Live by faith

We're having two readings this morning.

So the first is Genesis 12, 10 to 20.

And the second is Genesis 14, 14 to 24.

Now, there was a famine in the land.

So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there.

For the famine was severe in the land.

When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai,

I know that you are a woman, beautiful in appearance.

And when the Egyptians see you, they will say, this is his wife.

Then they'll kill me.

But they will let you live.

Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you.

And that my life may be spared for your sake.

When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

When the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh.

And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

And for her sake, he dealt well with Abram.

And he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys and camels.

But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.

So Pharaoh called Abram and said,

What is this you've done to me?

Why did you not tell me that this was your wife?

Why did you say she is my sister so that I took her for my wife?

Now then, here is your wife.

Take her and go.

And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him.

And they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

So before our next reading, some more chaos occurs with Abraham's nephew, Lot, being given the choice of where he might live.

And he chooses Sodom.

However, a little while later, the people of Sodom are then taken captive by surrounding kings.

So we move to chapter 14, verse 14, to see what happens next.

When Abram heard that his kinsmen had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.

Then he brought back all the possessions and also brought back his kinsmen, Lot, with his possessions and the women and the people.

After his return from the defeat of Chidolamah and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Sharek.

That is the king's valley.

And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine.

He was a priest of God Most High.

And he blessed him and said,

Blessed be Abraham by God Most High,

possessor of heaven and earth.

And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

And the king of Sodom said to Abram,

Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.

But Abram said to the king of Sodom,

I have lifted my hand to the Lord God Most High,

possessor of heaven and earth,

that I would not take a thread,

a sandal strap or anything that is yours,

lest you should say,

I have made Abram rich.

I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten

and the share of the men who went with me.

Let Eina, Eshkol and Mamre take their share.

Well, in the baptisms,

we've just had the joy of witnessing expressions of faith.

I want to ask the question,

what does the life of faith look like?

Like, what are they signing up for, in a sense?

I'm going to suggest first a few things it's not.

Some people find a church when life isn't going well.

And that's a really good move.

Like, that's a good idea.

If that's your motivation in coming to church,

maybe even today.

Like, God has all the time in the world

for people who aren't doing well

and know they need help.

Like, that's a great move.

You're surrounded by like-minded people.

We're all sinners struggling here.

We're rejoicing in Jesus.

But sometimes people look for a church

and I think sometimes there's a really wrong expectation.

And the thinking goes something like this.

If I add some religion,

if I add some volunteering in my life,

then God will restore my relationships

or God will free me from addictions.

God will help raise my kids to be good people.

God will help raise my kids to be good people.

It's seeing faith as like you add a bit of God in your life.

That's trying to bargain with God.

Faith is not about adding a bit of religion in.

There's a musical, The Book of Mormon.

I haven't watched the whole thing.

I've just been listening to a few of the songs lately.

And there's a song, I Believe.

And Elder Price, the main character, sings,

I believe that God has a plan for all of us.

I believe that plan involves me getting my own planet.

What?

Is that faith?

That you're working towards this enormous promise in the afterlife

as long as you sacrifice everything for God in this life?

I think some people view that's what faith is about.

It's not about your religious efforts.

That's what faith isn't.

God tells us.

He gives us definitions of faith.

But he does more than definitions in his word.

He gives us people.

He gives us people as examples.

And God calls Abraham the picture of faith.

He is the pin-up boy you should have in your bedroom of faith.

Abraham.

Abraham.

Just to underline where I'm getting this from,

Galatians chapter 3 says,

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

Know then that it is those of faith who are the children of Abraham.

Not just natural born descendants, but those of faith.

Those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham,

the man of faith.

He is the man of faith.

Abraham is the turning point in human history.

The rest of the world trying to make a good life for themselves apart from God.

And then Abraham.

He's the picture of faith.

When I made my wedding vows to Emma 11 or so years ago,

in those vows, there's no ifs or buts or maybes.

They're unconditional.

In sickness and in health,

but as long as you're kind to me.

Or if work isn't busy.

There's no ifs or buts.

They're unconditional.

