Suppose, for a moment, you were a historian, and you wanted to discuss the life of a historical figure.  And let’s say this historical figure lived before the days of newspapers, photographs, and other modern tools.  How would you prove this person lived and was not a myth?  How would you prove this person was born and, therefore, could have lived the life you intend to describe?  The simple answer to these questions is that if you want to prove someone lived and was not a myth, you can do so by demonstrating that they died.  No one ever died who did not at first live.  This was the approach of Jesus’ apostles and the writers of the New Testament. They showed Jesus lived by demonstrating that he died.

          I have been working my way through the book, On the Resurrection: Evidences.  It is a whopping 1,000 pages!  Of those 1,000 pages, about 100 are devoted to gathering all the references in the Bible, Jewish literature, and Roman histories that speak of Jesus’ death on the cross.  Jesus’ death was a pivotal moment for the early church because it showed two things. First, that Jesus was born and lived. Jesus was not a myth.  And second, demonstrating Jesus’ death is necessary to show that Jesus could have been resurrected.  No proof of death; there is neither proof of birth nor evidence of resurrection.

          The Apostle Paul was the first of Jesus’ apostles to memorialize Jesus’ death in writing.  Paul’s New Testament letters are older than the earliest gospels and show that Paul was aware of Jesus’ death.  No evidence was offered that Paul attended Jesus’ crucifixion, but it seems improbable that Paul was not aware of Jesus’ death.  Paul would, at first, deny the resurrection of Jesus, but he did not deny Jesus’ death.

          In his letter to the church of Galatia, Paul mentions Jesus’ death three times.  Paul spent about two years with the church in Galatia, and then, while absent from that church, wrote the letter we call Galatians.  In that letter, Paul reminded the church three times that Jesus died and that his death was a voluntary one on the cross.  Paul wrote:

• 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age (Galatians 1:3-4a).
• 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole” (Galatians 3:13)
• 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been abolished (Galatians 5:11).

Reminding the church that Jesus died was an essential part of Paul’s message. Jesus died, therefore Jesus lived. Paul wanted to speak about the significance of Jesus’ birth.  Paul’s words to the church at Galatia, likely written around 48 to 49 AD, represent the earliest record of Jesus’ birth.

What then did Paul say about Jesus’ birth?  Well, if you are looking for stories of angels, shepherds, stars, and Magi with their gifts, you will need to come for the next two weeks when we look at Jesus’ birth through the gospels of Matthew and Luke.  In his letter to the Galatians, Paul did not focus on the scene of Jesus’ birth; instead, he emphasized the theological significance of Jesus’ birth, which was fully realized by Jesus’ death and resurrection. What then did Paul say about Jesus’ birth?

Paul wrote, “1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from an enslaved person, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:1-7).

Paul began his account of Jesus’ birth by first speaking of a minor child being like a slave, and that before Jesus, he and the Galatians were slaves to elemental forces.  To understand Paul’s starting point, we need to know that the people of Galatia, in modern-day Turkey, originated as Gauls and Celtic people of modern-day France, hence the name Galatians or “Gaulatians.”  The Gauls worshipped a wide range of gods and goddesses who governed aspects of life like healing, warfare, prosperity, and fertility. They also believed that spirits (or deities) were present in all aspects of the natural world, from trees and animals to rivers and springs.  The Galatians would have understood Paul’s words that, before Christ, they were guided by elemental forces.

Paul also used a reference to slavery.  Now, slavery here is not like American slavery, of being taken from one’s homeland and forced into labor in a foreign land.  Paul’s use of slavery here is that the people of Galatia were subject to the Roman emperor but not given rights as citizens.  The people of Galatia were not free to do or worship as they wanted.  There were laws they had to follow, enacted by foreign rulers.  The Galatians were under the control and the enslavement of the Romans.

Paul likened this status of enslavement and being subject to elemental forces to being a minor under the control of a guardian or trustee.  That minor child was under someone’s control until the father of that minor said they could be treated as an adult.  “1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from an enslaved person, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world” (Galatians 4:1-3).  The Galatians were under someone else’s physical control, the Romans, and had been under the spiritual control of elemental forces.

Then we know from that point, Paul uttered that theologically significant word. “But.”  “4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son” (Galatians 4:4a).  When the time was right, God sent His Son from heaven to earth.  At just the right time, as determined by God, God changed the world by sending His Son, who by his very nature was like God, divine. But wait.  Paul said, “4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4a). What does Paul mean by “born of a woman?”  This phrase appears three times in the Old Testament Book of Job.

• Job 14:1: "Man that is born of a woman Is of few days, and full of trouble."
• Job 15:14: "What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?"
• Job 25:4: "How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?"

In all three cases, being born of a woman means being born human.  And so Paul was revealing here that Jesus, divine as God’s Son, was also born human through a human mother.  Paul was here announcing that Jesus was fully divine and fully human.  This is Paul’s birth announcement of Jesus.  It was short but exceptionally rich in truth.

          In that regard, Paul had a bit more to say, revealing the purpose of Jesus’ birth.  Paul wrote, “4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (Galatians 4:4). What was the significance of being born under the law?  Paul meant that Jesus was born a Jew and, therefore, required to live according to the commandments of the law, which Jesus perfectly obeyed.  At many points before, Paul had pointed out that mere humans were never able to meet the law's commands perfectly. So the law revealed human sin and condemnation.  “4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law 5 to redeem those under the law” (Galatians 4:4-5a). Jesus was born under the law, fulfilled it perfectly, died under the law, which Paul said was to redeem and free people from the condemnation of sin under the law.  Instead of being under the burden of the law that pointed out our sin, Jesus redeemed us, bringing us out from under the law to live in the freedom of grace from sin through Him. 

Why would Jesus want to do such a thing?  He did so “that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Galatians 4:5b). In being redeemed in Jesus, the Galatians, and all people, would be like an heir would receive his full inheritance, like someone's freedom from endless meaningless worship of the elements, and like someone no longer under the control of another, as being enslaved.

Jesus, the Son of God, a divine being, was sent to earth to be born of a woman, to live as a man following the law, dying once as a man, to redeem, to save people who believed in Him from the punishment of the law, and be freed from sin that enslaved them.  This is the Jesus the prophets foresaw.  This is the Jesus of whom the angels sang.  This is the Jesus the shepherds beheld.

Paul then finished the birth announcement with these words, “6 Because you are his [God’s] sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father'” (Galatians 4:6).  God the Father sent His Son to earth.  God the Son redeemed the people and made them heirs.  God the Spirit took up residence within the heart of the believer, empowering them to call to God as a child would lovingly call to his own father, “Abba, Father.”  Paul said, If you can speak to God this way, 'Abba, Father,' then '7 You are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:7).  So completes the first formal announcement of Jesus’ birth.  It is rich in meaning, content, and purpose.

Paul’s announcement differs from the traditional birth announcements of Jesus. We will look at the traditional announcements in the coming weeks.  But what can we learn today from Paul’s announcement?  I think there are three things we should consider.

First, it would be an understatement to say that Jesus’ birth was like no other in history.  Jesus was fully divine and fully human.  That had never happened before or since.  Jesus' birth was like no other in history, and Jesus’ death was like no other before or since. Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and was resurrected to a new life.

Second, Jesus’ unprecedented birth, death, and resurrection all occurred to serve a purpose for you and me.  Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection occurred so that we could be redeemed from the punishment of sin under the law and be given abundant life now and eternally under grace.  We would be freed and become children of God.  Jesus’ birth put on full display the nature of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Finally, the birth of Jesus, his subsequent death, and his resurrection offer each one of us an invitation to become an heir of salvation and to be adopted as God’s child.  God is offering you and me a gift unlike any other.  At Christmas, most kids will tear off the wrapping paper and bows on one gift, glance at it, and move on to do the same to the next gift.  Every kid has their own way of unwrapping the gift and moving on.  The gift of redemption God is offering you is unique in that there is only one way to unwrap it, no matter your age or station in life.  Jesus said to unwrap the gift of salvation, you must be born again by repenting, that is, turn from your own ways, the ways of enslavement to elemental forces, and be baptized as an outward sign of your spiritual rebirth. There is no other way to God except through Jesus, and no other way to unwrap his gift than repentance and baptism.

