"A Promise Made. A Promise Kept"
Based on Genesis 17:1-7,15-16 (text is available below)
February 28, 2021
My grandfather Andrew Larson was 66 years old when my father was born. It’s weird to think that Grandpa Andrew was older than me at the time of my dad’s birth. And my father George Larson was 45 when I was born. If you add the two ages together, it’s a combined total of 111 years! In most families, you could easily fit four generations into that timeline.
I never knew Grandpa Andrew. He died more than two decades before I was born. I know he was musical. I have a clarinet he used to play. I’m sure I get my musical talents from him. Grandpa Andrew was a Norwegian who lived in Sweden. And emigrated to Minnesota in 1882. Like any immigrant, Andrew faced many changes. Leaving his homeland and family. Learning a new language. Starting up a farm and building a house. Getting married and having children.
Life events that changed him forever. Life events that affected his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. Andrew came here believing a promise that many immigrants believe. That he would find a better life, new opportunities and a safe home for his descendants. A promise made. A promise kept. It’s also weird to think that if Grandpa Andrew had not believed that promise, I would not be here today.
I’m not sure if faith in God had anything to do with his believing that promise. Maybe he was just a guy who liked taking risks. Maybe he was bored with his life and looking for adventure. Or maybe, like many immigrants, he had no other choice.
In our first reading from Genesis, Abram and Sarai believe a similar promise. As part of an invitation to leave the familiar and undertake a new adventure in their life, God makes an unbelievable promise. A promise to an old childless couple. God promises Sarai will become pregnant. God promises they will become parents of a nation.
But what we don’t get out of today’s reading is that it took years for that promise to become reality. I’m sure Abram and Sarai had many doubts. In Genesis Chapter 12, God tells them to leave their homeland. Abram was 75 years old when they emigrated to Canaan. Their story goes on for several chapters.
In Chapter 15, Abram wonders whether one of his servants could inherit the promise. A legal option back then. So God restates the promise even more emphatically: “Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky.” The kind of promise you might hear from a shrewd investor—looking for gullible believers to join his pyramid scheme.
In chapter 16, Abram and Sarai become unhappy with God’s timing. You can almost hear them say, “Lord, we’re not getting any younger!” Doubting the promise, they take matters into their own hands. Sarai comes up with a novel idea—that husband be intimate with her servant Hagar. What could go wrong with a plan like that? Like a marriage counselor, God zooms in for another meeting with the couple. And making sure they are listening, God repeats the promise: “You will have numerous descendants!”
Which brings us to today’s passage from Chapter 17. Where it all sounds like a done deal. A promise made. A promise kept. But, not really. Not yet. Like a good mystery novel, we have to wait four more chapters until Sarai finally becomes pregnant, when Abram is 99 years old.
But, this time something is different. Abram and Sarai are so transformed by their latest conversation with this promise-making God, that something changes in the core of their being.
How do we know? Because they change their names. In the Bible, a name represents your identity. When a name changes, it symbolizes a transformation in your destiny and in your calling.
Some of you might remember that when I was a young man in seminary, I changed my name. When I was born, my parents named me “Joey.” It’s the name on my birth certificate. The name I used throughout my childhood and young adult years. But in seminary, that name no longer felt right. Maybe it was because something was changing in my psyche. Maybe it was because I was coming to terms with my secret gay identity. Maybe it was because I wanted more connections to my ancestors. After all, my middle name is Andrew, after my grandfather. My great-grandfather was Joseph Larson.
Somehow, it felt right to take his name. And “Joseph” is a name filled with promises. Like Joseph, the boy with the coat of many colors, who rescued his family from starvation in a foreign country. Like Joseph the father of Jesus, who saved his wife and son when they fled as refugees to Egypt.
There’s something about changing your name that has a ripple effect on your self-perception and on the way other people see and treat you. Trans individuals know what that’s like. When they choose a new name, it becomes a life-giving promise of the person God has made them to be. Their former name becomes their “deadname.” And “deadnaming” is a term to describe how others continue using that old name—sometimes out of habit, sometimes as a way to intentionally deny their new identity.
