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The Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they would inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") -- in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become "the father of many nations," according to what was said, "So numerous shall your descendants be." He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith "was reckoned to him as righteousness." Now the words, "it was reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

The Gospel

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, `I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."

While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live." And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well." Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, "Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.

Sermon

Sermon
The Rev Susan Norris

The promise that Abraham and Sarah's descendents . . . would inherit the world - did not depend on the law, but on the righteousness that comes from faith. Everything depends on faith, for everything rests on grace, so that the promise holds true for all Abraham and Sarah's descendents, not only those who have the law, but also to all those who have their faith (for they are the mother and father of all of us all) . . .

In nominee . . .

"Everything depends on faith."

Well, there is help for me, and for all of us in these words,
for they really aren't discussing whether we firmly
believe all the words of the Apostles or Nicene Creed;
(which didn't exist when Paul wrote this - the NT didn't exist!)
They also aren't talking about
whether we feel like we are in touch with God at this - or any - moment;
or even whether we have sufficiently demonstrated our faith
by the good works and holiness of life which are the frequent
results of believing in God, and being disciples of Jesus the Christ.

Paul is explaining to all of us - to the little churches in Rome,
and the little church here in Mercerville,
that EVERYTHING in the world, particularly our salvation –
our right relationship with the One Holy Triune God –
EVERYTHING depends on God's willingness to call us Her children,
God's loving us simply because we exist.
God saves us WHENEVER WE BELIEVE
THAT WHAT GOD PROMISES WILL OCCUR –
and we believe this before God's promises are fulfilled –
before they happen.
"Faith" in this context means believing in a particular outcome:
"eternal life for all who believe the words of Jesus,"
"Abraham & Sarah's being the parents of all the nations,"
“David's heir ruling the entire creation,"
the promise to Noah that "never again will God wipe all humankind off the face of the earth,”
and God's eternal and repeated promise to all of us:
to Jews, Christians, Muslims, and all the peoples of the world -
"You will be my people, and I will be your God."
and believing in the outcome BEFORE we see or experience it.
We believe these things, not because we can prove them,
nor only because other people have told us of promises which God kept,
but because WE DECIDE TO TRUST GOD's care and love for us -
NO MATTER THE CIRCUMSTANCES around us,
and NO MATTER OUR PRESENT PERSONAL FEELINGS ABOUT GOD, OURSELVES, OR ANYONE ELSE.
God saves us when we choose to trust in Her.

What does that choice look like?
In early history it involved martyrs praying with rapture on their faces
as the lions rushed toward them.
It has been about POW’s counting the shadows in their cells,
to keep themselves sane,
and old frail men and women walking toward crematories with ancient prayers on their lips.
It is about young bone thin Muslim children who drag their even
younger siblings to refugee camps after the last adult dies.
It is about Monks in Burma who somehow feed their people,
about the Monasteries which saved the history and people of Europe
as the plague swept through in the Middle Ages.
It is about gay men and women of our own times who
come to churches, trusting that God welcomes them,
despite some dreadful words from society, and even death threats from some other Christians.

"Trust in God" in this big context, is about our making a decision.
It is about our living as through good will always triumph over evil
in the end. Why believe that? - because God has said it will.
It is about our living as through new life will always arise out of death,
and as though hope will always spring up
even in the most horribly hopeless mess. (See the World Trade Center site)
It is about our believing, and our living as though
the power of life in creation is itself personally and unchangeably
surging toward new life, joy, hope, trust and love.

"In the Word was life, and that life was the Light of all creation.
the light shines on in the darkness,
and the darkness has never been
able to put it out."

Every Christmas we hear these words, surrounded by beauty,
friends, family, music, candlelight and a thousand lovely traditions.
They feel very true and very real.
Paul wants us to know that we can trust our lives to them in
other and dreadful contexts.
In the middle of Darfur, or Katrina, our children's
or spouse’s deaths, in the middle of job loss,
computer crashes, broken romances, destroyed lives, miserable illness,
and all the other things “which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God.”
Not because we FEEL believing all the time.
Not because we are protected from the evils of the world,
but because GOD has claimed us as ADOPTED CHILDREN,
and God has promised
that nothing in life, death, or creation will ever separate us
from that love, that power which holds us all in life,
and out of whose hands we cannot fall.

Hoping against hope, Sarah and Abraham believed, and so became the mother and father of many nations . . .

"Hoping against hope."
We do so want to have our adoption as children mean that we get
to use God's powerful toolbox as we desire,
to make things come out our way – which almost always means with
us on top and in control.
(I am not the only person here who lines counts the trees in Jack’s forest,
and then lines them up according to height and experience!)

We all want to pilot God's plane, we all want to control the coming
of God's reign and the shape of God's kingdom.
But, my sisters and brothers, trust in God involves
NOT deciding to pilot the plane, but to BE the plane;
NOT to use God's toolbox, but to BE one of God's tools.

This trusting faith - which is the only righteousness available to us mortals -
asks us to believe God’s promises, as did Abraham and Sarah,
and then, trusting those promises, to go out into the
unknown parts of our lives protected, not by a rigid faith formula,
but by the conviction that we are God's people,
and God is our God,
and that, therefore, nothing can ultimately destroy us.
God accepted that trust from the parents of all nations
– as a form of righteousness –
of as the human way of "being good" if you will.
Not because they were good – we all know the biblical stories better than that -
but out of the love for our first parents and for all human beings.
We call that love "God’s grace," when we declare that,
"by grace we are saved."

So here we are – "Mercervilleians, Trentonians, and Hamiltonians."
hearing and looking at the letter our patron has written to us.

This is not an easy time.
We’re going to see and feel a lot of our notions of ultimate sin,
"but we’ve never done it that way before. . .
I don’t know these new people. . .
If only Jack and Susy had done X . . .
Why should I put my time, my money, and my concern in when I don’t know-
and can’t control – what happens next.”

Hey folks – I’m feeling that too – as I know Jack is.
How many of you can imagine - on first thought - my
as a preaching voice in highly conservative,
lower than the proverbial snake’s belly SOUTHERN VIRGINIA??
(Though, do remember folks – it’s WARM down there!)

How can I imagine talking to God without Jack across from me?
It hurts - BUT
after all, I got tossed here – and look what I found!
I trust that when I pick myself up there God will still be my God,
and I will still be one of God’s people.
And although I may not feel like it for a while,
something good is coming because God can be trusted.

The same goes for all the rest of us.
Whatever happens, God is our God,
we are God’s people,
and we’re traveling toward God’s home, to God’s glorious kingdom.
Whether that comes on the winds of heaven tomorrow morning,
or happens only after we die,
We all need to know and believe (even when we don’t believe at all –
remember, “Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief?”)
That God is with us.

That, like the Pharisee whose daughter had died,
like the woman who had been hemorrhaging for years,
and like Abram and Sari handed an infant in their ancient age,
we absolutely can trust in God for we are God’s people.
and God is our God.
. . .
by whom, and with whom and in whom,
all the families of the earth will be blessed.

In nomine . . .

 

For past week's readings and sermons, please visit the archive of sermons.