Lent
II – A
February
17th, AD 2006
Meadowvale
Lutheran Church, Mississauga Pastor Peter Lisinski
“HISTORY
OF SALVATION"
(Genesis
12:1-7; John
3:1-17)
The first
eleven chapters of Genesis consist primarily of myths. The stories of creation,
Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah's ark, and the Tower of Babel -- have their
origin in the misty fog of prehistoric time.
But with story of Abram's call at the beginning of Genesis 12, which we
heard in today's first lesson, we cross the threshold of recorded
history.
My Funk
& Wagnalls dictionary defines history as a "branch of knowledge
concerned with past events, especially those involving human affairs."
History is his story -- the story of man, to put it in the politically
incorrect language of a bygone age. And,
like all other history books, the Bible is concerned with past events involving
human affairs; but unlike most other history books, the Bible is more concerned
with God's involvement in human affairs. In
the Bible his story means God's story -- the story of God's unfolding plan of
salvation~
At the
beginning of his story of salvation, God promises Abram and his wife, Sarai,
three things: to give them the land
of Canaan; to make of them a great nation; and to bless the whole world through
their faithful obedience. But not
one of God's promises was fulfilled in their lifetime! In fact, almost six hundred years passed before the first of
God's promises came to pass! Abram
and Sarai continued to wander from place to place for the first hundred years.
Because of drought and famine their descendants eventually emigrated to
Egypt -- the ancient world's land of opportunity -.- where they ended up as
slaves for more than four hundred years! And
after their exodus from slavery they spent another forty years wandering in the
wilderness before finally arriving and settling in the promised land of Canaan!
The Bible
tells that story in the book of Joshua (6:20-21; 11:19-20)
"When
the walls of Jericho fell down flat, the people charged into the city and
devoted to destruction by the sword all in the city, both men and women, young
and old....For it was the Lord's will that they might be utterly destroyed, and
receive no mercy, but be exterminated..."
Because
of our constant exposure to pictures in our newspapers or on our TV screens --
from the Middle East; now from Afghanistan and Iraq, and most recently from
Kenya -- we can well imagine that Israel's conquest of Canaan must have been as
violent and bloody a campaign of genocide as any human history has ever seen.
But what is even more disturbing is that, according to the Bible, these brutal
acts of war and terrorism were committed in the name of God, with the blessing
of God, and even at the command of God!
But were
they really intended to be part of his story?
Or did Israel's commander-in-chief misunderstand God's will, or perhaps
even misuse God's name -- that is, take God's name in vain -- to justify such
acts of war and terrorism? We can't
know for sure. But we do know for sure that interpreting the Bible literally is
dangerous. It continues to ignite
hostility and fuel the conflict over land between Palestinians and Israelis!
And Christian fundamentalists in the U.S. continue to pressure their
government to support Israel because they believe preserving Israel’s ancient
biblical boundaries is necessary for the fulfillment of their bizarre,
end-of-the-world scenario of a nuclear holocaust!
It is often
said, "Those who fail to understand history are doomed to repeat it."
How much more so when it comes to his that is, God's -- story?
This week
I've been reading the book, "I Am A Palestinian Christian" written
by Mitri Raheb, pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem.
It has been most helpful in understanding his --that is God's -- story of
salvation. Pastor Mitri writes,
"The
Old and New Testaments are the records and written accounts of various
experiences human beings have had with the one God....And God's promise to
Abraham (stands) at the very beginning of this story:
‘In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed'.
As Christians we recognize that we have roots in common with the Jewish
people. But we cannot stop there... Muslims too understand themselves
to be descendants of Abraham." (1995, pp. 59-60, 72)
And, of
course, we cannot even stop there! Abraham’s
story of salvation is God's story of salvation, and his story of salvation is
your story of salvation, my story of salvation, the world's story of salvation.
God's promise of blessing is not limited only to the people of Israel,
the Christian church or Islam --all of whom trace their faith
ancestry back to Abraham. It is intended for Hindus and Buddhists, for people of all
nations and all faiths -- even for people of no faith at all. His -- that is God's -- story of salvation is the story of
all people, in all times and in all places, written in the indelible ink of the
crucified Jesus Christ's precious blood! As
John says in today's Gospel: "For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son...that the world might be saved
through him."
It is your
privilege, and mine, to hear God's story of salvation, to believe his story, and
to tell his story so that all people may be written into his story, and share
the universal blessing of salvation God entrusted first to Abraham, and has now
entrusted to us.