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 Light that was seen from afar, Matthew 2:1-2,9b-11

 

The Light seen by the Magi of the East is powerfully symbolic in Matthew's Gospel.  This astronomical phenomenon brought them on a long journey to see the newly born King of the Jews.  For us it serves as a reminder of our need, as disciples of Jesus, to also reflect his light in our world.  Our task is to draw those in the darkness to the light of Christ that they too may be saved.

Sermon Video: The Mother of the Messiah, Luke 1:26-38

After having appeared to the priest Zechariah in the Temple in Jerusalem to foretell the coming of the great prophet John, God's plan shifts to a teenage girl in the backwater village of Nazareth.  The angel Gabriel shares amazing and unprecedented news with Mary, setting up a moment of decision on her part.  Will she run away like Jonah, hesitate like Moses or Esther, or will she embrace this responsibility of being the mother to the Messiah?

We all know how Mary responds, an incredible example for us to imitate of hearing the word of the Lord and obeying it.

Sermon Video: Joseph adopts the Messiah, Matthew 1:18-25

 

Joseph of Nazareth was a fairly ordinary man up until the moment he found out that he fiancé Mary was pregnant.  Instead of letting pride or anger rule him, Joseph chose to embrace mercy, he was willing to divorce her quietly.

Having demonstrated this strength of character, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream to tell him that God had chosen him for a monumental task: Adopt the Messiah.

Joseph may have been an ordinary carpenter, living in the unimportant village of Nazareth, but when he obeyed God's command by marrying Mary, Joseph became an example of faith and obedience that we would all do well to imitate.

Sermon Video: The Son before Bethlehem, John 1:1-3,14

 

Where was Jesus before Bethlehem?  For ordinary human beings like us that's a question that doesn't go anywhere, our lives began at a definite point-in-time.  But for the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah, that question opens the door to profound theological truths.

The Apostle John explains in the prologue to his Gospel that the Word (Jesus before the Incarnation) was with God in the beginning, that he is, in fact, God.  Not only that, the Word (Jesus), had an equal hand in all of Creation.

That same person, the one who is God and is with God (the wonder of the Trinity allowing such phrases to be true), also came to Earth "in the flesh."  The Word became a man, the man Jesus.  

The wonders and depths of these truths are great, our response is simple: Worship Christ the newborn King.

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: Noah's sons choose between gossip and respect - Genesis 9:18-29

In our only glimpse in Genesis into the lives of Noah's 3 sons, a family incident involving Noah being passed-out drunk leads to one son, Ham, choosing to spread the news about Noah (gossip) rather than help him, and the other two, Shem and Japheth, doing their best to show respect to their father even in his current state.

In the narrative of Genesis, this brief story functions as a device to frame the upcoming judgment of God against Ham's symbolic descendants, the Canaanites.  It also reminds us that issues within our families are some of the most difficult moral questions and character moments in our lives.  It may not be easy, but we can rise above the situation and respond with kindness, honor, truth, and the like.