Facing the Future:
Lessons From Abraham Stories

Dr. James Mayfield
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

March 12, 2006

Text: Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 (Genesis 12-22)

All of us are facing changes. How shall we deal with the future? The next few Sundays, I want to look into some familiar Bible stories and try discern what these familiar stories have to say to us as we face the future.

Today, I want to look at some of the stories about Abraham. Abraham was 75 years old when God told him to leave all that was familiar behind and go where God would lead him. If he would, God made him a three part promise. God promised him many descendants, which I understand to be a promise of more than a lot of children; it is the promise that Abraham would have future. God promised him land, which was a promise of more than real estate; it was the promise of a place in life. And God promised Abraham would be a blessing to all nations; that is to say, his having lived would make a difference. All this would be his if Abraham would go where God would lead: -- a future -- a place in life -- a life that would make a difference. So, Abraham left all that was familiar behind and went where God led him.

But like most of us, Abraham's faith, his trust, his confidence in God was not fully mature at the beginning. Abraham followed God into the promised land, but he walked all the way through the green hills, all the way through the fertile plains; he kept walking until until he found himself in the Negeb desert. and in the midst of a draught.

So, what did he do at the first sign of difficulty? He abandoned the promised land -- abandoned God's gift, to go to Egypt , of all places! At the border, Abraham said to his wife: “You are so beautiful, they will kill me in order to have you; so, tell them you are my sister.” Abraham was so afraid he placed the future God had promised in jeopardy. Sure enough, when Pharaoh discovered how beautiful Sarah was, he paid Abraham enough to make him wealthy and Sarah ended up in Pharaoh's harem. How can Abraham have many descendents with his wife in Pharaoh's harem?

Now what will happen? Abraham has abandoned the promised land. Because of his fear or for the right price, he “sold” the future God had promised. God had to come to the rescue.

That is the way it was, and that is the way it continues to be. God calls us to move toward where he wants us to be. With immature commitment, we begin our journey of faith, but when the going gets rough we tend to do what Abraham did. In our own way, in our own style, we sell out the future God has promised. God has to come to rescue. As the story is told in Genesis, God slapped Pharaoh and his family with some plagues. Finally Pharaoh figured out what was going on and said to Abraham: “Why did you lie to me?” I think it is significant and worth noticing, that the first lecture on ethics in the Bible does not come from faithful people preaching to the world, but from the world asking the followers of God, “Why did you lie to me? Why didn't you tell me the truth?”

No sooner is Abraham back where God wants him to be than Abraham gives away the most fertile part of the promised land just to keep peace in the family. So, God takes Abraham up on a mountain and gently reminds Abraham, he cannot give away his place in life. He has a God given place in life, and a God given future.

God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great multitude. This was the promise of a future. But Abraham and Sarah were already old when this promise was first made. Then, year after year went by and no child was born. Sarah and Abraham lost faith in the promise of God. So, just as we do, they took matters in their own hands. Sarah told Abraham to have a child through one of her servants and then they would call that child their son. But God told them, that boy was not the one God has promised.

Year after year went by, and still no son. It is not surprising that at one point, while pretending to pray, Abraham laughed when God once again promised that his descendants would outnumber the stars. In another story Sarah laughed at the promise of God. Finally, at long last, after many years of hearing the promise, one son is born. God told them to name him Isaac, (the name Isaac means “laughter”) so that whenever they call his name, “Laughter,” they would not only be reminded of the joy of finally having a baby boy, but also reminded they had laughed at God's promise.

Whatever else these stories have to say, they declare that regardless of our failures in faith, God remains faithful. These stories also declare that God's timeline is not the same as ours. Just as Abraham and Sarah were called to live by faith, trusting God's promises, so are we. But it is no easier for us than for them. The good news is, just as God did not give up on Abraham and Sarah even when they had given up on God's promises, God does not give up on us either.

Of all the other stories about Abraham, there is one more I want us to remember this morning. It is that strange story about God telling Abraham: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah , and offer him there as a burnt offering ....” Abraham went and did as God commanded, but just as he was about to offer Laughter, his only son, God stopped him saying: “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God ....”

In the era this story was first told, child sacrifice was a common practice in many religions. Some scholars say this story is a story that marks the end to such expressions of religious devotion – at least among the Hebrews.

I think the point of the story goes beyond that. I think the point of the story is to raise a question: “To what are we really committed -- the gifts we have received from God or God?” Are we so caught up in enjoying the gifts from God we are no longer willing to follow God? It was because of Abraham's willingness to offer to God all that God had given, that God was pleased and Abraham was blessed.

The question I have asked this morning is: “How shall we face the future?” Each of us and all of us are facing some changes.

The precise answer for each of us will be as unique as each of us and our situation is. However, some of the basic principals, some of the basic insights and guidelines for facing the future in faith can be discovered in the Abraham stories we have remembered today. We have remembered the story about his being called to leave all that was familiar behind and following God, go to a new place in his life. We have remembered the stories about Abraham placing his descendants (his future) and the land given him (his place in life) in jeopardy and God having to rescue the promise. We have remembered stories about Abraham and Sarah trying to take matters in their own hands, their laughing at the promise of God, and God remaining faithful nevertheless. We have remembered the story about Abraham's faith maturing to the point he was willing to offer his most precious gift to the Giver of all gifts, and we remember that because Abraham did this, he did not lose his son; instead Abraham was blessed and the promises God had made were confirmed.

So, how shall we face the future?

Let us pray. God, as we face what lies ahead, help us learn what we need to learn from these stories about Abraham. Amen.

Pastoral prayer:
God, thank you for the gift of springtime green once again decorating the limbs of trees too long dull and bare. Thank you for the gift of renewed life in our midst. Rescue us from living barren lives. Touch our souls with your life renewing grace so that we too may become like trees well on their way to bearing the fruit that is pleasing to you. May blossoms of grace be evident in our attitude, our words and deeds. God, our lives are not dormant in the sense of having nothing to do. We tend to be overly busy, but our busy-ness merely leaves us exhausted with a few more trinkets to put in our closets. We long for a more meaningful way of living, the kind of living that is marked by the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. God, our living is so full of the stuff the world is selling, we have little room for what you are offering. Rescue us from our overcrowded, hectic schedules so that our living will produce the fruit you created us to produce. Help us live as Jesus was teaching us to live when he taught us to pray: “Our Father ....”