Paul shared with us today that Jesus’ birth, death, burial, and resurrection redeemed us.  And Paul would later explain to the church in Rome that we can visualize that message of redemption with our own baptism.  Paul said, “ 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4).

Have you received the gift of Jesus?  Have you opened that gift the way Jesus told you to?  Have you repented and turned toward God?  Have you undergone the waters of baptism as a testimony of faith? If you have, then let us, as brothers and sisters, share the birth announcement of Jesus in the manner Paul shared.  If you have not, then I urge you do not let this Christmas go by without opening the gift of Jesus’ birth, death, burial, and resurrection.  It is your ultimate gift and your only hope for salvation. Amen and Amen.

What matters to you?  Have you considered this question?  What matters to you?  What is vital in your life, and why is it important?  Some answer this question this way: “life, good health, family, a good home, and a good source of income” are important.  Another might say what was important was four things: “love, joy, peace, and a purpose greater than themselves."  Finally, a third may say, “a purpose in life, mental health, physical health, relationships, meaningful work, and finances” matter.  Do any of these answers resonate with you as you try to answer the question, “What matters to you?”

Our answer may depend on our age.  I was speaking with someone who shared that their grandson’s elementary school had each student walk across the stage with a poster board showing their answer to the question, “When I grow up I want to be _________.”  Child after child crossed the stage with their answer.  Several had the words "policeman," "fireman," "doctor," or "lawyer."  When their grandson walked across the stage, his card read, “kind.” “When I grow up, I want to be kind.” Parents stood and applauded this child. That child had a different understanding of what mattered, and people recognized the significance of this child’s response.

We certainly need police officers, firefighters, doctors, lawyers, and a host of other professions.  But we sorely need people who have the desire to be kind, loving, peaceful, compassionate, and a host of other virtues.  How do we adjust our perspectives on what matters?  For us, our answer is simple.  The Scriptures, the Bible, continually offer us a different understanding of what matters. The Bible does so because it is about God, and God is vastly different from us.  While we are made in the image of God, we are not God.  While we may be able to express kindness, love, peace, and compassion at times, it often requires conscious effort.  We must nurture those virtues and make them matter so that we can act accordingly.  On the other hand, God acts in accordance with His nature, which is kind, loving, peaceful, and compassionate.  God does not need to think about acting in those ways; it comes naturally to Him. God has always been trying to nurture us to adopt His ways.

We read today from the Old Testament prophet Micah.  Much of the Book of Micah is about the prophet expressing God’s desire that His people act more like Him.  In the Book of Micah, we find that God saw the leadership of the Hebrew people had become corrupt.  Micah wrote, “1 Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds!  At morning’s light, they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.  2 They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them.  They defraud people of their homes, they rob them of their inheritance” (Micah 2:1-2). Micah went a little further and said, “11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money” (Micah 3:13).  The leaders were not kind, loving, or compassionate.  The leaders were using their power to seize the people's possessions.  The Micah, the prophet, wrote, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel.  Should you not embrace justice, 2 you who hate good and love evil” (Micah 3:1-2a). 

Micah said a day will come when the Lord gathers the lame; assemble the exiles and those in grief.  He will make the lame his remnant” (Micah 4:6-7a).  Micah was revealing God’s plan to bring His nature into the human realm. Moreover, God would be particular about where this change would begin and what its nature would be.  Micah wrote, “2 [But] you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.  4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.  And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.  5 And he will be our peace” (Micah 5:2, 4-5a).

Micah was revealing God’s plan to bring about a new revelation of His nature, a nature of righteousness and peace.  The place where it would all begin was in Bethlehem, in the lands of Judah.  Revealing the location of the start of God’s plan was something that mattered to God?  Why would the location matter?  A key reason was that this prophecy was part of several that all related to an anointed one coming from God, but of the family line of David.

David was from Bethlehem.  We might recall that God sent the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint a new king of Israel because Saul, the king at that time, had failed to follow God’s instructions.  When Samuel arrived at the house to which God sent him, to the home of a man named Jesse, Samuel called for Jesse to present all his sons to Samuel.  Jesse called all his sons, except David.  David was the youngest and smallest of his sons. David’s father, Jesse, did not think David was worthy to stand before the prophet Samuel.  His other sons were much stronger and bigger than David, so Jesse rejected David.  One by one, God rejected David’s brothers, saying of each, “7 Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).  A ruler coming from Bethlehem to reverse the corruption of current Israel must have the heart of God.  Samuel demanded that Jesse produce all his sons.  Jesse then called for David, the one rejected, and at God’s direction, Samuel anointed David the new king of Israel.

Isaiah, another prophet, foresaw the coming of a new ruler in the line of David. Isaiah wrote, “1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.  2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:1-3). Sadly, Isaiah also foresaw that this new ruler would suffer.  Isaiah wrote, “1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?  2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.  He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.  3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.  Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we held him in low esteem” (Isaiah 53:1-3).

Seven hundred years after the prophesies of Micah and Isaiah, God acted.  We learn how God unfolded this plan in the Gospel of Matthew.  Matthew wrote, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  3 When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel’” (Matthew 2:1-6).  The news had been given.  The promised ruler had arrived.  He was born in Bethlehem.  Micah’s prophecy had been fulfilled.

Yet, the king, the religious leader, and the people all shared one reaction.  They were disturbed.  They were thrown into confusion, terror, and turmoil.  Why didn’t the news that God had acted bring about rejoicing?  Because the coming of a Godly ruler would put an end to what mattered to them.  What mattered?  Power, money, and pride mattered, and so this newborn king “had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him, he was despised and rejected by mankind” (Isaiah 53:2b-3a).

So, King Herod sent the Magi on their way to find the newborn king, saying he wanted to worship the baby, but that was not his intention at all.  “16 When Herod [later] realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi” (Matthew 2:16).  And so, from the outset of life, this new ruler was indeed, “a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (Isaiah 53:3b).  Power, money, and pride mattered to Herod and thus by extension to the religious leaders and the people.  Worshipping the newborn king did not matter.

A few years after the birth of the newborn ruler and the subsequent murders of innocent boys in and around Bethlehem, King Herod's body became riddled with disease.  Herod knew his days would soon end, and he knew no one would mourn his death.  And so, Herod ordered 800 prominent men from across Israel to be gathered in Jerusalem.  Herod also ordered that upon his death, all 800 men should be executed so that there would be weeping and mourning across Israel upon the occasion of Herod’s death.  Herod wanted one last act of power to mark his life and death.  Herod died, and with him the order to execute the 800 men. There would be no executions and no mourning at Herod’s death.  Herod no longer mattered.

With Herod’s death, we can focus the remainder of our time today on this newborn ruler.  What did the ancient voices tell us about him?  First, of course, he was born, born in Bethlehem.  Second, like David, he was despised and rejected by mankind.  We saw that.  Third, we saw the kingdom's corruption at that time through Herod. We heard what this new Godly appointed ruler would be like through the words of Isaiah, “2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2-3).  This newborn ruler would be everything Herod was not.  Micah’s words had also been fulfilled: justice would be embraced (Micah 3:1b).  Moreover, “4 He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.  And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.  5 And he will be our peace” (Micah 5:4-5a).  God had set out a great reversal of what mattered to Him by bringing forth a new ruler and ending the life of a corrupt one.

What mattered to God?  What matters is to be led by the Spirit of God, to possess Wisdom from above, knowledge and fear of God, joy in knowing the Lord, to be under the majesty of God’s Name, and to give peace.  This would be the life that would spring forth from this newborn ruler.  This newborn ruler was, of course, Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah.  A New Testament writer would later say this, “1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:1-3a).

Oh, I should mention that the New Testament writer of Hebrews finished that last version this way, “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (Hebrews 1:3b).  “Purification for sins.”  Isaiah had foretold this truth when he said of the newborn ruler, “4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed…For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:4-5, 12b).  These words tell us a more complete story of what matters to God.