Now the big difference between me and God is

God completely is faithful in keeping his promises.

He gives unconditional promises to Abraham.

No ifs, no buts, no maybes.

I will bless you, Abraham.

I will make your name great.

I will make a massive family out of you.

I'm going to give you land as a permanent home.

I'm going to treat others according to how they treat you.

I'm blessing you, Abraham, that through you,

I'm going to bless the entire world.

Full stop.

No ifs, no buts, no maybes.

Now imagine if God said to you,

I will bless you forever.

Full stop.

Wow.

What a promise to live by.

And that's why I'm quoting Galatians 3

because I'm not sure about you,

but I haven't had God audibly give me a promise like that.

But the promise to Abraham is for you and I.

We're called to believe in the same promise.

Galatians 3 also says this.

And here's the connection to baptism.

I'm not going to go into how all this works.

I'm not even sure I understand how all this works,

but just see the connection.

As many of you as were baptised into Christ

have put on Christ.

And if you belong to Christ,

then you are Abraham's offspring,

heirs according to promise,

heirs of all the blessing according to promise.

If you belong to Christ,

the promises to Abraham, they're yours.

If you belong to Christ.

So don't go from Abraham to you.

Go from Abraham to Christ to you.

That's important.

So in these stories of Abraham,

we're going to see what faith looks like,

what the life of faith really looks like.

I'm going to define it like this

from what I think the passage is saying.

Faith is when God's promises are even bigger

than his own failures,

than other people's failures,

even bigger than his opportunities to gain.

God's promises are the biggest reality in Abraham's life.

That's what the life of faith looks like.

So imagine if...

So Emma and I go to event cinemas at Glendale.

We see a movie.

It ends late, like 11 o'clock.

It's dark.

And we're walking back to the car,

arm in arm,

really at peace and having enjoyed the movie.

And a guy with a knife approaches us.

And I just grab Emma

and I put her in front of me

in between me and the knife.

What would you think of me?

That's the kind of cowardice

we see in Abraham here.

I think it's actually worse

because it wasn't just a momentary instinct.

He came up with a plan.

There's a famine.

God said to stay in this place.

I'm going to bless you.

He goes to Egypt.

That's not a good sign.

And Sarah is so attractive.

He's afraid they're going to kill him

so that they can have her.

That must have been a corrupt place,

like if he's fearing that.

But still,

that fear drives out

all the promises he's just heard.

And in his fear,

he lies.

He pressures Sarah to lie.

Say,

you're my sister.

Sarah,

I'm going to give you up for a time.

Men might use your body.

They might.

It's crazy what he does,

isn't it?

So that I will be safe.

His faith in God

to look after him

failed big time,

putting Sarah in harm's way.

God had promised to make him and Sarah

into this massive family,

and he put it all at risk,

letting Pharaoh take her.

But God intervenes.

He rescues Sarah.

He rebukes Abraham.

Don't miss that.

He rebukes him through Pharaoh.

What is this you have done?

But God protects Abraham's life,

even though Pharaoh must have been

pretty angry.

So he does protect Abraham.

And then Abraham leaves Egypt

more rich than when he arrived,

despite this failure.

Not because of the failure,

but because God kept his promises.

There was no ifs,

buts,

or maybes.

Now,

Abraham,

I reckon,

he could have used,

that went okay,

that further.

He could have used that

as an excuse

to keep on doing

the wrong thing.

But we didn't read this section,

but the thing he does

straight after this

is

he goes back

to the place

where God

had made

his promises to him.

I think it was a

demonstration

of repentance.

repentance.

The riches

he came away with

out of Egypt

weren't the main thing

that was on his mind,

but the rebuke.

He goes back

to the place

where God

had promised him.

So God's promises

to Abraham

were even bigger

than such a massive failure

of his faith.

His promises

were bigger.

I think there's

things that we do

as Christians,

things we say

and do,

they're just

massive failures

of faith.

What does faith

look like

when your faith

massively fails?

If that sentence

makes any sense.

It looks like

believing

that

God's promises

are even bigger.

true faith

doesn't take

God's guarantees

of forgiveness

and just use it

as an excuse

to keep on

doing the wrong thing.

