“Promise By Faith”
I think everyone here this morning is familiar with the comedian Jeff Foxworthy and his bit, “You might be a redneck if…” I believe that most of you are also aware that I spent the early part of this week in Tifton, GA at our South Georgia Annual Conference where I hung out with my preacher counterparts. So, in honor of Jeff Foxworthy I thought I might share the following:
“You might be a preacher if…”
- You’ve ever seen an “In memory of…” plaque over a bathroom fixture.
- Everybody stops talking when you walk into the room.
- You’ve ever lied at a funeral.
- “Annual Church meeting” and “Armageddon” are one in the same to you.
And my favorite: You might be a preacher if you get your second wind when you say, “And in conclusion…”
The New Testament of our Bible would be very brief if not for the work and the writing of the Apostle Paul. Now don’t get me wrong, he had help in almost everything he did. Like the farmer riding his fence line one day and spotting a turtle on top of a fencepost. The farmer said to the turtle, “You had to have some help getting up there.” Paul had a great deal of help along the way.
Paul’s letters to the various churches were read to not only the church it was intended for but to entire areas. And some of his first writing was done even before the first Gospel, Mark, was written.
The Apostle Paul was intelligent, articulate, and committed to his calling. Like a skilled lawyer, he presented the case for the gospel and forthrightly in his letter to the believers in Rome, where we will spend the next three weeks.
A central theme that you will see not only in our text for this morning but in all of Paul’s writing is that we are saved by faith—we are justified by faith—and we are sanctified by faith! Amen!
Romans 4:13-25
Paul explains that Abraham had pleased God through faith alone before he had ever heard about the rituals that would become so important to the Jewish people. We, too, are saved by faith plus nothing. We are not saved by loving God and doing good; neither are we saved by faith plus love or by faith plus good deeds. We are saved only through faith in Jesus Christ—trusting Him to forgive all our sins. But let me add: Because of God’s grace and provision—because we are saved by faith alone—we should be inspired to love God and do good works! (Are you with me?)
To better understand what Paul is sharing about Abraham, or Abram as he was first known, let’s go to the Old Testament to look at his story.
Genesis 12:1-5
In the beginning, God began with a couple who perfectly embodied and expressed the image of God. They became deceived and confused which led to betrayal and disobedience. Not so this time. God chose a couple who had nothing going for them. For starters, he chose two from among the fallen, and advanced in years. This wouldn’t have been such a problem had God not willed to launch a nation. Yes, he willed to start a nation, a people, even a kingdom through their lineage—and yet they were childless, and did I mention, they were old?
In other words, not only did they have no power, they had no potential. Not only did God not pick them last for his team, but he also picked them to lead. They were the perfect exemplars of the law of sin and death. They were dead in their sin, dead in their bodies, dead in their hopes—dead in every way dead could be except they had a pulse.
This is who God chooses to awaken the world from the law of sin and death to the way of faith and righteousness. Paul writes in the 17th verse of our text this morning: “The God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.”
Many people, me included, tend to think of salvation in legal terms—even transactional (God does something and we do something in return). We believe in Jesus and His work on our behalf, and it is credited to us as righteousness. Paul is saying something quite different. It’s more like Abram looking into the night sky and hearing the voice of God telling him that his descendants would be more numerous than all the starry host—and Abram believing him—even though he and Sarai remained childless. And remember, they weren’t getting any younger!
What if we are missing the point when it comes to salvation by grace through faith? What if it is vastly larger than a cosmic transaction—way more than a mere pardon? What if it is about resurrection from the dead—even before you actually die—and the appropriation of eternal life even before eternity begins?
Abraham never doubted that God would fulfill his promise. Abraham’s life was marked by mistakes, sin, and failures as well as by wisdom and goodness, but he consistently trusted God. His faith was strengthened by the obstacles he faced, and his life was an example of faith in action. If he had looked only at his resources for subduing Canaan and founding a nation, he would have given up in despair. But Abraham looked to God, obeyed him, and waited for God to fulfill his word.
