lives in our hearts and has the power to change our hearts, to create clean hearts in us, if we are willing.

You see, that “Missing Person” song could also have been written about us. Those of us who grew up in the church. Those of us who, when we first came to know Jesus, had such a strong faith that it could move mountains. Those of us who have taken time away from the church and come back different. Those of us who never left but with faith whose fire has cooled. What happened to cool it could be any number of things: burnout, lack of direction, poor mentoring, righteous anger, pride, envy, fatigue, just to name a few possibilities. Something got in the way, and just as important, we let that something get in the way. Sleeping in on Sunday morning once makes it a whole lot easier to do it a second time. Giving an excuse to not go to bible study once makes it a whole lot easier to just say no the next time and not even bother with an excuse. When you break your New Year’s resolution, or your Lenten discipline, do you give up and say, well, that’s that? Or do you allow yourself grace and try again the next day?

There’s a reason why Psalm 51 has all these words that begin with “re-”. “Renew a right spirit within me” means that steadfast spirit was there before and we want one again. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” means we’ve known that joy before and we long to know it again. So what do you do when your faith has cooled? First, most importantly, stay in that relationship with God. That’s what makes it a covenant and not a contract.[5] Once a contract is broken, usually that’s it. But a covenantal relationship goes on, even if one party violates the terms. A contract is a business arrangement, a legal agreement, but a covenant is a promise of commitment of two parties to each other. You may need some remedial work, but the relationship continues. As we mentioned last week, you may need to face some past sin or hurt or grievance that you’ve held onto and is keeping you from a fully healthy relationship with God. So, keep praying! If you’re not sure, keep praying! Keep talking with God. Listen for what God has to say to you. And if God asks you to do something, do it. Stay in relationship. Keep praying. And, finally, keep serving. Remember, we serve because God calls us to. We don’t serve because of how we feel about it or how we feel after it or what we get out of it. Serving isn’t about us. So, stay the course. Stay faithful. Trust that Easter is coming even when it feels like you’re on Good Friday, or worse yet, on Holy Saturday, the day when God was silent. Trust that Easter is coming and you will be restored to the joy of God’s salvation.

We have a great Wesleyan term for this process, it’s called sanctification. This is your life after you accept salvation. It’s God’s sustaining grace, as we continue to grow more like Jesus. It’s the Holy Spirit working in us, perfecting us, sanctifying us. This is where we are purified and refined, and as the dross and impurities are removed from us, remember it’s done through fire. Sometimes we allow ourselves to be consumed in the fire. Sometimes we get distracted by the fire, and take our eyes off God. Yet there’s that great verse from the hymn, “How Firm a Foundation,” that says, “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply. The flames shall not hurt thee; I only design. Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.”[6] And as you are sanctified and made more like Jesus, “sanctifying grace is where we figure out that it’s not ‘all about me’ and begin to participate in God’s redemption in the world.”[7] As our covenant with God is written on our hearts, we stop focusing inward and instead move outward in service. God calls us to join him in his work of restoring the world, of making things right again, of restoring his image in each person, of renewing each person to become the person God intended for them to be, so that each of us can live with grace in whatever season of life we find ourselves in.

Let us pray... Lord, for all of us who are missing persons, for those of us whose faith no longer burns quite so brightly, recreate in us new hearts, renew a right spirit within us, and restore us again to the joy of your salvation. Amen. 

---

[1] Acts 13:22

[2] Verses 1, 10

[3] Jeremiah 31:31-33, from GNT and NLT

[4] All quotes in this paragraph are from https://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2015/02/year-b-fifth-sunday-in-lent-2015.html

