Iliff and Saltillo UM Churches
Second Sunday of Lent
March 7, 2004
“Believing in the Dark”
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
INTRODUCTION: How do you reassure someone that your word is good? You might do it in several ways. You might say:
1. I cross my heart and hope to die if it is not true
2. You might give “Scout’s Honor”
3. You might meet with your lawyer and come up with a legal contract
4. or maybe reassure someone with a handshake.
There are probably a lot of ways that people reassure others that their word is good. Sometimes a promise is made and the promise is not kept--sometimes deliberately. In campaign promises one politician said, “No wonder Americans hate politics when year in and year out they hear promises made that won’t come true because they don’t even mean them.” The director of one President’s campaign said, “The President has kept all of the promises he INTENDED to keep.” In this world it seems that a lot of promises are not really taken seriously--just made to be broken. Then again some promises are in all good faith intended to be kept but for one reason or the other the parties involved can’t seem to live up to what they originally thought they could do.
In Chapter 12 when Abram was 75 years old, God made some promises to him; and in all good faith, Abram BELIEVED God and set out to do what God asked him to do. The promise involved the giving of land to his descendants, his name was to be great, and through him all people would be blessed.
Abram truly believed that God would make good on these promises. By this time years had gone by. There had been snippets of reassurance throughout the years, but so far the promise just hadn’t come to pass. In Genesis 13:16 the Lord said “all the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted.” But after all these years, it hadn’t happened. How long should he wait? Had he been mistaken? Had he misunderstood?
STORY: A family moved into a new neighborhood and their son had already made new friends. Ten were invited to his birthday party. When the day arrived and he opened his presents, 8 of his friends had brought him a sweater.
Later a comment was made to the mother of one of the boys to explain about the multiplicity of sweaters in the hope that an exchange could be made.
She replied coolly, “Well, after all, you were the one who wrote on the invitation what you wanted me to buy.”
The little boy’s mother was stunned into silence; then she realized what had happened. Since the party was to be held in the basement which was always cool, she had written on each invitation, “Please have your child bring a sweater.”
Abram had done everything God had told him to do over the years. But now he seemed to be believing in the dark. It seemed like a failed dream. Part of the promise depended on someone else--God--who hadn’t fulfilled it. So far God hadn’t come through for him. Circumstances indicated no hope that God WOULD be faithful to His word. He was looking into the darkness and still trying to find a reason to believe God. The promises kept getting delayed. Maybe the Lord saw his faithfulness over the years and decided it was time to reaffirm the promises and to reassure him that He is there as much in the dark as He is when it is light.
But how do you keep believing when there is only one disappointment after another? You pray and there seems to be no answer. Your health doesn’t improve, your job doesn’t get any better, you try your hardest with your finances and you never get caught up. It’s tough to believe in the dark over a long period of time without giving up.
Let’s see what we can get out of today’s scripture.
1. The Word of the Lord Came: God broke into Abram’s darkness with a divine communication. He even called him by name. He came to him early in the morning in a vision and said, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
You would have thought that Abram would have been elated over this news. God is saying, “I throw my shield around you. I have preserved you from the past dangers and also from future perils. Only be strong in your faith. Your reward will be great.”
Abram answered and said, “Yes, Lord, I know this, but that is not what concerns me. You have made promises of my descendants being as the dust of the earth, and I don’t even have ONE son. Lord don’t you realize that ‘a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush?’ I’m not concerned about all of these descendants. I’m only concerned about having ONE son. In fact, I’m going to have to leave my inheritance to my servant Elizer.”
“Oh, Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless. This is the way it will have to be. Nothing else can work out--my servant it will have to be--no children.
Matthew Henry said, “While promised mercies are delayed our impatience is apt to conclude them denied.”
God didn’t get upset with Abram. He just listened to Abram’s rambling. Then he said, “this man will not be your heir. You will have your own son.”
Abram asked a question. He said, “HOW can I know? How will the promise be fulfilled? Not IF it will be. It is here we are reminded of his unwavering faith.
He wanted a clearer light on the subject and fuller knowledge.
STORY: Checking out of the grocery line, a mother noticed that the bag boy was eyeing her two adopted children curiously. They often draw attention since her son’s a blond Russian and her daughter has shiny black Haitian skin.
The boy continued staring as he carried the groceries to the car.
Finally, he asked, “Those your kids?”
She replied proudly, “Yes, they are.”
“They adopted?” he asked.
“Yes, they are,” she replied.
“I thought so,” he concluded. “I figured you’re too old to have kids that small.”
Abram might have felt as if by the time his son came along, he would be considered old enough to be his great-great-great grandfather.