It doesn't try

and blame

I was afraid

so I did the wrong thing.

It doesn't try

and blame things.

It doesn't try

harder to repay.

I think like Abraham

goes back

to the place

where God

has made

those promises

and for us today

that place

is the cross.

We go back

to the cross

and see

that God's

promises

are bigger

than even

my greatest,

greatest failures.

His promises

are bigger.

That kind of faith

when you go back

to the cross

and see

God's promises,

that faith

you'll hear

God's rebuke

even while

you're praising

him for

his rescue.

So that's

what the life

of faith

looks like

when you fail.

What about

when others

fail you?

What about

other people's

failures?

Now we didn't

read chapter 13

for the sake

of time.

I'm going to

give you

like this

30 second

highlights reel.

Abraham

and his nephew

Lot.

Lot has been

with him

the entire

time.

They're getting

too rich

and that's

the problem

and they need

to separate

and buy

rich.

It's not

bank accounts

like our

days but

it's animals

and people

working under

you to look

after the

animals.

That guaranteed

your future.

They needed

more land

to separate.

Now Abraham

is the head

of the family.

He could

have gone

Lot,

you're my

nephew,

you go

there,

I'm going

to take

the best

for myself

but he

doesn't do

that.

He's

humble.

I think

he's trusting

God and

he gives

his nephew

Lot the

choice.

Lot chooses

the best

for himself

which is

I think

a little

dodgy.

I'm not

sure the

text definitely

says this

but it

seems a bit

dodged.

Lot is rich

because of

Abraham and

then he takes

the best

for himself

but the

worst thing

that the

text really

points to

is that

he compromises

his relationship

with God.

We hear

that Lot

goes and

sets up

camp at

Sodom.

Like Sodom

and Gomorrah,

I don't

know if

you're

visiting today

if you

know about

the Bible,

Sodom is

just the

picture of

not wanting

anything to

do with

God.

Just

absolute

selfishness.

What on

earth is

Lot doing

there?

He's trying

to get

rich.

More

rich.

He's doing

partnership

there.

It's like

someone in

your family

getting the

family inheritance

and then doing

business with

people who are

being investigated

by the

federal police.

They're

suspected of

laundering money

through the

pokies.

They're known

to own

brothels.

You're taking

the family

inheritance and

you're partnering

with these

people.

What are you

doing there,

Lot?

What are you

doing there?

He's not

necessarily said

to be doing

the wrong

thing but

he's partnering

with these

kinds of

people.

What are

you doing?

Now all

that is

background for

chapter 14.

Lot gets

caught up in

a war and

he's captured.

Abraham hears

about it.

Now what

does Abraham

do?

Abraham is

safe.

Lot has

made this

choice to go

to Sodom.

Like,

you deserve

it.

You made

your bed.

Lie in it.

You reap

what you sow.

Abraham could

have, you

deserve it,

Lot, getting

caught up with

these people.

But

incredibly,

Abraham,

God's promises

to Abraham are

even bigger than

whatever disappointment

he feels,

whatever

offence he

feels from

Lot.

they're

bigger even

than the

risk of

the

personal loss

and Abraham

goes after

him.

He pursues

him.

He enters

the war.

He enters

the risk.

He enters

the mess

to rescue

him.

Maybe

fresh in

Abraham's

mind is

that God

had just

rescued him

from his

failure.

Yeah.

Abraham

trusted

God's

promises

and he

pursued

Lot

to rescue

him

despite

his

failure.

I wonder

who has

offended

you?

Who has

acted in

a way

that you

just cannot

respect?

In our

prayer time

a small

group,

one of

the guys

reminded

us that

when

someone's

wronged

us and

really

greatly

failed,

we might

pray as

Christians,

we might

pray for

those who

have been

harmed

through this

person's

actions,

we might

pray for

those who

have been

harmed

because of

this

person,

we might

pray for

things to

be restored,

oh God

please just

put things

right,

we might

pray for

justice to

be done,

but do

we pray for

that person

to be

rescued,

that person

you can't

respect,

do you

pray for

their

rescue?