[5] Preaching God’s Transforming Justice, Year B, p. 166

[6] UMH 529

[7] James Harnish, A Disciple’s Path, Daily Workbook, p. 23

The Snake Covenant

4^th Sunday in Lent

March 11, 2018

Numbers 21:4-9; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21

            This Lent we’ve been looking at different covenants that God made with his people in the Old Testament. We began with Noah and the rainbow. Then we read about God’s covenant with Abraham and descendants as numerous as the stars. Last week we looked at the ten commandments. This week is another covenant involving Moses. After Moses leads God’s people out of Egypt, out of slavery, crossing the Red Sea on dry land, you’d think the people would be, what? Grateful. In awe of what God can do. Appreciative. But they’re not. At least five times they complain against Moses. There’s a “Back to Egypt” committee that would rather go back to being slaves and how life used to be. They complain that the water is bitter, and God tells Moses how to sweeten the water. They complain about the lack of food, and God provides manna. They complain that they’re thirsty, and God tells Moses to strike the rock and out spurts good drinking water. Then they ask for some meat to go with the manna, they don’t want to be vegetarian, and God provides quail. All these complaints are why the Israelites wander in the wilderness for 40 years. It’s not because they got lost. It’s not because Moses didn’t want to stop and ask for directions. It’s because even after all God has done for them, rescuing them from slavery and leading them to the Promised Land of Canaan, they still complain. So, God said that that generation that came out of Egypt would not live to enter the Promised Land. It took 40 years for all of them to die off and it was their children who got to go into Canaan.

            Today’s Old Testament reading is the fifth time that the people complain. And this time, they don’t just complain against Moses, they also complain against God. They say that there’s no food and no water and they hate the food (which means there is food), but you know how a lot of times what someone complains about isn’t actually what they’re upset about? The people aren’t really upset about the food. They can live with it. It says they became impatient on the way. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? How much longer? [Pause.] Now how much longer? And the truth was they had years to go! I mentioned a couple weeks ago that God does not do things on our schedule. And the people are impatient. They grumble and complain. They do not trust God to take care of them and provide for them. They don’t trust God’s timetable. They speak against God and against Moses. What does God do? He sends poisonous snakes among the people , who bite the people, and many people die. Now, God’s got their attention. And the people confess to Moses, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Please pray the Lord will take the snakes away from us.”

            Confession, repentance, and forgiveness were among the themes that we talked about in bible study last week.[1] One of the things said in the study was that we don’t change until we acknowledge that we need to change. Too often we instead find ourselves justifying our sin, offering excuses for it, or just plain in denial that we need to change. When we ask God to “bless this mess,” it means we don’t really want to change. “We may long for a better life and even lament the hardships and struggles that our sins bring, but we don’t necessarily want God to give us something truly new and different.”[2] Sometimes it takes something drastic, like snakes, for us to be ready to confess what we did wrong and be ready for change. Because the Israelites started dying from snake bites, they were finally ready to be honest with themselves and with God and admit that they had sinned and needed help. They hit bottom and were forced to change if they wanted to live. The last sentence in the chapter we read for bible study last week says that “We must recognize that God doesn’t want to bless our mess; he wants to fix it, with our help.”

God offers a way out of the mess. For the Israelites, the way out looked like a bronze snake that was set up on a pole and everyone who was bit by a snake could look at this bronze snake and live. There are at least two interesting things to note about this healing offered to the Israelites. First is that the people had to change their focus to be saved. Instead of focusing on themselves, their snake bites, their impatience, and their lack of good food, in other words, instead of focusing inward, they had to look outward to be healed. And not just look down at the ground in front of them, but look up to the top of this pole. They had to change their focus. This can happen to us, too, when we’re hurting. We focus on our hurt, our pain, our loss, what’s happened to us, but we can’t save ourselves by ourselves. We need God’s help. And so we look to him, and God’s always ready to help.  He’s like the father of the prodigal son, waiting with arms open wide for us to turn back to him.

The other interesting thing is that the people had to look on the very thing that was causing their death in order to receive life. Can you imagine if snakes were around, biting people, would you ever want to see another snake again in your life?! But this symbol of their fear is put up on a stick and they have to face it, they have to look at it, in order to be healed. Could you do that? If a symbol of your fear were put on a stick and held in front of you, could you face it? That had to be hard, and yet worth the cost, because facing your fear meant life instead of death. In my research for today, I read that 36% of all adults in the United States list snakes as their number one fear.[3] And yet one of the suggestions for children’s time for today was to bring in a live snake! You’ll be happy to know that while I put a rainbow on the altar for Noah and a star on the altar for Moses, I decided to not put a snake on the altar for today. The people had to look at what was causing them harm in order to live. The newest Marvel Comics TV show that dropped on Netflix this past week has the heroine doing the same thing. Jessica Jones has to face what happened to her 17 years ago that gave her her super powers. She spent 17 years avoiding it, and in the new season of her show, they have her learning about it and facing it. I haven’t watched all of the episodes yet to find out what happens, but I expect some resolution by the end. Likewise, God’s people had to be honest with what they had done wrong, face it, confess, and God offered them a way out in order that they might live.

