Daring Discipleship -- A Message for June 25, 2023

 

Last week, we heard the story of Abraham and Sarah learning Sarah would conceive and bear a child. This was an incredible miracle – Sarah had spent more than 80 years child-free. Before her pregnancy and the birth of Isaac, Sarah had given up on becoming a biological mother. 

Abraham and Sarah lived during a time period and in a place that allowed people to own slaves. Sarah had a woman, Hagar, who was her slave. Sarah made Hagar lie with Abraham so that she would become pregnant. As Hagar’s owner, Sarah could claim the offspring of Abraham and Hagar as her own child. So, when Ishmael was born to Hagar, Sarah claimed him as her son. Hagar resented Sarah mightily – she had no freedom to allow her to have bodily autonomy and she didn’t get to mother her son. But, once Isaac was born to Sarah, she decided to get rid of Ishmael and Hagar.

This is one of the cruelest stories in the Bible. Listen now to how it is explained in the book of Genesis, chapter 21, verses eight through twenty-one:

Proclamation of the Scripture            Genesis 21:8-21      

 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 

But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 

and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 

But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. 

I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”

Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.

When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 

Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 

Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 

While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray: Gracious God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Message                             Daring Discipleship

            Fortunately, the story of Hagar and has a happier ending than it begins.  When I was in seminary, this story was considered a “Text of Terror.” Hagar was a slave. She had no free-will. She had no freedom. Hagar was originally from Egypt…we don’t know if she was born into slavery or if something catastrophic happened in her life that led to her becoming a slave. Abraham and Sarah were nomadic and travelled throughout the area between modern-day Iraq and Egypt.  Servants and slaves had to travel with the family to tend their sheep, prepare their food, care for their animals, and carry water long distances from wells to where the family set up camp.  Life was difficult for Hagar. And, it became even more difficult when Sarah decided Hagar needed to become Abraham’s concubine.

            Hagar had a son, Ishmael. She hoped that by becoming the mother of the son of Abraham, her status and treatment would improve. But, in our scripture, even before Sarah became pregnant with Isaac, it is recorded that Sarah became very jealous of Hagar. At points, Hagar considered running away. But, the family camped in isolated, wilderness areas. Running away was not really an option because Hagar wouldn’t have been able to escape to safety.

            Sarah continued to be jealous…so jealous that she told Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael after Isaac was born. “Get rid of” are the words pulled directly from scripture. I hope she wasn’t telling him to kill them, but being cast out into the wilderness was probably a death sentence for Hagar and Ishmael – certainly Hagar thought they would die after they ran out of water and food.

            Fortunately, for Hagar and Ishmael and for everyone who has a heart for struggling women, God heard Hagar and Ishmael crying. God called to Hagar, and spoke directly to her, and told her he would help the little family and eventually a great nation would arise from the descendants of Ishmael. This story is also part of the Holy Scriptures of the Muslim people, the Koran.  The Muslim people believe the well of water God showed Hagar and Ishmael is on the site that became the Kaaba, the stone building at the center of the holiest site in Islam in Mecca. Through his son Ishmael, Abraham is considered the ancestor of all the Muslim people.

            So, after years of slavery, hostility and jealously from her owner, forced concubinage, and then abandonment in the wilderness, God rescued Hagar and Ishmael. Good things grew out of many difficult years.  God listened to Hagar and helped her and Ishmael. And, God spoke directly to Hagar….a low-status woman, a slave, had a one-on-one conversation with God!

            These are difficult stories to talk about. The people in the Bible, even the people who are our role models, were also flawed human beings. Sarah was a faithful wife to Abraham, a good mother to Isaac, a follower of God, and a jealous, cruel slave owner. These things seem contradictory. Abraham made the first covenant with God, listened to God and moved far away from his home, trusted God when God told him he would have countless offspring, and was still a cruel slave owner.  These things seem contradictory. And, it is  uncomfortable to read that Abraham listened to Sarah despite his better judgment. Sarah wanted him to “get rid of” Hagar and Ishmael. Abraham hesitated and felt conflicted. He wasn’t sure that was a good idea. Only after he talked to God, and God told Abraham that God would help Hagar and Ishmael….only then Abraham followed through with Sarah’s request.

