Deacon Mary Gregorius’
Sermon –
“ ... against all hope, Abraham in hope believed, and so became the father of many nations.” (Romans 4:18)
Jesus said “Follow me.” And Matthew got up and followed. (Matthew 9:9)
The Lord said, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” (Hosea 6:6 and Matthew 9:13). So important a message that we hear it twice this morning.
Hope, believe, following, mercy ... but one other element must be in pace first, in order for these to emerge.
For both Abraham and Matthew, faith came first, then the following. The promise to Abraham is direct: “Your descendants will number more than the stars in the sky.” For Matthew, the promise is implied. Jesus will not mislead you, but guide your life toward truth and goodness. They were both found righteous in faith, not by action or works, but by faith ... all who have faith are true descendants, children of God.
The Scripture doesn’t say these two gentlemen never wondered how and why the promise would be fulfilled; in fact, the next several verses of Paul’s letter to the Romans tells us that Abraham did indeed acknowledge the obstacles in the physical ability of he and Sarah giving birth to many nations, as they were about 100 years old at the time. They had to admit that the odds were slightly stacked against them. Clearly some may have seen it as an impossible achievement. But in hope, Abraham believed.
You and I are asked to follow their example ... but, in order to do that, don’t we have to have some idea of why they had faith? Why did they follow? What did they believe? What was it that caused them to have faith, even before they had knowledge?
Usually, as a deacon, I stand before you and ask that you hear in the Gospel a call to action ... go ... do. I invite you because there is much work to be done. As true as that is, what is very clear this morning is that there is something that must come first, if you are to both have the strength to do all that needs doing in our corner of the world and if you are to know what it is you are called to do. There is a reason you feel called to do the task in the first place.
So, instead of thinking about all the work there is to be done, this morning I ask you to sit still and think about what it was that caused you to have faith ... why did you begin to search ... why do you yearn? Jesus said that his sheep would recognize the voice of their shepherd – how is that? We do, we know when we hear our Lord speak in our lives, but how?
I believe it was
The trouble is that we frequently try to fill that hollow with a variety of substitutes that make us deaf to the call; we fill that space with all sorts of clutter, perhaps in an effort to mask the emptiness that haunts us ... perhaps because we are afraid to hear what might be asked of us ... perhaps because we have just let the demands of living in the 21st century overtake us. So we fill that hollow with tangible “stuff” in compensation for not being free, at liberty, to fill it with an immenseness we can only guess at. We fill that space, that holy yearning with jobs, money, houses, families, friends, saving the planet, advocating for peace, fundraising for good causing ... gambling, alcohol, bitterness, euphoria, drugs, anger ... anything we can get our hands on. Some of these things are well worth doing, some are better off not doing. The point is that when we overshadow the still place where our faith resides, we run the risk of not hearing God call our name; we run the risk of not hearing the promise of grace; we run the risk of somehow believing that if we work hard enough, fast enough, we will win the day. Even if we miss that faith part ... but it’s faith that opens the door.
Abraham and Matthew followed, for the same reasons we follow – for needs sake; because we long for cleansing; we follow for love’s sake, for the One to whom we can give our soul.
Our recognition of our own neediness, of our own dependence on God’s promise of Grace, is the very recognition that makes us useful in God’s work in the world, of bringing compassion and love into all the dark corners. Jesus came to lead you, in love, to God’s grace, that you might have faith in God’s promise, as Abraham did, and that you might “...against all hope, believe...” and thus believing ... hoping ... might not only be descendants of Abraham by faith, but might also fill nations with children of God, through your witness to compassion, Grace and the promise of love.
We will fall short ... we all fall short ... our wisdom is both flawed and impetuous. The Church will fall short of providing a model of righteousness; after all, we mere humans are entrusted with its care, and we mess up. But Jesus will not fail us; Jesus will lead us into God’s shining love despite our shortcomings and failures, because that is God’s promise. So hope, with Abraham, against all logic. Believe in God’s promise that you will not walk this troubled, tortured, tormented, convoluted way alone. Have faith and follow where God leads you.
One more point: Understanding that we need God’s Grace is only a portion of the picture. Understanding that through God’s mercy the promise has already been fulfilled is another, bigger part of the picture.
Now, though I implore you to be still for a little bit each day, don’t spend too much time ... there is still much work to be done.
Amen.