Genesis 17: 1–7, 15–16; Psalm 22: 22–30;
Romans 4: 13–25; Mark 8: 31–38
This
is the homily that was given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday,
February 25, 2018, by Fr. Gene Tucker.
“PEERING INTO THE FUTURE, INTO THE UNKNOWN”
(Homily texts: Genesis 17: 1–7, 15-16, Romans 4: 13-25 &
Mark 8: 31-38)
Our
Old Testament reading from Genesis, and our Gospel text from Mark portray
journeys of faith.
In
Genesis, we hear the account of God’s reiteration of His earlier promise to
Abraham[1], that
Abraham would be the father of many peoples. (As part of this promise, God
changes Abraham’s name from Abram, meaning “father of people” to Abraham,
meaning “father of the people”.)
Now,
we fast-forward to our Gospel text, where we read Peter’s rebuke of Jesus when
he hears Jesus foretell His death, and Jesus’ famous reply, “Get behind me,
Satan!”
The
link that binds Abraham’s journey of faith to Peter’s journey of faith is an
uncertain future. Abraham, in the verses that immediately follow today’s
passage, falls on his face, laughing, and saying to himself, “Shall a child be
born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old,
bear a child?” To Abraham, God’s promise that his descendents will be many
seems like an impossibility.
Similarly,
when Peter hears Jesus’ prediction that, when He reaches Jerusalem, he will be
rejected and will be killed, Peter can’t believe that this sort of a future is
– or should be – a possibility.
In
each case, however, God has given Abraham and Peter a foundation for having
faith….Abram had been led by God ever since he left Ur of the Chaldeans. Even
there, God tested Abram, saying to him, “Go from your father’s house to the
land that I will show you.” Notice
that God didn’t tell him where, exactly, he was to go.
Likewise,
Peter had witnessed Jesus’ miraculous healings, Jesus’ walking on water, His
feeding of the 5,000 and then the 4,000. Surely, whatever wonder Peter and the
other disciples had about Jesus’ nature, they surely had no doubt that God was
working through Him.
Each
man had a basis for facing the future, uncertain though it was.
Our
journey of faith is similar to the experience of Abraham and Peter….we are
given by God some basis for knowing God’s power and God’s presence in our
lives. We need only to look over our shoulders at our life’s trajectory to this
point to see some evidence of God’s moving, acting and presence.
After
all, the biblical accounts serve the purpose of recording for us the journeys
of faith of heroes like Abraham and Peter, who, though they doubted at times,
though they didn’t trust God’s promises at times, were – in the end – able to
face the future and to emerge from that future in God’s stead.
May
the Holy Spirit enlighten us to see God’s working in our lives in the past,
that we may face an uncertain future with assurance and faith. AMEN.
