Faith Stories

A sermon preached at Old South Congregational Church, Hallowell, Maine, March 12, 2006.

Text: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 and Romans 4:13-25

The Rev. Susan Maxwell Reisert, Interim Minister

You remember the story of Abraham. When Abraham was first called by God, Abraham was still known as Abram. God said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abraham, who was still then known as Abram, went. He followed the call of God even though that call asked him to give up almost everything that he knew. Abram accepted the call to make a journey that did not have a map. Abram did not ask to see a brochure of that promised land. He did not ask for a picture of the accommodations that God would be providing or a prospectus of how the land could be cultivated and made profitable and how it would perform when publicly traded on Wall Street.

With only his faith in God, Abram left the land that he had known and he took with him some of his close family members including his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot. Abram’s journey was a long and often difficult one. He and his family encountered different peoples, they encountered famine, they encountered difficulties that caused them to separate. But God continued to look after Abram and to renew the call he made. God called and declared a covenant with Abram and his descendants. Abram was renamed Abraham and he continued on his journey with God even though he still did not have a map, even though he was getting older, even though he still did not know exactly what God had in mind.

You remember the story of Abraham. When God told Abraham, who was a hundred at the time, that at the age of ninety his wife Sarah was finally going to have a baby, Abraham came close to knocking himself out-- “fell on his face and laughed,” as the author of Genesis puts it. God doesn’t seem to hold this laughter against Abraham and Sarah, however. On the contrary, he tells them the baby’s going to be a boy and that he wants them to name him Isaac. Isaac in Hebrew means “laughter.”

You remember the story of Abraham. Abraham lived a long, faithful life-- a life in which God continued to challenge him, sometimes in seemingly brutal ways. Abraham lived a long, faithful life, yet even at the point of his death which the Bible says was when he was one hundred and seventy-five years old, Abraham had still not experienced the fulfillment of all of God’s promises, though he had certainly gotten things rolling in the right direction.

You remember the story of Abraham. Certainly, the early Christians actively remembered the story of this good and faithful man. James remembered Abraham as a “friend of God.” (James 4:4) The author of Hebrews lifted up the example of Abraham to illustrate the nature of faith. In an old and wonderful tradition, the author of Hebrews, does not set out simply to define faith for the community of Christians to or for whom he wrote. Instead, he recalls the stories of the faithful people who are held up in the ancient scriptures. Abraham was one such person-- a person of a story who lived a long and faithful life, who tried diligently to follow the call of God, but who still experienced profound difficulties. Abraham was a model of faith, even though he did not actually see or experience the fulfillment of all of God’s promises to him. At the end of his one hundred and seventy-five years, Abraham may not have seemed like a success to himself or to those around him who knew of the promises. Yet, those promises were fulfilled and Abraham was certainly a vital key to the fulfillment of them.

In this morning’s lesson from Romans, Paul too holds up Abraham as a model of faith, the man who believed in the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Abraham hoped against hope. He did not weaken in faith; he did not lose his trust in the vision. He grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Abraham heard God’s call and followed. Abraham believed in those promises and in that voice not because he had read about God in the Bible but because he heard that voice in his heart and he found the courage to follow in faith. He followed and believed in something that could not be proven or something that when you weighed the pros and cons that you could actually find more things listed on the “pro” side.

The story is about faith, about the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. The nature of faith is best told in a story, because it is something that defies good definition. Faith is not just about something that we have, it is about something that we are; it is about our very being. When we dare to follow the voice of God, faith grabs ahold of us and causes us to wonder how we could ever think that we could live our lives without God. Faith draws us into the mysteries and wonders of life and the fulfillment of promises, even just the hope of the fulfillment of promises.

Early Christians in the first century needed to hear about models of faith; they needed to be reminded of ancient covenants and of the unfolding work of God among the people. They needed the encouragement of their leaders. Paul knew the power of holding up the example of Abraham, who weathered many storms, yet remained faithful and through his faithfulness, he made the presence of God in this world even stronger. Abraham was a model of faith, remaining faithful even when that faith led him to uncertain and even dangerous places.

