Why are we here today? If we relied solely on logical thinking, we might have concluded, as millions of others have, that it would be better to have slept in today, gone to brunch, or participated in a sporting event rather than coming to church. If we used logical thinking alone, we might have concluded that it makes more sense to put the money from our offering in the bank or use it to buy something nice to wear or to pay for another premium television service.
Think for a moment about the first instance in human existence in which someone relied solely on logical thinking. Do you know where that scene comes from? That scene is found in Chapter 3 of the Book of Genesis. The place was the Garden of Eden. There were only two people in the world, Adam and Eve. Eve had been speaking with a serpent who suggested to her that she would eat the fruit from the knowledge of good and evil for then she would become as wise as God. The serpent said, 5 “‘God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Genesis 3:5-6). The logical thinking was presented in verse 6.
- The fruit of the tree was good for food.
- The fruit of the tree was pleasing to the eye.
- The fruit of the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom.
The fruit of the tree was good, pleasing, and desirable. Logically, the correct answer is to eat the fruit, and so the man and woman ate the fruit. But we know the results were disastrous because sin entered the world in the eating of that fruit.
What we learn from this scene is what Augustine, a 4th-century Christian theologian, once said, “We are too frail to find truth by pure reason alone, we need the authority of God’s Word” (Confessions, pg. 116). God had told Adam that to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would result in his death, and it did. The first couple had the authority of God’s Word and chose instead to rely solely on logical thinking.
Why are we here today? We are here today because we desire the authority of God’s Word. We are here today to praise God in song for the authority of His Word, given to us in the form of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible. We are here to listen to God’s Word proclaimed. Why? Because it is the authority of God’s Word that changes lives, not the logic of humanity. And we want our lives to changed to become more and more like that of Jesus Christ.
And so, today, we began by seeing that God’s authoritative word was given to humanity at the beginning, specifically to Adam and Eve. We now fast-forward to God’s authoritative word given to another man, who would begin the story of God’s Chosen People. We move to the story of a man called Abram.
Abram, later known as Abraham, is known to us. His story is a familiar story. The story of Abraham and his descendants spans the Old Testament, from Chapter 12 of Genesis to the final verse of the Old Testament, found in Malachi. How did this massive story of Abram and his family begin? Abram’s story started in the ancient city of Ur. The city of Ur was located on the southern banks of the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq. The city of Ur was then on the shores of the Persian Gulf. But with the actions of winds, waves, and the sea, the location of the city is now 10 miles from the sea. The inhabitants of Ur worshipped the moon god as well as other deities. Abram was one of three sons of a man named Terah. The Bible tells us that, “31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there” (Genesis 11:31). For reasons not given, Terah moved some of his family toward Canaan, think modern-day Israel, following the ancient trade routes, but decided to stop and settle in a place called Harran in modern-day Turkey. Harran was also one of the cities that worshipped a moon god. Perhaps logically, Terah concluded that the city of Harran was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and good for gaining wisdom. Whatever the reason, Terah stopped the family from moving further.
Into the sedentary life in Harran, God sought Abram and intervened in his life. God spoke to Abram. We do not know the way God chose to speak to Abram. We only know that God's way of speaking was overwhelming to Abram. The revelation from God was so clear and powerful that Abram’s beliefs in the moon god and other lesser gods were destroyed. This God who spoke to Abram was like no other experience of Abram, and what God had to say to Abram was like nothing Abram had ever heard before. This God was calling Abram into a new life and promising Abram more than he ever thought possible.
The Bible tells us in Chapter 12 of the Book of Genesis that, “1 The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him’” (Genesis 12:1-4a). This God, whom Abram had not known, called to him in some dramatic way and told him to leave his country, leave his people, and leave his father. God called Abram to leave his old life behind and accept a new life guided by God. God promised seven things in return for Abram’s obedience to God. God said:
- I will make you a great nation.
- I will bless you.
- I will make your name great.
- You will be a blessing.
- I will curse those who curse you.
- I will bless those who bless you.
- By you, all families will be blessed.