What matters, we said, was to be led by the Spirit of God, to possess Wisdom from above, knowledge and fear of God, joy in knowing the Lord, to be under the majesty of God’s Name, and to give peace.  To that statement, we can now add that it matters to God that you and I be purified of sin and the suffering sin causes.  But God knew we could not make such purification on our own.  So, God had His Son do it for us in His death.  The Son would bring forth yet another great reversal, bringing us from death into life.

And so, we end with our opening question, “What matters to you?” Whatever matters to you the most will guide your existence, comprised of your life here on earth now and your eternal destiny.  Will you be guided by the things of humanity, such as power, money, pride, health, and good looks?  Or will you be guided by a newborn ruler, born in Bethlehem, who came to bring us the Spirit of God, Wisdom from above, knowledge and fear of the Lord, peace, and, yes, salvation for all eternity?

If you had to walk up front right now carrying a posterboard, what word would you use to fill in the blank, “When I grow up, I want to be ________.”  Might that word be “rich or powerful or happy”? Or would that word be “saved or forgiven”?  To which one will people applaud, and to which one will God applaud?  I encourage you today to choose the newborn baby of Bethlehem and hear the applause of God.  Amen and Amen.

There are times in our lives when something happens that leaves us speechless. We are speechless because an event has created such a strong emotion within us that we are overwhelmed.  We are stunned and at a loss for words to express our reaction.  We experience these moments from both positive and negative events, such as the unexpected receipt of an incredible gift or witnessing something shocking or horrifying.  In those moments, we cannot think enough to form a response.

I remember experiencing such a speechless moment on 9/11/2001.  It was late in the evening, and I was directing changes to the security posture of federal facilities in response to the terrorist events earlier that day.  We watched the scenes of that day being replayed on the television screen.  Then a photograph of a friend from college appeared on the television, and the newscaster reported that he was the pilot of the first plane that crashed into the World Trade Center.  I was stunned and had to take a few minutes alone in a quiet room to absorb this news, because I didn't know what to think or say. I was speechless.

Many things can capture our thoughts and render us unable to comprehend the magnitude of the event.  I think today’s reading from the Old Testament prophecy from the Book of Isaiah was one of those events.  The primary focus of the reading was the announcement in Chapter 9, verse 6, “6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).  Nowhere in the Gospels or the New Testament letters will we find these words repeated, as was done with other announcements from the Old Testament. 

In a moment, we will examine this verse in context, but a study of this verse reveals that small pieces of this prophecy are expressed across more than 25 New Testament verses.  However, the passage from Isaiah is never directly quoted.  Does that mean the New Testament writers and church did not understand what Isaiah was saying?  I do not believe that to be true because the meaning of this prophecy is discussed in the New Testament.  I think it just took a specific author to be inspired to put the overwhelming sense of Isaiah 9:6 into a context that people could understand.

So let’s begin with a little context of the original words.  The words come from Isaiah, a prophet of God who lived approximately 2,700 years ago, during a time when the Hebrew people were comprised of two nations.  There was the nation, or kingdom of Judah, surrounding Jerusalem, and the kingdom of Israel to the north of Judah.  The Hebrew people, particularly in Israel, were being swept away from God and into the worship of pagan gods.  Prophets were very busy during these times.  We have five major prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel, and 12 minor prophets, such as Amos, Jonah, Micah, and Malachi.  Amid turmoil, conquests, and threats of battle, God gave a brilliant prophecy to the people through Isaiah.  God said, “There will be no more gloom for those who were in distress” (Isaiah 9:1).  Isaiah had said in the previous chapter that those seeking spiritualists and mediums for their comfort instead of God would see only distress and darkness, fearful gloom, and utter darkness (Isaiah 8:22).  But distress would change for those who turned toward God.  To those who turned toward God, their distress and gloom would end.

Isaiah described the change this way, “2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.  3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder” (Isaiah 9:2-3).  A great light would break the spiritual darkness.  Where there was once gloom, there would now be joy. Joy would abound, like people feel when a plentiful harvest has been received or the plunder of war is freely shared.  Why would gloom and darkness be replaced by joy and light?  Isaiah said, “4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.  5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire” (Isaiah 9:4-5).  In turning to God, the people would again realize that the battle belongs to the Lord and that the people no longer need to wage war against their deadly enemy.  Like being constrained as oxen with a yoke or a metal bar across their shoulders by an oppressor, God would remove those constraints.  People would be freed, and great weights, as though placed around their necks or shoulders, would be removed.  Burdens and oppression would be replaced with a feeling of enthusiasm and freedom.

God said, through the prophet, that gloom, darkness, burden, and oppression would be replaced by joy, light, enthusiasm, and freedom.  What would be the reason for such a dramatic change in events?  Isaiah famously wrote, “6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  7 Of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.  The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).  What in the world was Isaiah saying?  All the gloom, darkness, burdens, and oppression would be transformed because a child, a son, was born.  How did that make any sense?  Well, the government would be upon his shoulders, suggesting this child would come from a father possessing authority, like a king.  It seems impossible to believe that a king will have a son who is so exceptional that he will turn everything around so that all can worship God and live in peace.  How could the birth of a child, the son of a king, accomplish such a transformation?

Isaiah said the son of that king would be given specific titles, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6b).  Hearing these words, people would have paused.  These titles are not given to earthly kings or to their sons.  These are titles reserved for God.  Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, not just a counselor but a Wonderful Counselor, all point to the Son, the one to be born, would be the Son of God.  But how can God, who has always existed, have a son and be born among the people as though God were a human?  And then the people heard this son’s kingdom would come from the lineage of King David, but would be different from all other kingdoms.  “Of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end.  He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever” (Isaiah 9:7a). This son, God, born among the people, coming from David, would establish a kingdom that would never end.  No kingdom of this nature had ever existed. All kingdoms end.  How can it be that there would be an endless kingdom from a son of God, born human?  How? Isaiah said, “The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:7b).  This transformation of the people would occur because the zeal, the unbridled passion of the Lord, would cause this son to be born and bring about this unending kingdom based upon righteousness and justice.  Stunning. Overwhelming.  Speechless.  God was going to do something that had never been done before.  There was no human experience that approximated what Isaiah had laid out to the people held in darkness and gloom.  What Isaiah was talking about was a cosmic change seemingly on par with the creation of the heavens and the earth, as described in the book of Genesis.

The announcement from Isaiah was so extraordinary that virtually nothing more is said about it in the Old Testament.  People did not know how to relate to such a bold and utterly unprecedented prophecy.  So how then did people come to understand this message?  I believe this message was finally addressed in the opening of the last Gospel to be written, the Gospel of John, the New Testament Genesis.

John wrote this, “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-4).  Whoever the “He” was that John was describing existed before the beginning, was with God, and was God.  He was the creator of creation who brought life.  Whoever the “He” was could be likened to a brilliant light that overcame the darkness.  John was describing a Mighty God, able to create the heavens and the earth.  John was describing an Everlasting Father who existed before existence itself.  John was describing an inextinguishable light that could pierce all forms of darkness and gloom.  The “He” that John was describing had titles reserved for God.  The message was clear.  God, who was outside of creation, had chosen to enter creation.  Speechlessness must have been setting in for John’s original readers.

But John had more to say, more that would illuminate Isaiah’s prophecy, “9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:9-13).  God had indeed come into the world, appearing to the chosen people of God, but they turned away from Him.  But to those who did come to Him, God, from any tribe or walk of life, God granted them the status of His own child.  God had entered the world and was remaking the world, one person at a time, into His family.  This was good news.  God was stunningly at work.

But then John stunned his readers just as Isaiah had 700 years earlier.  John wrote, “14 The Word, God, became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14a).  God became flesh.  God, who was outside of creation, not only entered creation but did so as a human.  John said, “We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14b).  God came as a Son.  “6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6a).  And he will be call, “Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6b).  And he will be called God, because he is God.  God came in a divine form to be born into human form. The Father and the Son were one.

