Second Sunday in Lent - Video and Sermon Text

 Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer

Second Sunday in Lent    

Genesis 12:1-9  
Romans 4:1-8, 13-17  
John 3:1-17

O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. 

The very first word that God says to Abraham is the word “Go.” It is clear from God’s Word that when God says “go” to Abraham, He means go far away. Reflecting on what comes after the word “go” led me to think about why and how I go. When I travel, I do for three general reasons: Vacation which often includes visiting with family and friends; education experiences; and for a call to serve God and the church in another location. 

When I go, I have a plan that includes mode of transportation and a time frame of departure and arrival. Before departure I have accommodations for overnight stays lined up through reservations. I make sure that I have sufficient funds on hand. And, if we are staying with friends or family, before we depart, we have already worked out a number of details about how we are going to spend our time together. If I am going to an educational event, the agenda is already largely established. Serendipity decides what I eat and who I eat with. My motto is that “If you do not have a plan nothing will happen. And, plans can always be amended.” I suspect that this sounds familiar to most of you who travel for business or pleasure.   

Keeping what I said earlier in mind, I would like to read again Genesis 12:1-3. “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And 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 him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  

There is a lot of good news, exciting news, here. God promises a new land. God promises that Abraham will be the founder of a great nation. God promises that great honor will come to Abraham. God promises that Abraham will be a blessing to others. Astonishingly, the blessing will continue going outward so that all families everywhere will be blessed by Abraham. That is incredibly good news that surely would be impossible for Abraham or anyone else to fathom. 

But, in order for the promises to come to fruition, Abraham must first get beyond those terrible beginning words. “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house.” What God wants Abraham to do is disruptive. Leave the family. Leave your people. Leave your identity. Leave your community. Leave all that is familiar and comfortable. Leave your support. And, to top it all off, God has not yet disclosed to Abraham where they are going. At this point it is a mystery.

What God calls Abraham into is a life altering act of faith. As far as I am concerned, the call to faith and the call to discipleship is as pointed and sharp as when Jesus says in Matthew 10:37-39,  

37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

As Abraham is called by God into this grand adventure of which he cannot know or control the ending, there is a reorganizing of his priorities. God is first. God literally determines the direction and future of Abraham’s life. Family, identity, comfort, community support; all of that takes a back seat to God and God’s Word.  

One of the reasons that Genesis 12 is included in the readings for Lent is because Abraham is a model of faith for us. After the failure of Adam in the garden, we have a positive role model set before us. Abraham says yes to God. The Holy Spirit creates faith within Abraham as he hears God’s Word. His faith grasps the promises of God. He does not try to negotiate details out of God. He does not insist on a timeline. He is 75 years old when he goes forth and he has yet to raise the concern that he has no child. He simply believes God’s Word. In a further conversation between God and Abraham in Genesis 15 that does deal with the fact that he and Sarah are childless, Abraham continues to have faith in God to do the miraculous. Verse 6 says that “Abraham believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” 

The season of Lent is a time of reflection on the state of our own faith and commitment as disciples of Christ. No matter what stage we are in life, no matter what our age, no matter the state of our material and familial blessings, we are called to put God’s will first. God calls us to have faith in Him and to follow His Son. 

The Old Testament readings for these Sundays in Lent are selected because they point us to God’s promise to us of his Son. From the beginning, God tells of Jesus’ advent. Last week, we heard the promise in Genesis 3:15. Today, we hear it in the last part of God’s promise to Abraham. “…and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  

Abraham has faith in God and follows where He leads. The covenant that God establishes with Abraham continues with Isaac and Jacob and then to the promised nation of Israel. Abraham is the father of the nation of Israel. Through all of Israel’s ups and downs, God remembers His covenant. We are blessed by Abraham’s faith because we receive the blessing that God promised. That blessing is Jesus. We have the blessing of Christ’s incarnation, cross, and resurrection upon us. As Jesus explains to Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” We are baptized into his promise of salvation. Jesus dies for us. Jesus saves us. Jesus promises us resurrection life in eternity. We have faith to receive his promises.

Today, our faith receives Christ and his promises through the word that we hear. We also receive Christ within us as we receive Holy Communion. When we receive Christ Jesus in the bread and wine, we receive his forgiveness and the assurance of his love for us. Our faith is strengthened so that we can continue follow the Lord Jesus. Our faith keeps Christ first in everything. 

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.