            Like Abraham and Sarah, all people are a mixture of good and bad traits. The only perfect person who walked the earth was Jesus the Christ. Many of the people who are held up as role models in our scripture were also people who did terrible things. Paul persecuted Christians. David’s orders led to the death of Bathsheba’s husband Uriah, Jonah ran the opposite way from where God commanded him to go, Peter denied his friendship with Jesus. Many of the people we want to imitate as the faithful people of God were also people who did terrible things.

            We are all a mixture of good and bad traits. We have all done things and said things that hurt other people, which hurt ourselves, that we are ashamed of doing. We all sin. Every day, we make mistakes.

            And, God loves us anyway. If God relied on perfect people to do God’s work, God wouldn’t have anyone to rely on. God relies on us…the broken people…the weird people….the people who don’t get everything right.

            Many of the stories in the Bible are examples of what not to do.  In this case, we are not supposed to be like Sarah and Abraham – keep no slaves, treat all lower-status people with kindness and compassion, don’t allow our jealousy to hurt other people, don’t make our partners or friends do things that can lead to the death of others – in some ways, the things we need to avoid are pretty black and white. But, in our case, there will be countless things that we encounter that will not seem so black and white. And, when we are facing our own conflicts, and the little voice in our head is telling us to do two different things, we need to remember that we are followers of the God of love, and we need to react in a manner that most closely adheres to acting with love and compassion.

            Even people we admire get things wrong. Sometimes we are the ones that get things wrong. But, it is our work to constantly strive to do better, to be better, and to treat others with love, kindness, and compassion.

            May we remember to do so always. Amen. 

Sarah Laughed -- A Message for June 18, 2023

 

We are returning to the Old Testament this morning to continue focusing on the life and journeys of Abraham and Sarah. This morning, we turn to Genesis chapter 18 verses one through fifteen to read about one of the miraculous pregnancies found in our scriptures. Join me in reading this special story….

Proclamation of the Scripture                        Genesis 18:1-15      

The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 

Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 

Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 

Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”

So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”

Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 

He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.

“There, in the tent,” he said.

Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 

Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 

So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 

Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer: Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Message                   Sarah Laughed

            Today, we focus on the story of the original mother and father of our Judeo-Christian faith, Abraham and Sarah. A few weeks ago, we remembered Abraham’s covenant with God.  When Abraham agreed to exclusively follow God (and have his family follow God as well), God promised that Abraham’s descendants would fill the earth and Abraham’s descendants would receive preferential treatment from God. But, as we read in this morning’s snapshot from Abraham and Sarah’s life, Abraham and Sarah became very old without having descendants. When this story took place, Abraham was around 100 and Sarah was around 80 years old.

            A lot has changed with medical technology in the past 4000 years, but it is still unlikely, or perhaps impossible, for 80 year old women to become pregnant. As a 45 year old pregnant lady, I can attest that people in their mid-to-late 40s are unlikely to have a natural pregnancy. Sarah may have been my age times two. Eighty is far past a normal window of opportunity for pregnancy.

            So, when Sarah heard the words of the visitors, who told Abraham she would have a baby before they visited again a year later, she laughed. She thought the idea was absurd. Their words were ridiculous.  She thought they were making a joke.

            It wasn’t polite for Sarah to laugh, though. And, it was especially impolite for her to laugh at celestial visitors. I don’t know if Sarah could see Abraham’s guests….I don’t know if she understood who they were. But, when they arrived, Abraham seemed to immediately catch on that the guests were potentially supernatural in origin. Biblical scholars, and Abraham, believe the guests were God and two angelic followers of God.  Abraham made sure a feast was prepared to welcome his guests – he rolled out the red carpet to make sure they were comfortable and felt welcomed. Abraham knew they were not normal visitors – and he made sure he, his family and his servants would provide for all of their needs.

            Sarah essentially laughed at God. And, then, when God asked her why she laughed, she lied and said she didn’t laugh. God pointed out that nothing is impossible for God. These words were repeated to Mary when she was visited by the Angel Gabriel. He told her she would be having a miraculous pregnancy, despite her youth and virginity, and when Mary questioned how it was possible, the Angel reminded her that nothing is impossible for God.

            Sarah’s response is so human. Even four thousand years ago, people questioned how miracles worked. We now understand a little bit about how human biology works, and we struggle to accept when we are told things will happen in a manner that is impossible for human biology to accomplish. But, with God all things are possible, including breaking the laws that typically govern human biology. And, every once in a while, when we least expect them, miracles take place.

