"An Un-Rational Faith" March 1, 2015

Genesis 17:1-17 Romans 4:13-25 Several have come to me this week, questioning why the Extremists feel justified in killing others? It is an atrocity, a gruesome horror. It is too easy to cast aspersions, claiming that Extremists believe only in Killing, and Judaism believes in The Law, while as Christians we believe in Love. As human beings we look to know a thing by knowing its center. As if we could peel away circumstance, peel away rationalizations, at the core is our seed, the root identity of the species. An essential part of understanding the clash of cultures today, is in understanding that throughout the last several thousand years our knowledge, our reasoning, our constructs have all come from Judeo-Christian ideas as resolved in Western Europe. The Enlightenment, Reason, Technology, Rule of Law have played significant roles in our personal and social development. At an earlier time in European History, the era of Colonialization, our ancestors waged war against those who believed differently. The world was divided into Us and Them, with the “Other” being labeled as heretic, heathen, sinner, un-educated, un-developed, lawless, in-human. The Extremists today are still fighting that same war of Us against Them, except what the West, America, Europe, the outside world, represents a challenge to morals, culture, authority, relationships, all concretized in Law. Law is not gracious, not understanding, the Law is intentionally objective so as to differentiate between Right and Wrong, with punishment. Here I am not trying to differentiate between the branches of Islam, or of Moses' 10 Commandments, or the American Constitution and Bill or Rights. But simply whether our reality is based on Law, on Reason, on hard and fast justifications of Us against Them, or whether our reality is based in faith, in trust, in relationship. But there is another way, not Our way, not the Presbyterian, the Protestant, the Christian, or even the Jewish way, But the way, the core belief as demonstrated before there was The Law, in Abraham the common ancestor of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. I believe there is a marked difference that comes in God's Covenant relationship with Abram, compared to everything that had gone before. Adam was created as an individual, a part of the whole of Creation. When we as humanity corrupted ourselves unleashing chaos upon the world, God redeemed Noah from the flood. There is naming in the passages about Noah of his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, but not of Noah's wife, or the wives of his sons. I believe God does something new and different in relationship with Abram, the father of nations, for intentionally with Abram, God calls Sarai, their nephew Lot, and the promise through family. Nations and Laws have changed over time. What we today identify as Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, in an earlier era was Babylon and Assyria, and prior to that in the time of Abram was Chaldea. Abram his wife Sarai and their Nephew Lot, were from the City of Ur in Chaldea, when the Spirit of God came to Abram and Sarai. God also makes a shift here, God is introduced with the new name God Almighty, literally El Shaddai, the God from the furthest mountain to the furthest mountain, that God is the Creator and the Redeemer, but God will also be known through The Promise, the Covenant. This is a foundational element which we as Human beings have had a difficult time with, because we tend to imagine promises and covenants, even relationships in terms of Contract Law. A Contract identifies the parties and their responsibilities, has a beginning date and an ending, and means of termination. A Covenant is a promise for all time. A Promise is not time specific. God calls this family to leave everything and everyone they have ever known, in order to follow God, in order to trust. At this point, Abram had seen no miracles, had no proof, there was only the Promise “Follow God” and Abram and Sarai did. The promise of God to Abram was three-fold, Follow and God will give you a child, make you to have as many children as there are sands on shore. Follow and God will give to your descendants a land flowing with milk and honey. Follow and God will bless you and make others blessed through you. God is God Almighty. A Covenant is a Promise for all time. These are not Rational, not time bound. The proof comes in the eventual fulfillment, if it does come. But while there was no proof or guarantee there are three tests of Abram's commitment. First that he and Sarai did leave home and family and trust God. But decades have passed and while they pass through the land, there is no ownership and no child. The Second Test comes when Abram is 99 years old, and Sarai 90, that he should be Circumcised as shall all the males of their household. The word Covenant literally means “to Cut” and this covenant, this promise, this relationship with God would be cut into his most private and intimate flesh for all generations. Hebrew loved Wordplays, literally If a man refused to accept the Covenant, he was Cut. With this new Covenant, comes new identities: Abram meaning Great Father is Abraham meaning Father of a great multitude of Nations, Sarai is Sarah, and with the new covenant and new identities comes new responsibilities in the promise, Pregnancy. The response of Abraham and Sarah is laughter. Sarah's laughter has a degree of shame described, that other people are going to know we still have sex, that now when neighbors are grandparents and great grandparents they are having their first, “If I am 90 when the child is born how old will I be when he goes to college?” For Abram, laughter is shock and awe that God can fulfill what seemed impossible and now is un-reasonable. But in hearing this news, Abraham's body responds even before his mind can react, he falls to his knees which is the position of devotion before God. There is an important difference in the root origins of the word WOMB, for in Latin and the Western European Romance languages the meaning of womb is Hysteria, whereas in Hebrew the root word of Womb is the word for Compassion. So how are we to conceive of this new development in the covenant, Hysteria or an act of Compassion and Grace? Third will be once the child is born, will Abraham and Sarah continue to be faithful to God, once the promise is fulfilled? Do we still want what we wanted once we have what we desired? And Abraham is asked to take Isaac up the mountain to make a sacrifice to God, trusting God will provide the sacrifice. The problem with all of this is that Law is simpler to enforce. You are right or wrong. You are with us or you are an enemy. Kill all those who are not believers. If this brings on the Apocalypse, so much the better because we go to be with God. Where as Un-Reasonable Trust, Covenant Promise accepts that there sill be times of suffering and shame, there will be brokenness, but there will also be laughter. The ultimate irony is that the Pharisee Saul had been the ultimate legalist, and he was called to change to become the Apostle Paul. In Paul's Letter to the Romans, Paul is introducing himself and introducing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To the conquering, ruling enemy empire, heavily influenced by Greek Philosophy and Roman Law, Paul makes the argument for faith in Jesus Christ. The Centerpiece of Paul's letter is his justification through Jesus Christ. We as Americans have difficulty not looking for Success, not looking for prosperity to win out. So for us, we often leap over the cross, that the answer for the suffering, the redemption which comes is the Resurrection. But the converse is also true, that Just as Jesus rose from the dead, he had also been incarnate the Divine living as a human life and the center-point the place where the two meet is in his Communion and suffering to become our Savior as well as our Lord. In evidence of which Paul points us back to Abraham who was not bound by Laws but who trusted God.