September 2007
Matthew 16:24-26
Preached on 9/2/07
David Endriss
ABRAHAM: Part III
Abram and Lot Part Company
Review
Abram’s call to the Promised Land - The Blessing
Time in Egypt - Blows it and is deported
Moves back to Bethel and recommits to the Lord - we need to return to the Lord at each corner of our lives, Confession and renewal of obedience
Lot and Abram
Now Lot begins to play an important role in story.
Lot was Abram’s nephew. He had followed Abram out of Ur, and probably right into Egypt. Lot enjoyed some great privileges. He had an important uncle. He had wealth, spiritual guidance under Abram’s tutelage and prestige.
But a problem develops; there was not enough grazing land. Not only was it shared between Abram and Lord, they also had to share it with the Canaanites and Perizzites. So Abram makes a very generous offer. Look around Lot, and pick what you want - I’ll take the rest.
Abram could do this because he saw with the eyes of faith. God had already given him the land, why not share it?
What an opportunity for Lot. It was like winning the lottery! (Every pun intended)
Draw picture of Promised Land in sanctuary.
Lot Makes His Choice
Lot looked about him, and saw that the plain of Jordan was well watered everywhere like the gar den of the LORD, (That is, Eden) Boy was he badly mistaken!
Franklin Roosevelt: We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics.
Patrick Henry shouted, “Give my liberty or give me death!” The next generation shouted, “Give me liberty.” The present generation shouts, “Give me!”
Lot settled among the cities of the Plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom.
Lot was not a bad man - he was just easily influenced. He was fine when he was with his uncle. One becomes like Lot in degrees. At first he only moved towards Sodom. At first he probably wanted nothing to do with that town. But eventually we find him in the town and when the angels finally come to destroy Sodom & Gomorrah they have to literally throw Lot and his family out because they were reluctant to leave.
A Lot of Difference
What made Abram and Lot different? In chapter 13 we read that Lot looked about him and took what he thought was best. But just a few verses later it was God who told Abram “to raise his eyes” and God renews the promise to Abram regarding the land. Lot lifted up his own eyes and selfishly took a path that led to destruction. But when Abram lifted his eyes he saw what God had in store for him.
While Lot moved east to the Jordan Valley & to Sodom, Abram moved the other direction. While Lot moved towards Sodom with his tents, Abram moved to Hebron and built an altar once again to God.
It was here that Abram once again met with God. What Abram saw first with the eyes of faith, God was now going to allow to see with his physical eyes and travel with his feet.
“Rise up, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”
The choices we make do affect us. Two brothers named John and Charles were born h the 16th century. One studied law, preached, traveled, established churches, wrote books on theology and church order. The other pursued a reckless and carefree life. One we know the other we don’t. Same parents, same family environment. The one we know is John Calvin.
What is the difference between Lot and Abram? Lot wanted both: He wanted God and the world. We want what the Christian writer Wilbur Rees calls “$3.00 worth of God.” “I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God”
Our Matthew text says that commitment means not just $3 but to take up our cross.
There is a legend that says Charlemagne gave instructions that when he died he was to be buried seated in a royal posture with a crown on his head, the royal robe around his shoulders and the gospels in his lap. For 180 years it was so, until around the year 1000 AD when the emperor Othello wanted to see if Charlemagne’s request was properly filled out. His tomb was opened. His body was decayed but his finger was pointed to Matt. 16:26 “For what will it profit a person, if they gain the whole world and forfeit their life?”
Conclusion:
We are a lot like Lot. I see myself in Lot. Easy faith, compromise. A Christianity that asks very little of me.
It’s time to stop playing games. Of being “almost Christians.” We almost find time for God. We almost believe. We almost obey. We almost pray. We almost make sacrificial gifts. We almost but not quite.
What if Christ did that? If he was almost our Savior. If he almost died on the cross. What if he had said, ‘Ask and it shall almost be given to you, seek and you shall almost find, knock and the door will almost be opened unto you.” This is not the Lord we worship. We are not called to be almost his disciples.
