2026 03 01 Lent 2 A
Genesis 12.1-4a Psalm 121 Romans 4.1-5, 13-17 John 3.1-17
“Father Abraham has many sons, many sons has father Abraham
– I am one of them and so are you, so let’s all praise the Lord.” This was the song I learnt when I was
little. Through it, I learned that
Abraham is considered our father in the faith.
He is the father of all who live by faith.
I have recently returned from a holiday where I cruised to
New Zealand. The ships are like a
floating resort with many activities and some that are ‘guest directed’, as was
our interdenominational Bible Study at 8:30 each of the mornings that we were at
sea. Through this we met a variety of
people, notably a ministering couple from Ohio.
They shared with us that their church has a core motto; “Love God. Bless People”. They explained to us that they’d experienced Christian
people who knew they were meant to love everyone, who would say, “I can’t stand
so and so… but I love them….” To make
it clear what it means to love others, they used the word “Bless”. Be a blessing to others. This makes loving others a whole lot more
tangible and practical. Abram was
called, and in him all the families of the earth were to be blessed.
God called Abram… at this stage God had not changed
his name to Abraham, but it was back at this point when God called him and gave
him a very sure promise. "Go from
your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will
show you. I will make of you a great
nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless
you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of
the earth shall be blessed."
The promise was to make of him a great nation and make his
name great. Did God keep his
promise? We are talking about Abraham
today – so yes, his name is great and his nation is the nation of Israel…. Although it could be correctly noted that he
was the father of the Arab tribes, the Edomites and many others also… but the
nation through whom the promise of God was through, is Israel. Abraham is most famously considered the
father of those who have faith in God. God
spoke and Abraham believed what God said.
This is an important aspect in the story of Abraham’s life and through
that faith and trust and belief in God, Abraham is considered to be
righteous. We learn about this in our
reading of the letter to the Romans.
There is an important understanding about the Good News explained in
this reading. Abraham was justified by
his faith and not by his works. He
trusted in God. Faith is not just about
believing in God. It is about trusting
as well and therefore following what God says.
Abraham came from a place called Ur of the Chaldeans. It was a prosperous city of mudbrick
houses. It was a place of idol worship. In fact, Ur was THE main center for the
worship of the moon god, Nanna…. Represented by a cresent moon. It is safe to say that Abram was well
acquainted with this god. When God
called Abram, he was called to leave his country, his home and his family…. Not
an easy thing to do, but also God was calling him to leave behind the religion
that worshipped many gods. Abram left his country and his family because
he believed what God was telling him. As
we follow the story of Abraham we find that he had chosen to turn away from all
other gods and serve the LORD. We are
told that he built an altar to the LORD – meaning, God the creator of all…
Yahweh.
It would be many years… many, many years before Abram would
have a child. Abram’s wife was
barren. Abram still remained faithful to
God. Many years of being separated from
his homeland and family. Many years of
waiting to become a great nation. …. But no child. Abram up and left all that he had known
because God called him…. But here he was living in what seemed to be exile and
the promise was not fulfilled. He passed
through towns where he could well be murdered so that others could have his
wife, who, as rumour would have it, was very beautiful. So much so that Abram persuaded her to
pretend to be only his sister so that his life would be spared from those who
would desire her.
It was a treacherous time, and God was with him to save him
and confirm his blessing on him, but still no child to fulfill the promise of
the great nation. Why I’m making a huge
deal about this is because we are living in times that are tough. We are a church oppressed by legal and
financial demands. We are in a position
where we wonder about our future. But
here is the truth; We’ve heard it said that we are paying for the sins of the
fathers… There is a scripture verse that is quoted about us paying for the
“sins of the fathers”, but this is actually only half of the scripture verse
and out of context. It actually says in Exodus 20: 4 “You shall not make for
yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth
beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship
them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for
the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my
commandments.”
The second and more important part of the scripture says
that God shows love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep
his commandments. We are recipients of
his love and favour.
What does this mean for us?
It means that we too are like Abraham.
We have been given a promise by God that he will show love to the
thousandth generation. We have a hope
and a future. We, like Abraham, are
always being called to leave behind the things that might ensnare us. We are always being called to let go of any
false gods that we’ve been inclined to trust in rather than trusting in
God. The people of Abrams home-town
trusted in other gods – Abraham made a choice and he chose to believe God…. And
then he put his faith into action by actually leaving his country and family. We are always being called to let go of the
sins of yesterday and walk into the promise of what God will do in our
tomorrow. God promised to make Abraham’s
name great…. Why? So that he would be a blessing. The point of the promise was so that others
could also be blessed. The world is
blessed through Abraham, because it is through him that Jesus came into the
world.
In our Gospel reading Jesus tells Nicodemus that just as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted
up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. What he is referring to, is his
crucifixion. Through his death anyone
who believes in him can have eternal life.
Eternal life is an amazing gift, and we receive it, not by anything we
do to be “good enough” – because we can never in our own strength BE good
enough. However, simply by making a definite
choice to believe God and by believing that God is who he says he is and
knowing that he is Good and loves us, we are counted as the people of faith, and
we like Abraham are considered righteous and acceptable to God.
Our challenge is always to get our lives to line up with our
spiritual reality. Our spiritual reality
is that we are considered clothed in Christ through our baptism. In other words, Christ has atoned for the
sins of the world and God the father sees us as perfect and acceptable through
him. Yet, the fact is we fall even in
our faith. Even in our believing in
God…. We doubt. Last week our readings
talked about Adam and Eve and how Satan planted doubt about God. It was that doubt that led to the fall. It was doubt that the devil tried to plant in
Jesus’ mind when he said, “IF you are the son of God….” “IF” – it was a word
that planted doubt about Jesus own identity.
Our challenge is to be the people of faith. It is easy to be people of faith when all is
going our way. It is harder when things
are not going well. It is harder still
when everything goes “pear-shaped”. How
hard was it for Abraham to believe in God’s promises of making him a great
nation when his barren wife reached 90? It is easy in those times to doubt. Abraham didn’t know how God would make him
into a great nation, but he continued to be faithful to God.
The message through our readings today is to challenge us to
let go of “Other gods”. What is it that
we are inclined to put our trust in, rather than God? Our own efforts? Our own intelligence? Are we accepting the worldview of those
around us and becoming no different from the culture in which we are immersed? This is why God called Abraham to leave his
country – so that he could be different and true to the living God, the LORD
almighty. No doubt, as the years without
an heir went by, many would have said to Abram, “Did God really call you?” The world around us would say to us “Did God
really call you?” “Is God really with you?”
It seems to me, through last week’s
message, and this week’s, we are encouraged to remember that God loves us. Remembering this is important so that we don’t
fall for the devil’s lies.
"Hosanna" is a word we hear, mostly when we
read about Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem as the word of praise, but
do you know what the word actually means?
The Hebrew phrase hôšîʿâ-nā means "save, I pray" or "save now".
It is a plea for help that we find in Psalm 118:25. It became a shout of praise. It is the praise we give God expectantly sure
of His deliverance before the battle has even begun. It is the image of the small shepherd boy David
declaring his trust in God as he stands before Goliath.
Be encouraged to stand firm in times that are tough and make
a declaration – We chose God, the LORD almighty. We are his and we are in his hands. God has chosen us and has called us to be
blessed - and blessed we will be,
because he wants us to be a blessing to our world. Hosanna!
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