Sermon Video: When the sins of God's people harm others - Genesis 20

In this chapter, Abraham returns to an old ruse, one he used disastrously back in chapter 12 of Genesis.  Like then, Abraham's plan involves deception and causes harm to others.

So, what do we do when the people who hurt us claim to be God's people?

The first step is to determine if they really are God's people, sadly many charlatans abuse God's name for their own ends.  Abraham was certainly God's guy, God even calls him a prophet in this text.

The second step is to remember that God's people are still flawed people.  Redeemed they may be, but perfect they are not.  They will fail, and those failures will at times harm others.  This isn't God's fault, it is ours.

Lastly, what ought to come next is repentance and an attempt to repair the damage coming from God's people.  In Genesis 20 Abraham does not repent, but God still requires that he be a part of the solution to fix what he has broken.  If/when God's people fail, they ought to be the first ones trying to make it right.

Sermon Video: Do Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures? - Genesis 19:30-38

In a disturbing episode that speaks to the trauma and hopelessness of those it involves, Genesis relates the origin of the two tribes that would occupy the land east of the Jordan River when the Israelites were journeying through Sinai.  The Moabites and the Ammonites were both connected with Abraham's nephew Lot which doesn't make them part of the Abrahamic Covenant (like the descendants of Ishmael and Esau) with respect to the general blessings upon Abraham's offspring, but it does mean that they are distant kin to Israel and they will have a role to play, for better and for worse, in the years to come.  The most famous example of this interaction is of course Ruth who is called "the Moabitess" over and over in her story.

In the end, there was no need for Lot's daughters to follow the course of action that they chose, because we serve one God whose character and power can be counted upon, his people never have to choose immorality.

Sermon Video: The LORD rescues Lot from Sodom - Genesis 19:1-29

Once again Genesis focuses on  Abraham's nephew Lot, a secondary character in the story Moses is telling, but one whose life has impacted Abraham's twice before, and has yet a further impactful role to play.  Here we see the grace of God playing out in Lot's life as Abraham's bargain with the LORD to not let the righteous be swept away with the wicked plays out.  Because Lot is so deeply rooted in Sodom, the angels sent by the LORD actually end up taking an active role in pushing him out of the city before the judgment falls.  In the end, the destruction of Sodom is less a story about evil been punished and more a reminder that God's grace is amazing because Lot and his daughters were saved when the day of judgment arrived.

Sermon Video: The Ancestors of the Messiah - Matthew 1:1-17

When you are someone as important to history as Jesus of Nazareth, the long-awaited Messiah, curiosity about your ancestry is only natural.  Matthew begins his Gospel by addressing this desire and does so in unexpected and interesting ways: (1) He starts with the titles of "Messiah," "son of David," and "son of Abraham."  Each of these carries weight and adds to the claims about Jesus that Matthew's Gospel will be making. (2) The inclusion of four mothers with strong Gentile connections in a list that otherwise only contains fathers.  In so doing Matthew points toward God's concern for the whole world as well as his willingness to utilize people who would otherwise be overlooked, two key themes in the Gospel narratives.  (3)  Matthew leaves in the list (while some have been left out to form thy symbolic 14,14,14 symmetry) men both good and bad, heroes and villains, making what Jesus will prove himself to be even more remarkable.

Sermon Video: Abraham pleads with God to spare Sodom, Genesis 18:16-33

In a fascinating conversation, Abraham humbly pleads with God on behalf of the soon-to-be condemned city of Sodom. Why?  We know that his nephew Lot and his family live there, but Abraham's concern is broader, including for the fate of people who are strangers to him.

In our world today this reminds us of an acute issue within the Church where far to many now view the Lost as part of the "them" that they would rather destroy than rescue.  Do we desire mercy for those we think of as "the enemy" or only their ruination?

In the end, Abraham's plea with God reminds us of our own necessary mantra when considering those who do evil in our world: There but for the grace of God, go I.

Sermon Video: Is Anything Too Hard for the LORD? - Genesis 18:1-15

 

Through the lens of God's conversation with Abraham and Sarah about the impending birth of Isaac, consider the question of limitations on God's power: Are there any limits? In fact, there are, but they're self-imposed. Nothing constrains God except his own character and promises.