Similarly in the Bible, a name change represents a life-changing encounter with the divine. Jacob wrestles with God, and his name becomes Israel. Simon leaves his former life and family to follow Jesus, who renames him Peter. Saul encounters the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, and changes his name to Paul. The name Abram translated as ‘exalted father,’ but Abraham means “father of a multitude.” Sarai meant “princess,” but Sarah is the princess of many. Names that reflect a promise made. A promise kept.
But God can’t make most promises happen without the commitment and assistance of faithful people. For God promised through this elderly immigrant couple to create a people who would become a blessing to millions of their Jewish descendants and the world.
And God kept promising that it would happen even after years of waiting and worry and anguish. A God who was trusted by those before us. A God who still keeps promises with us today. A God who walks with us throughout our life journey.
This week, we held our second monthly grief and loss group. During which each person shared reflections about how grief has affected them. Linda Hamann, our facilitator, asked each of us to take time to feel where in our body the grief seemed to be centered. And to think about how when we become more aware of those feelings like sadness and anger, we gain strength in being able to hold that pain and make it more bearable. And that even when it seems like it will never get better, there’s a promise in the fact that some of us have gone through this before.
As Christians, we believe that God sent Jesus to us—to live and suffer and die as one of us. To feel the kind of pain we experience. With the promise that God understands our suffering and walks beside us. And just as God made incredible promises with Abraham and Sarah, so throughout his ministry, Jesus also made remarkable promises with us. Promises that touch the core of our being.
Listen now to the promises Jesus has made with each of us by name—with you and me:
These promises made by God in Christ still touch our hearts and change our lives. Promises that still speak to us in a world where so much seems uncertain. And yet, God’s covenant with us still holds true.
Just like God’s promises to Abraham and Sarah. So, God also promises to walk with us each day. As during our Lenten journey, we follow in the steps of Jesus to the cross. Amen.
--------------------------------------
First Reading: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you….” God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
Gospel: Mark 8:34-37
[Jesus] called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
I never knew Grandpa Andrew. He died more than two decades before I was born. I know he was musical. I have a clarinet he used to play. I’m sure I get my musical talents from him. Grandpa Andrew was a Norwegian who lived in Sweden. And emigrated to Minnesota in 1882. Like any immigrant, Andrew faced many changes. Leaving his homeland and family. Learning a new language. Starting up a farm and building a house. Getting married and having children.
Life events that changed him forever. Life events that affected his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. Andrew came here believing a promise that many immigrants believe. That he would find a better life, new opportunities and a safe home for his descendants. A promise made. A promise kept. It’s also weird to think that if Grandpa Andrew had not believed that promise, I would not be here today.
I’m not sure if faith in God had anything to do with his believing that promise. Maybe he was just a guy who liked taking risks. Maybe he was bored with his life and looking for adventure. Or maybe, like many immigrants, he had no other choice.
In our first reading from Genesis, Abram and Sarai believe a similar promise. As part of an invitation to leave the familiar and undertake a new adventure in their life, God makes an unbelievable promise. A promise to an old childless couple. God promises Sarai will become pregnant. God promises they will become parents of a nation.
But what we don’t get out of today’s reading is that it took years for that promise to become reality. I’m sure Abram and Sarai had many doubts. In Genesis Chapter 12, God tells them to leave their homeland. Abram was 75 years old when they emigrated to Canaan. Their story goes on for several chapters.
In Chapter 15, Abram wonders whether one of his servants could inherit the promise. A legal option back then. So God restates the promise even more emphatically: “Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the sky.” The kind of promise you might hear from a shrewd investor—looking for gullible believers to join his pyramid scheme.
In chapter 16, Abram and Sarai become unhappy with God’s timing. You can almost hear them say, “Lord, we’re not getting any younger!” Doubting the promise, they take matters into their own hands. Sarai comes up with a novel idea—that husband be intimate with her servant Hagar. What could go wrong with a plan like that? Like a marriage counselor, God zooms in for another meeting with the couple. And making sure they are listening, God repeats the promise: “You will have numerous descendants!”
