Seminary Conclusions.

People of Promise.

This is my sermon of the Second Sunday in Lent. It's based on two texts;
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Mark 8: 31-38

Here ya go:

Almighty God, Holy Creator, bless our hearts and minds with the inspiration of your holy word, may it stir in us, so that we may understand your promises of love and compassion for us. Amen.


I’ve promised a lot of things in my life. When I was only a toddler, I promised things such as to share my toys with my younger brother, or to pick up my things before bedtime. As I grew older my promises changed to things such as, keeping my room clean, doing all my homework when I came home from school, feeding the cat and dog, taking out the trash, and telling the truth. There were times when I was a teenager, and I PROMISED that my friends’ parents were going to be home when I stayed over their house.


I’m going to admit to you something my mom already knows. I didn’t keep all my promises. Whether it was because I truly thought that I would actually always pick up my toys before bed, or because I just really wanted my mom to let me go to a friends house even though their parents weren’t truly home, I didn’t keep all those promises.


In the world today, there are many promises. We encounter them on a daily basis. Some of them make us laugh, and some of them trap us in deceit. There are promises that get delivered to your email inbox, saying things such as, Become a millionaire instantly, change the way you look with this one pill, own a private island. We are bombarded by scam artists, television ads, politicians and many other people, who make empty promises. We get led by these false promises into a sense of hope, only to be left in disappointment.


There are the false promises which do nothing more then cause us frustration, and then there are false promises which have taken away people’s lives. There are people throughout the world, who approach vulnerable people, either because they are not well educated or are in dire poverty, and offer them riches that exceed what they ever expect to have. They are promised things such as money, luxury, fame, beauty, and a new life. To some of us, this may seem like the old adage, “too good to be true” but for people who are left with no hope, this may appear to be their only way out. Women who are providing for their children or families, young women trying to put food on the table, young men striving to get their family out of debt are preyed upon, because they are without hope.


These victims lives are changed, but not for the better. Instead they are sent to far off places around the world, to work as slaves and prostitutes. They are forced into conditions that threaten their lives, either though physical violence or the nature of the job. They are often uncared for, treated poorly, not fed, violated, and brutally abused. These victims of false promises, are now denied even the hope of a better life.


There are promises such as these, which take away people’s lives, and then there are others which simply make us laugh at the ridiculous nature of them. They are so grandiose, that they seem improbable.


In the reading from Genesis for today, we heard the story of Abraham being told by God that he would be the Father of many nations. At the ripe old age of 99, which to quote Paul from the Romans reading, was ‘as good as dead,’ this surely seemed an improbable event.


Although Abraham had a great faith, and believed in what God could do, he still instinctively laughed. I picture Abraham standing there, shielding his face from the presence of God, being told that he would have many many descendants, and him having one of those giggles that gets caught under your breathe and comes out with sort of snort sound. A smile breaking across his face, and then him trying to control it, realizing that God wasn’t going to add a, “hahaha, NOT I was just playing with you,” to the end of his statement.


Now, Abraham wasn’t the only one that laughed at this promise. Sarah did her fair share of laughing too. She laughed at the idea that she could bare a child at her age, that God would make a promise of them having a child. They both laughed at God’s promise, at how ridiculously radical it sounded, and the improbability of it happening. As Frederick Buechner writes: “Why did Abraham and Sarah laugh?”---“They laughed because only a fool would believe that a woman with one foot in the grave was soon to have her other foot in the maternity ward. They laughed because God seemed to believe it. They laughed because they half-believed it themselves. They laughed because laughing felt better than crying. They laughed because if by some crazy chance it just happened to come true, they would really have something to laugh about, and in the in the meanwhile it helped keep them going.”


An interesting side note that I find in this story, is that Isaac means laughter. So as Abraham and Sarah laughed out of fear and what seemed like crazy belief, they were transformed into laughing out of extreme joy and faith when they laid eyes on their son.


Even though they laughed at the promise, they still continued on in faith. Abraham may have laughed at the idea that Sarah would bear a child in her old age, but he still went and followed God’s word. He went out and circumcised all the men in his household, because God told him to do so, before the birth of his son. Abraham had hope, and even though the promise seemed “too good to be true” he followed through in faith, and was well blessed.


Even though Abraham laughs, God doesn’t leave in a huff and not keep the promise. Instead God creates many mighty nations out of this man that laughed, many nations that comprise the people that God makes the ultimate promise to.


Promises don’t always inspire laughter in the bible. Other times they inspire the reaction that Peter had in the Gospel for today. Jesus had just gotten through telling the disciples of his ultimate promise for them and for all of humanity, and Peter jumps right in with confusion. He can’t accept that Jesus will die, and instead tries to convince him that there must be another way. He doesn’t let all the information even sink in, he doesn’t consider Jesus’ words and think of how terrifying it must have been to know that you will be brutally and humiliatingly murdered, in order to give the ultimate gift to a sinful and guilty people.


The promise is so large, that it’s hard to really take in, and yet so simple at the same time. Jesus lays it out straight forward to us and the disciples, that he was sent here to be a Savior to all people, to die for our sins. And yet, it’s often difficult to understand how God could sacrifice gods-self to save an imperfect people.


We like Peter, struggle with faith. Struggle with the idea that Jesus died for us, personally, individually, but also corporately. We struggle to understand a God that would forgive us for all the horrible things we do to each other and against God. A God that has an all compassionate love for us, and is willing to make nations out of a man who laughs at the promises. A God that is so full of grace, that a man who tries to convince God to not die for sins, becomes one of the forefathers of the faith. A God that dies for you and I.


We are confronted with a radical promise.


Jesus’ promise is always there for us, even when we are confronted by false promises. When we are in pain over false promises of economists, when we are in pain by false promises that rip us away from family, when we are in pain from giving our own false promises, there is always someone there for us, who suffered through the pain for us.


Jesus is there, bearing the cross, for us. We don’t have to worry about doing it perfectly, or doing it right, we can rest in the promise that Jesus lived and died for each and everyone of us. We don’t have to worry when we fail at our promises, because Jesus gave the true promise.


You and I are a people of promise. There may be times when we don’t keep our promises, but there will never be a time when Jesus’ promise is untrue. We may react like Abraham and Sarah, laughing at the promise that we are forgiven all our sins.


In that moment, that our laughter of incomprehension at the radical nature of the Gospel turns into awe-inspired laughter of thanks for loving God, we are given a glimpse of the light of Easter.


Even though as we travel through these next days, we are in the darkness of Lent, we can and will still experience the Easter light. We experience the light of Easter through our laughter together at the goodness of God’s promises, we experience the light together, as we share in worshipping a God that does the unexpected, breaking into our lives and sharing with us a grace and mercy that is undeserved, yet so deeply needed.


As you go out into the world, may you remember that you take Easter with you always, you take a risen Christ with you into the trials and joys of life, into the darkness, where it can inspire laughter of uncontrollable joy in the ultimate promise. Amen

Labels: Easter, internship, Jesus, Lent, promises, sermon

posted by Dana @ 10:48 PM