John’s words were and are overwhelming.  When properly understood, they make us silent.  But John was not done.  John wrote, “16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:16-17).  God, in human form, had a name.  His name was Jesus.  And this Jesus had a divinely given title, “The Christ” or “The Messiah.”  Not only that, but Jesus came to give grace and truth to the people who would believe.  For someone to have a plan to give grace, relief from sin and its consequences, and the truth, a proper way to lead a Godly life, is truly a Wonderful Counselor.

John never once directly quoted Isaiah’s prophecy, yet he described the prophecy's fulfillment perfectly.  From the zeal of God the Father came God the Son to be light unto the world, making Him Everlasting Father.  The Son came in a form and fashion that people could most relate to, namely, in human form, making Him our Wonderful Counselor.  This Son was through whom all creation existed, making him indeed a Mighty God.  This child, this son, was giving truth and grace, and the right to become children of God by believing in the Son, making Him our Prince of Peace.

What does this all mean?  It means you do not need to walk in darkness, for the light of the world is here.  You do not need to live in gloom, for the joy of the Lord is here.  You do not need to be bent by the burdens of life, for the yoke has been removed, and Jesus is here to carry your burdens.  You do not need to kneel before the oppressors of life, for they have fled because Jesus is here.  For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given.  And He truly is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.  Praise be to God.  Amen and Amen.

          How long is too long to wait?  The acceptable waiting time is dependent on what we are waiting for.  Sit at a red light for two minutes, and the complaining begins.  Wait two minutes to be seated at your favorite restaurant on a busy night, and you feel elated.  Waiting can be difficult because our world operates on a microwave mentality. When do we want it?  Now.

          I think one reason we do not like waiting is that waiting signals that we are not in control of everything.  We want to be in control.  Our friend Abraham had to wait.  He had to wait on God for a promised descendant.  We spoke last week about Abraham’s unwillingness to wait on God’s timing for a descendant, so Abraham fathered a son, Ishmael, with Sarah’s slave, Hagar.  But “19 Then God said [to Abraham], 'Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him” (Genesis 17:19).  God would not allow Abraham to hurry God’s plan for Abraham.  Today, I would like to finish our look at Abraham and his example of faith.

          Now Abraham was 75 years old when God called him to leave his father’s house and his country, and to travel to a land that God would show him.  In faith, Abraham followed God’s call.  God promised Abraham that many descendants would come from him and his wife, Sarah, even though they were both old.  A year went by, and there were no children.  A year became two years, then ten years.  Ten years became twenty years, and still no children. Twenty-five years went by, and Abraham was now 100 years old.  Sarah was 90 years old.  “1 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him” (Genesis 21:1-3).  Finally, Abraham had his promised descendant after waiting 25 years for just one.  But just one was all that God’s plan required.

          The years after Isaac was born would go by. Abraham and Sarah aged.  Sarah died.  Abraham remarried and had six more sons by his second wife, Keturah.  But God’s plan focused on Abraham’s firstborn son of Sarah, Isaac.  God had told Abraham that the plan focused on Isaac and Isaac alone when God said, “I will establish my covenant with him [Isaac] as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him” (Genesis 17:19b). The covenant of Abraham with Isaac was extended to Isaac’s son, Jacob, and continued throughout the ages. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of Genesis gave way to Moses in Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. From Moses, the story of the covenant continued through Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, the Psalms of David, and the Prophets.  Virtually, the entirety of the Old Testament is the story of one man, Abraham, and his descendants.  Despite the human failures along the way, God had a plan —an unshakeable plan — to bring a blessing upon humanity through Abraham. 

That unshakeable plan would play out in God’s timing.  It did not take a year, ten years, twenty years, or even twenty-five years to unfold.  It would take 2,000 years to come from Abraham to the critical point in God’s plan. And that plan pointed to one man who was introduced this way, “1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1).

            It is no accident or coincidence that Matthew’s gospel, the good news account of Jesus, begins by introducing Jesus as the Son of Abraham.  Matthew’s gospel was written for Jewish people—the people of the Hebrew scriptures—who could trace their own genealogy to Abraham. Each Jewish person in Jesus’ day claimed to be of one of the twelve tribes of Jacob’s descendants.  Knowing which tribe meant their lineage was back to Jacob, then to Isaac, and then to Abraham.  The Jewish people felt that being a son or daughter of Abraham meant being blessed by God.  Abraham loomed as a colossal figure and personality, almost approaching cult-like status, to the Jewish people of Jesus’ day.

          But.  But Matthew does not introduce Jesus as a son of Abraham, as one son among many. Matthew wrote that Jesus was the Son of Abraham.  Abraham, God promised, would be the founder of a great nation and through whom God would bless all nations.  Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise.

Abraham was the model of the original true believer and the father of faith. Abraham, God described as “my friend” (Isaiah 41:8), was an intimate person to God.  Jesus’ relationship to the Father was that of an intimate person, so much so that the Father and the Son were one. Matthew’s introduction of Jesus as the Son of Abraham was a clear signal that the gospel of Jesus would emphasize faith over heritage, blessings for believers, intimacy with God over ritual, and kingdom over nationhood.  Jesus’ emphasis on faith, believing, intimacy with God, and the kingdom, leading to friendship with God, would run headlong into conflict and argument with the religious establishment of Israel. 

          Even before Jesus began his public ministry, the conflict started with the then-contemporary views of Abraham held by the Jewish people.  Matthew wrote, “1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’” (Matthew 3:1).  Repent here meant to turn away from your own ways, your own understanding, and your own self-assuredness and return to faith in God, intimacy with God. “5 People went out to him [John the Baptist] from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him [John] in the Jordan River” (Matthew 3:5-6).  John’s baptism was repentance.  “7 But when he [John] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:7-8).  The Pharisees and Sadducees were the religious leaders who held power in the practice of Judaism, including organized prayer, sacrifices, and Temple festivals.   John did not see the Pharisees as models of faith, intimacy with God, or friendship with God.  To the contrary, John saw the Pharisees and Sadducees as a brood of vipers —literally, a nest of snakes.  John saw the hearts and the behaviors of the Pharisees and Sadducees as cunning and crafty, with deadly consequences coming from their mouths, like a poisonous snake. And before the Pharisees and Sadducees could even say a word in their own defense, John cut down for their cult-like beliefs in Abraham.  “9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:9-10).  John, full of the Holy Spirit, knew the Pharisees and Sadducees would be united in their claim of privilege and blessing because of perceived standing with the rockstar personality of Abraham.  John revealed God saw things very differently when it came to His friend, Abraham.  John shouted at the Pharisees and Sadducees,  “Do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father” (Matthew 3:9a). Abraham enjoyed standing with God because of Abraham’s faith in and obedience to God.  Those who would come after Abraham must exhibit the faith and obedience of Abraham on their own, not by bloodline.  If God only wanted descendants of Abraham, John said, God could take an ordinary pile of rocks and create children for Abraham (Matthew 3:9b). The message about the coming Son of Abraham —Jesus, the Son of God —had been cast. Faith and belief would be the hallmark of intimacy and fellowship with God, and not bloodline.  John’s words would have shocked the sensibilities and egos of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Jews whose ritual practice was par excellence, but whose faith and obedience to God did not come anywhere close to that of Abraham, the faithful believer par excellence.

           Jesus would drive this point home later in the Gospel of Matthew.  Let’s take a quick look at that scene from Chapter 8.  “5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion [a Roman military officer] came to him [Jesus], asking for help. 6 ‘Lord,’ he [the centurion] said, ‘my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”  7 Jesus said to him [the centurion], ‘Shall I come and heal him?’ 8 The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  10 When Jesus heard this, he [Jesus] was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith” (Matthew 3:5-10).  The centurion’s faith was par excellence, meaning greater than anyone else in Israel.  The centurion was not considered a descendant of Abraham, but he was not disqualified from being accepted by Jesus.   After all, Abraham was a pagan before Abraham became a believer and faithful follower of God.  Here, too, Jesus came for those who would believe in Him and be obedient to Him. The centurion demonstrated His belief in Jesus’ status, calling Jesus “Lord” and expressing full faith in Jesus’ authority over any earthly condition, here, the severe illness of the centurion’s servant.  For Jesus to say that no one in all Israel had demonstrated to Him such faith was a convicting statement that faith was all-important.