We need each other: Lot was okay in the strength of his uncle. Watch your decisions. What may seem like the Garden of Eden is really Sodom in disguise. Seek God’s will.
What was ultimately the difference between Abram and Lot? Abram had a sense of spiritual destiny. He knew God was with him.
Texts: Genesis 16:1-16
Galatians 4:21-26
Preached on 09/16/07
David Endriss
ABRAHAM: Part V
“Abram tries it on his own”
Introduction
These last several weeks we have been looking more closely into this wonderful promise that God gave to Abram. It is a two-fold promise consisting of both land and people. God’s promise was to give this new land to Abram, and the promise also was that Abram was to be the father of many nations. In a very real way, these two promises cannot be separated. “Without the land people go homeless, and without people the land goes unfulfilled.” It could be said this way, the Holy Land needs Holy People. Perhaps more than most - farmers understand this sacred connection between land and people.
Last week: we saw how God established a covenant relationship with Abram. Abram believed God and God reckoned it to him as righteousness.
I. The Plan
But it has now been ten years since Abram moved to Canaan and the promise has still not been fulfilled. Abram is getting impatient. He is now about 85 years old and time is running out.
So Sarai, his wife, comes us with a new plan. It was a plan that was to create all sorts of problems and a plan that I certainly would not recommend. But temptations are the most dangerous when they come from a friend - someone we thought safe. This is when our guard is down. They can be family members, friends at school, or colleagues at work.
Sarai suggests that Abram take her servant Hagar and have a child with her. In a polygamous society, having a child from a servant was not uncommon. Many ancient manuscripts attest to this practice. These societies placed great stress on insuring an heir, this was one way to do it. Not that this particular practice is one that I would advocate.
If this sounds strange, Abram’s grandson, Jacob takes this practice to new heights (or lows)! I sometimes call his story the Battle of the Babies! Jacob had two wives: Leah and Rachael. These two women begin competing against each about who could give to Jacob the most children. Eventually, four women are involved, Leah and her servant Zilpah and Rachael and her servant Bilah. Between the four women 13 children are born.
II. The Problem
Now Sarai’s plan works. . almost. Hagar does become pregnant, but soon afterwards the trouble begins. So often, when there is a lapse of faith, it brings out the worst in people. In this case it began with Hagar, but it certainly didn’t stop there. (vs 4) and when Hagar saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. Hagar began to despise Sarai, perhaps with the attitude, “I’m special, you are nothing!” Not too surprisingly, Sarai reacts
Some years ago I preached a sermon from this pulpit on the life of Samson, the strongest man in the Bible. For all of his strength, in many ways Samson often behaved like a spoiled child. To this day I remember reading a portion of his story where this hero of the Bible was accused of beating up on a bunch of Philistines. His answer to the charge reminded me of the typical answer of a young child: “I’m only doing to them what they did to me!” When I first saw that I couldn’t believe it! I had to re-read it again. Did Samson, this great Biblical hero, actually say, “It’s not my fault! They started it!” If you don’t believe me, look it up in Judges 15:11.
Well, if Abram is the father of the Jews, then who is the mother? Sarai. You would think she might be a pillar of faith, right? But her response reminds me of Samson’s. She essentially blames Abram (vs 5) “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave-girl to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt.” “Abram, it’s all your fault.” Now wait a minute. Whose idea was this anyway? Oh, Abram can share some of the blame, but how quickly we are to point the finger of culpability at someone else.
But now Abram too, very quickly abdicates any responsibility. “Behold, your slave-girl is in your power; do to her as you please.” It surprises me how fast Abram washed his hands of the entire experience. So Sarai vents her hatred and abuses Hagar.
Hagar flees to the wilderness, unwilling to take it. But God pursues her. It says: The angel of the LORD found her by a spring. God went looking for Hagar. I find comfort in those words. That God would take the time to track me down and find me, even when I am on the run. God’s words to Hagar were a combination of rebuke and comfort. Return and submit to Sarai. But you will have a son. Although his life will be a hard one - he will survive and become a great nation.