Early Christians had experienced persecution as well as a crisis of confidence in their local leadership. They may have been confused or overwhelmed by the demands that this new life brought. After all, Jesus had not left behind a clear structure for the church nor had he left behind any clear indication of what exactly he expected of them. For many early Christians, becoming a Christian ended up bringing more turmoil into their lives when they may of expected less.

These early Christians needed to be reminded of faith. And one of the best ways to remind them of the challenge of faith was through the old stories. These old stories of great models of faith were also great stories of rather ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives through nothing more or less than following God’s voice in faith and in hope. Abraham couldn’t help laughing in God’s face when he was told that his ninety-year-old wife was going to have a son. Moses didn’t like to speak in public. Yet these and others like them found the courage to follow God who opened up the possibilities of doing remarkable things. These and others offered real examples of what it meant to follow God’s path, to walk with God, even when in times of difficulty.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, so says the author of Hebrews. And, Paul, in this passage from Romans, reminds us that in faith we show that we are convinced that God is able to do what is promised, that in hoping against hope and remaining in faith, we grow in our faith and thereby, give glory to God.

Like the early Christians, we too need such reminding. We too need to remember these stories, these examples. We too need to be reminded of the ancient covenants. We too need to be reminded of the journey, the journey that is often difficult and uncertain, that leads us in ways that we cannot fully appreciate or understand. We too walk in the ways of these stories; we too walk as God’s people through the generations.

We are people of this story. We this are people of this sacred story of God’s unfolding purposes and vision for humanity.

Faith is about hearing the voice and following God’s lead, even when we have little or no knowledge of where we are going. Faith is about entering into the most wonderful of friendships. We cannot prove a good friendship, but we certainly know one when we experience it. Faith is about entering into this story of God and God’s people and believing in hope even when there is no reason to believe in such a thing.

We are part of this on-going story, this story of God’s people, this story of people who struggle along this journey even though we don’t always know where we are going but we are sure that who we are does matter to the unfolding of God’s promises in this creation. Our stories are a part of God’s presence in this place. When we begin to think that what we do doesn’t matter, when we think that one person can’t make a difference, we are losing our faith. Who we are does matter.

The nature of faith is best told in a story and there are plenty of stories in this congregation. We don’t have to go too far to find models of faith. Just look around. We know the stories of rather ordinary people who live and have lived extraordinary lives. We know the stories of people who have experienced overwhelming adversity, yet they have not lost their faith, they have not lost their conviction of things unseen. Because faith is not about investing in a great security system that will keep the burglars away. Faith is not about discovering a miracle cure for all of our ills.

Faith is about being a part of that wonderful and sacred story of God and God’s people, a story that began so very long ago and continues today. Faith is about being part of this unfinished story of the unfolding of God’s promises. Faith is about participating in this story that is not neatly laid out for us, yet we are sure of it nonetheless. [repeat]

May God continue to strengthen us in our journey-- in our individual and collective journeys. May God grant us to courage to hear his voice and to follow in faith, hope and trust. Though we may laugh at what we hear, may we not falter in believing the unbelievable and in doing the undoable. May we always hope even when things seem hopeless. Let us not weaken in our faith, even when we feel barren and empty. May we not lose our trust, remaining strong in our faith that we may continue to give glory to God, fully convinced that God is able to do as God has promised.

May we continue to be a people of faith and righteousness, a people of this grand and marvelous story. Where are you in this story? What part do you play in this unfolding drama, this story of promises, this story of justice, this story of hope? Where do you fit in God’s purposes?

God is here. God is with us. God is ready to renew us on our journey of faith. May we welcome that gift of grace to continue to walk this journey in faith and in hope.

Thanks be to God. Amen.