In the

hope God

rescues

them.

For

Abraham,

he returns

victorious,

God was

with him,

he trusted

God's

promise,

God kept

his promise,

he brings

Lot back,

but not

only Lot

and all

his people

and the

possessions,

he brings

all the

people of

Sodom back

and their

animals and

possessions.

Abraham,

in this

moment,

he has

huge

opportunities

to gain.

He's just

made a

huge risk

and he's

got a

huge reward,

a rightful

reward,

it's his

reward.

God.

And then

we've got

two kings

come out,

we've got

Sodom,

we've already

met Sodom,

and then

Melchizedek.

Let's focus

on Sodom

first.

Sodom

says,

the king

of Sodom,

give me

all the

people,

but you

keep the

goods for

yourself.

So Abraham,

give me my

people back,

you keep the

possessions.

Now he's

not being

generous,

that's just

protocol.

He would

have nothing

if Abraham

didn't bring

all the

people back.

He's not

being generous,

he's giving

Abraham what

he deserves

for his

reward.

And Abraham

says,

no, he

refuses,

he refuses

in a pretty

confrontational

way.

He says,

I'm not going

to take a

shoelace from

you.

He does

the very

opposite of

Lot.

Lot,

wanting to

gain wealth,

went into

partnership,

compromising

his relationship

with God.

Abraham is

willing to

lose great

opportunity to

gain a reward

he's entitled

to, to not

go into

partnership.

relationship.

He doesn't

want to

compromise his

relationship with

God, even

if the gain he

rightly could

get is right

there on the

table.

I'm not having

a shoelace,

no way.

It's the

opposite of

Lot.

It's strange.

He could have

got so much

out of that

situation.

It's

strange

behaviour.

It's

costly.

I talked

to a man

once where

he was

wanting to

know more

about

Christianity

and what

had motivated

him is

the girl

he loved,

a girl who

would express

love for

him,

broke it

off.

because she

basically said

to him,

I love

Jesus more.

He knew

she loved

him.

But he's

just like,

what?

Who is

this Jesus?

Because she

was willing to

break it up.

It was very

costly for

her.

It's

strange.

But you

do that sort

of thing when

you don't want

to lose

God.

And then

Abraham does

a second

costly thing.

Remember,

he deserves

the reward.

He deserves

the reward.

This is

where

Melchizedek

comes in.

And there's

so much in

the Bible

about

Melchizedek

in small

groups.

Do a

deep dive

in that.

I am

going to

glance over

it.

Melchizedek

brings

supplies.

He brings

bread and

wine.

No doubt

the fighting

men are

hungry.

He brings

supplies.

And this

time,

Abraham

gladly partners

with

Melchizedek.

I'm in

your camp.

I'm with

you,

Melchizedek.

Why?

Because they

share the

same faith

in the

Most High

God.

They both

give credit

for Abraham's

victory where

it's due.

Not to

Abraham,

but because

God delivered

your enemies

into your

hand.

God kept

his promise.

They were

both rejoicing

in God's

promises and

God's

character.

Abraham was

rejoicing in

Melchizedek,

giving all the

glory to God,

not him.

And then he

does something

weird.

He gives

Melchizedek

10% of

all he

has.

He's just

got this

reward.

Melchizedek

brings a

meal.

He's not

paying for

the meal.

10% is a

high price.

He's not

doing that.

He's not

paying for

the meal.

Why?

Why does

he give

10%?

If you

gave 10%

of everything

you owned,

what's he

doing?

I think

it's a

way of

completing

Abraham's

joy in

God and

his promises.

It's a

way of

expressing that

God

himself,

his promises

are more

precious than

the possessions.

It's

costly.

It's

strange.

It's

costly.

when God's

promises are

so precious

to a person

that they

freely give.

It's

strange

behaviour.

I heard

of a

businessman

who was

travelling

internationally.

He's a

big shot,

big name,

worth millions

of dollars,

and he

gave it

up to

spend more

time with

his family

and with

his local

church family,

and part of

his reasons

was because

the youth

group needed

more leaders.