Thankfully, God offers a way out of the mess for us, too. The passage we read from John was part of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a member of the Jewish ruling council, and, out of fear of what others might say, came to Jesus under the cover of night. They have a great conversation about salvation and eternal life and Jesus makes a reference to the story of Moses and the people and the snake. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” This is where our healing comes from; his name is Jesus. Just as that bronze snake was lifted up on a pole, so also Jesus was lifted up on the cross to save us, that “whoever believes in him might not perish, but have eternal life.” Jesus is our way out of our mess. Now some of the same things still apply as to the Israelites. We have to acknowledge that we need help. That we can’t do it by ourselves. We have to acknowledge what we’ve done wrong and how we’ve messed up and ask forgiveness. And that can be painful. It can be painful to face the hurt you’ve caused yourself and others. It can be painful to be completely open and honest. But that’s where real change comes from. We have to open up in honesty, at least to God and to ourselves. Confess. Repent. Ask for and receive forgiveness. God’s already offering it. Forgive others the wrong they’ve done to you. Forgive yourself for messing up. All of these things keep you from God, and unfortunately, or, rather, fortunately, the cross comes before the resurrection. Suffering comes before redemption. Sometimes the night gets darker before the light comes, and you know the darkest part of the night is always right before the dawn.

Jesus calls us to look at him and be healed, to believe in him and be saved, to confess where we’ve messed up and receive forgiveness. Then we are called to go and offer healing to others. The healing doesn’t come from us; it comes through us, as we allow God to work in our lives. Remember what we read in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Salvation is what Jesus does, not us, yet it is freely offered to everyone, that’s what makes it grace. The offer of unconditional love regardless of what you’ve done, yet accepting it means admitting what you’ve done. “The bottom line of both the snakes in the wilderness and Jesus forgiving from the cross is that God loves and takes care of us even when we mess up,”[4] and that’s what grace is. It takes courage to face your fear, to name the ways you’ve messed up, to repent and to forgive. It takes courage to shift your focus from yourself to others. Yet we are called to live in healthy and holy relationships with each other. It’s called a covenant. We are all on this Christian journey together and we invite others to join us, in this “community of love and forgiveness, [where we] grow in [our] trust of God, and [are] found faithful in [our] service to others. We will pray for [each other], that [we all] may be true disciples who walk in the way that leads to life.”[5] Thanks be to God. Amen.

---

[1] Restored: Finding Redemption in Our Mess by Tom Berlin

[2] Ibid., p. 57

[3] Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 2, p. 101

[4] https://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2015/02/year-b-fourth-sunday-in-lent-march-15.html

[5] UMH 35

The Tablet Covenant

3^rd Sunday in Lent

March 4, 2018

Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22

1.     God has already done so much for them

a.      God has already brought them out of slavery in Egypt, thru Red Sea, sustained them with manna in wilderness, and brought them to Mt Sinai

b.     God gave so many rules (613, more than just 10) to Moses on mountaintop that people got restless and made golden calf, breaking 1^st two commandments. Moses broke tablets and later God made new set

c.      Laws keep going thru Exodus 23; confirmed and God gives Moses tablets in Exo. 24, Moses on mountain 40 days & nights, more laws Exo. 25-31

d.     Then golden calf incident (Exo. 32) while Moses gone – Moses comes down mtn with tablets from God, sees calf, and breaks tablets to pieces

e.      Exo. 33 – Moses & Lord talk

f.       Exo. 34 – God tells Moses to chisel out 2 stone tablets like the 1st ones and God write the words of the covenant on them (get put in ark of covenant)

g.     Torah = law = direction = teaching

h.     Not rules/legalism/moralism but what God himself says about who he is and how he is to be worshipped and honored (practices of those in covenant with him)

2.     God’s wisdom not same as human wisdom (1 Cor 1)

a.      Contrast with what society says (productivity is good, more important than sabbath; advertising industry built on coveting; not self-made, we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us)

b.     Negative version of 10 commandments sounds familiar:[1]

1. You shall have no other gods before me. You are your own boss.  Do whatever you want to do whenever you feel like it. 

2.    You shall not make any idols. Decide who and what is important to you.  Pay attention only to those people and things.

