GOD’S SHOCKING ROLE REVERSAL
Genesis 12:1-2; 15:1-11, 17-18a
Rev. Paul Wrightman 3/26/23
WE CONTINUE OUR NEW SERMON SERIES
ON THE MOST IMPORTANT TEXTS IN THE BIBLE
FROM THE BOOK OF GENESIS THROUGH THE BOOK OF REVELATION.
SO FAR, WE HAVE LOOKED AT SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT TEXTS
FROM THE FIRST ELEVEN CHAPTERS OF GENESIS.
SCHOLARS OF THE BIBLE TELL US THAT THESE FIRST ELEVEN CHAPTERS
BELONG TO THE REALM OF PREHISTORY.
BY THIS THEY MEAN THAT THE REALITIES
PICTURED IN THESE CHAPTERS – CREATION, FALL, MURDER, FLOOD –
WERE PRESENTED IN THE FORM OF IMAGINATIVE STORIES,
NOT HISTORICAL NARRATIVE.
WHILE THEY CONTAIN A LOT OF THEOLOGICAL TRUTH,
THESE STORIES WERE NEVER INTENDED
TO BE TAKEN LITERALLY AS HISTORY.
RATHER, THEY WERE IMAGINATIVE, METAPHORICAL WAYS
IN WHICH THE BIBLICAL AUTHORS ATTEMPTED TO ANSWER
SOME OF LIFE’S BIGGEST QUESTIONS, SUCH AS:
WHO MADE US AND WHY ARE WE HERE?
WHY ARE HUMAN BEINGS SO MESSED UP AND MIXED UP?
AND, WHY IS THERE SO MUCH VIOLENCE IN THE WORLD?
AS WE SAW LAST WEEK, GENESIS, CHAPERS ONE THROUGH ELEVEN,
ENDED IN A DEAD END AS FAR AS THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY
WAS CONCERNED.
HUMAN VIOLENCE AND PRESUMPTION WERE OUT-OF-CONTROL.
WHAT WAS GOD TO DO TO SAVE US FROM OURSELVES?
THE ANSWER TO THIS MONUMENTAL QUESTION
BEGINS TO BE GIVEN IN GENESIS, CHAPTER TWELVE.
AND IT IS PRECISELY WITH GENESIS TWELVE THAT WE MOVE
FROM THE REALM OF PREHISTORY
TO THE DOMAIN OF HISTORY PROPER.
SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT ABRAHAM WAS A REAL PERSON.
THE SCIENCE OF ARCHAEOLOGY HAS UNEARTHED
A MULTITUDE OF DETAILS CONCERNING LIFE AROUND 1800 BCE,
AND THESE DETAILS – SOCIAL, CULTURAL, LEGAL, AND LINGUISTIC –
CORRESPOND EXACTLY WITH HOW ABRAHAM IS PRESENTED
IN THE BIBLE.
AS WE MOVE INTO THE DESCRIPTION OF THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM
BEGINNING IN CHAPTER TWELVE,
WE CAN SEE THAT GOD’S “PLAN” TO SAVE HUMANITY FROM ITSELF
BEGINS WITH GOD’S CALLING A SPECIFIC PERSON
TO BE WITH IN RELATIONSHIP.
THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS RELATIONSHIP
IS TO NURTURE AND MATURE THIS PERSON
INTO BECOMING THE FOUNDER OF A BRANCH OF HUMANITY
THAT IS TO EVENTUALLY TO GIVE BIRTH TO THE MESSIAH –
GOD’S PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE –
AND IS TO BE A BLESSING TO THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE.
THIS BRINGS US TO TODAY’S FIRST SCRIPTURE TEXT.
CHAPTER TWELVE BEGINS BY TELLING
OF A DIVINE SUMMONING TO GRACE AND FAITH,
THE CALL OF ABRAHAM TO DESERT HIS HOMELAND
AND JOURNEY INTO THE UNKNOWN AND UNFAMILIAR.
GIVEN THE MULTITUDE OF COMPETING GODS IN ANCIENT SUMER,
IT IS NOTHING LESS THAN AMAZING THAT ABRAHAM
WAS EVEN ABLE TO HEAR THE VOICE OF THIS “NEW” GOD.
ABRAHAM MUST HAVE BEEN SOMETHING OF AN ADVENTURER
AND REBEL BY NATURE.
THE TEXT SIMPLY TELLS US THAT GOD CALLED,
AND THAT ABRAHAM DROPPED EVERYTHING AND FOLLOWED.
ALREADY WE CAN SEE WHY ABRAHAM IS CONSIDERED TO BE THE
“FATHER OF FAITH” IN THE HEBREW AND CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES.
GENESIS, CHAPTER FIFTEEN, DETAILS THE COVENANT
THE GOD MADE WITH ABRAHAM.
