Title: Living by Faith in God's Promises
Genesis 12:1-4a, 2 Timothy 1:8b-10, John 3:1-17
There is no such thing as tyranny. When we encounter such absurd things in our lives, we become absurd. But in our lives, such absurd things are not uncommon.
Abram, the protagonist of today's text, must have been like that too. One day the Lord said to Abram: “Abram, leave your country and your relatives and your father’s house and go to the land I will show you” (verse 1).
The following words sound more absurd from a human point of view.
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and you will be a blessing” (verse 2).
Perhaps Abram could have thought so.
‘If you want to be blessed, you have to start from where I am now, how can I do it without leaving here?’
Abram's thinking was not wrong. At that time, leaving your hometown in an accident meant leaving your home to protect yourself. Leaving a relative means losing the foundation to support and support you. Leaving the father's house means giving up the inheritance after the father. In the end, you are told to give up all your wealth, power, protection, and sponsorship and leave. In fact, when Abram first heard the word of God, he must have felt very absurd.
There is an old proverb that says, “One word pays off a thousand nyang debt.” Just as the words 'ah' and 'uh' are different, it means that good things will happen if you speak with consideration for the situation at the time and the other person. But the words and deeds of the landlord mentioned earlier make the tenants angry. It feels like the tyranny of those who have it. “Would you mind going to the auction and not getting one? Or would you like to lose 10 million won and leave with gratitude?” That's rude and outrageous. Words like this make you lose your trust in the owner of the building. And when the tenant looks at the owner, this is what he thinks.
‘Is it possible that I already knew this was going to happen and stole everything?
A couple of tenants put their heads together and gather all their wisdom, but only sighs. There are thoughts running through my head, startled by the sudden event and angry at the owner's attitude.
‘Can we really trust the landlord?’
Could Abram have had the same thoughts?
‘Can I Really Trust Jehovah?’
Because it seems too reckless to give up all the vested interests you have and go where you do not know where Jehovah is pointing. They told me to give up property, give up protection, give up supporters, and even give up inheritance, but there was nothing in sight. It was just a promise. In the end, it was Abram's choice whether to trust this word or not.
In this way, it is also our choice whether to believe or not to believe what the other person says. Also, the consequences of those choices are ours. But Abram believed the word of the Lord. At that time, Abram had nothing. There is only one! It was only the word of God's promise. But Abram believed the word of promise and gave up everything and left.
The Bible refers to Abraham as the father of faith. Although there was nothing in sight, it was because Abram had the faith to see the word of promise and move forward.
Through Abram, we see and feel what it means to believe and live the promises of God, the promises of the invisible God. It is not something that can be easily described simply as a schema of 'believe in the promise and was blessed' as a result. He believed the promise, left his hometown, and lived according to the word, but Abram was nervous between hope and frustration, faith and doubt, God's guidance and living according to his judgment, and he had to pay the price well.
The Bible also delivers many promises to us. Although we cannot see them, we cannot touch them, we cannot feel them, but when we believe in these words, we too can become a source of blessing like Abram, and when we do not believe, we can simply live a normal life. The choice is ours. What would you choose?
Abram followed the promise and took the first step on a long, aimless journey. We know that that first step was the first step towards the fulfillment of a great promise. Abram had nothing to see or grasp, but he took a great step by faith in the word of promise.
After 25 years of waiting and faith to leave his hometown to get Isaac, Abram establishes very important principles of life.
1) Safety is what God protects.
2) Obsession with material things prevents us from remembering God's promises.
3) What is important in choices and decisions is the priority in life.
4) The scope of the promise must be viewed with faith, not arbitrariness.
5) Wait for God rather than hasty alternatives.
Even today, we need that very step of faith. It is by no means easy to believe and live the promises of the invisible God. However, we only need faith to take one step at a time, trusting in the word of the Lord and expecting the blessings He will give us.
Today, on the second Sunday of Lent, how much do we believe in the promise of God's plan for us and the footsteps of Jesus who came to fulfill that plan?
It is up to us to choose whether to believe the Word or not. But when we take our steps with pure faith in God's promises, we will eventually experience the blessed journey God has made in our path.