            In the midst of this interaction between Abraham, Sarah, the Angels and God, Abraham was steadfastly faithful.  Abraham had experienced previous visits and conversations with God. Abraham accepted and believed God’s promises were true. Abraham may have been a little shocked when he heard about Sarah’s pregnancy, but he accepted the truth of God’s statement. Abraham had faith that God will keep God’s promises.

            In all of the stories we read about Abraham, he is a role-model to encourage us to trust God. We are not necessarily expected to understand God. We can’t fathom the greatness of God or how God operates. But, despite our incapability of fully understanding how God works and what God does, we are called to be like Abraham and to put our trust in God.

            On this Father’s Day Sunday, we see Abraham as a role model for all fathers, a role model for all men, and a role model for all Christians. He listened to God’s directions about his life and followed through with fulfilling God’s commands. He trusted God even when God’s suggestions and plans seemed impossible. He had faith that God’ promises would be accomplished. Now the world is full of descendants of Abraham. He maybe didn’t live to see us all, but all of the people of the Good Book – Christians, Muslims, and Jews – trace our roots in the faith to Abraham and Sarah. He is our first human father, and he was the forefather of us all.

            Let us work to be like Abraham and Sarah – to trust, to persevere, to listen to God and to live out God’s teachings and plans for our lives.

            Amen. 

Flow Out from Within -- A Message for June 11, 2023

 

Proclamation of the Scripture                                    Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 

When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 

Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 

Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 

Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 

Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 

(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 

Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 

These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 

No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

“‘In the last days, God says,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your young men will see visions,
    your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
    and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
    blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood
    before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray: God of All Power, Open our ears, our eyes, and our hearts with a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Help us to hear your voice, to see your ways, and to receive with joy your truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Message                  Flow Out from Within

          Like the young adults we confirmed today, the disciples and apostles who experienced the Pentecost events were young adults. They were new Christians – Christ had died just 50 days earlier, and the Christian church was born on Pentecost Sunday, so everyone involved with the first Pentecost became a Christian on that day. They were young people with their lives ahead of them – just like the 7 young people we confirm this morning.

          The people who were present at the first Christian Pentecost chose to follow Jesus. The people gathered closed up in the room before the Holy Spirit arrived were people who were close to Jesus while he was alive. They met Jesus and they knew they wanted to follow him. They didn’t put a lot of thought into it. In our confirmation Sunday School class this year, one of our young people was concerned that the immediacy of the Disciples commitment to Christ – it seemed a little “culty.”  They met Jesus and immediately dropped everything to follow him. And, after he was gone, after he ascended to heaven, they were lost without him.  So, they went to Jerusalem and locked themselves up in a room together. They were hiding under their “figurative” turtle shell, waiting for the next thing to happen.

          Before he ascended to Heaven, Jesus told his friends the Holy Spirit was coming. But, what did that mean? What was the Holy Spirit? Was it a Spirit like a ghost? Would they be aware of its presence? How would they know when it arrived?

          Pentecost was a Jewish festival – The name Pentecost comes from the Greek word Pente-coste, which means “fiftieth.” The festival comes fifty days after Passover and is called “Shavuot” in Hebrew. It is a harvest festival and it also celebrates the anniversary of when God gave Moses the 10 Commandments.  

          So, Jesus’ Disciples were locked together in a room in Jerusalem as the city filled up with pilgrims who came to celebrate the festival of Shavout. They probably heard the voices of the gathered pilgrims echoing through the cracks of the closed off windows. They were waiting for the Holy Spirit, but were also afraid that they would be arrested and imprisoned for being followers of Jesus. They were grappling with a lot of uncertainties–would they be punished for following Jesus? Would they be executed like he was? When would they be safe?

          And then the Holy Spirit arrived! The doors and windows were flung open. The Spirit visibly appeared and what looked like tongues of fire rested on each of their heads. They were filled by the Spirit and it was like they were infused with knowledge and wisdom and light. They could speak and understand new languages. They could preach. They had new insight and clarity about their call to spread the message of Christ to the ends of the earth. They were pulled out of their cautious, depressive state and were emboldened by the new Spirit of God that entered their bodies and recharged their brains. They had a message to share and new languages to share it in.

