Reading for Tuesday, 3rd Week of Lent

Romans 4:13-25

“No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” (Rom 4:20-21)

If today’s reading sounds familiar, it’s because I preached on this reading a few Sundays ago. Paul has tried to make clear that our salvation is not merit-based, but depends entirely on God’s sheer grace, and our response of faithful trust. To prove that point to skeptical Jewish Christians, Paul points to their forefather, Abraham, pointing out that God’s promises to him came before the commandment of circumcision, and the giving of the law to Moses. In short, it was Abraham’s trust of God, which God counted as righteousness.

Read the whole story of Abraham and Sarah (chapters 12-25 of Genesis), and you might conclude that Paul over-stated Abraham’s faith at least a little bit. Twice, Abraham and Sarah go to a foreign land, and fearful of being murdered so that his wife will become available, Abraham passes her off as her sister. And twice, the local ruler almost commits adultery with her unknowingly, and making her bear children who wouldn’t be Abraham’s.

Then there’s the time that they agreed that Abraham would take Sarah’s slave, Hagar, and Abraham would have a child that would be “Sarah’s.” Eventually, Abraham had to send Hagar and her son, Ishmael, into the desert. The Arabic people of today consider Ishmael their ancestor. Little wonder, perhaps, that the children of Isaac and Ishmael don’t get along with each other very well.

Ultimately, however, Abraham did trust God’s promise that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed. His faith was, in fact, a lot like ours, with its ups and downs. His faith, like ours, was a process of growth and development. And so, in both our trust and our doubt, we truly are the children of Abraham.