“COVENANT” IS AN IMPORTANT THEOLOGICAL WORD
WHICH DESCRIBES AN UNBREAKABLE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN GOD AND A PERSON, OR GROUP OF PEOPLE.
AS WE SHALL SEE, THE UNBREAKABLENESS OF THE RELATIONSHIP
DOES NOT COME FROM THE HUMAN SIDE OF THE RELATIONSHIP,
BUT FROM GOD’S SIDE.
IT IS SIGNIFICANT THAT GOD’S WORD COMES TO ABRAM
IN A VISION.
IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES, A VISION IS GOD’S SPECIAL VEHICLE
OF COMMUNICATION WITH GOD’S PROPHETS,
A PROPHET BEING A PERSON WHO KNOWS GOD’S OWN
HEART AND MIND IN AN ESPECIALLY INTENSE WAY.
WHAT IS BEING HINTED AT HERE IS THAT ABRAHAM
IS REALLY THE FIRST PROPHET.
THIS IS A MATTER OF CRUCIAL IMPORTANCE
WHEN ONE RECALLS THE FACT THAT IT WAS ISRAEL’S
PROPHETIC HERITAGE WHICH EXPRESSED
HER DEEPEST YEARNINGS AND INSIGHTS CONCERNING THE MESSIAH.
ABRAM’S VISION TAKES THE FORM OF A DIALOGUE,
OR CONVERSATION, BETWEEN GOD AND HIMSELF.
NOTHING COULD SPOTLIGHT MORE DRAMATICALLY
THE ESSENTIALLY RELATIONAL NATURE OF ABRAM’S FAITH.
HIS FAITH IN GOD REFLECTS THE TRUST AND INTIMACY
CHARACTERISTIC OF THE DEEPEST PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS.
IT ALSO REFELCTS THE INNOCENSE AND NAIVETE
OF THE UNDOUBTING CHILD WHO, NEVERTHELESS,
CAN OCCASIONALLY ASK THE PARENT AN ARTLESS QUESTION.
ABRAM DOES THIS WHEN HE COMPLAINS, CONCERNING HIS FUTURE
AS FATHER OF A GREAT NATION – “O LORD GOD,
WHAT WILL YOU GIVE ME, FOR I CONTINUE CHILDLESS,
AND THE HEIR OF MY HOUSE IS ELIEZER OF DAMASCUS?”
THE CUSTOM ABRAM REFERS TO – THAT OF A SERVANT BECOMING
HEIR IF THERE WERE NO SON TO ASSUME THIS POSITION –
WAS A COMMON ONE IN MESOPOTAMIA DURING
THE LATTER PART OF THE SECOND MILLENIUM BCE (AROUND 1800),
BUT NOT IN PRACTICE AT THE TIME THE BIBLE WAS PUT TOGETHER
IN WRITTEN FORM: ANOTHER INDICATION OF THE AUTHENTICITY
BEHIND THE PATRIARCHAL NARRATIVES.
GOD CLARIFIES GOD’S PROMISE, REVEALING TO ABRAM
(STILL THROUGH MEANS OF THE VISION)
THAT HIS HEIR WILL BE HIS CHILD, NOT HIS SERVANT.
THUS DOES GOD, LIKE THE LOVING FATHER --AND MOTHER-- GOD IS,
RESPOND TO THE CHILDLIKE FEARS
THAT ABRAM HAS JUST EXPRESSED.
WE ARE NOW PRESENTED WITH THE BEAUTIFUL SCENE
OF FATHER GOD OFFERING HIS SON ABRAM
THE SIGHT OF THE STAR-FILLED SKY AS A CONCRETE IMAGE
OF THE FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PROMISE.
IT WOULD BE WELL TO LINGER AWHILE ON THIS SCENE
TO ENCOUNTER MORE FULLY THE RELATIONAL INTIMACY
BETWEEN GOD AND ABRAM WHICH IT CONVEYS.
PERHAPS IT IS NOT GOING TOO FAR
TO READ BETWEEN THE LINES A BIT,
AND TO IMAGINE A PARTICULARLY MOVING FATHER/SON RETREAT,
THE LAST NIGHT OF WHICH THE FATHER AND SON
STRUGGLE TOGETHER THROUGH THE DARK FOREST
AT THE BASE OF THE MOUNTAIN,
SUDDENLY EMERGING INTO A CLEARING
AND THE OVERPOWERING IMPACT
OF A MOONLESS NIGHT HEAVY WITH STARS.
THE FATHER AND SON SIT TOGETHER IN SILENCE FROR A LONG TIME,
DRINKING IN THE MYSTERY OF THE HEAVENS.
THEN THE FATHER TURNS TO THE SON AND TELLS HIM
THAT HE STANDS AT THE HEAD OF A PEOPLE
WHO WILL BE AS NUMBERLESS AS THE STARS.