          The Holy Spirit stayed with the Disciples for the rest of their lives. Their brush with the Spirit was not a passing event, a moment in time. They were never without the Holy Spirit. They went on to start churches in Jerusalem and throughout the Roman world. Thomas traveled to faraway India and shared the Good News and founded churches there. The disciples and apostles still faced challenges and risks, but the presence of the Holy Spirit reassured them and supported them to be brave in the midst of their struggles. 

          Like the Disciples on the first Pentecost Day, we believe the Holy Spirit is here among us today. When we are baptized, the Holy Spirit is invoked and is poured into us as the water is poured over our heads. This morning, we Confirmed the Baptism of our young people. We again placed hands on them and invoked the Holy Spirit to fill them. We know our young people are going to face many joys and challenges in the coming years. They will face choices about what they will study and which occupations they will embrace. They will enter into romantic relationships and choose who they will take as their life partners. They are swiftly on their journey to adulthood and independence. We want them to know that as they mature, as they grow, the people of Trinity Christian UCC are rooting for them, and praying for them, and are here to support them. We also want them to know that no matter where they go or what they do, God is with them. God’s Holy Spirit has been poured into their hearts and into their heads. Nothing they can do will be alone, will be in isolation, because God will be with them, accompanying them and supporting them.

          We know our young people will do great things. We know their talents exceed their awareness of what those talents are – yet. We are excited about everything they will accomplish over the next few years. And, as their church family, we are delighted they have made the choice, for themselves, to be followers of Jesus. We believe the presence of God in their lives will be an essential part of their becoming the upstanding adults they are destined to be.  We pray their faith will be a comfort for them when they encounter hardships and will help make their successes even more beautiful.

          We look forward to supporting and cheering them on through the next steps they take. And we know the Holy Spirit of God will be a part of all that they do.

          Thanks be to God. Amen. 

This is Good -- A Message for June 4, 2023

 

Today, we celebrate Trinity Sunday – the Trinity is the Christian doctrine that defines God as existing as three coequal, coeternal, divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit.  In the first story of the creation of our world, the members of the “God Head” were all present – God created the Heavens and the Earth, God’s Holy Spirit hovered over the waters and was the Spirit in the midst of creation, and God referred to the creation of humans as being in “our” likeness – like Jesus.

            Listen to the story and how each of the parts of God are represented as we turn to Genesis Chapter 1, through Chapter 2, verse 4:

Proclamation of the Scripture            Genesis 1:1-2:4a

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 

God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 

God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 

So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 

God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 

God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 

The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 

And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 

and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 

God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 

God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 

to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 

And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 

So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 

God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 

And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 

God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 

And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer of Illumination

Pastor: God, you have spoken through your Living Word, Jesus Christ. Your Spirit speaks through the Scriptures. Grant us understanding through what we see in Jesus and hear in the Scriptures that we may know your will and follow your way.           

Message                                          This is Good

            Have you hung out with a toddler lately?  They have lots of energy, are a little OCD, and are full of questions.  They want to know where they were before they were born, if the color they see as blue is the same color their sister sees as blue, and why they can’t see their eyes when they look out of them. Just as little kids have questions they endlessly ask, humanity has also asked big questions about how everything on earth and in the heavens works since time immortal. Just as toddlers want to know where they came from, people have wanted to know where we all come from, where humanity comes from, and how the earth was created.

            Our Bible has texts that works to answer these questions. We have two creation stories present in the book of Genesis. Although they are different, most Christians are comfortable merging them together into one metanarrative. This morning, we read the first of the two creation stories. In today’s text, God created the earth in 6 days. On the seventh day, God rested from all of the work of creating. In this version of the creation story, God made light on day one, the sky and the waters of the earth on day two, the land and vegetation on day 3, the sun, moon and stars on day 4, the sea creatures and birds on day five, and the land animals and human beings on day 6. I remembered feeling troubled when I was a child about how we could have light for a few days without the sun, but I am sure anything is possible with God. And, I have also assumed that what is a day for God is eons to human beings. Although our astronomers and biologists have come up with much more specific dates for how long ago the creatures have evolved on earth, we learn in our science classes that life did begin in the seas and mammals evolved long after the evolution of reptiles and fish. So, if we overlay scientific understanding with the creation story in the first chapter of Genesis, everything correlates, as long as we don’t worry about the light and adjust the time frame.

