Second Sunday in Lent Year C (Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18)  02-28-2010

Just over six years ago, I started the discernment process for ordained ministry. The decision to begin the process of discernment has many considerations, especially if that journey is started in the middle of one’s life. There are practical matters of family and finances to consider; there are the important spiritual matters of God’s call to consider; and there is the seemingly “all important” question to consider: what time seems to be the “right” time to begin such an undertaking. All of these considerations were elements of the many discussions we had regarding my possible call to the priesthood, especially with two teenagers living at home. We initially considered waiting until the kids were off to college, but finally decided the present time was best, as long as everything moved along as we expected. The process went smoothly during my parish discernment and I promptly submitted my paperwork for the Diocesan discernment weekend, which is held only once per year. After submitting my paperwork to the Diocese in early June, I waited to hear about my participation in the discernment weekend that would be held in February. After weeks of waiting, I heard nothing; the weeks turned into months, and I still heard nothing. Finally, at the Diocesan Convention in November, I approached the man in charge and asked him about my participation. He informed me that the Diocesan staff had expected 7 or 8 candidates…and they currently had 14 candidates, far too many people for one weekend. He told me he would randomly select 7 or 8 people for the coming weekend in February and the remaining people must wait an additional year. In one short instant, all of my efforts appeared to be in vain and the expectations of my perfect timeline were in doubt…and the uncertainty filled me with despair.

This morning in our first lesson, we hear Abram’s conversation with God and we hear Abram filled with some despair. We hear Abram seeking to understand the events in his life and we hear Abram’s apparent confusion of how these events fulfill God’s promises to him. God’s promises to Abram are told to us in Chapter 12 of Genesis: Abram, a man of 75 years, was asked by God to leave his homeland with his wife and family and journey to Canaan. God promised Abram that he would be blessed by God with vast amounts of land, numerous offspring, and the continual blessings of God. Abram believed God and left his homeland as instructed. After many years of journeying and a few challenging experiences, Abram and his family are settled in Canaan and are enjoying the vast land and wealth promised by God, but Abram and his wife, Sarai, remain childless. Abram is an old man and Sarai has never had a child; so Abram now believes that God’s promise of numerous offspring can only be fulfilled by adopting his servant, Eliezer of Damascus. The adoption of his slave is not how Abram envisioned the fulfillment of God’s promise of numerous offspring, but Abram cannot imagine any other solution. This morning, we hear Abram speak to God in an intimate and heartfelt way, deeply desiring his own offspring and questioning God’s plan for him. Some biblical scholars call Abram’s questions to God, Abram’s “crisis of faith.” Certainly, Abram is confused and is expressing his despair, but I am not convinced he is experiencing a crisis of faith in God.

In his commentary on our lesson this morning, Jon D. Levenson writes, “Faith does not mean believing in spite of the evidence. [Faith] means trusting profoundly in a person, in this case the personal God who has reiterated his promise [to Abram].”[i] And I believe Abram does trust God profoundly, but after years of faithful obedience to God’s instructions, Abram is becoming anxious to know what the future holds for him and his family. Abram believes in God, Abram trusts in God, but Abram’s challenge is that he continuously attempts to fulfill God’s promises by his own actions, rather than waiting for God to act. In chapters of Genesis that follow our lesson, Abram and Sarai will again attempt to fulfill God’s promise of numerous offspring through their own plans, as Abram has a child with Sarai’s maid-servant Hagar. Again, God reiterates his covenant with them and claims them as his own, in the very intimate and biblical way of giving them new names – Abraham and Sarah. But God acts in his own time and in his own way, fulfilling the covenant with Abraham in ways that are beyond Abraham’s current understanding.

God is constantly at work in our lives as well, and God acts in his own time and in his own way in our lives. Abraham is an example for us, in his experiences he shows us that waiting for God can sometimes be difficult. As we faithfully wait for God to show us the way; as we faithfully wait for God to bestow his grace upon us, we can be tempted to help God along the way; tempted to help God see things our way, perhaps. But the foundation of our faith is based upon God, and God alone. The British author, C.S. Lewis writes this insightful thought about faith: “Never, never pin your whole faith on any human being: not if that person is the best and wisest in the whole world. There are lots of nice things you can do with sand; but do not try building a house on it.”[ii] If we are to build the house of our faith on the sure footing of rock and not the fragile foundation of sand, we must wait for God. As the Psalmist proclaims: “God, you are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me.” (Psalm 31:3)

After several more weeks of worrisome waiting, the Diocesan office sent me a letter informing me that I would be participating in the upcoming discernment weekend in February. As it turned out, there were several qualified people who happily volunteered to lead the discernment groups and all 14 candidates were permitted to participate in the same weekend. Although I was relieved that I was still on my original timeline, I must admit I wondered what I might have done if things had gone differently. How would God have bestowed his grace upon my family and me during that extra year of waiting? And, in that time of waiting, would our hearts and minds have been open to God’s work in our lives. “Abraham believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.” We believe in the Lord, and during this holy season of Lent, through prayer and the study of God’s Word, we have an opportunity to draw close to God, allowing God’s blessings to wash over us, cleansing our spirits and opening our hearts and minds to God’s grace in our lives. May we take the opportunity of Lent to faithfully wait on the Lord and build our lives on the strong foundation of God’s grace. Amen.

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[i] Jon D. Levenson, “Commentary on Genesis” in The Jewish Study Bible, Tanakh Translation, edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 35.

[ii] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Bk. IV, Chapter 7, para 9, 163.