That's

weird.

That is

weird behaviour.

That is

weird behaviour.

When people

give up their

Saturday morning

to willingly,

dare I say

joyfully,

clean the

church toilets,

that is

weird.

You are

weird people.

That's

strange behaviour,

people giving

freely,

when they

could be

gaining for

themselves.

It's

weird when

people choose

a house

that's not

as good as

what they

possibly could

get so

that they

could stay

close to

their local

church.

It's just

weird.

Things,

people who

love the

promises of

God,

they do

costly things,

but they

don't do it

begrudgingly.

It's weird.

It's

strange.

It shows

there's

something bigger

in their

life.

Something is

more precious

to them.

So I

think in

Abraham,

the man of

faith,

faith isn't

just about

adding this

little bit of

religion into

your life.

Faith isn't

trying to

earn a

reward in

the afterlife.

Christian

faith is

when God's

unconditional

promises to

bless you

are just

big.

God's

promises just

fill your

thoughts and

every nook and

cranny of your

life, his

promises, they're

just big, they're

just how you

see everything.

like what

could be a

better thing to

build your

life on than

the most

high God who

possesses heaven

and earth, who

cannot lie, saying

I will bless you

forever through

Jesus.

He's got all the

control, he

keeps his

promises.

could you

build your

life on

something better

than that?

Something

interesting with

Abraham is we

see massive

failure, right?

And it's not the

only one.

As we keep

reading Genesis, he

does something very

similar and other

things.

He fails again.

But interestingly, you

keep reading

scripture and it's

as if those

failures are

washed away.

What's focused on

is his faith.

God focuses on the

moments of faith.

How can God do

that?

I think because

Abraham is not

just the picture

of faith, he's

not just the

pin-up boy of

faith, he points

to the one who

is the answer.

He's the

answer to all

God's promises.

Jesus Christ, the

most high God,

possessor of heaven

and earth.

Jesus never uses

people to save

his own skin.

Like Abraham

used Sarah.

At the cross of

Jesus, we see our

faithful husband laying

down his life for

his bride, his

people.

His cross is

bigger than my

failures.

Remembering my

sins no more,

washed away,

continually putting

me back on my

feet.

He just remembers

my faith.

Wow.

All because of the

cross.

I see myself in

Lot.

I don't know who

you're identifying

with in this story,

I identify with

Lot.

Getting myself into

such damaging and

hopeless situations,

relationally in all

sorts of ways,

because I'm pursuing

my own interests.

So foolishly.

But the cross is

even bigger because

it shows Jesus

didn't just leave me

to what I

deserved.

He pursued me.

He risked

everything to

rescue me and

bring me back.

His resurrection

is bigger than

any opportunity to

gain here and

now.

What good is it if

someone offers you

the whole world and

yet forfeit your

soul?

The resurrection

says that I have

the most high

God, the

possessor of

heaven and

earth.

I belong to

him and all

his promises are

for me,

unconditional.

Opportunities to

gain?

Can't compare.

If you know

who we have,

you're going to

do strange

things.

You're going to

do costly

things, freely,

gladly, joyfully.

So in

Abraham we see

the man of

faith and he

points us to

Jesus Christ

where we see

at the cross

all the promises

of God.

Imagine if God

said to you,

I will bless

you forever.

That's exactly

what he said to

us at the cross.

No ifs, no

buts, no

maybes.

The life of

faith is the

promises at the

cross being

big in our

thinking and in

our life.

So know

then that

those who are

of faith are

blessed along

with Abraham,

the man of

faith.

And if you

belong to

Christ,

then you are

Abraham's

offspring,

heirs

according to

promise.

Let me pray.

Let's pray.

Lord, help us

believe that you

are the kind of

God that wants

to bless us,

not based on

anything we do

or don't do,

but purely

because that's

the kind of

God you are.

Lord, I pray

that you

would increasingly

draw us to

the beauty of

yourself seen

at the cross so

that your

promises would

grow to the

size that they

actually are in

our hearts and

minds so that we

live in a way that

pleases you.

In Jesus' name I

pray.

Amen.