IMAGINE THE IMPACT OF THE FATHER’S STATEMENT ON THE SON—
IMAGINE THE IMPACT OF GOD’S PROMISE ON ABRAM.
GENESIS 15:6 – “AND HE BELIEVED THE LORD;
AND THE LORD RECKONED IT TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” –
IS ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED VERSES
IN THE ENTIRE OLD TESTAMENT.
IT CONDENSES INTO THEOLOGICAL SHORTHAND
THE REDEMPTIVE NATURE
OF ABRAM’S PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
“BELIEVING THE LORD” IS SIMPLY ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING
“TRUSTING GOD.”
TRUSTING GOD IS RIGHTEOUSNESS,
LIVING IN RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
THE WORD “RIGHTEOUS,” THEN, IS A BIBLICAL TERM
DESCRIBING THE STATE OF A PERSON WHO LIVES OUT
THE PRIMARY REALITY OF A LOVING, TRUSTING RELATIONSHIP
WITH GOD.
GOD REMINDS ABRAM: “I AM THE LORD
WHO BROUGHT YOU FROM UR OF THE CHALDEANS,
TO GIVE YOU THIS LAND TO POSSESS.” (15:7)
ABRAM ASKS ANOTHER OF HIS CHILDLIKE QUESTIONS:
“HOW AM I TO KNOW THAT I SHALL POSSESS IT?” (15:8)
THIS QUESTION – “HOW AM I TO KNOW…” – SETS THE STAGE
FOR ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING REVELATIONS
IN THE ENTIRE BIBLE.
I CALL IT A “MOUNT EVEREST” TEXT BECAUSE IT STANDS
HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE MANY OF THE OTHER INSIGHTS
ABOUT GOD THAT WE RECEIVE IN SCRIPTURE.
TO CHANGE METAPHORS, TO READ AND UNDERSTAND THIS TEXT
IS LIKE HAVING OUR VISTA ON GOD ENLARGED IN MANIFOLD WAYS.
GOD’S RESPONSE TO ABRAM’S QUESTION --”HOW AM I TO KNOW…--
IS ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING REVELATIONS BY GOD
IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE.
THE CUSTOM THAT GOD USES TO MAKE GOD’S POINT, HOWEVER,
IS SO LONG GONE, SO DOWNRIGHT BIZARRE TO US LIVING TODAY,
THAT WE AUTOMATICALLY TUNE IT OUT OR WRITE IT OFF.
IT SEEMS TO HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO CONNNECTION
WITH CONTEMPORARY REALITY, SO WE DISCOUNT IT.
BUT THIS TEXT IS AS CRUCIAL FOR OUR LIVES AS IT WAS FOR ABRAM,
BECAUSE NEXT TO JESUS,
IT IS THE BIBLE’S MOST DIRECT DECLARATION
OF GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
GOD HAS A WONDERFUL WAY OF MEETING PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE – IN THE MIDST OF THEIR OWN UNIQUELY HUMAN, CULTURAL,
AND HISTORICAL REALITIES.
IN ABRAM’S DAY IMPORTANT PEOPLE – KINGS AND SUCH –
ESTABLISHED ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT AGREEMENTS
THROUGH A PROCESS CALLED “CUTTING A COVENANT.”
BACK THEN, AROUND 1800 BCE, THE “CUTTING” WAS QUITE LITERAL.
A NUMBER OF SACRIFICED ANIMALS WERE CUT INTO TWO PIECES.
THE PIECES WERE ARRANGED IN SUCH A WAY
THAT THEY FORMED A PATH DOWN THE CENTER.
THE COVENANT WAS RATIFIED BY THE SUPERIOR PARTY –
LET’S SAY THE KING – DEMANDING THAT THE INFERIOR PARTY –
LET’S SAY ABRAHAM – WALK DOWN THIS CENTRAL PATH
TO SYMBOLIZE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO HIM
SHOULD THE COVENANT BE BROKEN.
THIS SUPERIOR/INFERIOR ARRANGEMENT WAS UNIVERSAL –
THERE IS NOT A SINGLE INSTANCE IN ALL OF ANCIENT LITERATURE
OF THE SUPERIOR PARTY – LET’S SAY A KING --
TAKING THE PART OF THE INFERIOR AND PASSING THROUGH
THE SPLIT PIECES.
THAT IS, NOT A SINGLE INSTANCE IN ALL OF ANCIENT LITERATURE
UNTIL THIS ENCOUNTER BETWEEN GOD AND ABRAM.
TO US, THE “SMOKING FIRE POT” AND “FLAMING TORCH”
THAT PASSED BETWEEN THE PIECES SEEM LIKE MYSTERIES
WITHOUT A REFERENT.