          As if to make his point even clearer, Jesus went further.  Jesus said, “11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:11-12).  Jesus’ point was that those coming from the east and west —meaning those not of Abraham’s ancestry who display faith like Abraham — will be joined in the feast with the friends of God in heaven: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  But, those who claim the blessing of heaven simply because they have ancestry with Abraham will be thrown out into the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, said another way, hell.

          Where does this all leave us?  There is only one point I want us to consider today. That point concerns our faith, and is it our faith par excellence?

          We started today, acknowledging that we do not like to wait for much of anything.  When it comes to faith, we do not need to wait for anything.  We are not like Abraham waiting for a descendant. We are not like the Jews of Jesus’ day, waiting for a Messiah?  Everything we need for faith in God has already been given to us.  We have the stories of the Old and New Testaments. We have example after example of faith poured out for us.  We have the Book of Revelation in which the only thing we need to know is that God wins in the end.  We don’t need to wait, and yet many people don't commit their lives to God.  They wait.

          Some people wait because they do not think they are worthy of God’s grace, and they want to better themselves before committing. They wait.  Here is the truth.  We cannot better ourselves without God’s grace.

          Some people wait because they want to improve their church practices.  The gospels were clear.  A good standing with God had nothing to do with rituals and ceremony.  God calls people into faith.  God calls people to follow Him and to go where He leads.

          The decision we need to make that changes everything about our life now and for all eternity is the same one God asked Abraham to make.  Will you have faith par excellence?  A faith that seeks to be true and wonderful.  A faith that seeks the friendship of God.  This is what God desires.  Why wait?  Amen and Amen.

          There is a common expression that goes like this: “You read my mind!”  We use that expression when someone seems to know, or guess, at what we wanted or what we were about to say.  Some entertainers possess a unique ability to imagine what people are thinking.  When he wasn’t supposedly bending spoons with the power of his mind, mentalist Uri Geller was telling his audience members what they were thinking.  Mentalists do so using a combination of psychological observation, suggestion, and guesswork.  They can be very entertaining.

          But to genuinely know the thoughts of someone else is not a trick or illusion. It can only be accomplished between people who have a deep, intimate relationship.  To develop that relationship requires time, conversation, and attentiveness.  When I worked as a court-appointed advocate for abused and neglected children, we were trained to listen attentively to the children assigned to us to under what was going on in their minds.  We were encouraged to listen with three sets of ears—one set to hear what the child said, a second to listen to what they were not saying, and a third to understand their feelings.  This type of listening was used to gain insight into the child's mind.

          Our scripture reading today from Genesis Chapter 18 centers on God inviting Abraham into a deep conversation so that Abraham could understand the mind of God.  The setting for this conversation was near Abraham’s home by the oaks of Mamre.  God and two others, all in the form of men, had appeared to Abraham at the door to Abraham’s tent in the heat of the day. Abraham recognized these men as a visitation from God, and so Abraham invited them to sit, be refreshed with water and food, and have a conversation.  The scripture says that after a time, “16 The men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17 The Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.’ 20 Then the Lord said, ‘Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know’” (Genesis 18:16-21).

          This is an important passage because it begins with God’s soliloquy, an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers.  God started with these words, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (Genesis 18:17a).  God had in mind to address an issue. Seemingly, God could choose to invite Abraham to understand how God would decide the matter or exclude Abraham from God’s decision-making process.  God continued, “For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him” (Genesis 18:19).  God made clear here that for Abraham to become a great nation, Abraham must understand righteousness and justice.  To understand righteousness and justice is to know the mind of God.  Therefore, God invited Abraham into a deep conversation about what was about to happen. God shared with Abraham that an outcry had reached Him that the wickedness in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was great and their sin grave.  What was the sin?  God does not state the sin because it was irrelevant.  The depth of the sin and the level of wickedness were grave. What more needed to be said than that?  God promised to investigate the outcry against these cities.

          The story continued this way, “22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said (to the Lord), “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” (Genesis 18:22-23). Here, we learn something about the mind of Abraham.  Before the two men with the Lord could even get to Sodom and report to the Lord about the wickedness, Abraham knew what they would report.  Abraham knew the report about the sin would be as bad as the outcry and that God would put an end to the wickedness.  Abraham knew about both cities.  Abraham had rescued the inhabitants of Sodom after they had been captured and enslaved, along with Abraham’s nephew Lot.  Abraham was acquainted with the reputation of the king of Sodom and his people because Abraham asked God, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?”  Abraham envisioned that once the men’s report reached God, the cities would be destroyed because the sin was indeed grave.

          Knowing the fate of the cities, Abraham asked God, “24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it?” (Genesis 18:24).  Abraham’s question brings into the conversation not just the ideas of righteousness and wickedness but also brings a question about justice and mercy. Righteousness and wickedness are opposing characteristics, while justice and mercy are complementary virtues.  Abraham seemed interested in understanding how God balances justice and mercy and began the conversation, suggesting that perhaps as few as 50 righteous people should be enough to offset the wickedness of the city. 

          God provided no immediate answer to Abraham’s question.  So, Abraham pursued God further, “25 Far be it from you (God) to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked!  Far be that from you!  Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:25).  Abraham was trying to goad God into an answer that showed the balance between justice for the wicked and mercy for the righteous.  Many people interpret Abraham’s words as an impassioned plea to God to change His mind.  They see Abraham seeking God to behave mercifully and save righteous people from God’s destruction, along with the wicked, who Abraham believes deserve death. They believe Abraham was engaged in the classic Middle Eastern practice of haggling over the price of something. Someone makes an offer below what they know the owner of that item will accept, and then negotiation begins toward a mutually agreeable higher price.  Abraham started with what he thought was a low offer. Could God accept 50 righteous people as being sufficient to offset the wickedness of the city?

But to see the exchange as Abraham that way is to ignore the message of God’s opening soliloquy.  God wanted Abraham to come to understand God’s mind and for Abraham’s mind to be changed so that Abraham would be equipped to be a great nation.  Abraham needed God’s wisdom, including balancing justice and mercy, to be a better father of many nations.  God did not need Abraham’s understanding to be a better God. At this point, God chose to answer Abraham and said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake” (Genesis 18:26).

          I believe God’s answer surprised Abraham that God would spare all the people of Sodom if 50 righteous people could be found in the city.  If Abraham was haggling with God, as some believe, then Abraham initiated the bidding process, seeking God to reconsider at a number he deemed unacceptably low.  Abraham would have expected God to say, “No, not 50, that is too few.”  As such, Abraham would have expected to continue negotiating, suggesting that a greater number of righteous individuals needed to be found to save the city.  Instead, God essentially says to Abraham, “If you think 50 righteous people is what I had in mind to save the city, then let it be 50.”

          God’s response made it clear that Abraham did not know the mind of God and did not understand how God balances justice and mercy. We see this was true as Abraham returned to God and, uncertainly, asked, “What if 45 righteous are found?”  Abraham, instead of increasing the number as would have been expected in haggling, was now decreasing the number needed to save the city.  God said, “For 45, I will spare the city.”  The haggling process was going in the opposite direction than Abraham initially thought, but more importantly, Abraham was learning the mind of God.  Abraham asked, “40?”  God said, “I will spare the city.”  “30?”  God said, “Yes, for 30, I will spare the city?”  “20,” asked Abraham.  “Yes, for 20 Abraham.”  Abraham then said, “What if it were just 10?”  God said, “For 10 I would spare the city.”  Abraham had learned something about God.  Despite there being pervasive wickedness that warranted judgment, God was more interested in balancing the scales of justice towards mercy.

          What then do we learn from this exchange between God and Abraham?  Let’s consider two things.

          First, God is the initiator in the development of the relationship between Himself and humanity.  We saw this point last week when God offered an unmerited covenant with Abraham.  And we saw that here again, as God, in His soliloquy, spoke His heart, indicating that He wanted Abraham to come to know His mind.  God initiates everything for the benefit of humanity.  Any relationship you or I have with God, whether you would describe it as deep or shallow, longstanding or new, exists because God sought that relationship with you.  God chose to reveal Himself to you because He loves you and wants you to know Him.

