As my grandfather told it, my great grandfather Kittel Knutson
arrived in this country from Norway in the 1860’s to find a nation at war—the
Civil War—a country divided. As a new immigrant he did not want to even
begin to take sides—north or south—so like many German and Scandinavian
immigrants of the period he headed west—to Texas. Many people don’t
realize that the reason most stereotypical pictures of cowboys represent them
as tall and skinny with funny accents is because many of the early cowboys were
Norwegians and Swedes—yeah sure. After a few years out west my great grandfather
saved up enough money to join other family relatives up north—he caught
a river boat on the Mississippi. The boat was crowded—most travelers slept
on the deck wherever they could find a dark corner—and many who slept in
the dark corners were robbed during the night. The story goes that my great
grandfather selected a place to sleep that was lit all night by the light from
the pilot’s house—and he arrived in Minnesota with his savings intact—and
after a walk across the southern Minnesota prairie from Winona—he purchased
a farmstead in Freeborn County. Such is the story my grandfather Ole told me
more than 30 years ago of one of my great grandparents first coming to what
was for them a promised land. For me it is one of several stories I can now
tell of my ancestors coming to this country—one of the stories that identify
for me something of who I am and where I come from as an American.
Most of us have in our family histories similar stories to share of those who first came to this country—rarely was the move comfortable or easy—often it was burdened with hardship and struggle. Most of us can only imagine what motivated our ancestors to risk their lives and futures in such a way. Yet such journeys are the stuff of which new history is made and the means by which futures are opened. The journeys of faith are even more dramatic, for they spring from the very core of our human condition—the quest for meaning—purpose—value—eternal transcendent being. And at the foundation—the beginning of the major faith communities of the world—we find the words,“The LORD said to Abram.” Here is where the faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam find their spiritual forbearer—a declaration of faith in one God and the central place of Abraham as the source of God’s revelation that seeks fulfillment in human history. Historians of religion group Jews, Christians and Moslems together as ethical monotheists. We are religions of revelation—each centered in a book—Jews in the Tanakh—Christians in the Bible—and Muslims in the Qur’an. While these three sources of faith are quite distinct—they are tied together by reference to a common history of revelation to which all three bear witness.
The psychologist Karl Jung called these three great faiths “prophetic religions” to distinguish them from religions of meditation and insight. These three faiths express similar concerns for God’s justice and mercy in human history—and all three begin their story with a unique vision of Abraham. Jews see Abraham as the original father of their extended family. They are children of Abraham and Sarah by direct descent. The faith of Abraham is an inspiration—the revelation through him a gift—but belief does not create the status of being his children—that is a condition of descent and acceptance of the place of law and ritual in one’s life. Christians claim to be children of Abraham by sharing in his faith. Abraham for Christians is a hero of faith. He is a person of faith who withstood testing and proves to be acceptable to God. According to the Apostle Paul in our second lesson for today, Abraham is justified by faith not by his obedience to the law. Abraham is brought forward for us as a witness of God’s grace against all who would justify themselves by good deeds or works. Moslems claim to be children of Abraham because they share his monotheism. In Islam Abraham (or Ibrahim) is the first hanif or “true believer who started “the struggle” (jihad) against what they term the grossly immoral polytheism of the surrounding tribes. Islam credits Abraham with cleansing the shrine at Mecca of its false statues and building there the kaaba as a witness and reminder of the Moslem’s calling to be disciplined in worshipping the one God. If we were to look for a source story—a beginning point for faith in our world today—our first lesson from the Old Testament Book of Genesis is that source story. Yet it is a story that has come to mean quite different things to the faith descendents.
We need to be careful today that we do not demonized one faith
community’s understanding of the story even as we come to see special meaning
in the story for ourselves. If there is any one lesson to be learned from today—it
is that God calls each of these faith communities to be open to the future.
The blessing of God’s future finds fulfillment in the life of Jesus—Jesus
proclaimed newness—not just a recasting of the old into new forms. Rituals
and obligations are identified not as the substance of faith but the reflections
and products of faith open to God’s creative leading. There is no such
thing as the old for a God who lives in history—for history is ever unfolding
and alive. In our lessons for today we encounter an historic moment of God calling
Abraham to leave the established and familiar behind and journey into the uncertainty
of the divine future. Our story begins between 2,000 and 1,750 years before
the birth of Christ—Abram is living in the town of Haran in northern Mesopotamia—this
is the town where Abram’s family had become established—where his
flocks wandered and grazed in familiar pastures—where his friends were
his companions season in and season out—where he and Sarai had the house
they loved—And it is at this place and this time that God comes to Abram
and says “Leave this—follow my lead—I will show you a land and
make of you a nation. I will make your name great and a blessing to all people.”