TO UNLOCK THE REAL MEANING OF THIS TEXT
WE NEED TO REALIZE THAT IN ABRAM’S DAY
THE “SMOKING FIRE POT” AND “FLAMING TORCH”
WERE SYMBOLS FOR GOD’S OWN PERSONAL PRESENCE.
THUS, THE TEXT IS TELLING US THAT GOD, NOT ABRAM,
WAS THE ONE WHO PASSED THROUGH.
THIS WAS GOD’S WAY OF TELLING ABRAM
THAT NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING,
COULD BREAK THE COVENANT BETWEEN THEM.
WHY? BECAUSE GOD IN GOD’S OWN PERSON
WAS WILLING TO BE BROKEN
IN ORDER TO KEEP THE COVENANT INTACT.
THIS IS THE ONLY INSTANCE WE HAVE
IN ALL OF ANCIENT LITERATURE
OF A SUPERIOR PARTY WILLING TO TAKE THE PLACE
OF AN INFERIOR.
AND THE TEXT TELLS US THAT THE SUPERIOR PARTY
WILLING TO DO THIS IS NO ONE LESS
THAN THE ONE TRUE GOD!
WHAT SURPRISES ME TO NO END PERSONALLY
IS THAT WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THIS TEXT
IT TAKES THE BIBLE EIGHTEEN HUNDRED YEARS –
IN OTHER WORDS, UNTIL JESUS –
TO GROW INTO THIS UNDERSTANDING
OF GOD AS WILLING TO DIE ON OUR BEHALF.
THAT’S WHY I CALL IT A “MOUNT EVEREST” TEXT.
BY SHOWING US, SO EARLY ON,
WHO GOD REALLY IS, AND WHAT GOD IS REALLY UP TO –
NAMELY, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE,
LOVE WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED –
IT SERVES AS THE STANDARD AGAINST WHICH
ALL LESSER VISIONS OF GOD –
VERY MUCH INCLUDING THE LESSER VISIONS OF GOD
IN THE BIBLE ITSELF – CAN BE MEASURED AND FOUND WANTING.
NEXT SUNDAY WE WILL BE CELEBRATING
THE SACRAMENT OF COMMUNION.
THE WORDS THAT JESUS HIMSELF USED
CONCERNING HIS BROKEN BODY AND SPILLED BLOOD
ARE, I BELIEVE, A DIRECT REFERENCE, A DIRECT LINKAGE,
TO THIS OBSCURE TEXT IN GENESIS.
THEY ARE A REMINDER TO US AND TO ALL PEOPLE
THAT FROM GOD’S POINT OF VIEW
THE TERMS OF GOD’S COVENANT WITH US HAVE NOT CHANGED.
WHAT WAS TRUE FOR ABRAM IN 1800 BCE,
AND FOR HUMANITY AS A WHOLE FROM ITS EARLIEST BEGINNINGS,
IS STILL TRUE FOR US TODAY:
GOD DESIRES TO BE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH OF US.
WE, LIKE ABRAM, WONDER IF GOD CAN BE TRUSTED.
SO GOD MAKES A COVENANT WITH EVERY HUMAN BEING
IN WHICH GOD PROMISES THAT THE COVENANT IS UNBREAKABLE –
UNBREAKABLE BECAUSE IT CAN NOT AND WILL NOT BE BROKEN
FROM GOD’S SIDE.
GOD WOULD ALLOW GOD’S OWN BODY TO BE BROKEN
AND GOD’S OWN BLOOD TO BE SPILLED
BEFORE GIVING UP RELATIONSHIP WITH US.
LAST WEEK WE SAW HUMANKIND FACING A DEAD-END
OF ITS OWN MAKING.
THE QUESTION WE WERE LEFT WITH WAS
“HOW IS GOD GOING TO SAVE US FROM OURSELVES?”
THIS WEEK WE BEGIN TO SEE GOD’S ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION.
HOW IS GOD GOING TO SAVE US FROM OURSELVES?
BY FORMING A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH ONE PERSON,
NAMELY ABRAHAM, AND THROUGH THAT PERSON
BLESSING ALL OF HUMANITY.
BUT HOW IS ABRAM – HOW ARE WE – TO KNOW
THAT THIS “CRAZY” GOD WHO WANTS TO BE IN RELATIONSHIP
WITH HIM AND WITH US IS TO BE TRUSTED?
WE CAN KNOW BECAUSE GOD PROMISED ABRAHAM
THAT NOTHING WE COULD DO COULD BREAK
GOD’S COVENANT WITH US.
WE CAN KNOW BECAUSE GOD IN THE PERSON OF JESUS
ACTUALLY WENT THROUGH WITH THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE:
ALLOWING HIS BODY TO BE BROKEN AND BLOOD SPILLED
PRECISELY SO THAT WE ALL CAN KNOW
THAT THERE IS NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, WE CAN DO
THAT WOULD MAKE GOD GIVE UP ON US OR LOVE US LESS.
AMEN.