Rector's Sermon - Sunday, June 16, 2002

First Reading	Psalm	Epistle	Gospel
Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7)	116:1, 10-17	Romans 5:1-8	Matthew 9:35-10:8, (9-23)

      "Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?", God asks Abraham and Sarah. Note that this sentence ends not as a statement, but as a question. It is always the fundamental question posed for people of faith.

      The Bible is a book noted for stories within stories. Sometimes this reflects the many and very different stands of tradition over a great period of time; other times it indicates the remarkable skill of the compilers and editors, and often it is a combination of both. For the generations after them, Abraham and Sarah served as models of consistent and dauntless faith. However, the particular passage from the book of Genesis read this morning, is really about the couples' lack of faith, if not open disbelief. Sarah and Abraham have resigned themselves to being childless. They are not necessarily angry or resentful, they simply had long accepted the fact that whoever their heirs would be, they wouldn't be their own biological children.

      Both Sarah and Abraham hear God reaffirm the ancient promise that they will have descendants, but by this time, the promise just seems nonsense. The vision God offers is just too off base for them to comprehend. Abraham brushes it off in silence, but Sarah is more feisty and dismisses it with a laugh. That's when God poses the question: "Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?"

      Note the episode does not end with Abraham's and Sarah's acceptance. They don't repent and say, "Oh yes, Lord, we were blind, but now we see." Genuine faith is never that pat and easy. The narrative ends, with Sarah and Abraham still resigned to a future without children.

      Now an important point of the story for us is that just because Sarah and Abraham remain doubting, if not completely discounting God's promise, did not mean that God gave up on them. God did not club them with an ultimatum that they had to accept in order for the promise to be effective, rather God just walked away, and left the question hanging. What we know as readers of the continuing Biblical story, is that God's promise did come to pass and Abraham and Sarah's future was not shut down. Within a year, Sarah gave birth to Isaac.

      We often talk of faith on one side, skepticism in the middle and disbelief on the other, but faith is really much further beyond the center of healthy skepticism than disbelief. Daniel Little, a former pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, said that when he had to make some very brave decisions, hoping to gain clarity and understanding in the process of going forward, he was operating beyond his headlights. Faith is indeed like driving on Ellis Hollow Road on a foggy night, counting on the road being there ahead, but not being able to quite see it. The promise of children to Abraham and Sarah at their stage of life, was introducing a reality completely beyond reasonableness, rational possibility, and the human ability to process and comprehend it. God's possibilities often have to be digested in very little pieces for them to make any sense at all.

      That is why the Bible is not necessarily the best reference for "conventional wisdom." I worry about those who would use the Bible as an encyclopedia or almanac for guidance in all their weekly petty and profound decisions about what God would have them do. If you want conventional wisdom read Dear Abby. I do, and most of the time she is very good at what she does. However, the Bible is a history of God shattering the stone walls of our limited ability to dream and hope. God operates on the road beyond our headlights. Faith is difficult and not always reasonable. More than giving answers, the Bible reiterates again and again the ancient question, not forcing it, but leaving it hanging, "Is anything too wonderful for God?"

      And I offer this to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen