Faith in God—that is, truly and deeply trusting God—is essential for living as God intends. Can we live by faith—especially in the midst of tragedy, heartache and problems? And what about our failures in faith? Our faith is often inadequate and immature; can we grow in faith? What does mature faith look like?

Abraham and Sarah grew in faith. At the beginning of their faith journey when God first promised that their descendants would outnumber the stars, they were childless and in their seventies. Year after year God reaffirmed this promise, but year after year, no child was born. After a few years Abraham complained and tried to talk some sense into God. "Why not let me have a son by one of my female slaves and have him be my heir?" But God rejected the suggestion. Although Abraham was obviously impatient, he did trust God, and so he said, in effect: "Okay. Whatever you say." (15:1-6)

When Abraham and Sarah were well into their eighties, Sarah told Abraham that because God had not given them a child, they had better take matters into their own hands. Abraham could have a child by one of Sarah’s slaves, and then Abraham and Sarah could adopt that child as theirs. You probably remember Abraham did what she said, and the slave Hagar had a child named Ishmael; but the result of taking matters into their own hands was not approved by God and also created a lot of strife—strife between Sarah and her slave, and even strife between Sarah and Abraham. (16:1-16)

When Abraham was ninety-nine, while God was once again restating the old, well worn promise, Abraham pretended to be praying, but he was really mumbling to himself and laughing at God. "Who is God kidding? Sarah is in her nineties and I will soon be 100." Then Abraham tried to talk some common sense into God. "Look, we have the boy, Ishmael. Let him be my heir." But God said: "No. You and Sarah will have a son, and you must name him Isaac—Laughter. Sarah will give birth to this child next year."

That story was in chapter 17; in chapter 18 there is a similar story. Some strangers come to visit. It turns out they are special messengers from God, and when they tell Abraham that next spring he and Sarah will have a son, Sarah overhears what they are saying, and she, too, laughs at the promise of God.

Finally, in chapter 21, twenty-five years after God had first promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have more descendants than they could count, Sarah does give birth to one baby boy, and they named him "Laughter"—that is, Isaac.

What a wonderful name! It was an expression of the "inexpressible" delight and joy Abraham and Sarah experienced—finally having the child God had promised so many times over so many years. But in addition to that, each time they spoke his name, "Laughter," it would be a reminder to each of them that they had laughed at the promise of God.

At long last, in chapter 21, the promise made way back in chapter 12 is fulfilled. Well, the promise is fulfilled if you think having one son is fulfilling the promise of having more descendants than you can count. Abraham and Sarah trusted God to the point that having only one child, Isaac, was for them, by faith, the fulfillment of the promise.

Now, let's try to identify some of what the Abraham-Sarah stories tell us about faith and the struggle to live faithful lives.

Faith is trusting God. As I said in previous sermons, it is obvious Abraham and Sarah trusted God, otherwise they would never have left their home country to go where God wanted them to go. Unless they really trusted God, they would not have made such changes in their lives.

But as we saw in the stories I talked about last week, living by faith is not something we humans do with great consistency. Faced with problems and discomfort, we all too often turn our back on the promises of God—just as Abraham and Sarah did when they went to Egypt and Sarah ended up in Pharaoh’s harem (Gen. 12). Like them, we make a mess of things, and God has to rescue us in order for us to have the possibility of receiving what God is trying to give us. Only by God's grace at work in our lives can we live as God intends. It takes God's help for us to live lives of faith.

Faith is tenacious. Abraham and Sarah kept trusting year after year after year after year that God would someday, somehow, do what God had promised. Faith in God does not limit God to our human timetables. God’s schedule is not our human schedule, and faith in God and in the promises of God involves a willingness to trust God without dictating deadlines or setting the parameters for the way God will do what God has promised. Faith is living day in and day out, year in and year out, tenaciously trusting God.