And “4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him” (Genesis 12:4a). It was precisely at this moment in time when Abram followed God that God approved Abram. Had Abram considered God speaking to him solely through logical thinking, he would never have followed God. Abram was safe, comfortable, cared for, and secure where he lived with his father in Harran. Now this God, whom Abram did not know, was calling him to leave everything behind and go to some land that Abram knew not. Ancient people were deeply rooted in their lands, their fellow citizens, and especially their fathers. They did not break from them. Logically, the answer from Abram would have been “No thanks. I am fine where I am.”
But there was authority in God’s Words that Abram had never experienced before. Abram understood through that encounter that God’s sovereignty and authority were above all, and it overwhelmed the logical thinking of humanity. And so, Abram followed God. In that instant of following God, Abram showed faith.
We speak of faith often. Someone might ask you, “Are you a person of faith?” But what is faith? The Bible says, “1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). This is a fine statement, but what does it mean? The primary idea of faith is trust. Abram demonstrated faith in God, that is, trust in God, when he acknowledged two things. First, Abram acknowledged God's promises. Second, Abram trusted in God’s power to fulfill His promises. Faith, then, is believing God’s promises and trusting in His power to fulfill those promises. By faith, by trusting in God, Abram set out for the land of Canaan and began a new life, chronicled for us in all the remaining pages of the Old Testament.
What then can we come to understand about our life in the context of the life of Abram? We start again at the beginning with the question, “Why are we here today?” We are here because we recognize, as Abram did, and as Adam and Eve discovered, that we are too frail, too susceptible to selfish motivations, to navigate through this life solely on logic alone. We have come to recognize that we need God's authority in and over our lives. We need God’s authority, as given to us in the stories of Abram and his descendants, Isaac, Jacob, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, and Malachi, and numerous others who formed God’s chosen people. They were God’s chosen people, not because they were the strongest, but because God called them into a covenant with Him, through which He could invest His wisdom and authority in them to be a light to others. God invested His Word into the lives of the people of the Old Testament, calling them, correcting them, and loving them as a nation. And when the time was right, God sent His own Son, Jesus, to fulfill among the chosen people what they could not achieve on their own, and for Jesus then to establish a new covenant not with a nation but with each person.
In recognition of the new covenant, the followers of Jesus compiled the next chapter in God’s story, the New Testament, providing understanding of the work of Christ and the faith, the trust, that people placed in Him. We would read from that New Testament these enduring and powerful words, “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all humanity. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth…17b Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:1-5, 14, 17b). Jesus came as the powerful, authoritative Word of God.
As we said earlier, we do not know how God appeared to Abram and called Abram to follow God into a new life. But we do know how God appeared in the New Testament to call people to himself and into a new life. He appeared in the flesh, fully God and fully human, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The message of Jesus was consistent and straightforward. “The time is now. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15).
This time, there would be no need to move to a new land for a new life with God. Now was a time to live that new life apart from yet among the corrupt traditions of one’s country, fellow citizens, and father’s household. People did not need to physically separate themselves from the land or their father’s household, but separation would still occur. Jesus said, “34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37 Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:34-39). The cost of discipleship—the cost of living under God's authority—would be high. But the first promise of Christ to those who would obey him was life for whoever “loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39b).
There would be more promises of Jesus to those who would follow Him.
Salvation - “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37).
Usability - “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).
Guidance - “I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice” (Luke 6:47).
Rest and Renewal - “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
The Holy Spirit - “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever" (John 14:16)
Eternity in Heaven - “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3).
Like Abram, when we acknowledge the promises of God through Jesus Christ and trust in His power to fulfill what He has promised, we have shown faith. In our showing of faith, we are, in the moment, approved by God. We have entered the kingdom of God through the promises and the completed work of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. We do not solely do this by logical thinking. We do this because of the authority of God’s word.
If you have accepted Jesus and his promises, you have received the good news and entered the kingdom of God. You must therefore live as one who is following Jesus and the new life He has given you.
However, if you have not accepted Jesus and his promises, if you have not yet trusted Jesus, I invite you today to place your life under God’s authority. Consider how impossible it is to live your life guided by your own thinking and your own ways. Instead, accept God’s promises through Jesus for salvation, rest, and guidance, and acknowledge that God, who created the heavens and earth and all therein, certainly has the power to fulfill His promises. That is why we are here.
For all of us, let us live by faith and let God, through Jesus Christ, show us how. Amen and Amen.