            On Trinity Sunday, the part of this story we focus on is that God was present, in Trinitarian from, from the beginning.  God was in the universe before humanity, before the earth, before the Big Bang. A few weeks ago, Maya asked me where God was before the universe was created….this is difficult for us to understand because we think about things in a very concrete way, but God has always been. God is always. There is no universe without God. There was no big bang without God. There was no earth without God. There was no humanity without God.

            And, part of what breaks our brains, and is difficult for us to understand, is that God is not a simple being.  It is not like people – we are pretty predictable. We are conceived, we grow in our mother’s womb, we are born, we grow and change and transform from babies to children to teenagers to young adults to middle aged adults to older people….we are linear as we live through time. God is not linear. God is more.

            The doctrine of the Trinity was developed to help us understand, to help us conceive of, how God is more – more than a person, more than a creator, more than spirit, more than we can possibly understand. God is eternal, lives forever in and out of time, invincible, and omnipotent – God knows everything. The twenty—fifth hymn in our Hymnal, “Immortal, Invisible” by Walter Chalmers Smith, tries to capture this sentiment:

            Immortal, Invisible, God only wise,

            In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,

Most blessed, most glorious, the ancient of Days,

Almighty, victorious– Thy great name we praise.

In order to help us understand God, the Trinitarian concept of God was developed. God is our Creator, God is our Redeemer, God is our Sustainer – God made us and everything on earth; God came to us in the form as a man, Jesus the Christ, to teach us how to follow God’s teachings and to appreciate that God loves us and forgives us our sins; and God supports us and sustains us and encourages us all of the time as the Holy Spirit aspect of God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – God made us, teachers us, and keeps us going.

            God was present before the earth was an idea in the mind of God. Genesis chapter one is not the oldest portion of the Bible. It was written in the 4^th century BC. But, when the editors of the Old Testament assembled the book in the format we use today, they put the creation stories at the beginning of the book – we are very linear – this made sense to them – it makes sense to us. And, this story points out that God in Trinitarian form has always existed – God is complicated in ways we find impossible to understand, but God is the Creator of everything we know; God came to be on earth as Jesus – we were created on the model of Jesus; and the Spirit of God is present on earth from the beginning of creation and is present here today to guide and nurture us.

            We praise God in Trinitarian form – our Creator, our Savior, and our Sustainer. Amen!

The Call of Abram -- A Message for May 28, 2023

 

            We are in the midst of a very strange time in the life of Trinity Christian United Church of Christ. We have been looking forward to May 28 for many, many months. Today was the day we planned to celebrate both Pentecost and confirm the 7 young people who have been preparing all year to Confirm their baptisms. And, then, starting a week and a half ago, disaster struck. Our choir members, who were joyously preparing for our annual “Music Sunday” began to fall ill with Covid-19. By this Tuesday, 8 members of our congregation had active Covid infections. Our Consistory decided to delay the Confirmation celebration to June 11. We couldn’t imagine proceeding while families of some of the class members were ill.

            I decided to hold off on our annual Pentecost commemoration – We will have a delayed Pentecost celebration simultaneously with our Confirmation service on the 11^th.

            Instead, today we turn to the scripture that is suggested to be used in the liturgy on June 11.  One of the things I learned from my Confirmation mentee over the past few months is that she thinks I don’t focus on the Old Testament enough in our worship services. Therefore, we are going to turn to the calling of Abram, when he was invited to worship and believe in our God and to stop practicing the polytheistic faith of ancient Babylon.  Please turn with me to Genesis, chapter 12, verses one through nine:

Proclamation of the Scripture                        Genesis 12:1-9        

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

“I will make you into a great nation,
    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 

He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 

The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer of Illumination

Amid the distractions of these days, give us undivided hearts and attentive minds, O God.

Settle us with your Holy Spirit so that we might listen for your truth, and discern your guiding Word.       

Message                              The Call of Abram

            Abram is the forefather of the followers of God. He made the first human covenant with God. When Abram agreed to follow God, God agreed to make Abram’s descendants into a great nation who will be blessed throughout the earth. After the Covenant with God was agreed upon, God renamed Abram Abraham, so I will refer to him by his more familiar name. Things got a little weird for Abraham – many chapters of the Old Testament are devoted to describing the adventures of Abraham’s life – he was nomadic and travelled throughout the Middle East, he spent time in Egypt and got in the crosshairs of the Egyptian Pharaoh, he had to part ways from his loyal nephew Lot, he dealt with the challenges of his wife’s infertility, and he eventually became the father of sons who became the founders of three major world religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

            While Abraham travelled around the Middle East, he worshipped God and devoted his life to God’s teaching and instruction. He was a herdsman, so Abraham, his entourage, and his flocks would migrate to new grasslands and allow his herds to graze. At each place he stayed for extended periods of time, Abraham built an altar where the family would worship God. In our reading this morning, Abraham built an altar at the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem.