What does faith look like today? Faith looks like the family who denies themselves a newer car or a bigger house in order to tithe to the Lord’s work. They believe in a promise they cannot see, that they are storing up for themselves treasures in Heaven.
Faith is the employee who does not pad the expense account or steal clients or take office supplies home, even if “everyone else is doing it.” They believe the promise that, “The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness” (I Samuel 26:23). What an abundant life of adventure and peace we are missing out on when we don’t choose the way of faith!
Abraham’s story is powerful and exciting. But why did it matter to the Roman church to which Paul was writing? The Roman Christians were a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. The Jews still followed the law of Moses in addition to the commands and precepts of Christ. This caused a serious rift in the early Roman church. In his letter Paul was demonstrating that from the beginning of time, our acceptance by God has been through faith, not law. And the faith that saved Abraham and his descendants, the faith that made him the father of a great nation, is the same faith that saves us today through Christ Jesus. In fact, Paul also wrote in 2 Corinthians, “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not ‘Yes’ and ‘No,’ but in him it has always been ‘Yes.’ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:19-20a).
As I sat in Tifton at our Annual Conference this week, I was living with our text this morning as well as the story of Abraham. I heard several speakers use the words “sent and scattered,” and I thought about Abraham. He was 75-years-old when God called him. He had to be established. We don’t know or aren’t told but he must have been pretty pleased with his life and probably liked the fact that he was near his family and still living in his father’s house. And now God is directing him to give this all up. To move to a place that would be revealed to him when he arrived. And he was going to be the father of many nations—he and Sarah had no children—and their biological clock had stopped years ago. But he went!
Another hot topic item discussed this week in Tifton was the mental health of we the clergy. Someone said, “Life is hard,” and you’ll get no argument from me. It was also said, “Ministry is hard,” and I have no problem in agreeing with that as well. But we have a dance partner, we have the Holy Spirit to walk alongside us—we have friends and loved ones who walk alongside us (if we let them).
Abraham had his cousin Lot: “So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.” I know that it doesn’t say so in Scripture but I can imagine Abram telling Lot that he has been directed by God (Jed, move away from here) and Lot responding, “I’ll walk with you.”
In conclusion (second wind), I went to Annual Conference last Sunday a little reluctantly. Yes, about half of the usual crowd was there and when I was holding my pity party, I mentioned that all of my friends are gone. Well, I discovered that I have more friends than I thought I had. The Conference started off slow but seemed to gain momentum. I guess it was when our Extension Clergy were introducing themselves and sharing their mission field (hospitals, evangelistic ministries, Magnolia Manor, the Children’s Home, our campus Wesley directors, etc.) when it hit me. Our Conference may be smaller, but we are still in business. We are still serving and spreading the Good News. We are still in the business of making disciples and “Keeping Christ as the center of all we do.”
On Monday night I attended the Ordination Service because I serve on the Board of Ordained Ministry. I don’t normally go to this service, but I am so glad I did. I started thinking about my first Annual Conference and attending the ordination service. Sitting in the pew and watching the processional with all of the leaders in their robes walking down the center isle and thinking, “I’d like to be a part of that someday.” Well, that someday was this past Monday. It took twenty years, but I realized my dream.
When I moved to that first appointment twenty years ago I and my family were invited to a dinner where we would get our first opportunity to meet Jimmy Carter. They were holding what was called a “buzzard pickin.” When I inquired as to what a buzzard pickin was they told me that a pig would be put in the ground and cooked. The pig would be placed on a table, and everyone would pick the meat off the carcass like the buzzards do.
I returned from Tifton on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday I had a little more spring in my step. Why? Well, the Holy Spirit gave me a word Wednesday morning. And that word is this: The South Georgia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church is NOT ready for the buzzards!
When I feel like ruins
You see foundations
You see foundations
To build your kingdom here
(Foundations—Gas Street Music)
Keeping Christ at The Center of All That We Do!
Thanks be to God!
Eastman First Methodist Church 