A couple of reminders are in order as we begin looking at our text for this morning. First, remember that God’s promise to send a Messiah was first given in the Garden of Eden, to Adam and Eve, before there was a Jew or a Gentile and it was given for all people of all places of all times. And second, here in our text what we have is not a new covenant, but a narrowing of the line of the fulfillment of the covenant that was made in the Garden of Eden. With those reminders said, let us get to our text.
God had appeared to Abram earlier and had spoken to him concerning the promise of a child, a son, an heir, and yet, at this time Abram was still childless and this was a concern for him. We begin in our text at verse one, “1After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.’ 2But Abram said, ‘O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?’ 3And Abram said, ‘Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir’” (v. 1-3).
So, Abram is still childless and he is getting older. Abram understands the ways of nature, the ways of the world, that things do not get better, but that things go from good to bad. He understands the usual way of his body and for that matter of Sarah’s body, growing older and being past child bearing years. Although Abram had God’s promise, seeing through his sin tainted eyes, he is having a hard time believing that what God promised can come true.
Abram wants to believe God’s promise. He wants God’s promise to be fulfilled and so in his thoughts he gives God an “out,” that is that perhaps God will fulfill His promise through a relative. Now, in his defense, in his day and culture, family was an important thing and so to have the family line continue through a relative was not an unlikely possibility. And with Abram growing old, this possibility for him had great probability.
But God had other plans. God’s plan was to fulfill His promise just the way He gave it, so His response to Abram was, and we pick up at verse four, “4And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.’ 5And he brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ 6And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (v. 4-6). God assured Abram that his heir would not be from another family member, but would be his own flesh and blood. And then God showed Abram the stars of heaven and promised him that his descendants would be a large nation of people.
God reiterated His promise to Abram that He would keep His promise, in His time and according to His good pleasure and that Abram would have a large family and most importantly for us, that the Savior of the nations, of all people of all places of all times would be born through his descendants.
And we are told that God counted Abram as righteous because of his faith. Certainly we find comfort in these words of God to Abram, because we are counted righteous before God for the very same reason today, because of our faith, faith which He has given to us in the first place, faith given through His means of grace. Abram was not righteous in God’s eyes for something he had done, but because of what God promised He would do. Abram was righteous because God put faith in his heart, faith in his Offspring, namely in the promised Messiah. We are not righteous before God because of what we do, but we are righteous before God because of the faith He has put in our hearts, faith in Jesus as the Messiah.
So, we might ask, “What is faith?” Our Epistle lesson for this morning is known as the great chapter of faith and in it we are shown great people of faith and their example of faith. This morning we especially make note of the faith of Abram and of Sarah. Abram believed the promises of God and moved to a place far away from his family even though he did not know where he was going. And interestingly enough, even though we know that Sarah had doubts, even though she laughed at the possibility of having a child in her old age, which is why her child was named Isaac, or laughter, we are told that it was her faith that gave her the power to conceive. Certainly we can understand that God is the one giving her such power.
In our Gospel lesson we are reminded that we are God’s people, that we too are children of Abraham, that we are children of the covenant. We are children of the covenant because we are children of Adam and Eve. We are children of the covenant because, by faith in Jesus we are children of Abraham. We are reminded that God loves us and takes care of us. And we reminded that our faith shows itself in our actions and specifically in our treasure, in other words, what is important to us. We know what is important to ourselves by looking at where we spend and how we use our treasure.
In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul talks about love and he concludes with words about hope and faith as well, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Today we define these words, faith, hope and love as follows. Hope is based on the future. We have hope that something will happen. Love is based on today, and faith is looking to the past. We look to the past to see what God has done and how He has fulfilled and kept His promises. As God has fulfilled His promises in the past then we can count on Him fulfilling His promises in the future.
Faith is based on the past and in particular, saving faith, that faith which gains eternal life, is faith that is on Jesus Christ and His work on the cross alone. Not only is faith important, but the object of faith is important as well. Certainly we may believe in a tree, or a rock or an idol, but these objects will not gain eternal salvation in heaven for us. The only true saving faith is faith in Jesus and His life, suffering, death and resurrection, for us in our place. Abram believed that God would send a Savior and so His faith was counted to him as righteousness. We have faith that Jesus is God’s promised Messiah and so our faith is counted as righteous to us. Notice, there are not two covenants, not two types of faith, but one covenant and one faith.
Again, faith is based on the past, but faith is also a gift and an instrument, given by God and used to take hold of all the good gifts and blessings God has to give. I like to say that faith is like a spoon. When someone gives you a bowl of ice cream, they do not simply give you a bowl of ice cream. They give you the spoon with which to eat the ice cream. So it is with faith. When God gives us faith, through the waters of Holy Baptism or through His Word, the faith He gives is like the spoon which moves the ice cream from the bowl to our mouth. The faith God gives moves the gifts He has to give from Himself to us. It is a package deal. Thus faith is a gift and an instrument through which we are given all the good gifts and blessings God has to give.
What does this mean? As we look at, as we read about, as we hear about Abram who’s name was changed to Abraham, we might well see our own lives and our own relationship with the Lord. And here again we are reminded that God is the prime mover, that God acts first, that God gives first and that we are indeed passive. We are done to and we are given to.
God acts first. He has called us to life and He has called us to life through the means of conception. We do not conceive ourselves. We do not call ourselves into being. God is the prime mover. He calls us to life and He calls us to life through the means of conception. At conception we are given life, a body and a soul. Unfortunately, when we are called into being, at conception, because of the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we are conceived and we are born in sin. Thus, when we are born we are spiritually blind, spiritually dead and enemies of God.
Thanks be to God that He does not leave us in that condition, but He calls us to faith and this call too is through means, in particular through the means of grace, His Word and Holy Baptism. At our Baptism the Lord does an exorcism of sorts, casting Satan out of our hearts and entering in, giving us faith, forgiveness and life. Yet, again, we see God as the prime mover. We do not call ourselves to be baptized. We do not call ourselves to faith. We do not plant faith in our own hearts, rather this calling, this giving of faith, comes from outside of us, this calling and faith comes from God who calls us to and gives us faith.
But, God is not done. Not only does God call us to faith, He also calls us to vocation, that is He calls us to live lives of faith, to live lives as living sacrifices. Notice here again, God is the prime mover. God gives us gifts, talents and abilities. God gives us interests and encouragement and a place to use what He has given. Although God calls only some men to the office of Holy Ministry He calls all people to be His priest in the priesthood of all believers. We call this our vocation. Our vocation or vocations are those things we do as priests in service to the Lord. Remember, a priest offers sacrifices. Our pastor does not offer sacrifices, but as priests, we daily offer our lives as living sacrifices to the Lord, and we do this, offer our lives as living sacrifices as the Lord stirs in us and works this living through us.
Holy Scripture, the life of Abram, our lives, these all point to God giving and doing and our being given to and done to. Just as Abraham was not counted righteous because of anything he did, but only because he acted in faith, according to the faith that God had given him, so it is with us. We are counted righteous before God, not because of anything we do or think we might do for Him, but because of our faith, the faith which He has given to us. We are counted righteous as we live lives of faith, as we live lives as living sacrifices, as the Lord has His way with us, as He works in and through us, as He is the prime mover.
God is the prime mover. God has made us righteous, giving us faith, forgiveness, life and salvation , earned and paid for by Jesus, so that we have been brought back into a right relationship with God Himself. God has done it all. God continues to give to us and we rejoice and say, to Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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