Richard Davenport

August 10, 2025 – Proper 14

Genesis 15:1-6

            Abram is in a tough position in our Genesis reading for today.  Having an heir to receive everything you’ve worked for during your life, not just the wealth you may have, but the memories, the accumulation of everything that remains from your life, has always been an important thing in families. Ecclesiastes last week warned us not to get too hung up on storing up lots of wealth to pass along.  The one who inherits it may not be a great steward of it all.  Working your fingers to the bone just so you can pass down a huge inheritance kind of misses the point.

            Still, whether it’s the family homestead, the family business, the heirlooms, the photo albums, all of the things you’ve done together have value, even if they’re just sentimental.  We have a hard time thinking of those things being lost. If they’re lost, then it’s almost like they never happened to begin with, or that all of that effort in gathering it, all the time spent together was wasted.

            In our culture, that desire has waned a bit, as many couples refuse to have children and either don’t care what happens with their stuff when they die or will give it all away.  It’s a bit like they want their memories to fade away and be forgotten and the idea that few will remember them doesn’t really matter.

            For Abram, having an heir does matter.  Without one, everything he has will go to someone else. Is that something that will affect his salvation?  No, not at all.  God will not think any more or less of him because he has an heir or not.  In this case, though, all of the wealth Abram has has come from God.  That sounds kind of obvious, but Abram knows he has been blessed by God and has offered a portion of his great wealth back to God.

            Now Abram approaches God asking about an heir.  God gave him this wealth.  If God doesn’t want this wealth to carry on to future generations, that’s his decision.  But, if he does want this great blessing to stay in the family, he’ll have to figure out how to make that happen, because right now it won’t. 

            From his request, it sounds like Abram is hoping for an heir, but he doesn’t really know if he’ll get one or not.  As a believer, you might rest your hopes in God’s grace, his mercy, his love.  If you were Abram, you might think, “Surely God will give me an heir.  If he cares for me at all, he’ll do this thing.” 

            Those kinds of hopes are the ones we deal with on a daily basis.  We put our hope in the goodness of things, in things feeling right.  “I hope you have a safe trip.”  “I hope your interview goes well.”  “I hope the doctor says everything looks good.”  “I hope your business venture is successful.” 

All of these are things we say to others all the time, without even thinking about it.  We wish them well.  We want them to have a positive outcome in whatever it is that you’re talking about. When there isn’t anything I can do to influence the outcome one way or the other, then at least I can look forward to a positive outcome and be ready to celebrate it with you. 

So what happens when your hopes don’t pan out?  What does it mean when, despite your hopes, the outcome wasn’t good at all? It could be bad.  You hoped for a safe trip but ended up with a car crash instead.  It could be really bad.  You hoped for a safe trip and now you have a funeral to go to.  All of the other hopes you might have could also end with similar terrible results, instead of the positive result you were looking forward to.

How are we to understand these things?  Surely it isn’t a failure on my part.  I wanted things to go well.  I wanted good things for my neighbor.  That’s what I’m supposed to do.  Luther talks all about that in his explanation of the Commandments.  It’s not enough to just avoid harming my neighbor. I should be actively trying to help.

It’s at these moments that you might feel betrayed.  You might feel as though you did what you were supposed to do, yet God still let you down.  He pulled a bait and switch on you.  You relied on him, but your hope in him turned out to be for nothing.  God says he loves you, but maybe this is a sign that you did something so bad that he doesn’t have your back anymore.  You aren’t worthy of his time.  You can call him all you want, but he isn’t going to pick up the phone anymore.  You’ll have to find a way to earn his favor, to do something so truly spectacular and charitable that he has to acknowledge you again. 

Despair, despair of not being good enough, not doing the right things, not getting what you need, not having anything good to look forward to, all of it can make things look pretty bleak.  It can all make the future look hopeless.  For Abram, it was looking everything he did up to that point was for nothing and nothing he did in the future was going to matter.  What’s the point in doing anything if you truly have nothing to look forward to?

Looking closely at the text, we find that it isn’t Abram who comes to God, but rather God who comes to Abram.  God does not say he expects anything from Abram.  He doesn’t tell Abram that he’s done anything particularly good or bad. He simply tells Abram that he is Abram’s protector and the giver of all good gifts. 

