Overthinking Faith

 

Friday, June 12, 2020

Genesis 24:1-9

Abraham was now a very old man, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.  One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh.  Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women.  Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac.”  The servant asked, “But what if I can’t find a young woman who is willing to travel so far from home? Should I then take Isaac there to live among your relatives in the land you came from?”  “No!” Abraham responded.  “Be careful never to take my son there.  For the Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and my native land, solemnly promised to give this land to my descendants.  He will send his angel ahead of you, and he will see to it that you find a wife there for my son.  If she is unwilling to come back with you, then you are free from this oath of mine.  But under no circumstances are you to take my son there.”  So the servant took an oath by putting his hand under the thigh of his master, Abraham. He swore to follow Abraham’s instructions.

For each of the last three years this text has jumped off the page each time I read it.  And then, I had no choice but to write what God was saying to my heart.  I went back and read each of those devotional pieces and found the common thread of Abraham living in the faith he proclaimed.  The writer of Hebrews explains:

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance.  He went without knowing where he was going.  And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents.  And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.  Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.  Hebrews 11:8-10

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…the faith, this belief in One whom they could not see, and living in that reality was passed on to successive generations by….well, faith!

By entrusting finding a bride for Isaac to his servant, Abraham was staking the entire future of more than his family to this man; Abraham was putting the witness of God’s faithfulness on the line.  I believe the patriarch had finally learned, at that stage of his long life, to be comfortable with trusting God’s way more than trying to control everything to make it all come out right.  This is not exactly a doctrinal textbook definition of faith, but it sure says what it means to live it on the ground.

By comparison, Abraham’s servant may have been overthinking, rather than serving.  Perhaps he’d been hanging around Abraham too long, and had seen too many of his master’s flaws, lying to the Egyptians, and trying to give God’s promises a little extra insurance by having a backup heir in Ishmael.  The servant, like a cunning politician, wanted every possibility covered.  When he heard Abraham’s instructions, he asked, well, what if…and what if…and what if….  Abrahm’s oldest, most trusted servant was overthinking the issue of faith.  In patient, but no-nonsense faith, Abraham told the man…no what if’s, just do what I asked you…if God doesn’t do what He said, then you’re released from your promise. 

In hindsight, I believe Abraham had learned to trust that what he’d heard from God was to be believed, not overthought.  If God didn’t bring it all to pass, it was Abraham who had misunderstood God, and God would handle even that.

Abraham’s servant took the oath, and, later we find him wondering as he’s looking at Rebekah, is this the one?  The man had sworn an oath, and he was trying his best to fulfill his responsibility, but he just couldn’t help himself trying to make sure.  Abraham’s man may have been his oldest and most trusted servant, but he was also his Overthinker-in-Chief!

Let’s Pray Together:

Father, we’d much rather live like Abraham, trusting You, no matter what the circumstances look like, or what the prevailing culture prescribes we should do, or not do.  Help us to receive for this day Abraham’s kind of faith.

For You Today

One thing is certain about living the faith we proclaim – it ain’t easy!  But, when we do (finally) toss off all our tendency to control our circumstances, and truly let God have those circumstances, the relief and joy of trusting Him is a sure way to discover we don’t need anti-depressants or panic attack drugs to get through another day!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on Genesis 24 see Finding Rebekah and Marrying Wisdom and Faith and The Promise  

The Evidence of Faith

[1]

Thursday, July 11, 2019

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions?  Can that kind of faith save anyone?  Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing.  What good does that do?  So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough.  Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.  Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds?  I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”  You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.  Good for you!  Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.  How foolish!  Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?  Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?  You see, his faith and his actions worked together.  His actions made his faith complete.  And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”  He was even called the friend of God.  So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.  Rahab the prostitute is another example.  She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road.  Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.  James 2:14-26

The Apostle James illustrates faith with the lives of two very different, even unexpected people, Abraham and Rahab; one was a pillar of the community, while the later was the kind of person your mother warned you about.

In teaching us about the nature of faith, as including both belief AND behavior, James throws a curve ball that neither legalists, nor hedonists can handle.  The leagalists among us – those who want to judge others – come in all sizes and shapes, as do the want nothing to do with religion hedonists.  But, in the end, the one unalterable similarity between the two is arrogance.  Legalists, who have the Ten Commandments tattooed on the inside of their eyelids, want to catch people in the act doing their bad stuff and make sure they are exposed.  Hedonists, on the other hand, who are committed to having fun, and whatever else pleases them, don’t much care to please anyone else, God or legalists included.  Both legalists and hedonists are found in the pews on Sundays. 

As a side-note here, I’m sure Satan does his best to make sure they sit near each other to stir the pot of contention.  That’s the only explanation I can find for people who quote the Apostles’ Creed from memory, talk about love, and claim to be people of faith, but act like the Hatfields and McCoys, destroying each other, and thereby making growth in the church an impossibility.

Hatfields and McCoys indeed; I knew a descendant of one of the families…she was a dear lady who was a church member where I served as pastor.  Naomi was just “Nanny” to us, and her sweet disposition would never let you believe she belonged to a warring tribe like the Hatfields.  I asked her one time what the feud was about.  Her answer:  nobody really remembers.  The reason that feud started may not have been important enough to get it right in the history books, but the works speak for themselves:

Thirteen people were killed, eight jailed, one hanged in the war between the Hatfields and the McCoys…it started over a pig.[2]

Our beloved Naomi (Nanny) Perry didn’t exhibit any of the warring characteristics of her forbears; it’s amazing how faith can change even that started by a pig.

For You Today

Whether you hail from an Abraham family, or a Rahab family, whenever the pig wants to start a ruckus, it’s time to remember that you can be better than that.  As the old expression has it, never get into a mud-slinging contest with a pig; you’ll both get mud on you, and the pig loves it!  Rather, let your faith be largely seen by your works of love as you respond to Jesus’ call!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com        Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] What Started the Hatfield and McCoy Family Feud – and How Many People were Killed (not a direct quote…my synopsis summarizes several paragraphs