The stories of Abraham and Sarah are clear in revealing that it is a struggle to trust God when, day after day and year after year, we cannot see the fulfillment of God’s promises. It is not unusual for us to get to the point of frustration, where, like Abraham and Sarah, we laugh at God and at the promises of God. In our impatience, we humans try to talk sense into God, just as Abraham and Sarah did, and like them, we also try to take matters into our own hands. Like Abraham and Sarah, it is not that we totally give up on what God has promised; it is just that we believe God needs some good, human common sense to get it done.

Abraham and Sarah tried to use Hagar and Ishmael to get done what God had promised. It is instructive to note God did not condemn them for what they were trying to accomplish. In fact, the stories tell us that God made good use of their efforts. And God can and does make use of our efforts, just as God made use of Ishmael. But the stories are very clear in showing us that what we accomplish doing it our way is not what God has in mind.

Faith is trusting God so much that we willingly make changes in our living. Faith is a tenacious trust in God that does not put conditions on God or on the promises of God. When our lack of faith causes us to make a mess because we tried to take matters into our own hands, God does not reject us or give up on us. Without giving in to us, God even makes use of our mess.

And when, like Abraham and Sarah, we live trusting God, we are able to see the faithfulness of God and fulfillment of God's promises; whereas others without faith see only another life experience, or perhaps a very unusual event, but not the fulfillment of the promises of God.

Now we come to the story about God telling Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. This is a difficult story for us, especially if our only way of reading the Bible is to read it as objective history or a news account. The purpose of this story is theological. This story is not about God being cruel; nor is it about a religiously dysfunctional daddy. The primary purpose of this story is, I believe, to place before us a challenge and to try to say something about who we are to be.

This story does not tell us, but it shows us Abraham has grown in faith. He is no longer the man he was twenty-five years earlier when in the face of problems and danger he abandoned both God and the promises of God.

You know the story. When Isaac had become a boy strong enough to carry a heavy load, God told Abraham to take his only son, the son he loved, and offer him as a sacrifice. Now, you need to remember in the days this story was first told, this story was not as offensive as it is today because back then the sacrifice of children was not unheard of in religions of the Middle East.

So, what is the issue being addressed in this ancient story? I think God is saying: "Abraham , who do you really worship—Isaac or me? What really shapes the way you live, and what do you center your living around—your child or me? Abraham, do you love the gift you have been given more than you love the One who gave it?"

This is always the greatest test of our faith. Do we love what God has given us more than we love God? What do we really worship? What sets the agenda for our living? What do we finally trust to give our lives meaning? Is it the wonderful gifts we have received, or the One who gives all good gifts?

Abraham loved his son, his only son, but Abraham worshipped God, not Isaac. Abraham trusted God—really trusted God. As the passage says, Abraham trusted that God would provide. Abraham's faith had grown to become a mature and total trust in God and God's grace. Abraham did not know how or by what means God would provide. But he trusted even in this most extreme situation; he trusted God would provide. And as we all know, God did.

Faith, trust, confidence in God is essential for living as God intends. Can we live by faith—especially in the midst of tragedy, heartache and problems? What about our failures in faith? Our faith often seems inadequate and immature; can we grow in faith? And what does mature faith look like?

God, help us to learn from the stories of Abraham and Sarah. As they grew in faith enable us to mature in our confidence, trust and obedience to you. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer:

God, when we pause to think about it, we know that to grow in grace and to mature in faith we must participate in worship and continuing education in the faith. We know that faithfulness requires us to be present to those around us and to be present as representatives of Christ and the Gospel. Forgive us for so often postponing what we know we ought to be doing. Forgive us for the excuses we make to avoid doing what we know we ought to do.

God, help us be open to your guidance as we make these commitments today. Keep us from playing games with ourselves and with you.

God, we are grateful for the blessings in our lives. None of us know very much, but, O God, each of us knows that you do more for us than we are aware. Thank you.

You know the pains, the problems, worries and heartaches each of us has brought with us. Help us be open to your guidance and willing to receive your help.

Trusting you to give us what we need in order to become the persons you want us to be, doing what you want us to do, we pray the prayer Jesus taught us: "Our Father …"