3.    You shall not wrongfully use the name of the Lord your God. It does not matter when or how you say God’s name.  You can use it to swear or cuss or to get what you want (as in “God is on my side so you better do things my way”) – not just cursing.

4.    Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. It doesn’t matter if you worship with God’s people on Sunday/regularly.  If there are other things you’d rather do, go do them.

5.    Honor your father and mother. Parents don’t get it.  Ignore them whenever you can.

6.    You shall not murder. Kill whatever or whoever gets in your way.  The strongest live longest. Also includes angry & hateful thoughts (commit murder in your mind)

7.    You shall not commit adultery. Don’t worry about your family.  Think only about yourself and what you want.

8.    You shall not steal. Finders keepers! Toddler’s Rule of possession: I see it, I want it, it’s mine! If you want it, figure out how to get it.

9.    You shall not bear false witness. Lie if you have to get out of trouble. Lie to get what you want. Lie to make yourself look good – even if it makes someone else look bad.

10.You shall not covet. The one who dies with most toys wins. The world is full of wonderful things.  Get your share.

c.      Unlike the world’s wisdom, God’s wisdom about how to live as people who have already received grace. God’s wisdom is about how to live in love with God and live with each other

3.     Jesus sums up/fulfills law:

a.      An expert in the law tests Jesus in Matt 22, asking what’s the greatest commandment. Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

                                                             i.      “Love God” from Shema in Deut. 6:5

                                                           ii.      “Love neighbor” from Lev. 19:18

b.     This is what it means to love God (1-5) & love neighbor (6-10)

c.      Not always easy; conflict is natural because of the diversity of creation and because all of us who are created different try to live together and be in relationship with each other. 

d.     Unity in the early church isn’t a unity of opinion.  Instead, this is a unity of purpose and mission and values.

e.      Working towards transforming the conflict means that we’re committed to staying in relationship no matter what, like a married couple for whom divorce is not an option.

f.       Baptismal vows: “surround them with a community of love and forgiveness.” That means we are united the midst of our diversity.  That means we don’t let our differences become barriers and walls between us.  That we forgive each other when someone does us wrong.  The last vow includes a promise to increase their faith, confirm their hope, and perfect their in love. We are all on this Christian journey together.  We don’t do this alone.

Laws are gift to structure common life, to shape lives worthy of God

·        “To be bound in covenant with God is to be set free to live as God’s people” Feasting on the Word, Year B, Volume 2, p. 76

·        The way we attend to God shapes the way we attend to our neighbor

·        Faithful worship of God leads to proper love of neighbor

·        Lent not about legalism or moralism, but journey of deepening holiness

·        Not doing ok b/c keep 8 out of 10, but whenever break any of them, fabric of relationship with God & each other torn apart

·        Opportunity to confess, renew, and increase in faith

---

[1] https://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2015/02/year-b-third-sunday-in-lent-march-8-2015_7.html

The Star Covenant

2^nd Sunday in Lent

February 25, 2018

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-17; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38

            This Lenten season we are examining some of the covenants that God made in the Old Testament. Last week we talked about God’s covenant with Noah, after the flood. God promised all creation that he would never again flood the earth to the point of utter destruction and he hung his rainbow in the sky to remind him. Today we read about God’s covenant with Abram. This is actually the third time God makes a covenant with Abram. God had already promised Abram and Sarai that they would have lots of children in Genesis 12. The most notable thing from that covenant is that that’s where God tells them they will be blessed in order to be a blessing to others. You are blessed to be a blessing. Abram is 75 years old at this point in time and he left his home to follow God to a land that God would show him later. Talk about faith! He didn’t know where he was going when he started.

