"How Can We Be Sure?"
Genesis 17:1-8
Romans 4:13-25
Last week, we took our first step on our 40-day Lenton journey toward Easter. It was an important first step for us, a first step that we must be willing to take if we are to truly discover the immense power and love found in the cross and resurrection.
But this first step was not an easy one to take because it
required us to be honest to God about who we are and
who we are not. But that is what Lent is
all about – being honest about ourselves and about our need for God’s grace,
mercy, and love. Just as any
relationship cannot be built on denials, lies and pretensions; neither can our
relationship with God.
God knows us too well for us get by with not being honest about
ourselves, with not truly examining ourselves, our lives, our faithfulness, our
whole being. We may climb the highest
mountain of theological knowledge, we may plumb the depths of service and
sacrifice, but if we cannot be honest to God about ourselves, then we will never
fully know and enjoy the relationship we have with God in Jesus Christ.
But being honest about ourselves is not something that we are
always willing to do. When we stand and
look in the mirror sometimes we do not always like what we see. Sometimes it is easier just to advert our eyes and look away. Sometimes we even pretend we don’t see
anything, or we claim that it is not as bad as it seems, all the while knowing
that we cannot escape the reality in which we find ourselves, the reality that
we do in fact fall short of God’s glory.
And that is not always easy for us to admit, because it sometimes leads
us down a path we do not want to go, a path that leads us to the abyss of fear
and doubt, self-judgment and uncertainty about our eternal relationship with
God
It truly is good
news knowing that in spite of the human condition, in spite of our errant and
rebellious ways, God stands for us and not against us, takes us as we are, and
gives us what we need not to just be better people, but also to be God’s
people. Surely the divine words of God's
promise are sufficient enough to evoke in us a faith that never questions, a
faith that never doubts about our relationship with God. Surely God's divine words are all we need to
know and hear for us to trust that in spite of our brokenness and sin, God is
not just the promise maker but also that God is the promise keeper, that in the
end, we will not be put to shame, or find ourselves mistaken about our eternal
destiny.
Yet we know that this is not always the case for us. The path of self-examination sometimes leaves
us wondering, sometimes leaves us with a question mark lingering over our heads
about the assurance of our relationship with God and our place in God’s
heavenly kingdom. Oh, we might be able
to say that all is well with God and me, but deep down sometimes we are not so
sure, sometimes we hope against all hope that God grades on the curve, and that
our name in the book of life, while maybe not written with a permanent marker,
is at least hopefully written in pencil.
So today we take our second step on our Lenton journey, and tackle
that lingering question we wrestle with from time to time, the lingering
question of how can we be sure? How can
we be sure that our relationship is secure with God? How can we be sure that in the end we will
not find ourselves on the outside looking in, wishing so much to be included
with the sheep, but only to find ourselves standing with the goats? How can we be sure God can be trusted to do
what God says God will do?
After all, the reality of our human condition and experience
sometimes leaves us to wonder whether or not we are truly one of the elect,
whether or not we are truly one of God’s very own. Maybe our salvation is based on our works
and, like Santa Claus, God has already made a list of who
naughty and who is nice. Maybe our
relationship with God is based on the points system and we wonder whether or
not we have earned enough points. Maybe
God is just an impersonal force who started everything off, but then left human
history and human existence to run its course, leaving us to the mercy of
chance.
In our text from Romans, Paul addresses this human struggle with
our uncertainty about our relationship with God. Knowing all that he knows about faith, he too
struggles with the same struggle we have, which is can God be trusted. Throughout his letter to the church in
But in spite of all of this, Paul knows that God's divine
integrity and character always remains intact, not just by what God promised so
many years ago, but most importantly by what God has done throughout the course
of human history. For Paul, divine
actions speak louder than divine words.
For Paul, the answer to question can God be trusted is an emphatic, yes!
Paul sets out to demonstrate God's reliability by first returning
us to another story from ancient history, the story of Abraham and Sarah. No matter how you read the story of Abraham
and Sarah, God's promise that they will have a long line of descendants is
laughable to say the least. Not only are
Abraham and Sarah old, but Sarah is barren to boot, and to think that a great
people will descend from them is not only crazy, but absolutely, one hundred
percent impossible - that is except by the hands of the one who gives life to
the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Having a faith that fully trusts in God means letting go of our own human limitations and boundaries, letting go of what we know to be possible and reasonable, and giving room for the surprising power of God to work in our lives. Everyday is full of miracles. Everyday God is doing something new in the world, creating something from nothing. Maybe the question isn't can God be trusted, but rather can we have a faith that trusts in the one who makes the impossible possible. From life experience, we all know that we do not always get it right, we do not always live in the right relationship with God. We know that there are times when no matter what we do we continue to dig ourselves into a deeper hole.
Dr. James
Dobson tells of a friend of his during their days in medical school. One day
this man was walking across campus laden with books and briefcase. He passed by
a fast food stand, and ordered something to eat and a milkshake to wash it
down. He balanced it all on top of his briefcase and began looking for an empty
table at which to sit. While looking, the milkshake got the better of him, and
he bent down without looking in order to take a sip from the straw. The straw
missed his mouth and ended up in his nose. Embarrassed, but not at a loss, he
thought that if he straightened up the straw would stay in the shake. But when
he lifted his head, the straw came out of the shake and remained in his nose,
dripping the milkshake down the front of his suit.
Like the
friend, there are times when no matter what we do, even the most innocent
thing, can snowball and get us deeper and deeper into trouble, and shake our
confidence. For Paul, faith is not a trust that God will make everything work
out just like we want it to, but rather faith is a trusting hope, a conviction
that regardless of what happens, God is able to do what God promises to
do. Having a faith that fully trusts in
God, is hoping against hope, that God will right the wrongs that we humans do
to ourselves, that God will liberate the oppressed, that God will free those
who are enslaved, that God will make the unrighteous righteous, that God will
redeem and reconcile and broken and hostile world, and that in the end God will
make the deaf hear, the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead rise again.
But, how can we be sure that God is able to do what God
promised? How can we be sure God is true
to God's word? How can we be sure that
our trusting faith is not misplaced?
Because, the one in whom we trust is not only the one who creates out of
nothing and makes the impossible possible, is not only the one who is able to
do what is promised, but is also the one who raised our Lord Jesus from the
dead.
For Paul, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ
reveals once and for all that God is more than just the promise-maker, God is
the promise-keeper. In Jesus Christ, God
is not some by-standing, rubber-necker, who sits upon the heavenly throne
watching the events of life unfold, God is the primary actor. For Paul, God is not the judge who sits upon
the throne and sentences us to death and then Jesus comes along to take that
punishment. No, for Paul, God is the judge
who gets off the throne and comes in the person of Jesus Christ, and takes upon
himself the sins of the world, who comes to us and to the world as our redeemer
and our savior.
During our Lenton
journey, as we reflect upon our human condition, our relationship with God, and
our relationship with others, let Jesus Christ be the looking glass in which we
contemplate our salvation, know with all conviction, and trust with a
hope-filled faith, that our God is reliable and trustworthy, that our God is
able to do what God promises to do, not only for us, but for all of God's good
creation, for in Jesus Christ, God's promise has become not just the good news,
but the assurance and the confidence of our very salvation. Amen.