Before returning to Abram and Sarai, Hagar names the place where she met with God. She called it: Beerlahairoi (be’er la hi roi) which means: (the well of him who lives and sees me). Some of you may have seen representations of the “All Seeing Eye of God”. Usually it is meant to warn us to behave. God’s eye of judgment is upon us. But this isn’t judgment here; it is heavenly grace pursuing us and reaching out to human need.
The chapter concludes with Hagar giving birth to a son whom she named Ishmael.
Conclusion and Summary
The apostle Paul takes this story of Sarah and Hagar and turns it into an allegory in Galatians. He calls the son born of Hagar, a son of the flesh, that is, human effort trying to accomplish God’s will. It is our attempts at trying to please God through all the things we do. It is legalism - our futile attempts at getting to heaven by “being good”. But this isn’t want God wants. The son that Sarah will have was born miraculously - something only God could have done, Only through God’s miraculous work can we become justified. That is the new covenant - the new promise that God offers to us.
Abram has been slowly eliminating all possibilities but this final miracle. Adopting one of his servants was ruled out. As we saw today, having a son through another woman has also been ruled out. The groundwork is being laid out for God to act in a way that can only be recognized as the hand of God.
But that sometimes takes more time than we want. Abram was getting along in years (85 years) as was Sarai. He was getting impatient. (Niles) “In God’s economy time means very little, but timing means very much.” (chronos - kairos) We need to learn to trust God’s timing.
Our lack of trust hurts God, but it hurts us even more. If Abram had kept his faith on God and not tried it on his own, then this situation may never have occurred. If we keep our eyes on God rather than the situation around us, we may find our pain too will be lessened.
Are you trying to accomplish God’s will all on your own? Trying to be good enough? Then you are like Abram and Sarai who in this case tried to fulfill God’s promises through their own design and scheming. When we do things our own way, instead of God’s way, we invite trouble for ourselves, and for others.
Trust in God and keep your eyes turned towards him.
Texts: Genesis 17:1-8, 15-22
Acts 7:2-8
Preached on 9/23/07
David Endriss
Abraham: Part VI
Abram gets a new name
Review & Introduction
It is now some 13 years after the Ishmael story and we find Abram still waiting. Abram is now about 99 years old. And God once again appears to him.
God once again confirms this covenant relationship that God had earlier established with Abram. And the language of this covenant sounds very much like the language in a wedding! This is not too surprising because it is a frequent image found in the Bible. God is often referred to as a bridegroom or lover who woes and courts us. At the same time we sometimes are unfaithful and commit spiritual adultery against God.
Notice again that it is God who initiated this covenant. In every meeting God is the one who started it. A covenant stands or falls on relationships. If there is no trust or respect, then the covenant is doomed to collapse. Thirteen times in Genesis 17 God uses the language of commitment by using the word covenant.
The Naming
Since May I have had the privilege to officiate at five weddings and next month I will be doing two more. You can almost hear the weddings vows in this passage. During the wedding I formally state the names of the bride and groom and seek their promise to live together in a loving covenant relationship. (Will you ____ take to be your. . )
Now in Genesis not only does Abram receive a new name, but God is identified with a new name. “I am God Almighty.” (Literally, El Shaddai) This is the first time that this phrase is used in the Bible to describe God. Although the actual meaning of El Shaddai is uncertain, it is thought to mean, “God of the mountain” or “God who is sufficient”. But this same God is also a personal God, “walk before me and I will establish a covenant between the two of us.”
And then Abram too is given a new name. No longer is he to be called Abram (which means exalted Father) but Abraham (the father of many). There are several examples in Scripture where an individual is re-named as a part of a new covenant relationship. Daniel is re-named to Belteshazzar when he becomes a servant to a new king. Jacob is renamed to Israel after he wrestles with the angel of God. Simon is re-named Peter by Jesus after Peter confesses him to be the Christ.
