“Being Faithful Witnessess of Christ”

A homily by The Rev. Alice Marcrum

August 12th, 2007

There is an old children’s song that some of you may remember. It is a song about Abraham. The words go like this: “Father Abraham had many sons. Many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them and so are you so let’s all praise the Lord!” This childlike song reminds us that as Christians, we are spiritual descendants of Abraham through Jesus of Nazareth, the only begotten Son of God.

In the scripture readings for today, we heard about Abraham’s promise from the Lord that God would give him descendents as numerous as the stars in the heavens.  If we do not know the story of Abraham, then the scripture we read today although lovely as it sounds may just not sink in as to the awesome meaning of them, especially thousands of years later when we are witnesses of their fruition. Abraham and his wife Sarah had no children when God made this promise of abundance to him.

In fact, Abraham points out to the Lord, the difficulty of the situation. Sarah is beyond the years of bearing children. In the natural, God’s promise, as seen by Abraham, can only be fulfilled by appointing one of his slaves as the heir of his household. Yet, the Lord tells Abraham that his descendants will come through him not his servant’s. Then the Lord God shows Abraham the stars in the heavens and tells him “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them….So shall your descendants be.”

Too often, we hear from the Lord and decide to help God out by getting from point A to point C through our own means. We overlook the fact that it is the Lord’s promise to us and that He is the One who will see us through. This is what Abraham tries to do. He has heard from the Lord, but sees through the lenses of what is humanly possible, not what is supernaturally possible. Following the path of earthly possibilities when seeking the fulfillment of divine promises will only get us into trouble.

Abraham does this by taking Sarah’s hand maiden as his wife to fulfill the promises of God. Even after the Lord shows Abraham the stars in the heavens and promises him that He the Lord will do this great work, Abraham insists on trying to help God fulfill His own promise.

In Genesis chapter 16, beginning with verse 1 on page 12 in your pew Bibles we read, “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children.  She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, and Sarai said to Abram, ‘You see that the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.’ And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai, So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.”

In the Middle East, the bitterness and hatred that was the direct consequence between Hagar and Sarah, because of Abraham’s impatience by taking things into his hands, is manifested to this day with the rivalry between the descendants of Hagar and Sarah. The Arabs, who are descendants of Abraham through Hagar, and the Jews, who are descendants of Abraham through Sarah, remain in conflict. Sadly, this ancient rivalry has caused pain and suffering in the rest of the world. This bitter root has given bloom to a poisonous tree. For those of us who become impatient with the Lord’s timing in fulfilling His promises to us; we need only turn on the TV to see the latest conflict of this ancient rivalry bearing fruit.

The promises of the Lord are never given in vain. God is neither a liar nor a slacker. He is the one who places godly desires within our hearts and He is the one who will bring them to pass in His timing. This can be so difficult for us to comprehend. Timing for the Lord is everything.

When God sent us His Son, according to St. Paul, the timing was perfect. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.” Before the beginning of time, God Almighty, the Creator of the Universe, knew that this very day each and every one of us would be alive who are alive today. We are not some cosmic accident. We have been chosen to be here on this planet at this time in order to fulfill God’s plan for humanity.

Each one of us has been given gifts from the Lord to use for His glory. Now we do not always follow God’s perfect plan for our lives. Too often we take things into our own hands just like Abraham and have to bear the consequences of those impatient actions. Yet, the Lord God is a loving God and seeks to bring us back into His perfect will for our lives at all times.

As followers of the teachings of Christ, we who call ourselves Christians need to understand that we have been given a great responsibility on earth. For whether we live our daily lives for Christ or not, the world sees us as Christians. We are witnesses to the reality of Christ’s redeeming love in all that we do. This is why it is so important to live our lives as faithful witnesses.

We can only do this by trusting in the Lord in all areas of our lives, whether that is in our relationships, finances or even the desires of our hearts. A life of faith is our Christian duty. To do any less is to bear false witness of Christ to the world.

Paul writes in his letter to the Hebrews, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” May we be faithful witnesses of Christ bearing witness for Him in all that we do.  Then we can rejoice with the psalmist who wrote, “Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.”