After some adventures, by Genesis 15, Abram is starting to get worried about this promise. He’s now about 85 years old and there are still no children, no heirs. A servant in Abram’s household is going to have to inherit his estate. God says, “No. Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then God tells Abram, “So shall your offspring be.[1] You will have descendants as numerous as the stars.” And Abram believes God and it is credited to him as righteousness.[2] 

However, things get a little hinky in Genesis 16. Abram and Sarai are tired of waiting, not having fun anymore trying to get pregnant, and they decide to take matters into their own hands. Since IVF isn’t an option, they decide Abram should sleep with Hagar, Sarai’s maid. Abram does, Hagar gets pregnant, Sarai gets jealous and sends Hagar away. God finds her in the desert and sends her back. Hagar has a son named, Ishmael. Abram is now 86 years old.

Fast-forward thirteen more years and Abram is now 99 years old in today’s passage, this final time that God makes the same covenant with him: “I will make you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful. Kings will come from you. And your name will no longer be Abram but Abraham, which means “father of many.” Sarai’s name will change, too, she will be called Sarah, and I will bless her and give you a son by her.” Now, our lectionary stops there, but in the very next verse, Abraham laughs. “Really, God. A 100 year old man is going to have a son. A 90 year old woman is going to have a baby. Are you sure you don’t want to just use Ishmael instead?” God says, “I will bless Ishmael, too. But your wife, Sarah, will bear you a son whom you will name Isaac.” Isaac means “he laughs.” Remember, Sarah laughs, too, when she’s told she’s going to have a baby at her age. Yet God is serious and Abraham fulfills his part of the covenant. Unlike the covenant with Noah, which required nothing of Noah or any other living creature, the covenant with Abraham required at least three things of Abraham. It required Abraham to have faith, to have patience, and to be committed.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”[3] It “is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”[4] That’s the definition from the bible, what the bible says faith is. “To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.”[5] If you can see it, then it’s not faith. If there is physical, tangible proof, then it’s not faith. Abraham and Sarah have been childless their entire lives and they have lived long lives. Even the first time God makes the covenant, when they’re 75 and 65 years old, respectively, there’s no proof that Sarah can get pregnant. Yet God promises and Abraham believes him, when he’s 75 years old, when he’s 86 years old, when he’s 99 years old. There’s no proof, there’s no reason to believe, other than that it is God who says it. In Romans, we read:

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”[6]

Do you believe that God has the power to do what God has promised? Regardless of whether you’ve seen proof of it? I know seeing the proof and seeing God follow through on his promises helps strengthen our faith. But what about when there’s been no proof? Do you still believe? Do you still stand on the promises? It can be even trickier when it’s a specific promise, like that Abraham would have a son by Sarah. Not just a child, and not just by any woman, but a son with Sarah. I didn’t have a boyfriend in high school, didn’t even date much in high school, but I really wanted to go to my senior prom with a date. About March, two months before prom, I felt God promise me that someone would ask me to prom and I believed him and I quit worrying about it. No evidence, no trend of guys lining up at my door, but wouldn’t you know, about a month later, Lee called me. We were friends, in lots of classes together, but he had never called me before. He asked me to prom. He had no clue he was an answer to prayer, and I never even told him that until ten years later when we re-met. Faith is unwavering confidence in God. It is hope in God, and not in yourself. It’s not something you can make happen. If it’s something you can make happen, then you don’t need God.

Going back to Paul’s description of Abraham’s faithfulness, “being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our salvation.”[7] We cannot save ourselves, as much as we might try. We cannot overcome death by ourselves, no matter what new medicine, technology, or life-support is developed. Only Jesus saves. Only because of Jesus can we face death unafraid, with the faith that it is not the end, but that eternal life is waiting for us. That’s all on faith. Not because of any evidence. Abraham and Sarah didn’t have proof; they had faith.