Abraham’s wife, Sarai is also renamed and she too is included in the covenant. Her name means princess.
Vows
(Will you. . ) Let’s again return to the language of a wedding. At a wedding, not only do I declare the names of those who are entering into this covenant, but I put it in the form of a question. “Will you...?” For better or for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health.
Fourteen times in Genesis 17, God proclaims “I will” to Abraham:
I will make a covenant I will multiply you exceedingly
I will make you fruitful I will make nations
I will establish my covenant. I will give to you the land
I will bless you I will give you a son
I will be your God
God says walk, and the first thing that Abram does is fall on his face before God. But before we can walk we must first crawl.
A more literal translation of verses 2 and 3 would be: ‘Walk before me in order that I may make this covenant with you.
The Covenant Renewed
In the covenant God established in chapter 15 Abraham did nothing. But now in chapter 17 God does require Abraham to act. Abraham is instructed to circumcise every male descendant as a sign of this covenant relationship. This practice was already well established in other ancient nations around Abraham but here it is given new meaning. It is God’s brand or mark upon a special people.
I remember my first year of Hebrew and struggling to memorize vocabulary words. Greek has the advantage that at least some of the words are vaguely recognizable. But in Hebrew you sometimes have to come up with some creative memory techniques for recalling vocabulary. Such was the case with the Hebrew word for covenant. Now I have never been a big fan of burritos. So my mnemonic phrase was “I covenant never to eat a burrito.” The Hebrew word for covenant is “Berit”. The modern Jewish circumcision ceremony is referred to as Berit.
But there were other covenants and signs that God had established with the people. There was the rainbow for Noah and the Sabbath day with Moses.
In later years this covenant sign of circumcision for the Jews became warped, misused and misunderstood when the people began to see it as a nationalistic sign. The outward sign of circumcision began to be viewed with a sense of arrogant pride. “We are the people of God which means that we are saved and all you other uncircumcised heathens are not! In time some of the prophets like Jeremiah began wishing for a different kind of circumcision, one of the heart. This situation became so bad that by the time of the New Testament and John the Baptist we find the prophet criticizing those who were so proud of being Abraham’s sons. John responds by saying that if God wanted to God could make children of Abraham out of rocks! (Matt 3:9)
We too at times are tempted to place an inappropriate amount of trust in the outward trappings of our covenant relationship with God. The New Testament parallel of circumcision is baptism. There are those who place their trust in the water, not in Christ. I have been baptized, therefore I am saved. To those, they need to hear the words of the prophet, there must be a baptism of the heart. As I have repeatedly mentioned these past couple of weeks; covenant means a relationship with God. These outward signs of covenant that God established first with Noah, then later with Abraham and Moses and still later with us through Christ all point to a relationship. Without that relationship the rainbow, circumcision, the Sabbath and baptism become meaningless. The Belgic Confession, written in the 16th century put it well when it describes the sacraments as outward signs of an inward grace. (Article XXXIII)
The Promise of Isaac
Finally, God spells out that it will be through specifically Sarah that Abraham will have a son. Abraham in his doubt actually laughs at the thought. But his doubt is also tempered with love and concern for his son, Ishmael. “0 that Ishmael might live in your sight.” In other words: why can’t Ishmael serve?
But God says no, Sarah will have a son and you shall name him Isaac. There is a wonderful pun tucked into Scripture here. Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor? Isaac’s name means, “May God smile upon him.” Or even more simply, “Laughter”. Inside joke.
Chapter 17 ends with Abraham circumcising his household as instructed by God.
Conclusion
You and I are standing at the altar. It is our wedding day. Standing next to us is the bridegroom, Jesus Christ. And we hear his voice speaking, promising wondrous things: I will be with you always, I will bless you, I will love you, and together we will make a great difference in our world. This is my vow, this is my covenant with you. And you too shall have a new name, for you are now called with God’s name.