The emperor Napoleon I was reviewing some of his troops one day in Paris. As he gave an order, the emperor inadvertently dropped the bridle on his horse’s neck, which instantly sent the high-spirited animal off at a fast gallop. There was the great Napoleon clinging to the saddle as the horse ran along out of control. It could have been a disaster, but a young soldier of the line sprang in front of the horse, grabbed the bridle stopping the animal and respectfully handed the reigns back to the emperor. “Much obliged to you, captain.” said Napoleon, who with this one word instantly promoted the young man to the rank of captain. The young man, believing his emperor, asked, “Of what regiment, sire?” Napoleon, impressed with the young man’s faith replied, “Of my personal guard.” and galloped off.
All three of our readings this morning teach us about the power of faith. But not just any faith. They are about the awesome power of faith that is placed in the proper source. See, the young soldier in the opening story placed his faith in the word of Napoleon, because the soldier knew that Napoleon had the power to back up his word proclaiming the field promotion to the rank of captain of the guard. If another soldier had said those words, without the power to make them come true, it would have been a false promise, and any faith placed in that promise would have been an empty and powerless faith. But the emperor did indeed have the power to back up his word.
So it is with our faith in God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. They have the power to fulfill all of their promises and faith in them is a well placed, awesomely powerful faith indeed.
Let’s now look closer at our readings and see what they teach us about the ways in which real people, in real situations, respond to the presence of God in their lives and the power that emerges in their lives when they respond. Our Old Testament reading this morning is often referred to as the account of the “call of Abraham”. In reality, this was not merely a suggestion. This so-called “call” was actually a command given to Abram (soon to be renamed by God, “Abraham”).
God did not say something like, “Hey Abram, I want you to think about moving from here in Haran to a land I will show you.” Nor did God say, “Hey Abram, you’ve done all you can do and gotten all you can get out of Haran. Have you considered a move to the southwest?” God did not say anything like that. God simply said, “Pack up and go!” Right out of the blue, God says, “Abram, go!” The neat thing is that there was no hesitation, no lingering, no bargaining, no weighing of options, no calculating the cost, and no complaining on the part of Abram. Abram knew whom it was that was speaking to him. God said, “Go!” and Abram and his wife Sarai (soon to be renamed by God, “Sarah”) went, thus becoming models of faith for all time.
Their response to God’s “call” defines for all of us the word “faith”.
The place where they end up is already inhabited by people who not only have claim to the land, they don’t even believe in Jehovah God. The people in that land believe in two gods of their own design, one male, the other female, and they have a very different outlook on the world and how to live in it. So right away, God’s promise to make from Abram, “a great nation” is challenged and put at risk. God appears and adds some details to His promise to Abram when God says, “See all of this? It is going to belong to your offspring.”
You have to wonder if this truly comforts Abram. I mean, “offspring”. What offspring? This couple is already way past the age to qualify for Medicare benefits and God is talking to them about having kids! Talk about faith!
As their story unfolds, Abram and Sarai will many times have to choose between the promises of God and the promises of people. Not only that, but they will have to make those choices in times and places when God’s promise will be most at risk, most questionable, most implausible. The point here is that those people who tell you that living with faith in the Living God is a pathway to a stress-free life, have never read the full story of Abraham, the rest of the Old Testament, nor the Gospels. Many times, having faith means that you trust fully in God when no one else around you trusts Him or even believes He exists.
So here are Abram and Sarai living in the midst of this unbelieving world, and what does Abram do? He builds an altar to God! That’s right. Abram built an altar to the Living God. That would be, in these days, like not only telling your friends, neighbors, co-workers and everyone that you not only believe in Jesus Christ, but you also go to church all the time and make sacrifices to support it with your time, your talent and your money. Not only that, but you also not only believe the message of Jesus Christ, you are trying to let his Gospel message shape your life. To say it simply, true faith is not a private affair! Oh, there is a personal and private element to faith, to be sure. But, real faith has public implications. Real faith is to be shared.
Abram and Sarai could have been like so many Christians today. They could have kept their mouths shut, they could have kept their beliefs to themselves and simply passed quietly through to Bethel. But instead, Abram stops and builds an altar to God. This public act not only declares Abram’s loyalty to the Lord, it also is a public demonstration that disavows all other gods, religions and theologies. For Christians it is equivalent to standing in the marketplace and declaring that Jesus is as He says, “The Way, The Truth, The Life” and no one comes to the Father except through Him!
Abram found himself in the midst of a polytheistic society, a society that believed in many different gods. On the surface, that doesn’t seem to be a contemporary problem. The problem in the world today appears to be not that people believe in more than one God, but that they don’t believe in any God. But do not be fooled. Look a little closer and you will find that we do indeed live in a polytheistic world today. People have made “gods” out of many things.
Abram not only built an altar to the Lord, he also began to “invoke the name of the Lord”. To “invoke” in the Bible means to “worship”. It means to “call on God”, to “call in God”, and to “call God into every aspect of our lives”. This is an integral element of faith. Worship keeps God at the center of our lives. How can we sustain our faith if we only occasionally drop in on God or let Him drop in on us? Do that, and when a crisis does arise, faith can seem to be very, very fragile.
If that is how we structure our relationship with God, then why should we have trust and confidence in someone with whom we have spent so little time? Why should we have any inkling of God’s desire for a deep personal relationship, if we have so distanced ourselves from his message and the worshipping community where that message is regularly given? Worship in word, sacrament, song, and prayer are to the growth of our faith as are the nutrients that help a flower or plant grow strong. Skimp on those nutrients and your faith will grow tired and weak. Take them in sufficient amounts and your faith will grow healthy and strong. Not only that, but you will also experience God’s mighty power because of the strength of your faith and trust in God. When you nurture and grow your faith in God, your life becomes so aligned with God’s life that we desire a deeper relationship with Him. Your will begins to seek out God’s will and conform to His will. God’s power becomes your power.
Abram’s faith and trust was not in the promise, but in the One who made the promise. He trusted in the God who, as the Apostle Paul says later, “gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not yet exist.”
All this is the power of faith in Jesus Christ. Have you accepted this power as your own? Have you put you trust and faith in the only One who can save you? If you have not yet done that, why wait any longer? Won’t you do it today? Amen.