Which brings us to today’s passage from Chapter 17. Where it all sounds like a done deal. A promise made. A promise kept. But, not really. Not yet. Like a good mystery novel, we have to wait four more chapters until Sarai finally becomes pregnant, when Abram is 99 years old.
But, this time something is different. Abram and Sarai are so transformed by their latest conversation with this promise-making God, that something changes in the core of their being.
How do we know? Because they change their names. In the Bible, a name represents your identity. When a name changes, it symbolizes a transformation in your destiny and in your calling.
Some of you might remember that when I was a young man in seminary, I changed my name. When I was born, my parents named me “Joey.” It’s the name on my birth certificate. The name I used throughout my childhood and young adult years. But in seminary, that name no longer felt right. Maybe it was because something was changing in my psyche. Maybe it was because I was coming to terms with my secret gay identity. Maybe it was because I wanted more connections to my ancestors. After all, my middle name is Andrew, after my grandfather. My great-grandfather was Joseph Larson.
Somehow, it felt right to take his name. And “Joseph” is a name filled with promises. Like Joseph, the boy with the coat of many colors, who rescued his family from starvation in a foreign country. Like Joseph the father of Jesus, who saved his wife and son when they fled as refugees to Egypt.
There’s something about changing your name that has a ripple effect on your self-perception and on the way other people see and treat you. Trans individuals know what that’s like. When they choose a new name, it becomes a life-giving promise of the person God has made them to be. Their former name becomes their “deadname.” And “deadnaming” is a term to describe how others continue using that old name—sometimes out of habit, sometimes as a way to intentionally deny their new identity.
Similarly in the Bible, a name change represents a life-changing encounter with the divine. Jacob wrestles with God, and his name becomes Israel. Simon leaves his former life and family to follow Jesus, who renames him Peter. Saul encounters the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, and changes his name to Paul. The name Abram translated as ‘exalted father,’ but Abraham means “father of a multitude.” Sarai meant “princess,” but Sarah is the princess of many. Names that reflect a promise made. A promise kept.
But God can’t make most promises happen without the commitment and assistance of faithful people. For God promised through this elderly immigrant couple to create a people who would become a blessing to millions of their Jewish descendants and the world.
And God kept promising that it would happen even after years of waiting and worry and anguish. A God who was trusted by those before us. A God who still keeps promises with us today. A God who walks with us throughout our life journey.
This week, we held our second monthly grief and loss group. During which each person shared reflections about how grief has affected them. Linda Hamann, our facilitator, asked each of us to take time to feel where in our body the grief seemed to be centered. And to think about how when we become more aware of those feelings like sadness and anger, we gain strength in being able to hold that pain and make it more bearable. And that even when it seems like it will never get better, there’s a promise in the fact that some of us have gone through this before.
As Christians, we believe that God sent Jesus to us—to live and suffer and die as one of us. To feel the kind of pain we experience. With the promise that God understands our suffering and walks beside us. And just as God made incredible promises with Abraham and Sarah, so throughout his ministry, Jesus also made remarkable promises with us. Promises that touch the core of our being.
Listen now to the promises Jesus has made with each of us by name—with you and me:
- Jesus said: “Come to me, all who are weary and I will give you rest.” A promise made. A promise kept.
- Jesus said: “Take up your cross and follow me. For whoever loses their life for my sake will save it.” A promise made. A promise kept.
- Jesus said: “The son of man must undergo great suffering and be killed, and on the third day rise again.” A promise made. A promise kept.
- Jesus said: “This is my body, given for you.” A promise made. A promise kept.
- Jesus said: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled, and don’t be afraid. My peace I give to you.” A promise made. A promise kept.
These promises made by God in Christ still touch our hearts and change our lives. Promises that still speak to us in a world where so much seems uncertain. And yet, God’s covenant with us still holds true.
Just like God’s promises to Abraham and Sarah. So, God also promises to walk with us each day. As during our Lenten journey, we follow in the steps of Jesus to the cross. Amen.
--------------------------------------
First Reading: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you….” God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
Gospel: Mark 8:34-37
[Jesus] called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