God gave him another snippet of assurance. He says, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you CAN count them. So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5). Abram had been living in tents for years, and he would have been familiar with the stars. God uses something he understood to get the message through to him. He often relates to us through very ordinary lessons from life. The stars or the dust of the earth were enough to give him some hope to go on apparently because it says, “Abram BELIEVED God. Nothing in reality had changed one bit, but he BELIEVED IN THE DARK. “And God credited it to him as righteousness.”
Abram might have said, “God I don’t have a clue about all of this, but I will trust you to figure it all out.”
STORY: A man goes to the doctor and tells him that he hasn’t been feeling well.
The doctor examines him, leaves the room and comes back with three different bottles of pills.
The doctor says, “Take the green pill with a big glass of water when you get up. Take the blue pill with a big glass of water after lunch. Then just before going to bed, take the red pill with another big glass of water.”
Startled to be put on so much medicine, the man says, “Wow doc. Exactly what’s my problem?”
The doctor says, “You’re not drinking enough water.”
Romans 4:18 says, “against all hope, Abram in hope believed...” He didn’t have it all figured out.
2. The Covenant: God had seen Abram’s faith in the dark for many years. It was now time for him to receive the sign he was looking for. In this vision God directed him to prepare a sacrifice according to the ritual that was used for confirming covenants. He was to bring the animals and divide them into two pieces and lay them on two separate altars. Abram knew how to do this. When the sun went down, Abram went into a deep sleep--there was the horror of great darkness and the prediction of the Israelites going into slavery in Egypt where they would be treated cruelly for over 400 years. They would eventually be brought out. All of the details were spelled out for him to see.
Then verses 17, 18 tell us that the sacrifice was accepted. A smoking furnace or firepot signified the affliction of the people in Egypt symbolizing they could not see the end of their trouble. Clouds and darkness would surround them. They were in the furnace of affliction (See Isaiah 48:10), but also there was a burning torch or lamp which symbolized comfort in their affliction. Light symbolizes deliverance out of their troubles and out of this furnace. A reference in Isaiah 62:1 says “their salvation was as a lamp that burneth.”
A smoking firepot and a blazing torch passed between the two altars of sacrifice and consumed it. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.
The act of dividing the animals and walking through the pieces was an ancient form of contractual agreement (See Jer. 34:18). The ritual was so serious that the idea was, “Let this be done to ME if I don’t fulfill the covenant.” God took a ritual that was very familiar to Abram and used it to reassure him that He meant business. As the firepot and torch pass through the pieces, God is saying, “Let this be done to ME if I don’t fulfill my promise.” This was the reassurance that Abram needed to take him through any future dark places.
3. How Can We Believe in the Dark?: As the Lenten Season unfolds moving toward Resurrection Sunday, we look forward to the New Covenant that Jesus death on the cross brought. He became the sacrifice. He promised us forgiveness and cleansing from sin. He promised He will never leave us or forsake us. He is there for us in the dark as well as in the light when everything is going fine for us.
How can we believe in the dark? When we are fearful, when we wonder if God has abandoned us, when we are almost at the point of giving up. When you think you can’t see straight and you feel the heavy weight of circumstances pushing you under.
1. LOOK TO WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR YOU IN THE PAST: He brought Abram out of the Ur of the Chaldees, a place of idol worship and sin. What has God brought you out of in the past? How has He answered prayer? What miracles has he performed? “I am the SAME God who brought you from UR. Can’t I do it again?” Can God? GOD CAN!
2. WATCH YOUR SELF TALK: When it is dark, watch your self talk. Don’t start saying, “things will never be any better for me; I’m a born loser; I’ll never get well; I’ll never get another good job.
WATCH WHO YOU’RE HANGING OUT WITH: People can drag you down. “You’re never going to get any better. You’re just going to have to learn to live with it.” Watch what YOU say and Watch what OTHERS say to you.
3. GET A WORD FROM THE LORD: Pray and search the scriptures until you get a Word from the Lord to stand on. What has your name on it?
4. LOOK UP: Be on the Lookout for things to start changing for you. Don’t be forever rehashing the problem so much that you miss the signs telling you that things are beginning to turn around for you. Habakkuk 2:1 says, “I will STAND at my watch, and STATION myself on the ramparts and I will LOOK TO SEE what he will say to me.”
CONCLUSION & PRAYER:
Faith in Troubled Times
How can I strengthen my faith in troubled times?
When one thing after another comes
into my life to snatch away the little faith I have.
Who can I turn to for help?
When I feel threatened by all kinds of fears,
where can I turn to feel a steadying hand upon my troubled shoulder?
Where is my foundation of faith?
Is it possible to have such faith when my very steps seem insecure?
Lord, you have given me the measure of faith
I need to face any problem.
So often I forget.
Help me to nurture the little faith You have given me.
Help it to grow strong.
Show me how to exercise faith right in the
middle of difficulties.
Help me to believe You in the Dark.
Amen
