Old Testament: Genesis 15:1-6
During our recent family vacation on the Rappahannock River, we spent part of nearly every night on the dock, stargazing. The kids, who are far more tech savvy than I’ll ever be, took time to show me how to take passable photographs of different constellations and star clusters with nothing more than the camera on my iPhone. There wasn’t a lot of conversation; there was simply quiet, time together, and views of the sky that because of ambient light at home we rarely get to enjoy.
I reflected on those nights on the river and on the many cold, starry nights from my childhood as I re-read this familiar passage from Genesis. I thought of the awe I’ve felt at the enormity of the universe and wondered how Abram felt as he gazed up – the awe that may have seized him in that moment with God. The location was different, and thousands of years have passed since the writing of the book, but I’d wager the feeling that both Abram and I had was quite similar.
Now if these verses sound familiar it’s because they were part of a longer passage from Genesis read just a few months ago, on the Second Sunday in Lent. The repetition of a passage in such a short span of time doesn’t matter to me, though. I think these verses could be read every week and never lose their impact – reminders of what it means for us to have faith and of the faithfulness of God to the promises made by God.
You’ll recall that at the beginning of chapter 12 God instructed Abram and his wife Sarai to leave all they knew and go to the land that they’d be shown. There was no discussion or debate: in verse one he was told to go, and in verse four he went. In ensuing chapters God repeated the promise of the land of Canaan to Abram’s descendants, a number that would be like the “dust of the earth.”[1] Abram never replied to God, nor did he waver in his willingness to continue the journey to the unknown.
Until now. Now, monologue gives way to dialogue. The faith of Abram and the faithfulness of God intersect in this moment, the occurrence of a vision when Abram seems to lose his patience and – for the first time – responds to God. God, we’ve been waiting for the child you promised. We’ve been waiting for the beginning of the generations of descendants as numerous as the sand who you said would occupy the land promised to them. Yet here we are, with no child.
This is the moment when we see Abram’s faith begin to falter, and it’s triggered by God’s admonition: Do not be afraid. They are words of greeting, but in the context of this vision they seem to disorient Abram.
Don’t be afraid, Abram.
But I am, God.
As Walter Brueggemann writes, these six verses are the first time Abram stands face to face with God, seeking to refute the promises made and resist God’s assurances.[2] What we know is that Abram desires the child in his time, chronos. What he doesn’t know is that the child will arrive in God’s time, kairos. Out of that desire we see a debate unfold, one in which God begins by reasserting the promise of a great reward. Abram argues back: I still don’t have an heir, because you still haven’t given me the promised offspring. God again promises an heir, and then we have a shift: from inside the tent to outside; from no natural child to a vision of descendants too numerous to ever count; from the earth to the stars.
I don’t think this happened the way it’s read, from one phrase and sentence immediately to the next. I think there were long pauses in this conversation, extended moments when the true impact of what God was saying and again promising overwhelmed Abram. Listen to those lines again: “He brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’”[3] And there’s silence as Abram considers the words. “Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’”[4] And there’s more silence as the renewed promise begins to take root and Abram’s faith grabs hold. “And he believed the Lord.”[5]
I hope there are three things you take from this passage as you leave here and head into the rest of your week. First, it’s okay to question God. It’s okay to cry out when things seem to be going wrong, or your prayers don’t seem to get an answer (whether it’s the answer you want or not). It’s okay to go to God and ask, “What in the world is going on, and why?” Abram had finally reached a point of frustration and exhaustion, and he “believes that God can cause a break point between the exhausted present and the buoyant future.”[6] When you are looking for that break point in your life, it’s alright to question God. God can take it.
Second, faith will be tested. There are moments when everyone doubts. We see it in Abram, the moment when faith becomes difficult. As beautiful as the definition of faith is in today’s passage from Hebrews – “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”[7] – the phrase you don’t see there is “faith is easy.” We see that Abram’s faith is hard-fought and deeply argued[8] and yours may be as well. But have faith in faith.
Finally, God’s faithfulness to promises made to us is constant. No matter what we do, or how many times we doubt, or how often we get frustrated and call God out, that faithfulness remains. As humans we exist in human time with human struggles about faith and a persistent short-sightedness. God sees beyond our time, outlasts our struggles and doubts, and possesses vision far beyond the limits of our own.
Of course none of this means that we ourselves don’t have work to do. Abram still had a role to play and a journey to finish; it wasn’t a matter of crying out to God and then sitting back to wait. When there are struggles in life, we still have a part to play together with God. When we see the world falling apart around us and find the vision of God’s kingdom on earth blotted out by the harsh reality of human failure or cruelty, our actions are needed to complement God’s work, not take a back seat to them.
When things are difficult, or you’re not seeing the faithfulness of God at work, or your faith has been shaken, do what Abram was asked to do. Walk outside, look up at the night sky, and listen once again for the persistent faithfulness in the words of God: “Do not be afraid … I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
Amen.
[1] Genesis 13:16 (NRSV).
[2] Walter Brueggemann. Genesis, p. 141.
[3] Genesis 15:5 (NRSV).
[4] Ibid.
[5] Genesis 15:6 (NRSV).
[6] Brueggemann, p. 144.
[7] Hebrews 11:1 (NRSV).
[8] Brueggemann, p. 141.