Abraham and Rahab

After James 2:14-26 

The writer cites

two examples

of faith with works:

first, Abraham,

who demonstrated

he would give up

what was most

precious if that’s

what God asked;

and Rahab, who

hid the spies,

risking arrest

and death if 

they were found. 

One would 

sacrifice his son,

the other would

sacrifice her

freedom and life.

Both showed faith 

in action; both

showed faith

plus works.

 

Photograph by Gabriel Lamza via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“None Other Lamb,” poem by Christina Rossetti – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

The Trouble Underneath – Seth Lewis.

 

One Step Becomes a Three-Day Walk – Timarie Friesen.

It is faith

After Galatians 3:7-14 

It is faith

that makes you

sons, heirs,

Abraham’s heirs,

and it’s clear

all nations

will be blessed

by the faith

of Abraham,

the word knowing,

anticipating,

understanding

what was to come,

that all nations,

not only one, 

would be blessed

by the faith

of one man.

 

Photograph by Billy Pasco via Unsplash. Used with permission.

An old man

After Galatians 3:1-9 

An old man, 75,

a barren wife,

no earthly hope

for children,

for an heir.

And he’s told

his descendants

will outnumber

the grains of sand

on the seashore.

We might be

excused our smiles,

our doubts, but

even we can see

across two-and-a-half

millennia that it was

his faith that 

mattered.

He believed.

He was blessed.

 

Photograph by Donald Teel via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Abraham's legacy

After Galatians 3:1-9 

The inheritance is handed

down from Abraham, a man

whose faith, whose faithfulness,

was credited to him as

righteousness. It began with

him, the man who believed

(not the man who did or

the man who accomplished).

It is this faith which defines

who the sons, the heirs, are.

Nothing else. It is not

obedience to law, it is not

performance, it was nothing

Abraham did, it is nothing

we do. Or can do. We become

the sons of Abraham

by believing, not doing.

Faith first, then all else

follows.

 

Photograph by Jeremy Bishop via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Heirs

After Galatians 3:1-9 

It’s an ongoing reading

of the will, a daily event

to which all are invited.

The will is read, announcing

the inheritance for the heirs.

It is a will like no other,

read aloud, the words

themselves taking form,

taking life, leaping from

the page to the heart. 

The heirs learn what it is

they’re receiving, that

it is not based on what

they did, their deeds and

accomplishments (also

known as the way 

of the world, at least

on a good day). Instead,

the inheritance comes

from what they believe.

It is about who they are,

not what they did. 

 

Photograph by Towfiqu barbhuiya via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Multitudes

After Genesis 12:1-3 and Revelation 7:9-10 

And then, they gathered,

the multitudes unnumbered,

waving the branches of palm,

crying out in unison, 

the blessing promised,

the blessing sitting

and riding in front of them,

the blessing named

salvation, sitting 

on the throne.

The lamb cried out,

shining as a great light,

to the multitudes 

unnumbered,

the nations

gathered.

Photograph by Roland Denes via Unsplash. Used with permission.

How did he hear

After Genesis 12:1-3 and Revelation 7:9-10

How did he hear the voice,

this shepherd, with flocks,

this leader, with family?

A dream, on the wind,

a whisper, a shout?

The words: go; you will be 

great, a great nation;

you will be a great blessing;

all families will be blessed

through you.

And what did he do,

how did he respond,

to this shout, this whisper,

this dream, this wind?

He went.

Photograph by Mila Young via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The promise came

After Romans 4:13-25

The promise came,

not through law

or contract, but

through faith, and

the promise depended 

on faith, believing

what had been told,

what had been promised,

no matter how improbable

or ridiculous it sounded

(the wife didn’t laugh

for no reason).

From an old man

and an old woman,

a promise was fulfilled,

a temporal promise 

of the descent of kings,

a spiritual promise

of the descent of belief,

over time and geography

and eras and culture and

politics and incomes and

power, the promise

of descendants as

countless as grains 

of sand, molded and

melded into one family,

the family of Abraham.

Photograph by Tim Mossholder via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Fleeting thoughts

After Romans 4:13-25

That promise to an old man,

what did he think? His wife

laughed a hollow sound,

because she knew better.

How does an old man

become a father

of many nations?

How does that happen?

He sat there. Overwhelmed.

The exact thing he wanted,

he hoped for, he prayed for,

the thing beyond his grasp,

the hope that could not be

fulfilled, was put before

him, a promise that all

common sense said was

not possible.

He could choose to laugh;

he could choose to shake

his head and move on

to his old man’s life and

death, but, instead, 

he chose to believe,

no matter how ridiculous

it sounded. He believed

the stranger, and it was

counted to him as

righteousness,

as faith.

Photograph by Donald Teel via Unsplash. Used with permission.

He heard the voice

After Genesis 12

He heard the voice

the command to leave

and that was sufficient

to pack up his life and

leave for a land he’d

never seen. The command

was accepted in faith

obeyed in faith

implemented in faith

not only a step

but a journey into the unknown

with families and animals

and responsibilities trailing

behind him in faith.

They didn’t hear the voice

but they heard him when

he said it was the time

to leave, to leave in faith.

Photograph by NASA via Unsplash. Used with permission.

After the voice

After Genesis 22:1-14 and Hebrews 11:17-19

After my name is called

I drop the knife, hearing

the clatter on the stones

and the ram bleating

in its crown of thorns

I fall to my knees,

weeping, and reach

to the boy’s arm,

grasping

it as the sob breaks

from my throat.

I hear the sob

from the stone

Photograph by Circe Denyer via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.