Abram sees what he has.  He has land. He has wealth.  He has a good reputation.  Yet, none of those things will help him with this problem.  None of his well wishes or those of his friends will help him.  The matter is entirely out of his hands.  Any hopes he had for himself or that others had for him gained him nothing.

God approaches Abram in a vision.  God’s grace is already there for Abram.  He has nothing to fear by being in God’s presence.  He presents his dilemma to God knowing there is no one else who can help.  God is not required to do anything here.  Many people who want kids go their whole lives without them.  It’s unfortunate, but it is simply another place where sin undermines God’s creation.  Abram has no reason to expect his life to be any different.

Abram has no reason, until God gives him one.  God doesn’t wish him well and say, “I hope things get better for you.” God gives him something very different. God gives him a promise.  It sounds like a promissory note, like an IOU, and it works very similarly.  Each person or institution who signs its name to a note like that is staking its reputation on its ability to follow through.  God is no different here.  Before he spoke to Abram he was under no obligation to do anything at all.  Now he is, simply because he said so.  Now his reputation is on the line.  If he doesn’t follow through, he’s no different than any sinner or fallible institution in this world.  He tells us he is different, so it’s up to him to prove it.

Where Abram was yesterday is very different than where he is today. Yesterday he had a dream, a wish, a desire for something he needed but did not have.  Today he has a promise.  Today he knows things will be different.  He doesn’t have to wonder whether he will ever have an heir.  God has said it, so it will happen. 

This is the true nature of Christian hope.  It isn’t well wishes, good intentions, dreams, desires, or anything like that.  It is certainty, certainty built upon God’s Word, certainty built upon the promise God makes. 

Now Abram’s whole life is different.  He no longer wishes for an heir.  He knows it will happen.  It must happen.  God can’t fail at his promise without losing his reputation, without losing his perfect record.  Abram will still have to learn to be patient, but he no longer has to worry about whether what he hopes for will ever come to pass.

Dreams, desires, wishes, they are all fine when we remember that that’s all they are.  When we accuse God of not giving us what we desire and wish for, we are confusing worldly hopes for Christian hope.  Nothing in this world is certain.  Only that which God has declared and promised can be relied on.  When God promised to Adam and Eve that he would send a savior, they and every generation after them knew it would happen.  It was just a matter of when.  And, just as he promised, the savior was born into the world. He shouldered the whole weight of human sin, creating a new path out of the death that Adam and Eve had brought into the world.

Do you dream about eternal life?  Maybe not in that sense.  Maybe you dream about a life where the aches and pains you experience every day aren’t there, no arthritis, no soreness and stiffness.  Maybe you dream about a life where illnesses aren’t a worry.  Maybe you dream about a life where the relationships that have faded or broken are strong and healthy, a life where you don’t have to worry about paying the bills, or worry about your kids’ futures. Maybe you worry about being worthy to receive such a gift.  Maybe you worry that what you’ve done in life has set you outside of God’s grace, is too much for him to overlook, is beyond his capacity to forgive.

God promised a savior to Adam and Eve.  Jesus, the Son of God was born, just as promised and took the sins of the whole world on to himself, because that’s what he promised to do.  He is staking his reputation, he is staking his whole identity as a merciful and forgiving God on his ability to take your sins, all of your sins, no matter how dark and detestable.  He has done what he promised.  His power and grace bring life, eternal life, the kind of life you would have had if sin and death didn’t run rampant through this world.  He has promised them to you. 

There are many things in this world that God may or may not give you.  But these things are certain.  Our hope in God’s grace, in his forgiveness, in his power over death, because they are built on the promise of a God who never fails. Abram lived to see the birth of his son, Isaac, a son who would be his heir even though God told Abram to sacrifice his son.  Abram trusted in the promise given to him by God, because when God says it, it must happen.

So, when he says to you, “I forgive you,” when he says, “I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly,” when he says, “I am with you always, to the end of the age,” he is making a promise to you and giving you hope, a hope that cannot fail, because God is the one who has given it.