          Second, God wanted Abraham to know His mind, and God wants you and me to know His mind as well.  It is that desire for us to see the mind of God that God caused 40 different writers over 1,500 years to compile God’s story in the sixty-six books of the Bible.  Page after page of the Bible reveals to us God’s mind, helping us to understand the virtues of God, his sense of love, righteousness, justice, mercy, grace, joy, patience, compassion, faithfulness, and wisdom.  Why does God want us to know Him?  He reveals Himself so that we will love Him and we will want to imitate Him in our relationships with each other.

          It is to this last point of God revealing Himself that we need to spend a few minutes.  God wanted Abraham to know His mind and heart.  God spent a day with Abraham to help foster Abraham’s understanding. God wanted the world to know His mind and His heart.  For these reasons, God sent Jesus, not for a day but for 30 plus years.  The last three years of Jesus’ life were marked by an active and intense ministry to people, aiming to bring a profound sense of God’s mind alive within them.  Who was this Jesus?  He was the Christ, the Messiah, anointed by God.  The Apostle Paul said it this way, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15a).  This means to us that to know Jesus is to know God.  To know Jesus, and thus know God, is a core belief of Christianity. Knowing Jesus is indispensable to knowing God.  I say that Jesus is indispensable to knowing God because Jesus said that:

• “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).
• “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7)
• “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9b)
• “3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you (God), the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

I think we get the point.  Knowing Jesus is knowing God, not in the sense that one can say, “I know Donald Trump is the President.”  But it is to say, “I know Him because I have had conversations with Him, spent time with Him, and have been attentive to Him.

          Abraham had a day with God.  Jesus’ twelve apostles had about three years with God. What an incredible experience. And yet, one of the twelve would betray Jesus, God, into the hands of evil men.  When I say those words, the enormity of Judas’ betrayal looms larger than I can really comprehend.

          On the other hand, the Apostle John said this of three years coming to know God, “1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete” (1 John 1:1-4).  And there it is.  John came to know God because John came to know Jesus.  And there was one and only one thing that would increase John’s joy more than he already was experiencing, and that would be that you and I would come to know God through Jesus as well.  That is why the New Testament exists.  That is why so much human effort is given over to getting the Bible into our hands, so that we would share in the fellowship with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.

          You are here today because God has initiated a relationship with you.  He has and is pursuing you so that you will know Him, love Him, and come to know His mind. In coming to know God’s mind, you and I will know God’s will always favors mercy, mercy towards us.  Jesus said of God’s will, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day” (John 6:39).  Let us honor God and come to know His Word, His Son, and His mind.  Amen and Amen. 

            We have all entered into an agreement or contract in our lives.  We have purchased a car and signed a contract. We have rented an apartment and signed a lease.  We went somewhere and bought an ice cream cone.  Whenever we purchase something, we have entered a contract with the person selling or leasing that item.  A contract legally binds us to another person or company.  There is an offer, an acceptance, and a consideration.  Some business offers to sell cheeseburgers for $9.00.  We accept their offer and give them $10.00 in consideration for them handing us a cheeseburger.  It is a business deal.  If we try to pay them $7.00, the seller will not give us our cheeseburger.  If we pay $10.00 for our cheeseburger and the seller attempts to provide us with chicken nuggets instead, we will not refuse the nuggets and demand our cheeseburger.  We had a deal!

            I have met many people who treat their relationship with God like a business deal, like a contract.  They approach God as though He is offering a trouble-free life in exchange for being good and attending church.  When things are good, God is good.  When they fail to do their part of the contract, they say, “Sorry God.  Please forgive me.”  However, when things don’t go their way, there is a sense that God did not uphold His part of the contract.  There is anger toward God, as though they received chicken nuggets instead of their cheeseburger.  We do not have a business contract with God.  God never made business contracts with anyone.  Instead, God made covenants.

            What is a covenant?  A covenant is a promise.  In Biblical terms, a covenant begins with a promise from God to humanity.  God has offered several covenants to humanity. God’s five key covenants in the Bible were made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the New Covenant of Christ. God established covenants with humanity to advance His plan of redemption and to establish the relationship between Him and humanity, enabling people to receive His blessings and become part of His spiritual family.  God’s covenants only benefit humanity.  God does not require a covenant with us to gain any benefit for Himself. 

            God’s first covenant was with Adam and Eve.  God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where they had all the beauty and sustenance they could want or need.  Adam and Eve were sinless, and so there was no need for a redemption plan. God promised them eternal living and fellowship with Him.  To keep this covenant alive, Adam and Eve needed to show faith or trust, if you will, in God.  Showing faith means that we believe God’s promises and trust that God has the power to fulfill them.  God told Adam and Eve that there was one tree, bearing one fruit, that Adam and Eve must not eat.  God said that eating that fruit would destroy the covenant.  Eating the fruit would be a sign that Adam and Eve had lost faith in God. Eating the fruit would mean they either did not trust God’s promises or did not trust God had the power to keep His promises, or both.  We know that Adam and Eve decided they did not trust God because they ate the fruit and broke the covenant.

            Today, we read about God establishing another covenant, this time with Abram.  God had made promises to Abram, and Abram followed through, leaving his father’s home, people, and country for the Promised Land.  Abram’s battle to continue to trust God centered on his lack of children.  Abram had a large household of people, but did not have a son or daughter.  Abram and his wife, Sarai, were getting older, with Sarai now past the age of bearing children.  God spoke to Abram in a vision and said, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward” (Genesis 15:1b).  God’s words to Abram essentially say, “I am your very great reward,” formed the core of God’s relationship with Abram and God desired that thought, God is your greatest reward in life, to be at the heart of Abram’s relationship with God.  God was Abram’s ultimate reward for life on earth and eternity.

            However, Abram was very human.  And in his humanness, Abram said 2  “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, ‘You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’ 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him (Abram): ‘This man (Eliezer) will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir’(Genesis 15:2-4)…  8 But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?’” (Genesis 15:8). Abram was saying, “Yes, Lord, you are my greatest reward, but what about these lesser rewards like descendants? Will you give them to you?”  “Yes, I will,” was God’s reply.  To which Abram responded, “How can I know you will follow through on your promise?”  Abram was looking for a sign of commitment by God to God’s word.

            9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”  10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two, and arranged the halves opposite each other” (Genesis 15:9-10a).  What is going on here with this butchering of animals?  In biblical times, a pact between two people was sealed in the following manner: they would sacrifice a particular animal, dividing it into two parts. They would lay down the parts facing each other, leaving a passageway between them. Each of the two parts of the animal represented one of the parties in the covenant.  Next, the two people would walk between the two halves of the animal. In doing so, they would affirm before each other that if they did not keep their part in that covenant, the other person would have the right to do to them the same that had been done to the animal.  God following this ancient custom would provide a sign of the covenant God offered to Abram. Scripture says, “12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him…17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land’” (Genesis 15:12, 17-18a).  Abram had his sign of God’s commitment to the covenant.

            We learn here that God had Abram set things up for the covenant ceremony, presumably with Abram expecting that he and God would pass between the animal halves. But that is not what happened. Instead, God, represented by a smoking firepot with a blazing torch, passed between the animals, making the covenant.  God and God alone would offer the covenant and accomplish the fulfillment of His covenant. Did that mean Abram had no responsibility in fulfilling the covenant?  Certainly not.  But God, by Himself alone, sealed the covenant, making it clear that Abram, in his own strength, could not fulfill it.  For Abram to fulfill his part of the covenant with God, Abram would need to remain dependent upon God for strength and wisdom.  Abram’s dependence upon God required him to follow God’s lead in settling the Promised Land and becoming a great nation. 

Moreover, in creating the sign of the covenant sealed by God alone, God was making clear that the covenant was an unmerited gift to Abram.  A gift is just that, it is a gift.  It cannot be earned.  God did not say to Abram. “You have done such a great job with the Promised Land that I am going to reward you by becoming your shield.”  Instead, God gave Himself to Abram as a sign of love and commitment to Abram and his descendants.

