The Faith of Abraham in the Light of the Resurrection (Week 46, Jul 9)
Readings
Genesis 15:1–8
Romans 4:13–25
Hebrews 11:1–3, 8–16
Silent Reflection
Remarks
Think about many of the ideas we followers of Jesus take for granted: that there is one Creator and God of the cosmos, that this God created humans and wants to partner with them to bring goodness to the world, that being human is first and foremost a matter of trusting the love this God has for us, and that this God is merciful and gracious. What if no one had ever told you these things? Further, what if you lived in a time and place where no one had ever told anyone these things? Enter the world of the gods of Abraham’s father.
Abraham truly was a man ahead of his time. Yes, his father, Terah, may have been a man leaving convention behind as he forged a way west out of Chaldea, but when the family stopped and settled in Harran, Abraham took his nephew and a wife and set out for even newer frontiers. Why? Apparently he heard a word from this strange new God whom neither he nor his father knew, and that was enough for him.
In his great work, The Gifts of the Jews, Thomas Cahill paints the picture of Abraham, a true pioneer who was aware of the fact that there was something much deeper going on in this universe. He trusted in some greater truths—or had a sense of a Greater Truth—that drove him to keep going. This pioneering spirit was coupled with a unique ability to truly see the needs of others and be selfless, and God capitalized on this unique opportunity by forming a partnership that would change the course of human history.
Abraham seemed to be able to see things that most of us wouldn’t be able to see throughout the next two millennia. Abraham was able to trust in a way that epitomized the idea of hope. From our perspective, with the advantages of history and a dash of divine revelation, things make more sense. We’ve come to expect a response of hopeful trust to God because we’ve heard how Abraham’s and many other stories turned out. But if you were in Abraham’s shoes, such drastic responses to a God hitherto unrevealed would be rash, illogical, and insane.
“Dear sir or madam, you’re 90, and you’re going to have a child.” What would anyone say to such a voice?
And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
This is the definition of hope. This is what trust looks like. And this is why Abraham is one of the most frequent examples of faithfulness in your New Testament. He had the ability to see potential and possibility against all odds, not as airy, cosmic forces, but because he had an unwavering trust in God when He said He would do something.
And all this in a world that hadn’t even seen a resurrection yet.
When the writers of the New Testament wanted to testify to the resurrected Christ and help the early Christian community understand what it meant to live as children of His resurrection, they held up Abraham as an example. When they wanted to illuminate what it meant to live as part of a new creation, they pointed back to Abraham.
Just as Abraham was able to hear God and trust in a better reality than the one that had been handed to him in Mesopotamia… Just as Abraham believed that maybe the whole cosmos was structured differently than our assumptions, differently even than our long-held beliefs… So we people of the empty tomb now live in a new and different reality. How much more should we be able to hear an incredible promise and trust God? How much more can we stare the deepest corners of darkness square in the face and walk in triumph? How much more can we endure as a testimony to the goodness of God and the new creation He is bringing forth?
Maybe this is at least part of the reason Paul insists on the acceptance of outsiders as—specifically—children of Abraham. Paul could have saved himself a lot of headache by simply shaping the story away from that statement, but he insists on it. Why?
This whole story we are a part of is built on promises, and Abraham is the father of trusting the promises. The promise of children to the infertile. The promise of blessing to all nations coming through God’s partner. (Is this why Paul insists on the acceptance of outsiders specifically as “children of Abraham”?) The promise of rescue to a nation of slaves. The promise of land to homeless wanderers. The promise of goodness at the foundation of the universe.
This has always been a story of promises. To see the promise, you only have to walk in hope, in trusting faithfulness. Yes, there is plenty to despair about in this world. There is plenty to lose hope over. But we are invited to be people who live in the hope of an Age to Come. As people who have witnessed a resurrection, we are invited to be people who live on the far side of death’s defeat.
And they believed God, and it was credited to them as righteousness.
Silent Reflection
Response
What is it that threatens to steal your hope?
What does the resurrection have to say about that?
If you imagine Abraham and Sarah sitting in our cloud of witnesses tonight, what do you suppose they would tell us?
As a group, think about some act or project (a service, a pilgrimage, a celebration) that can give testimony to the resurrection in your world. Plan and execute this idea before the year is up, and let it be a taste of the way we are invited to walk every day.