Who Do We Trust?

Genesis 15:1-2,17-18   Luke 13:31-35

 

      I have a brother named Tom who is six years older than I am.  When I was in grammar school Tom was my shield and protector.  He did not know that he was.  But if someone a little bigger than me started to pick on me I would say, "Tom Clark is my big brother and if you don't leave me alone you will have to answer to him."  I don't think it had any impact but it sounded good and it made me feel more secure. 

 

     We find two images of God in our Scriptures this morning that are different than the ones that usually come to mind.  In Genesis the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision, "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield."  In Luke Jesus is portrayed as a hen who gathers her brood under her wing.  The image is one of protector.  God made a promise to Abram and God will keep that promise.  God will protect Abram from anything that might keep Abram from having children.   Jesus, as the hen, will protect the chicks from the sly fox, Herod. 

 

      While the images of God may be new, the people do not change.  At first, Abram doubts that God can keep God's promise to give him an heir.  The chicks refuse the protection of the hen.  Their fear of Herod is stronger than their faith in Jesus.

 

       The question that is raised by these passages is on what basis do we determine how we are going to live out our lives.  Will we live them out of fear that God cannot do what God said God would do?  Will we allow the way our lives go to be determined by Herod, the sly fox?  Or will we submit to the protection of God. 

 

       Our fears make us immobile.  If we allow Herod to rule our lives, we have given in to the fox who is trying to kill us.  The hen will protect us, even if it doesn't look like Jesus is able to.  God will be faithful.  So who do we want to be in relationship with, the fox or the hen, Herod or Jesus.  Which one will determine how we live out our lives?  I think the passages are calling upon us to give God's way a chance.

 

     One of the things that God gives us to protect us is the law and the prophets, letting us know that if follow these guidelines we will have quality life.  But by and large we have demonstrated that we think we know better, we don't need God's protection.  We will do it our way and we will come out ok.  The fox has conned us into thinking that we know what is best for us. It sounds very much like the story in the Garden of Eden when the serpent convinced Adam and Eve that he knew what was best for them.   

 

      I think these passages are chosen for Lent is to remind us that we need God.  God will do what is best for us if only we will pay attention and listen.

 

      And I don't think the issue is about being safe.  The friends of Jesus were telling him he would be better off if he got out of the jurisdiction of Herod because Herod was trying to kill him.  It was not safe there.  Jesus responded that he was not going to allow Herod to determine what he did and how he lived.  He was not going to run because Herod was after him.  He was going to do what he was called to do, protect his chicks, even if they refused his protection.  The fox tried to tempt Jesus but Jesus chose to trust in God.  Now the fox was going to tempt Jesus followers.  No matter what Herod did, Jesus would not be deflected from his duty.  Yes, Jesus would die but not before he was ready.  It would take place in God's time, not Herod's time.

 

       Abram is promised land but he is wondering, what good is all of this land if I have no heirs.  Again, God is saying, you will have an heir but it will be in my time.  When the time is right.  You and Sarah have demonstrated that you do not trust me.  What I want you to understand is that you can trust me.  And I want your heirs to understand that they can trust me.

 

        We are called to trust God's future in a deadly present.  Do we take matters into our own hands as Abram and Sarah tried to do when Abram had a child with Sarah's maid, Hagar.  Do we bend our lives to do what we think Herod wants us to to?  Are we going to allow him to determine where we are going?  Or are we going to trust in the power of God, the God who promises to be our shield and protector, even though it is not safe?   

 

        To say we trust in God is to say that our lives will not be controlled by any isms.  We will not be controlled by Marxism, by capitalism, by feminism, by elitism, by humanism.  Our interest is in becoming new people, people who trust in the ways and teachings and salvation of God.  And that is what allows us to be free, free from the isms, free from fear, free from the sly fox, free from sin, free from death.  This trust is not just a nod of the head but a living trust, listening, following, discipleship.  We live in a way that demonstrates that we are in a covenant relationship with God. 

 

       Sometime we hear people say, "Where there's a will, there's a way."  We know that is not always true.  We can't will everything to happen that we want to happen.  But God can.  What God wills happens.  Abram and Sarah will have a son.  Abraham's family will inherit the land.  Jesus will rise from the dead. 

 

       Are we willing to trust in God's purpose?  Are we confident that grace alone will save us? 

 

       Someone might ask, "What good are the gifts of God when it appears that the terrorists are winning?"  Where there is God's will, there is a way.  The question is, Do we believe it?  Are we willing to live our lives trusting in the unseen, when we see makes it look as if the unseen doesn't have a chance?  And in her old age Sarah had a son and they named him Isaac and the broken body of Jesus was raised to new life. 

 

      So who will determine how we live our lives, Herod or God?