            What then do we take from this story of Abram’s faith journey that is important for us?  Let’s look at just two things here.

            First, God works through covenantal relationships, never through business deals. As I mentioned earlier, there are five key covenants in the Bible with Adam, Noah, Abram/Abraham, Moses, and the New Covenant through Jesus Christ.  In each case, God was the initiator of the covenantal relationship with humanity. Each covenant was for the benefit of humanity alone, not for God, because God requires nothing from us. While not requiring anything from us, each covenant required something of us, namely, to follow God’s word. 

Now, some people view the requirements under each covenant as a list of dos and don’ts that must be followed; otherwise, God will punish rather than bless those under the covenant.  Looking through such a lens tends to create the belief that we are entering into a business relationship with God as equal partners.  It is as if we are saying, “God, I will keep Your commandments, so You better keep Your promises to me.”  And, of course, we won’t keep His commandments, but we will expect God to keep His promises.  When we think this way, we turn God’s covenant into a contract.

            To illustrate this point, I read a commentary about the covenant God established with Adam.  The idea put forth by the writer was that when God said to Adam, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16b-17), God was issuing a death sentence to Adam as a punishment should Adam disobey God.  That sort of thinking reduces God’s covenant, made for humanity's benefit, to a tough business contract. 

Instead, I believe God was telling Adam that the covenant works, so long as you don’t eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  If you, Adam, eat that fruit, the covenant will not work because the act of eating that fruit will change the way you see the world, the way you see Me, and will lead to your death.  Changing the way you see things, the way you see Me, and you dying fractures the very foundations of the covenant.

I like to think of it this way.  You are looking to buy a brand-new car.  On the test drive, it runs perfectly.  It accelerates nicely and rides smoothly. You say to the salesperson, “I want to buy the car.”  The salesperson says, “That is wonderful.  However, before you buy it, I'd like to know what you think about the brakes.  We are very proud of the brakes we put on our cars.  What did you think?”  You feel a bit puzzled by this question because no salesperson has ever asked you what you thought about the brakes on the car.  Usually, they are excited about the paint colors, the roomy interior, the sound system, and the ride it gives.  The brakes?  So you respond, “The brakes worked well.  They did what they were supposed to do.  They slowed the car down to a stop.”  The salesperson shakes their head and says, “I'm sorry, but you're wrong.  The brakes on our cars are not there to slow the car down. The brakes on the car are there so that you can drive fast.”  The salesperson continued, “You see, you were comfortable driving the car 65 or 70 miles per hour because of the excellent brake system we installed in this car. If I were to sell you a car that had no brakes, how fast would you be willing to drive that car?”  And, of course, you answer, “I would not drive a car that had no brakes.”  And the salesperson says, “So you see the brakes on the car are not there to slow you down but to allow you to drive fast.”  This poor analogy may give us some insight into our responsibilities under the covenant with God.  The things God says we must do or not do are said to slow us down or stop us from enjoying the blessings of life.  The things He tells us to do and avoid are said so that the covenant works and we can live life to the fullest.  “Adam, you can live a life of abundance and fullness unless you eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”  Adam chose otherwise, and using the analogy, he cut the brake lines on that new car when he ate the fruit, and could no longer go fast and live life fully. 

In a later covenant, God would say, “Do not murder or steal.”  Get caught murdering someone or stealing from someone, it is like you cut the brake lines on that new car, and you can no longer live free as you could before. When we receive God’s unmerited gift with the expectations that come with it and disregard those expectations, we are simply destroying the gift one piece at a time. Using the car analogy one last time, we are taking the brakes off that brand-new car and going nowhere fast.

So, as to our first point, we need to understand that God designed the covenants to bring people into a whole relationship with Him.  Any conditions of the covenant were there to protect us from ourselves, not to deny us anything we needed in life. 

            Second, God completes the work needed for the covenant.  In the case of Abram, we saw that God finished the symbolic work of the covenant by Himself, passing through the animals alone.  In the covenant with Moses, God established the commands for keeping the covenant and instituted the sacrificial system for the people to atone for the inevitable moments when they strayed from the covenant.  God put everything in place for the people to live in covenant with Him.  And yet the people managed to find ways to fracture the very foundation of the covenant by worshipping other gods and living contrary to the covenant itself.  Yet, despite the people's repeated failures to uphold the covenant and refrain from self-destructive behaviors, God said, "I will give them a new covenant."

            This time, in establishing a new covenant, the sign of the covenant would be plain, and the manner of living needed to uphold the covenant would be clear. What was different this time? This time God did not come as a voice or as a smoking firepot with flames.  God came wrapped in human flesh.  The truth and grace of God came in the person of Jesus Christ.  Jesus lived the perfect life and called upon His disciples to “Follow me.”  And to all who would follow, He gave the right to enter a new covenant and become children of God.  Children who were not born of human will but were born again by God.  But God knew there was still a problem that needed to be resolved under this new covenant.  God desired eternal life for His people.  That life would be comprised of time upon the earth and eternity with Him in heaven.  The problem is that to be in God’s presence, to live in heaven, requires perfection. The standard of heaven is not good, very good, or exceptionally good.  The standard for heaven is perfection.  The Apostle Paul put the problem this way: “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10b). Not a single person is perfect.  What was God to do about the people’s inevitable sins? 

            God had a plan.  God, through the person of Jesus Christ, would take upon Himself the sins of the world. Jesus would bear the sins of all people who believed in and followed Him.  And instead of just a blank slate wiped clean of sin, God, through Jesus, would give each person Jesus’ unblemished, perfect record.  “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:22a).  The work to justify us and give us the perfect record before God was given to us as a gift by Jesus.

What is the condition of that covenant?  That we put our faith in Jesus.  “So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ” (Galatians 2:16).  Living the new covenantal life is to live by faith in Jesus Christ, that is, to believe in His promises and in his power to fulfill his promises and then follow Him.  This is the gift of salvation.  None of us is worthy of receiving salvation through our own efforts.  None of us is perfect.  But Christ makes us perfect as a gift for having faith in Him.

God offers a covenantal relationship with you for your benefit.  God wants you to have peace in your life, assurance that He will see you through difficult times, and that your life can be one of profound joy now and forever. God did all the work needed for you and me to have such a relationship with Him by sending Jesus to lead us and by Jesus dying for our sins.  Jesus put it this way, “Trust in God, trust also in me.”  This day, let us trust God and embrace His covenant.  Amen and Amen. 

          When was the last time you were surprised?  To be surprised is to experience an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, or thing.  It has been said that there are three types of surprises we will experience. We are surprised when:

• Something happens that we don't expect.
• We expect something to happen, but something else happens instead.
• Expect something to happen, but nothing happens.

Surprise is one of seven universal human emotions that transcends language, regional, cultural, and ethnic differences.  The other six universal human emotions are anger, contempt, disgust, enjoyment, fear, and sadness.  We can tell by a person’s facial expressions which emotion they are experiencing, even if we do not know them or share their cultural history.

          What are the sources of surprise?  We can be surprised by some environmental conditions. We smell a flower and might be surprised at how sweet and attractive its scent is.  We can be surprised by people.  You step into a room and people shout, “Surprise – Happy Birthday!” Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we can be surprised by God.  But is it God’s nature to surprise us, or is it our nature to be surprised by him?  I would like us to consider that question today.

          Our scripture reading today, from Chapter 14 of the Book of Genesis, concerning the life of Abram, contains a few things that might surprise us.  Let’s take a moment and set the stage.  War had broken out in the region near where Abram lived.  Unfortunately, war is not an unusual occurrence.  The war was described as being between five kings and four kings.  The five kings represented the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboyim, and Bela. The four kings represented the cities of Elam, Goyim, Shinar, and Ellasar.  A climactic battle occurred in the Valley of Siddim, resulting in the defeat of the five kings by the four.  We would read, “10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom” (Genesis 14:10-12).

