Saturday, March 3, 2012

“Not a Tame God” (Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16)--2nd Sunday in Lent, March 4th, 2012



1.            Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word for us today is taken from our Old Testament lesson in Genesis 17.  In His covenant with Abraham, the Lord promised to be with him, to bless him, and make him “the father of many nations.” It’s an eternal covenant in Jesus, the seed of Abraham. All who believe in Jesus are the offspring of Abraham and are blessed, because Christ has suffered many things, He was rejected and killed, and after three days He rose again (Mark 8:31). To understand this theology of the cross, we must set our mind “on the things of God,” and not “on the things of man” (Mark 8:33). “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).  The message from God’s Word is entitled, “Not a Tame God,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.            It often helps to illustrate that God works in ways that, at the time, make no sense at all.  Isaiah 55:8 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.”  As sinful human beings we often forget our relationship to God that we are His creatures and He is our Creator.  We forget His majesty and power and expect Him to be "cuddly" and "safe" and to do our own bidding, according to our own will.  The great Christian thinker and author, C.S. Lewis, has illustrated this throughout his Chronicles of Narnia series. In the books, Aslan the Lion represents Jesus. Often the characters are reminded that Aslan is "not a tame Lion." He’s powerful, merciful, loving, kind, and trustworthy, but He’s not tame, predictable, controllable, or even safe.  I love this quote from Lewis' novel, The Last BattleDo you think I keep him in my wallet, fools?" said Tirian. "Who am I that I could make Aslan appear at my bidding? He's not a tame lion."  I enjoyed watching Disney's movie version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, where this concept appeared again through this scene:  Mr. Tumnus: [of Aslan] He's not a tame lion.  Lucy Pevensie: No... but he is good.
3.            What a MIGHTY God we serve! How worthy of our worship! How strong on our behalf! Thank God that He’s not safe, not a puppet who dances at our whims, nor a small thing to be contained in the box of our limited understanding. He is MAJESTIC and AWESOME, and not at all tame.  Yet, He loves you. He acts in your defense and on your behalf. All that He does is good, even when you don't understand it. And He loves you. Even when He isn't doing what you think He should. Even when His ways are incomprehensible to you, when it feels like He is doing it all wrong, remember that He isn't tame, but He is GOOD.
4.            Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16 speaks to this idea that God is not tame, He doesn’t act in ways that we can predict or control,1When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 15And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
5.            We’ve all had some strange requests in our lifetime. Many pastors tell stories of someone in their life who once said to them, “You should consider becoming a pastor.” And at the time, they may have thought the suggestion made no sense at all. And everyone can tell a story of being asked to do something that, at the time, seemed out of place. “You want me to be the head of this board at church? You expect me to take on this new position at work? You really believe that I could become an expert in the use of technology? Are you really asking me to marry you?”
6.            So now imagine Abram, age 99, no children with his wife Sarai, age 89, being told—not just askedtold that he would be the father of nations. Among other things, it helps to illustrate how God often works. He works in ways that, at the time, make no sense at all. He demonstrated over and over again that the laws of nature and what we would call “normal” don’t confine him. After all, He set everything in motion. He has the power to bring about the extraordinary. He’s capable of the impossible. But He acts not just to demonstrate that He’s the God of all things. He does so in order to carry out His plan for the eternal salvation of the children He’s created.
7.            Imagine the range of emotions Abram may have had. “No way,” may have been his first thought. “How could that be?” And no doubt he had no inkling of what God was really saying. He couldn’t have understood what God Almighty had in mind any more than an infant understands the significance of baptism. Practically speaking, it just didn’t make sense. But then it wasn’t Abram’s plan, it was God’s. And spiritually speaking, Abram, who was renamed Abraham, was ultimately led to trust God’s plan.  This wasn’t Abram’s first encounter with God. The covenant God chose to have with His people had been earlier revealed.  But, Abram and Sarai were convinced that the time for the fulfillment of God’s covenant promise was long gone. The covenant was now becoming sealed and intended as the sacred pledge that would foreshadow the gift of salvation God planned through Jesus Christ.
8.            Abram didn’t know at the time, but we know, that this God moment with Abram was the beginning of the gift of descendants that would lead to the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Abram would come to be known as “Father Abraham.” It was the beginning of what would be remembered with great thanksgiving for all generations. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 9:4-5:  They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.”
9.            Abram was told by God that he would be the father of many nations, but he was told first by God to be “blameless.” That was as impossible for Abram as it is for us. Still, that is God’s will for all of us. We read in 1 Peter, “…as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1:15–16).  Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God actually declares us to be holy. That’s what salvation is about. That was the plan of God He was revealing in a dramatic way to Abram. While the newly named Abraham couldn’t have known the depth of God’s plan for salvation, Jesus said that Abraham did see in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”  Abraham didn’t earn or deserve the honor of becoming the father of nations. We don’t deserve to be part of God’s plan and to be declared holy because of the work of Jesus Christ. But we’re made holy, anyway. Paul tells us this in Ephesians chapter 1,Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” (Eph 1:3–4)
10.        And that just doesn’t make sense. It’s so outside of what we might expect. We can almost identify with Abraham. What God has declared to us is hard to believe. It’s strange and out of the ordinary. But it is true. Through Abraham’s descendant, Jesus Christ, we can stand before God “holy and blameless!” Imagine that!
11.        So are there circumstances in your life where God isn't acting as you think He should? Take time to confess your desire to control and tame Him. Ask His forgiveness and worship Him despite the circumstances.  I'm not sure who said this, but it fits, "If God were small enough to understand, He wouldn't be big enough to worship." God is worthy of our worship. AND He is knowable. We can submit to Him and feel safe and protected.  But, we must never expect that we can control Him.  Please pray with meHeavenly Father, I worship You. Your ways are not my ways. I submit to Your perfect will. Forgive me for the times I have been more concerned about my own will than Yours and expected you to do my bidding. Thank you for your forgiveness and patience with me. Thank you that in the midst of your majesty and power, you love me, and know me, and have my best interest at heart. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.

No comments:

Post a Comment