Sermon Video: Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision - Genesis 17

 

Genesis 17 picks up the narrative 13 years after the birth of Ishmael in Genesis 16.  At this point Abram and Sarai have been in the Promised Land waiting for the miracle of a son and heir for 23 years.  At this point God speaks to Abram, tells him that he will be called Abraham and his wife Sarah, and adds that the promised son, Isaac, is only a year away.  Abraham laughs at this prospect, as Sarah will do in the next chapter.

God also gives Abraham a sign of the covenant that already exists between God and Abraham: circumcision.  This initiation rite wasn't unfamiliar in the Ancient Near East, God chooses something culturally appropriate to set apart Abraham and his descendants as his particular people, the ones he has called into this relationship.

Circumcision functions for Israel in the same manner that Baptism functions for the Church, it proclaims that those involved belong to the larger group, to that they are a part of the people of God.

Sermon Video: God responds to the foolish choice of Abram and Sarai - Genesis 16

 

Abraham and Sarah are heroes of the faith, but they made plenty of mistakes along the way.  One of the most serious of them was the decision by Sarai to offer her slave Hagar to her husband Abram as a 2nd wife in the hopes that a son born to Abram and Hagar could be considered her son by adoption.  This way an effort to "assist" the fulfillment of God's promise.  Here's the thing: God doesn't need immoral help to accomplish his will.

In the end, the plan works in that Hagar bears Ishmael, but is a disaster in all other respects because it spawns a bitterness between Sarai and Hagar.  In the end, God intervenes to protect Hagar and her son, preventing Abram and Sarai's mistake from going further off the rails.

Sermon Video: The LORD and Abraham "cut" a covenant - Genesis 15:7-21

As a sign to offer reassurance about the future to Abraham, the LORD utilizes an Ancient Near Eastern custom involving the cutting-in-two of animals to symbolize the seriousness of the covenant should anyone break it.

In addition, God explains the upcoming 400 years of sojourning in Egypt that Abraham's descendants will endure in part because his wrath against the Canaanites is not yet ready because theirs sins have not yet reached the "full measure."  This has implications for how we understand God's judgment against sin and evil here in this life.

Sermon Video: God credits Abram's faith as righteousness - Genesis 15:1-6

Does faith exclude anxiety and fear?  As it turns out, it does not.  Abraham, the "father of faith" had them.  Abram's promise from God of a son and heir was a LONG time in the fulfilling.  Abram's expressed his frustration with this to God, and rather than getting angry, God offered him reassurance that his promise still stood.  It is Abram's acceptance of this promise, after expressing his anxiety/fear, that God credited to him as righteousness.

Sermon Video: Abram rescues Lot, then tithes to Melchizedek - Genesis 14

In Genesis 14 the story of Abram is dragged into the drama of a regional war when his nephew Lot is taken along with the spoils following one of its battles.  Abram responds in faith, boldly moving to rescue Lot.  His success leads to an amazing moment, where the victorious Abram tithes from the plunder to Melchizedek, a "priest of God Most High."  This offers an amazing insight into God's work in our world beyond the scriptures.

Sermon Video: Abram and Lot go their own ways - Genesis 13

After his failure to trust God while sojourning in Egypt, how will Abram react the next time he needs to live by faith in God's promises?  Genesis 13 offers the answer, in it Abram passes the test with flying colors.  When a conflict arises between his shepherds and those of Lot over the available grazing land, Abram offers Lot the first choice of the land so they can part in peace.  This incredibly generous offer from Abram highlights his faith in God, as the chapter unfolds God speaks to Abram reiterating his promises and once more proclaiming that the future of this land belongs to his offspring.

* Apologies that I stepped out of the frame a bit this time, I was trying to tighten up the zoom a bit, but I guess I don't stand still enough for that to work.

Sermon Video: Abram fails to live by faith - Genesis 12:10-20

Abraham and Sarah are heroes of the faith, but their lives had challenges just like our own, and they failed to meet some of them with faith.  When famine caused them to seek refuge in Egypt, Abram was willing to put his wife at risk in order to avoid danger that he feared.  This form of, "Let us do evil that good may result," is wholly unacceptable for God's people.  Our call is to do what is morally upright, circumstances don't change that.

Sermon Video: The Promised Land, Genesis 12:4-9

 

God's promise to Abram about the land of Canaan is the foundation for a conversation about the challenging history and complicated present of this land and its people that leads to two resolutions: (1) The Jewish people have a right to live in this land, (2) everyone else who lives in this land deserves basic human rights and freedoms.

