God promised Abraham a lot of descendants. And when it all seemed hopeless,
Abraham still had faith in God and became the ancestor of many nations.
Abraham's faith never became weak, not even when he was nearly a hundred years old.
The Guinness Book of World Records lists records of achievement. It lists the weight of the heaviest man as 485 kg (I067 lbs). The tallest man was 241 cm (8feet). What is the world's record for bearing children? It lists it at sixty-nine. The record states that a Russian woman achieved this great honour. She had eight sets of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets.
And this leaves another sixteen individual births. She was pregnant over thirty-five times. I don’t think anyone today will try to break this record. But where the Guinness Book of World Records is wrong is that it states that the oldest mother to give birth was aged 57. Sarah beat that record by a comfortable margin.
The story about Abraham and Sarah is an amazing one. This is the story of the oldest couple to give birth to their first child. Sarah was 90 and Abraham 100. We all know about the biological clock. There comes a time when it is no longer possible for a child to be conceived.
Well, the biological clock had certainly stopped ticking for Abraham and Sarah. When Abraham was told that he would soon be a father, he responds with total honesty. We are told he fell to the ground laughing, saying "How can anyone as old as Sarah and I possibly have children?"
When Sarah heard the news, she also had a good chuckle at the idea of her becoming a mother for the first time. Some people try to explain away this laughter saying that it was laughter of joy and excitement. I don’t think so. These two old people were as human as you and I.
I dare say that if the oldest person here this morning were told the same news, he /she would react much the same way. Twenty-five years had gone by since God had first promised Abraham that he would have many descendants. And now in their old age, God says that he will keep his promise and that in nine months time Sarah will give birth to a son.
This long delay certainly tested Abraham’s faith in God and his promise, but Abraham never gave up on the idea that he would be the father of many nations. We heard a part of the Apostle Paul’s discussion about Abraham’s faith in his letter to the Romans.
Let me read just a bit of it again: Abraham believed and hoped, even when there was no reason for hoping … He was then almost one hundred years old; but his faith did not weaken when he thought of his body, which was already practically dead, or of the fact that Sarah could not have children.
His faith did not leave him, and he did not doubt God's promise; his faith filled him with power, and he gave praise to God. He was absolutely sure that God would be able to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:18-21).
That’s a great description of what faith is. Abraham’s faith filled him with certainty that God would do what he promised.
Abraham simply focused on God, he was certain that God would somehow fulfill his promise. This was nothing new for Abraham. Remember how God told him to pack up and leave his home to an undisclosed destination. Abraham trusted that God knew what he was doing.
Abraham knew the character of God. Now, what is the character of God? The character of God is: God is independent, unchangeable / immutable, eternal, omniscient (all-knowing), wise, truthful, faithful, good, loving, merciful, graceful, patient, Holy, Righteous, Just, and Jealous.
This was not blind faith on Abraham’s either. This was an intelligent faith that knew whom he could trust, and firmly knew who would travel through life with him no matter what that journey might bring and where it would take him. This was an intelligent faith that believed that God always keeps his promises.
Faith can’t be based on emotional ups and downs. Faith must have an object, …. and that object is Truth. This truth is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who encompasses all truth. I personally believe in an objective truth that is in the person of Jesus Christ, who was, who is, and who is to come again.
Faith is looking away from what we can personally achieve and look at what God can do for us, and with us, and through us. Faith is realizing that we are at a point where we can do nothing to change our circumstances, and look to God who has the power to make a difference.
We see that in Abraham – there was absolutely nothing that he could do about having many descendants. He relied only on God. This was entirely in God's hands.
He took God at his word, trusted his promises and believed in his power to make this a reality. That’s why God waited so long. In no way could Abraham or Sarah take the credit. God did it all! Their childbearing days were over by human standard. If God was going to create a nation from Abraham’s descendants then it was over to God to do something about it.
Abraham trusted God that he knew what he was doing. Maybe it has been your experience that when all human effort has failed, and supports have been pulled out from under you, it has been your faith in God's love and his goodness that has kept you going.
I don’t want to make this sound too simplistic and be too blasé about the struggles that we all have. Faith in God's love and care ought to banish all our problems. But our human nature and our sin get in the way.
We are often involved in a struggle between faith and doubt. A battle goes on inside of us as we try to decide whether we ought to trust God to help us or will he leave us to fight our own way through the turmoil.
Having faith in God does some amazing things in our life. Faith in no way relies on our human ability to trust and believe. God comes to us and gives faith. The Holy Spirit strengthens our faith through God's Word and Sacrament.
God knows just how weak we are when it comes to trusting God and letting God take control. Unconditionally, freely, completely God offers to stick with us and save us at the end of the worst day.
The apostle Paul then wraps up his discussion about Abraham's faith by applying it directly to you and to me this morning. The story of Abraham is not just for him nor is it simply an ancient account of how God used to work. No, this story is written in the Bible for our instruction. The God of Abraham is our God too. The God of the Old Testament is the same gracious and forgiving God today.
In conclusion may God grant us the kind of faith that Abraham had
–a faith that trusts that God has his arm around us as we walk through life
–a faith that believes that he will never ignore one of those whom he loves
–a faith that is certain that he is ready to hear our prayers and help us when there is no other help.
Amen!
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
March 12, 2006