It is tempting to compare this moment for Abram to a major career opportunity for us today—An offer of a new job at three times your current salary—a dream position doing what you had always wanted to do—the chance of a life time dropping into your lap—the sure thing that only a fool would turn down Such was NOT the case for Abram—the journey God called him to embark upon was long and dangerous—the land to which he came belonged to the Canaanites—and the descendants he was being promised at this point were only the wishful dreams of a 75 year old man and his barren wife—his whole family consisted of a nephew and servants. To journey by faith? Most of us want more control over our lives—and we want our God to appreciate the struggle of living with such control. The journey of faith is long—time passes—It is almost 2,000 years after Abram. Nicodemus was a Pharisee—a teacher of the law—and a leader of the Jewish community—probably a member of the Sanhedrin—the supreme religious court—a man of exceptional discipline and obedience to the 613 laws of the faith—a man who marked the passage of time with the rituals of the holy seasons and days—a man who knew all there was to know about being in right relationship to God on his terms. Nicodemus comes to Jesus with words of affirmation and praise. You are a true teacher of the faith—he tells Jesus—you are a Rabbi—and you are from God for only God can do the things you do. This is a bold declaration—it should be good news to Jesus and Nicodemus alike—but Jesus replies in words that challenge Nicodemus to leave the familiar—Jesus suggests to Nicodemus that faith is not a matter of the law or good deeds or orderly rituals—Jesus speaks of a new way—new birth—a new life by being born anew—a spirit way—leave the familiar—the Spirit leads on.
We live in a time of correctness not unlike that which had been created by the Pharisees The correctness of right religious language has been combined with the political correctness of our day. The order of proper religious ritual has been replaced in the Christian community by the busy calendars of events for young and old alike. We live in a day and time when even the unexpected is supposed to be anticipated—every business and person is to have a contingency plan—to have considered a worse case scenario. As a society we have come to believe that God credits goodness—the American way is self-reliance—you earn what you get. Do-it-yourself-ism has motivated our welfare reform and entrepreneurial ventures. But while it may produce some valuable social policy, this way of thinking and believing is actually very poor theology—and lousy religion. We look at the Old Testament model of Abraham and we are tempted to believe that Abraham was blessed by God because he was a model of faithfulness—he gives his nephew Lot the better lands—he’s willing to sacrifice his only son to God’s request—he obeys God’s every command for him. Yet the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans challenges such thinking—we cannot forget Abram’s doubts—his deceptions and sins. Abram may be admired by human history—but not by God—he was not perfect—he was human.
We like to believe we are declared righteous before God because of who we are—because of our faith history—our good deeds—like reading the Bible and attending church—giving liberally and distancing ourselves from the glaring sins of the world. One commentator has observed that since the dawn of time there have been two religions—the religion of mercy and the religion of merit—the merit system holds to personal achievement. We earn better grades—deserve a raise—and achieve salvation. How do you get to heaven? This false religion asserts we get there by living right and doing good deeds. It is not surprising that America has successfully produced any number of cults and pseudo Christian religions that all emphasize the earn-what-you-get approach to God and heaven. God said to Abram—come with me—I have something to show you—but you will have to leave your current life and your old ways of thinking. Jesus said to Nicodemus. You’ll never see the kingdom of God with those old eyes and ideas—you need to be born again—spirit born—and you will have no more control over the Spirit than you do over the wind. Both Abraham and Nicodemus knew beyond a doubt that they could not stay where they were—And we know that also—at least spiritually.
The fact is that we have a relationship going with God—while the spirit’s presence in our lives may not always be as clear as we would like we know there is something there. We would not be here today if we did not. And like the ever blowing wind—the Spirit keeps entering our world. We keep thinking about our lives—our priorities—the way we live out our faith story—the way we spend your days . We keep encountering moments that call us to grow and the call just doesn't go away. The Spirit never let Abraham rest. Every time he settled into a new place, which he thought might be home God called him to move on The same was true for Nicodemus—when he came to Jesus under cover of night it was the first step on a journey which—in his life—never ended. Soon he was defending Jesus before the Sanhedrin. And when that effort failed and Jesus was subsequently crucified Nicodemus was among those who came openly by day to help prepare Jesus' body for burial. And that was just the beginning of his call to discipleship. There was a new church to build. When our ancestors journeyed to this land they did not find paradise. Crops were planted on the new land that flourished—but some failed and there was hunger. The economy did not always thrive—sometimes it slipped into recession and even crashed in depression—Children were born—many children died. Some brought their faith—some lost their faith—some discovered new faith. Many found their faith growing—gifts of the spirit. The more they journeyed in faith the more faith they received—responding in gifts that built churches—colleges—social service programs—sent out missionaries—produced Christian curriculums—trained more pastors—advocated for justice—and more—so very much more. So we continue today—born anew in baptism—nourished anew at this table of grace—God still calls us—invites us to see yet another place where we will be a blessing—to be alive in Christ means to continue to journey—we leave the old and journey on The Lord said to Abram—The Lord says to us—“Go…”
Amen.