            What advantage did Abraham derive from committing to follow God? Abraham lived in a time period when people often couldn’t count on survival. Whole families were wiped out by plagues, illnesses, and warfare. In the grand scheme of humanity, agriculture was a relatively new experiment, and a crop failure could lead to the starvation of an entire community. Abraham’s family was also at risk form powerful warlords and king’s armies; diseases that could have killed his flocks of sheep and goats; and communicable diseases like measles, tuberculosis, cholera, dysentery, and whooping cough. We still have these diseases but we have antibiotics and we know about infection reducing strategies like hand washing and treating our water. Abraham didn’t have those advantages. When Abraham made his covenant with God, he was ensuring that his lineage would continue forever, and that he would become the “pater familias” of all humanity.

            Abraham was very committed to God – his commitment is something for us to imitate and admire. He didn’t just have a relationship with God one-on-one – Abraham encouraged his wife Sarah to believe in God, his nephew Lot to follow God, his wider family to follow God, and his servants to follow God. Abraham’s whole family accepted the faith of Abraham. We also have a special responsibility to work to share our faith with our family members. We know that each person must choose for themselves what they believe, but we encourage our family members to follow God as well. We feel particular pressure to share our faith with our children – many faithful parents work to encourage their kids to also follow God. In a few weeks, now, we will have our Confirmation service and will delight in the commitment of our newest, youngest official church members when they profess their faith in God and chose to join the church.

            Abraham trusted God even when it seemed like God’s promises were impossible. In a few weeks, we will read the scriptures focused on Sarah’s infertility. Sarah was much too old to become pregnant. Yet, God had promised Abraham as many descendants as stars are in the skies. Abraham trusted God. Eventually, God came through – Sarah became pregnant and Isaac was born. But, this was a miracle. And, then, when Isaac was a young man and had not had his own children, God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac’s life – this sounds crazy to us, but at that time period in the Middle East, many religions practiced human sacrifice. Fortunately, God stopped Abraham from harming his son – but Abraham trusted God so much that he believed God’s promise to fill the world with Abraham’s descendants even when that promise seemed impossible. Yet, we are followers of an Abrahamic faith – everyone who believes in God, be us Jewish, Muslim, or Christian, is a descendant of Abraham. So, God’s promise was trustworthy and true.

            Abraham trusted in God’s plan even though it was inconvenient for Abraham. Abraham was from Ur, an ancient Babylonian city.  The distance from Ur to Haran, where Abraham travelled in today’s scripture, was 600 miles. Imagine travelling that far on foot. It would take ages. Next, God sent Abraham to Shechem – 400 miles on foot. Then, Abraham travelled from Shechem to Bethel – a lowly 20 miles. And, then from Bethel to Egypt – a mere 225 miles. Then back to Bethel, another 225 miles. And then to Mamre, which is now Hebron – 35 miles. And, finally from Hebron to Hobah, which is near Damascus, 160 miles away. In the years that Abraham was sent on journeys by God, Abraham and his family and his servants and his flocks walked 1665 miles…1665 miles on foot. I am exhausted if I walk 5 miles. Abraham’s faith was so strong he went wherever God directed him to go.  Abraham’s faith was so strong he followed God’s inconvenient, exhausting, and possibly frustrating instructions. God promised Abraham his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan, the land that would become the Holy Land. And, even though Abraham didn’t get to spend much of his life there, he trusted God’s promises, he trusted God’s plan.

            As followers of God, we should work to be like Abraham. We should share our faith with others, including our family members. We should trust God even when it seems like God’s promises are impossible….as the Angel Gabriel reassured Mary when she found out she was pregnant with Jesus “For nothing will be impossible with God.” And, we should trust God when it is inconvenient….sometimes being a follower of God isn’t easy, but God’s gracious love for us will sustain us throughout our lives, will sustain us in our times of trial and our times of job. Let us work to be like Abraham, trusting God in all we do.

            May we do so today and all days. Amen.