| August 12, 2007 - 11th Sunday
after Pentecost First
Reading: Genesis 15:1-6 Gospel: Luke 12:32-40 Sermon by Pastor Katherine Douglass Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen - what beautiful words to describe faith - the assurance of things hoped for - being sure of hope. The conviction of things not seen - being sure of what you cannot see. Throughout this summer, we've explored the life of discipleship in God's word for us - how it is we are to live as followers of Christ - in love toward God and neighbor - in constant conversation with God in prayer and in richness toward God. We heard last week that our lives do not consist in an abundance of possessions - our lives are not to be about what we have and how much money we've accumulated. And today we hear about the heart of richness toward God – Faith. Our lessons speak to us of what it is for a disciple to have faith, and to live each day in a way that is full of that faith - the faith that is assured of hope, and certain of what it cannot see. We hear first about Abram, an old man to whom God has given a promise, a hope - the hope of children of his own and the hope of a land of his own. But Abram is worried - he can't yet see what he hopes for - he can't touch the promise, he can't hold it in his hands and so he worries. And you know what he worries about? He worries about his money and his things - and who will inherit them. He worries about the things he can touch and hold in his hands, and has forgotten that there is something beyond those things. But God reminds him - reminds him of the promise, reminds him of the hope - and in doing so renews Abram's faith. God says - what I have promised you is true - you will have children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and on and on - and you will receive the promised land. It is not for you to see and touch and hold now, but that does not mean it isn't true. Look, God says to Abram, look up at the stars in the sky - can you count the stars, Abram? If you can count them, your children will be even more in number - this I promise you, Abram, says God. And Abram believed God. Abram had faith - Abram was sure of things hoped for, convinced of things not seen. Abraham, or Abram, is often talked about in scripture as a model for our faith - an ordinary man who believed, and who lived his life as if he believed. He failed and fell short, yes, as ordinary mortals do, but he kept faith, he walked in faith. He lived as if the promised land were just around the corner, and lived as if he already had hundreds of descendants, when in the end all he had was one single child. To live and walk by faith each day, to live each day as if God's promises were to be fulfilled any moment - that is the life of faith that we are called to , the life of faith that the gospel speaks of. Jesus tells us that God has given us his promise - that we, too, like Abraham, have been given a promised land - the kingdom of God - and our life of faith is to be a life that believes that promise - a life that we live as if each day we were to walk into that kingdom. A life that we live each day as if the king were coming to us, in fact. Jesus give us guidance on living each day in faith - in the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. He says; don't be afraid, because the Father's promise can be trusted. He says sell your possessions and give the money to the poor - After all, if we believe that the king is just about to bring his kingdom to us, why do we need to look anywhere else for security? Jesus tells us to be dressed for action, with the lights on - ready for the master, the king, to arrive any minute. A life of faith is a life of expectancy - of expecting Christ at any moment, and indeed of living as if he might walk in the door right now. A life of faith is a life lived in the assurance that the promise of God is true - even if we can't see the "proof" of it - even if we can't see the end and final product of it. Let's look again at the letter to the Hebrews, where that wonderful definition of faith comes from, to try to understand what this living in faith is like - the author says, By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents. He and his wife and their child and grand child died in faith, without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. A life of faith, as Hebrews shows us, is a life of following, even if you don't always know where you're going. Just because you don’t' know where you’re going doesn’t mean God doesn't know, after all. A life of faith, too, is sometimes lived on the edge - as a stranger in your own country, in a tent instead of in a big house in the city, because a life of faith is a life of looking forward to the promises being fulfilled - it isn't having them fulfilled on your terms and in your time. A life of faith is often a life of seeing and greeting the promises from a distance, like Abraham and his family did - they died in faith, without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. The promises are out there, maybe out of our reach and out of our sight, but they are there nevertheless. Many of us spend our lives wondering when God will give us what we're waiting for - whether it's financial security, a good marriage, or children we can be proud of. For some people, the fact that those things never happen in their lives is a sign that God somehow doesn't care about them, that God's promises are hollow, that we cannot trust in them. Our scripture for today calls us to remember two things - First, that God has promised us his kingdom, and life with him - he has not promised us financial security or happy marriages. Those things just aren’t' on the list of what God offers to us. Second, since God has promised us his kingdom, we can rest assured right now, today, that his promise will be fulfilled. Maybe not in our lifetime, although it might happen right now, too, but, like Abraham, we too, can see and greet God's promises from a distance, knowing that even if we don't live to see them fulfilled, they will still be fulfilled, and we will share them in joy and celebration. That, after all, is the beauty of God's promise for us - it doesn’t depend on us. The gift of the promised land to God's people didn't depend on Abraham - he just believed God and followed him. And the gift of the kingdom is God's gift to us through Christ. God's grace for us in Christ. God has already given us the kingdom through his unbounded love for us and acceptance of us. And now we just need to live as if we believed it. We can worry about our lives and our possessions and who will inherit what we've got. We can agonize over Jesus commands to sell our possessions and give to the poor; we can try to calculate when Jesus will return, and how. Or we can simply trust, have faith, We can walk through our lives as Abraham did, trusting that God will deliver on what he has promised, even if we can't see the results - even if we don't have proof. Living each day as if God's promise were being fulfilled right now, in the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.
In Jesus' name,
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