Sermon Video: God's Grace in Action: The Call of Abram, Genesis 11:10-12:3

Following the Tower of Babel incident, when God dispersed a human effort to establish his presence among humanity, the narrative of Genesis turns toward the family line that leads to Abram, the man whom God will choose to begin his relationship with one particular people, and through them bless the world.

God asks a lot of Abram, to leave his homeland and trust that God will make him into a great nation despite the lack of children in his marriage with Sarai.  But God also promises amazing things to Abram, going far beyond what any connection to a God in the Ancient Near East would expect to be by proposing to Abram an enduring relationship.  With God it wouldn't be a mutually beneficially bargain, instead it would be an outpouring of grace.

Sermon Video: The Tower and Israel's 70 neighboring nations -Genesis 10:1-11:9

Sometimes it is difficult for us to connect with the purpose behind why a particular portion of scripture was included in the sacred text.  Lists of names are probably high on that list, and so too is the story of the Tower of Babel given how often it is misunderstood.

These two episodes in chapters 10-11 of Genesis are there to set the stage for God's work in calling Abram in chapter 12.  The 70 nations show the diversity that God had to choose from, emphasizing as always that salvation is God's grace not human effort, and the Tower of Babel illustrates this principle in action.  The builders of the tower, a ziggurat, had hoped to invite God (or a god) to come down from heaven to dwell with them, a stairway from heaven (not a prideful stairway to heaven).  This is a noble thought, but a misguided one.  Humanity cannot solve its own sin problem.  We need a savior, and it needs to be on God's terms and according to God's timetable.

Sermon Video: Cain's descendants go their own way - Genesis 4:17-24

In the first of several explorations of the branches of Adam's family tree that do not lead to Abraham and the 12 sons of Jacob, Genesis takes a look at the descendants of Cain.  In the text they build a city, develops its culture, and even a form of case law.  All this to say, they do what mankind apart from a covenantal relationship is able to do and that's not a small thing because we are all made in God's image.  However, as Genesis will show again and again, the branches that are not a part of the upcoming covenant lack one key and insurmountable thing: a relationship with God.  Without God's grace, they lack the means of redemption, thus this passage serves as a reminder to us all of the necessity of God's grace.

Sermon Video: Jesus: Fulfilling God's promises to the Jews, showing mercy to the Gentiles - Romans 15:7-13

In his conclusion to the section that began in chapter 14 about the need for Christians to accept each other, Paul offers us a telling analogy: "just as Christ accepted you."  This prompts Paul to a brief explanation as to how Jesus both fulfilled the promises to Abraham, and brought God's mercy to the Gentiles.  Thus our task becomes clear, to be bearers of hope, by overflowing with hope and peace, to both Jew and Gentile alike.

Sermon Video: Why the Church cannot replace Israel: God's plan includes them, Romans 11:25-32

There is a simple and excellent reason why the creation of the Church and the instituting of the New Covenant, both at the direction of Jesus Christ, is not a replacement of Israel: God's promises are irrevocable.  What God has promised cannot be undone.  God promised Abraham that he would bless his descendants, always, and so that promise will remain in effect until the end of time.

That doesn't mean God can't change the way in which his blesses Israel, hence the culmination of the Mosaic Law which Jesus fulfilled, and the bringing of God's new covenant people, Jew and Gentile alike, into one family by faith through grace.

Sermon Video: Grafted Branches - The Church and Israel, Romans 11:16-24

What is the relationship between the Church and Israel?  In order to understand the purpose and mission of the Church, it is necessary that we understand how it fits into God's redemptive plan.  Paul provides answers to this question through the analogy of broken off and grafted-in branches with a common olive tree root.

Contrary to the false teachings of the First Fruits of Zion (Hebrew Roots Movement), the root is NOT the Law of Moses, but rather the promise to Abraham which preceded it by over 400 years.  God built the Church upon a promise, not a Law, upon his grace {See the book of Hebrews for the fullest development of these themes in Scripture}.

How then do we relate to Israel?  Those Jews who believe in Jesus are our brother and sisters in Christ, those who reject Jesus are the children of God who have wandered from home, and we as God's adopted children must treat our position with humility, and those whom God has promised to one day restore (the Jews that don't believe in Jesus) as family.