          We now see that Lot, Abram’s nephew, had been taken captive in the war, likely to become enslaved.  “14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people” (Genesis 14:14-16).  We see here some potential surprises. First, we are surprised because we did not expect Abram to have such an enormous household.  There were at least 318 men born into the household who had been trained in warfare to accompany Abram in his effort to retrieve Lot. This means his household could have been a couple of thousand people.  Secondly, we are surprised because we did not expect to see that when Abram attacked, he divided his forces.  Usually, armies of that time did not divide because it was hard to maintain communications between army elements.  Thirdly, we are surprised because we did not expect to see that Abram attacked at night. Armies at that time did not attack at night because it was too hard to understand what was happening and who was a threat and who was an ally.  Nevertheless, Abram attacked and was successful in rescuing his nephew, their possessions, and all the other people who had been taken captive.  This brings about a happy ending to the story of Abram, the warrior and savior.

          Then we read earlier, “17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer (K-door-lay-o-mor) and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley)” (Genesis 14:17).  That does not seem like a surprise.  Now that the battle has been won, the king of Sodom, the king of a wicked city, reappears to meet Abram, who has recaptured the possessions and people of Sodom along with his nephew, Lot.  The king of Sodom was likely coming to take back from Abram what the king believed belonged to him.  And so we expect that the next thing we will read about is the encounter between Abram and the king of Sodom.

But we are surprised because that does not happen.  Instead of the encounter between Abram and the king of Sodom, we read, “18 Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High” (Genesis 14:18). We expect something to happen, but something else happens instead.  And what is the nature of our surprise?  We want to know who Melchizedek is.  What does it mean that he was the king of Salem?  Where is Salem?  And what does it mean that Melchizedek was a priest of God?  Up until this point in the story of Abram, the only person associated with God was Abram.

What we learn is that Melchizedek is a name comprised of two Hebrew words: Melek, מֶלֶךְ, meaning “king,” and Tsedek, צֶדֶק, meaning "righteousness.”  And so we learn that a person known as the “king of righteousness” sought out Abram.  This king was from Salem.  The ancient city of Salem, scholars believe, was the name of the place later and now known as Jerusalem.  The king of righteousness came from Jerusalem.  What does it mean that Melchizedek was a priest of the God Most High?  In ancient times, there were three religious offices.  There was a king, a priest, and a prophet.  A king was to represent God to the people.  A priest was to represent the people to God.  A prophet was a messenger of God delivering words of divine revelation to the king, priests, and people.   Melchizedek, as a priest, served as an intermediary between the people and God. He may also have served as an intermediary between God and the people as a king.

The priest Melchizedek's interruption of the expected encounter between Abram and the king of Sodom and Melchizedek’s existence as another authority under God must have surprised Abram.  This was not what he expected.  There would be more surprises coming for Abram.

The scripture says, “19 And he (Melchizedek) blessed him (Abram) and said: 'Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth” (Genesis 14:19).  Melchizedek was acknowledging that he and Abram were spiritual brothers serving the same God Most High.  God had called Abram into the Promised Land and had called Melchizedek into the priesthood, bearing the concerns of the people to God.  This Melchizedek blessed Abram as a brother in faith.  Abram was surprised as he had never been blessed by any earthly being before in his life.

Melchizedek had a little more to tell Abram.  Scripture says, Melchizedek said, “And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your (Abram’s) enemies into your (Abram’s) hand” (Genesis 14:20a). Well, that might have been a surprise to Abram.  The victory of Abram over Kedorlaomer (K-door-lay-o-mor) and the kings allied with him did not come about because Abram divided his forces and attacked at night.  The victory came about because God gave Abram the victory.  God surprises people who are open to Him.  God surprised Abram with a victory, and God surprised Abram with the presence of another called to God, a priest named Melchizedek.

Melchizedek had one more task to do, and that was to bring bread and wine to Abram. Bread and wine were the staples of life. As the faith practices of the Chosen People developed, a traditional prayer was offered for the bread: https://youtu.be/3gYwg9HOzb4?feature=shared  "Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”  And a traditional blessing of the wine was also offered: https://youtu.be/GH0ILq9vKao?feature=shared "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine.”  Melchizedek had instilled in the minds of Abram and all his descendants the significance of the bread and the wine as offerings to God.

Abram must have been overjoyed at the presence of Melchizedek and the institution of God’s praise in the form of the bread and wine.  Scripture tells us that after spending time with Melchizedek, “And he (Abram) gave him (Melchizedek) a tithe of all” (Genesis 14:20b).  In Abram’s giving of the tithe to Melchizedek, there is a suggestion that Abram saw Melchizedek as superior to himself.

After the surprise encounter between Abram and Melchizedek ended, Scripture returned to the story of Abram and the King of Sodom.  “21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, 'Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.’  22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ‘I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’” (Genesis 14:21-23a).  Abram would have nothing to do with the wickedness of Sodom.  He wanted to be clear that any blessing he had in life was due to his relationship with God.  This is faith.

What then do we make of Abram’s developing faith?  How does what Abram experienced and demonstrated relate to us? There are three things for us to consider today.

First, God does not intend to surprise us, but we are surprised by Him.  Why is that?  Historically, God has revealed to people what He is going to do before He does it, so that they know that what happened was because He ordained it.  God had called Abram to the Promised Land and made Abram seven promises before Abram moved one inch toward that Promised Land.

1. I will make you a great nation.
2. I will bless you.
3. I will make your name great.
4. You will be a blessing.
5. I will curse those who curse you.
6. I will bless those who bless you.
7. By you, all families will be blessed.

So when Abram’s nephew Lot was enslaved, a curse against Abram, it should not have surprised Abram that God would bless Abram with a successful rescue mission. So, when God later said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17) upon Jesus' baptism, and then said, “This is my Son, listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5) upon Jesus' transfiguration, we ought to believe God.  We should not be surprised, then, by what Jesus was able to do and what Jesus promised.  When Jesus promised salvation to all who would believe in Him, He meant it.  So, when we see a man named Saul who persecuted Christians repent and receive forgiveness from Jesus, we should not be surprised that Jesus will forgive us.  But many people do not consider themselves worthy of God’s forgiveness, and so, they do not accept God’s invitation.  Don’t be surprised that God has said that He loves you and wants to bless you just as He had blessed Abram.

Second, we ought to expect God to bring into our lives people who will excite our faith, even if we did not expect them.  Abram was journeying through the Promised Land, believing that he alone had a relationship with God.  Surprise! Along came this mysterious character, Melchizedek, who interrupted Abram’s meeting with the king of the wicked city of Sodom.  The joy Abram must have felt, knowing he was not alone, that there was another believer, must have strengthened Abram's faith.  Every so often, I take the time to reflect on all the believers God has brought into my life through church, Bible studies, counseling sessions, lay study courses, fellowship dinners, funerals, weddings, and even fellow passengers on airplanes.  God has used each one of them and each one of you to encourage me in my faith.  The first Bible study I ever participated in as a student used the book by Charles Swindoll entitled “Hand Me Another Brick.” It is the story of Nehemiah, who led the effort to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.  I appreciate the imagery that each Christian God sends into my life and into yours, as a means to hand another brick to build up my faith and make me stronger.  We ought to expect God to do that because he desires that we would be strong in our faith.

Third, we ought to expect God to speak to us using ordinary things in extraordinary ways.  In our story today, Melchizedek brought ordinary things to Abram.  He brought bread and wine to sustain Abram and those with him.  Jesus used the same ordinary things — bread and wine — in an extraordinary way with his disciples.  The bread and wine represented Jesus’ own body and blood.  Jesus invited his disciples to eat the bread and drink the wine in advance of his death, so they would know that his death was not accidental; it was part of God’s plan to bless them.  That in Jesus’ death, redemption was assured and forgiveness of all sins would be granted.  Jesus served as the intercessor between them and God, representing them to God and fulfilling the office of a priest.  The New Testament Book of Hebrews tells us, “7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:7-10).  In a few minutes, we will take the ordinary bread and cup and remember the extraordinary things Jesus has done for us.

Abram’s faith and his sense of hope soared because of the provisions God had given to encourage him.  That same God wants your faith and sense of hope to soar high through the believers and ordinary things of life that he will use in extraordinary ways in your life. Amen and Amen.