12 Sunday after

Pentecost C
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2016

12th Sunday after Pentecost

C

Faith in the topic of the first two readings: the story of Abraham in Genesis, and the
interpretation of that story from the letter to the Hebrews.

1. We first encounter Abraham in the book of Genesis, and he is presented as the

prototype of a man of faith
God appeared to Abraham and told him to leave his country and move to the land of Canaan. God
promised Abraham that his descendent would become a great nation.
Abraham packed all his belonging and with his wife, his nephew Lot, his servants and flocks migrated.
Please note that Abraham was already old and his wife was past child bearing age, and they had no
children, and so while Abraham obeyed Gods command to go to the land of Canaan, he had doubts about
having children of his own, and so his favored slave Eliezer stood to inherit his possessions.
But in the land of Canaan, God appeared to Abraham in a night vision, showed him the stars, and told him
that his descendants would be more numerous that the stars.
Abraham believed Gods promise, and eventually his wife Sarah gave birth to Isaac, who had 2 children,
Esau and Jacob, and then Jacobs sons gave rise to the 12 tribes of Israel

2.The letter to the Hebrews provides an interpretation of the story of Abraham and of
his faith. Todays passage defines faith as the certitude that what we are hoping for
will come true.
Faith is the conviction of the existence of things we cannot see: such as God, the fact that God
communicates with us, the fact that God loves us, and the fact that our life will continue after death.
The letter to the Hebrews reminds us that faith prompted Abraham to believe Gods promises and to
move to a new country. Faith convinced Abraham that, in spite of his age, he would become the father of
a great nation
Finally, Hebrews makes the point that Abraham and Sarah did not live to see their descendants multiply
into a great nation. But they died in faith reassured by the promises of God. Therefore God was please
with them and received them in the kingdom of heaven, the new country he had prepared for them. So,
for the letter to the Hebrews, Abraham is the father of all who believe, not just of the Israelites.

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3. The Gospel opens with the expression, do not be afraid. There is a rumor that this
sentence appears in the Bible 365 (or 366) times, one for every day of the year But it
is not true: Bill and I used to argue about this.
Anyone can do a computer search of the Bible, and count how many times do not be afraid appears
in the Bible. Last week, I did a key word search to find how many times do not fear, have no fear, do
not be afraid, do not worry appear in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible: 146 times.
So the notion that these expressions appear 365 times is an urban legend. Remember also that the
ancient Jewish year did not have 365 (or 366) days. The Jews used a 12 month lunar calendar. Their
year only had 354 days. Every 2 to 3 years they would add a 13 th month to get in sync with the
seasons that are regulated by the sun.
But, aside from the exaggerated numbers, the expressions inviting people not to be afraid are among
the most common in the Bible. If an idea is repeated nearly 150 times, it must be pretty important.
God does not want us to be afraid.
In todays Gospel, this message not to fear is associated with the warning to be ready for the end of
the world and for the second coming of Jesus.
In 2000 years of Christianity countless people have tried to guess when the world will come to an end
and when Jesus will return. They have all been wrong. So I am not here to tell you when the world will
end. Most likely, our life will end before to end of the world. But we dont need to be afraid.
The notion of an imminent end of the world was very popular among the first generation of Christians.
They were persecuted, and hoped that the end of the world, and Jesus second coming would take
place quickly to free them from their persecutors.
Things did not turn out to be that way, so, over time, the church started interpreting these warnings
about the end of the world as references to our own individual death: when you and I will die, our world
will come to an end and we will meet God.
But regardless of theories about the end of the world, todays Gospel asks us to focus on the 2 key
elements of the message: 1) We need to be always prepared because we do not know when the end is
going to come, However 2) We must not be afraid: God has chosen us, God loves us and will take care
of us.

12th Sunday after Pentecost

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4. The readings today are about having faith like Abraham, about being prepared
to meet God, and about not being scared of God

Faith is not based on scientific evidence. Most of us have been schooled in the sciences
and instinctively distrust anything that cannot be seen, touched and measured. Hebrews
reminds is that faith is to trust in God even is we dont see and dont understand
Please note what Genesis tells us about Abraham's faith:
a. He received Gods message and believed it.
b. He took appropriate action, packed his whole household and moved to an unknown
country.
c. Finally, he persevered even in the face of doubt: how could an old childless couple give
rise to a multitude of descendants?

5. We also have been called by God.

. Each of us has had some sort of experience of the divine. We are all individual beings, so
each of us had an unique experience of God. But somehow God is calling us, and that is
why we are here: and we are a part of this community of faith.
. Like Abraham, we are being asked by God to do something, to love your neighbor as
yourself, or, as expressed in todays words, sell your possessions and give alms.
. Like Abraham we need to persevere, even when doubts set in, even when things dont
make much sense. Remember that God is not limited by what makes sense to us.
. If we keep our faith and persevere through doubts, we will be rewarded by eternal life with
God, as Abraham was.
. Death, the end of life, the end of the world are scary things. But the Gospel reminds us
that if we live with faith, we need not fear anything, even death, because God is love.