Genesis 15: 1–12, 17–18 / Psalm 27 / Philippians 3: 17 – 4: 1 / Luke 13: 31–35
This is the homily given at St. Paul’s
Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on Saturday, March
15, 2025 and Sunday, March 16, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker.
“HOPE, HOPELESSNESS, FAITHFULNESS & FRUITFULNESS”
(Homily texts: Genesis 15: 1–12, 17-18
& Luke 13: 31 – 35)
Not too long, ago, we were driving
through the small community of Saint Thomas, Pennsylvania. As you enter Saint
Thomas from the east, traveling west on US 30, Saint Thomas Lutheran Church is
on the right on the east side of town.
On the front lawn of the church, there
is a small, white sign which reads, “God’s Got This”.
My wife noticed the sign and said that
it was a refreshing reminder that God is, ultimately, in control, even at times
when we can’t see God’s plans or God’s hand at work in the events of life as
they unfold.
“God’s Got This” might be a good way to
characterize the situations that are presented to us by our reading from
Genesis, and our Gospel reading from Luke, the thirteenth chapter.
In Genesis, we encounter Abram[1] and
Sarai as they agonize over the reality that they are getting older, and – as
yet - they had not had any children. Their circumstances seem hopeless. In much
the same way, Jesus agonizes over the seeming lack of fruitfulness in His
ministry.
The themes of a lack of hope and a lack
of fruitfulness tie the Genesis reading and the Gospel reading together.
But the themes of faithfulness and –
therefore – fruitfulness, are also present in each account.
In each case, God asserts that He is in
control, that He’s “Got This”.
Let’s look in more depth at each
situation.
Abram complains to God that he has no
heir, and that Eliezer of Damascus (a member of Abram’s wider community, but
not a blood relation) is due to become Abram’s heir. In response, God says – in
essence – “I’ve Got This”, and you, Abram and Sarai, will have your very own
son in the fulness of time.
Genesis tells us that Abram’s faith was
“reckoned to him as righteousness”, and yet, the route to faithfulness to God’s
plan took some interesting turns. Abram didn’t follow God’s direction
completely and immediately. He had to commit some missteps before coming into
alignment with God’s design. Recall with me that Sarai said to her husband
that, perhaps, Abram ought to take her slave, Hagar, to be Abram’s wife, so
that he could have a son through her. But God intervenes and says that isn’t
the plan: The son promised by God is to be the fruit of Abram and Sarai’s
marriage.
The problem is that Sarai is now old (as is Abram,), and she is no longer of child-bearing age. (The King James Version of the Bible quaintly describes Sarai’s condition this way: “It had ceased to be with Sarai after the manner of women”.)[2]
Eventually, Abram and Sarai are
faithful, conceiving Isaac naturally. It is through Isaac that the blessings
God promised will be realized.
Now, let’s fast-forward about 2,000
years. We find our Lord Jesus looking over the city of Jerusalem, lamenting the
seeming lack of fruitfulness of His labors to bring God’s truths to God’s
people.
It must have been a depressing sight,
seeing the city lying before Him, and knowing the level of corruption,
misplaced priorities and self-serving leaders of God’s people who were in
control there.
The level of deceit and evil will come
to reality in the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
The depth of our Lord’s humanity is
seen in His lament.
And yet, the course of His faithfulness
to God’s plan can be seen in His comment response to Herod’s threat to kill
Him, and in His comment about the city of Jerusalem: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the
city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to it….” It is clear that He
will be faithful on the road that leads to Good Friday.
Knowing what we know about the nature
of the power structures that were in place in Jerusalem during the time of our
Lord’s ministry, it shouldn’t surprise us that the powers that existed then: The
Chief Priests, the Scribes, Pharisees, the Herodians and the occupying Romans,
could all manage to set aside their various differences to deal with – and
eliminate – any threat to their positions and power.
“God’s Got This” was true in Abram’s
case, and in our Lord Jesus’ journey to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. That
doesn’t mean that the journey for any of these was easy. Far from it.
Because we believe that “God’s Got
This”, it might be a logical conclusion to think that coming to such a
realization is an easy thing. But the events in Abram’s life and in Jesus’ work
tell us a different story.
Christians have wrestled with this
reality before, and we continue to wrestle with it today.
In the mid-second century, a person
named Marcion claimed that God simply wants to shower us with good things. Marcion
focused on the pleasant things of our walk of faith, and rejected all the hardships
and difficulties that often lie in our pathway. The Church rejected Marcion’s
views.
Today, Marcion’s ideas survive in a
somewhat different form, something known a the “Prosperity Gospel”, the idea
that following the Lord leads to good things and all sorts of blessings, but
little else.
Our task is to come to the realization
that “God’s Got This”, and to patiently seek to understand God’s plan.
God’s plan will be better than any one
we can think of or imagine. (That is certainly my own life’s experience!)
But coming to the knowledge of God’s
plan will sometimes involve waiting, watching, and – perhaps – a few missteps.
If we believe that “God’s Got This”, then we can affirm, with St. Paul, these words from his letter to the early churches in Rome: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”[3] Then, a bit later on, Paul affirms that nothing can separate us from God’s love.[4]
Perhaps John Newton, the author of the
text to the hymn “Amazing Grace”, had this same sentiment in mind when he
wrote:
“Through
many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come.
‘Tis
grace that brought me safe thus far,
And
grace will lead me home.”
Indeed, we believe that “God’s Got
This”. Thanks be to that same God.
AMEN.
[1] At this point in the Genesis narrative,
neither Abram nor Sarai’s names have been changed. In time, Abram will become
Abraham, and Sarai will become Sarah.
[2] Other translations offer similar wording.
[3] Romans 8:31b
[4] Romans 8:39