However, in spite of their faith, they still tried to make the baby happen on their own. It’s easy to lose patience with God’s timing. His timing is not ours. Through the prophet Isaiah, God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”[8] God does not do things on our schedule. I feel like I should say that again. God does not do things on our schedule. There are things we’d like done by a certain time, if not done yesterday! We are impatient people. One of the biggest things you notice when you drive north is how much faster people drive in the north. And I’ve noticed here how the school buses wait for cars to pass them before putting out their stop sign and flashing red lights for a bus stop. They don’t do that elsewhere. The cars have to wait. But here, school buses pull over to the shoulder of the road for all the cars to pass and then the bus pulls out onto the road. Have y’all noticed that? Did you know that’s not normal compared to the rest of the country? Yet patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit, just like faithfulness. Abraham and Sarah believe God’s promise, but they try to help it along. And what happens? A big mess. The best analogy I’ve ever heard for God’s timing is that you can’t rush a sunset. It takes time for the sun to go down from the sky. And there is nothing you can do to make that sun go down quicker. Yet isn’t it gorgeous to watch the sunset? When it’s over, you feel sad and wish it would have lasted longer. You can’t rush a sunset. You can’t rush God. As Miracle Max says in The Princess Bride, “You rush a miracle worker, you get rotten miracles.” God will not be rushed, and his timing is not ours. I’m sure Abraham and Sarah would have preferred to have a baby when they were much younger, or at least in their 60’s, the first time God gave the promise. But no. Sarah was 90 years old. Abraham was 100. It was not on their timing. It was God’s. You have to wait for God to fulfill his promises.

Finally, the third thing required of Abraham for this covenant was commitment. You may have noticed that we skipped over seven verses in the middle of the Genesis reading. I guess the lectionary creators thought talking about circumcision would offend our delicate sensibilities. However, part of what Abraham had to do for his part of this covenant was to undergo circumcision, both him and every male in his household. This is a serious commitment. Yet this is the covenant God asks of Abraham and Abraham does it. Abraham was required to change for this covenant. His name changed and his body changed. Sarah’s name changed, too. They were committed to this covenant to the point that they were willing to change. Jesus asks the same thing of us: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”[9] Abraham and Sarah’s lives changed drastically because of their faith. They left their family and their ancestral home. God said, “Leave your home and go to a land that I will show you.” They went on a long journey. They were probably shamed for not having any children. But they decided that following God was worth the risks, worth the changes, worth giving up comforts. There were things that were more important than life staying the same as always, and that was following God.

This is one of Jesus’ hard teachings. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. Lose your life for my sake. Give up your life for my sake. What does this look like? It means holding all your things loosely, remembering that it was God who gave them to you in the first place. It means being willing to change, whether to move, or serve God in a new way, or worship in a new way. Our God is one of eternal faithfulness and changelessness, and yet it is also our God who says he’s about to do a new thing. Do you know what God says before he says he’s about to do a new thing? This is from Isaiah 43. In the first part of the chapter, God says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior… I love you… Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” Then, in the second half of Isaiah 43, God says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

This is why I came back from Nicaragua, where I served before seminary. It wasn’t because I developed rheumatoid arthritis. It was because in the midst of listening to God during the early onset, God said, “I am about to do a new thing.” And that new thing was sending me to seminary, to become a pastor. Jesus says, “Those who lose their life for me will save it.” Well, I gave up my entire life to go serve God in Nicaragua. It was very clear God called me there. Sold my car, left my job and my students in North Carolina, gave up my financial independence to live off raised support, I lost my life only to find it again in Nicaragua, where my mom said I was the happiest she’d ever seen me in my life. And then, God calling again, “I’m about to do a new thing,” in the midst of disease. Lost my life in Nicaragua only to find it again in the States. Lee and I re-met within two months of my returning to North Carolina. Unlike in high school, we started dating right away this time around. Lost my life as a schoolteacher to find it again as a pastor, who is also a kind of teacher. I found you all. God led us here and I’m so grateful. Being fully committed to God means you’re willing to change if and when God calls you to that. You face your fear of the unknown, because God’s about to do a new thing, and you don’t want to miss that.

Abraham didn’t want to miss it, even if he had some doubts about how a 90 year old lady was going to get pregnant, even if God’s timing was not his timing, even if it meant change. Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Thank God he will credit righteousness to us, too, who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, Jesus who was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our salvation. Have faith. Be patient, with God, with yourself, and with others. Stay committed to the mission, which is making disciples of Jesus Christ. There are lots of ways to do it, we’ve got to pay attention to how God is calling us to do it, in this time, in this place. That’s the covenant, for we also are heirs and children of Abraham. Thanks be to God.

---

[1] Genesis 15:5

[2] Genesis 15:6

[3] Hebrews 11:1, NKJV

[4] Ibid., NIV

[5] Ibid., GNT

[6] Romans 4:18-21

[7] Romans 4:21-25

[8] Isaiah 55:8-9

[9] Mark 8:34-35