It took me quite a while to discern a common thread in this weekend’s lectionary passages–and your hearers will likewise flounder along unless you spell it out for them. This thread, to me, is the element of Faith: an uncompromising trust that God can and will do the impossible for those who’ll risk, for those who don’t hedge their bets. This could be a lesson of smiling platitudes; or it could be a gut-shaking loss of all that we count valuable in order to see Christ’s possibilities more clearly.
Abraham, you remember, wanted children in the worst way, in order to pass along his revelation of God. He had already shown his willingness to rely on holy direction when he loaded his ox-cart and set off for WhoKnowsWhere. (The bumper sticker read, “Don’t follow me, I’m lost too!”) Having done all this, it still looked as if his genes were about to evaporate. BUT God steps in again, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.” (Genesis 17:4) During Lent we may well take some time for star-gazing and imaging what our own covenant with God may yield.
Most of Paul’s writings invite the non-Jews to step into God’s covenant–but this passage from Romans (4:13-25) is definitely geared toward those familiar with Hebrew holy-history. Abraham, the ‘father of all of us’ is an example of tenacious trust, for he ‘did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead…’ He was fully convinced! Abraham, like all the saints, had his moments of despair; his life is lifted up as a reminder that he hung in there despite his frustration with aging.
Jesus told the crowd to risk their comfort in order to get closer to God. “Let them deny themSELVES and take up their (own) cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake,and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35) Despite the good intentions of those who give up chocolate or peanuts for Lent, this is a stronger call to give up our Ego and imitate Jesus. Within the hard terms is a gentle promise, that our risk of what we think valuable will lead to fulfillment/salvation.
Lent is always an enigma, and often causes us some discomfort as the Gospel tweaks our complacency. Jeff Paschal reminds us that “God is calling forth a courageous church that rakes risks and trusts, rather than living the spiritually immobile life of simply trying not to make any mistakes.” (FEEDING on the WORD, B 2:67) It’s tough to risk all my toys! May we all be encouraged to puncture our Egos…
God Bless Us, Every One Horace Brown King
My wrestling with scripture assigned to the upcoming weekend can be observed every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com
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