Proper 14 August 8, 2004.

Genesis 15:1-6

Psalm 33:12-22

Hebrew 11:1-3, 8-16

Luke 12:32-40

All of these readings help us hear what faith is and how faith comes to us. The Genesis story of Abram's frustration and YHWH's promises shows a faithfulness in Abram that is beyond sensibility, praised in a litany of sentences in Hebrews that begin with the words "by faith." It is as if the repetition itself means to create what it describes. (And perhaps this is not far off the mark, given the necessity for return again and again to the stories that feed exactly that faith.) Then, in Luke we are assured that there is no need to fear, "for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (LK 12:32). Be ready, in other words, for that which the Lord wills for you. Be expectant. Have faith.

Yet these readings do not tell us clearly what we long to know: how we can actually have faith in the face of what is missing in our lives. Like Abram and Sarai, we ask the Lord "What will you give me?" for all that is lacking and all that is desired for the world and its creatures, for the nations, for communities, and for our families and selves. YHWH's answer to Abram's expressed fears over his future is a promise that Abram and Sarai will receive what they hope to receive. And more: They will have countless progeny. Genesis says that this promise was all Abram needed to believe and that his faith alone is what gave him righteousness. Hebrews tells us that "by faith Abraham obeyed.... By faith he stayed.... By faith he received power...." Jesus' words in Luke insist that the "Son of Man is coming" (v. 40). The hoped-for fulfillment of ultimate freedom from fear and desire will arrive. But we cannot know the hour.

What, exactly, is it to have this faith? This is a tricky question, and it is the key to this Sunday's observance. The Genesis reading provides a helpful word in the promise YHWH gives to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great" (v. 1). The important word is reward. It sounds like YHWH is making a deal with Abram: If you do such-and-such, you will receive a prize.

People of faith stumble over these sorts of exchanges in scripture because we have grown accustomed to thinking in terms of conditional arrangements--the if/then setups so often at least implied, if not explicitly stated, in scripture. It is logical, we suppose, that if someone upholds his or her end of a bargain, the result will be positive. We have a hard time wrapping our minds around the prospect that a consequence could also be a promise. In that complexity of thought lies all manner of division among people of faith. In it, however, we can also find all manner of beauty, for with God's will, the journey is also the goal.

But to arrive at such a conclusion, it is necessary to back up and look at the rich and curious language used in the Genesis text; in the words themselves we find clues for untangling misleading ideas about God. The word for reward in Hebrew is skar, which Walter Brueggemann says must be thought of as a wage that is a gift rather than something earned. In his Genesis commentary Brueggemann writes, "trusting is not the cause of fulfillment, for that would reduce things to quid pro quo," yet "only those who hope will be given the gift" (p. 141). This is not logical, of course, because we think of trust resulting from experiences that tell us we can anticipate a certain outcome. I work hard, therefore I make a living. We don't readily mess up this pattern if we say it backward: I have a livelihood, therefore, I work. But from the paradoxes offered in scripture through both narratives and doctrinal constructions, we recognize that the reward promised to Abram is, in fact, more than just the child Isaac, it is faith itself.

Thinking of wage as a gift requires redefining wage so that it means something other than the translation of work into money (or goodies received in exchange for a favor). This isn't easy for us to do. We are utterly acclimated to the if/then notion that a wage is due as a result of someone's expenditure of energy, time, self, or resources. What this if/then equation ignores, however, is that all of life is a gift. Everything given to Abram and Sarai came from God. Everything we have has been handed to us by the One who creates and sustains all of life. Even extreme faith does not turn what we are given into something that was owed us by our efforts. It's merely self-flattery to think so.

Furthermore, it is necessary to conceive of the reward in a new way. The reward is not simply what Abram will receive one day but what enables him to live each day. The reward--or gift seemingly resulting from faith--is both the outcome of faith and faith itself. In concrete terms, Abraham and Sarah's reward is the birth of their child from whom innumerable descendants will follow.

The result of faith is clearly deeper than its concrete manifestations. We are cautioned by the definition of faith in the Hebrews text that what can be seen is not really what faith is about. Faith exists in the present (it has "assurance" in the present) for what will come to be in the future ("things hoped for"). This invisible reality of faith is made accessible to us through the witness of our ancestors and through those in our communities of faith today who have, likewise, ventured into places they could not know would come to fruition. Still, they went.

These texts do not actually define faith. Instead, they give--as was given to Abram--a vision of what is true about faith. It enables the next step. It is a posture of being ready to receive a gift. It is completely irrational. It is utterly foolish. Luke asserts what is probably both a fact and a promise: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (v. 34). What is of greatest import to a life lived with faith is to strip away everything that obscures the treasure. We would generally rather cater to our fears and all sorts of distractions, heaping upon our hearts unnecessary bulwarks, because we are never quite sure that we can really trust in the word of God. Thus, Luke says that Jesus advised the disciples to "sell your possessions, and give alms ... be dressed for action." Be ready, because it is in a state of just such expectancy that the master will appear. The One whose word created all that exists out of all that we cannot see is the one through whom faith is given.