Pastor Hugh's Monthly Meditation
Click Here for Other Meditations
A DEEP AND HONEST FAITH
Part Two
I have always been fascinated by Abraham and Sarah. What an unlikely couple God chose to begin an experiment that eventually would lead not only to the creation of the children of Israel, but also to the very followers of Jesus. I say “unlikely” because we are told from the outset that Abraham and Sarah were childless. Yes, through Sarah’s servant, Hagar, Abraham did have a son, Ishmael. But Abraham and Sarah had no child of their own. And as far as they were concerned, viewing their predicament from their very human perspective, this was not something that could be changed. Sarah and Abraham were just too old. So if God was going to bless the world for generations to come, it wouldn’t be through them. Or so they thought.
Click on image to see a larger view of Jan Provoost’s “Abraham, Sarah and the Angel”, in a separate window.
Life can often present impossible obstacles, even for we people of faith. Oh, we do our best to do good, we follow all the prescribed rules, and yet some obstacle to life will insert itself at the worst possible time and we come smack up against life’s limits. For some it may be a sudden illness, for others a loss of a job, for still others it may be the challenge of a relationship gone bad, and, yes, for some the despair of childlessness. The obstacles may be as varied as we are. And no matter how hard we try, no matter how much we pray, no matter how good we think we’ve been, something will stand in our way, keeping us from experiencing life as we think it ought to be lived. And, as far as our human eyes and imagination are able to see, there’s no going around it.
And that is why I have always been fascinated by the story of Abraham and Sarah. For in their story is the admonition that when faced with one or more of life’s seemingly insurmountable obstacles, never underestimate the power of God.
Last month we began an exploration of a “deep and honest faith.” In exploring the “honest” part, we suggested that life sometimes throws things in our way that make us question God, even shake our fist with anger at times. We also suggested that not only is this natural, but in some ways it is quite healthy. We often resonate with the words of Dylan Thomas who wrote, as his own father began to grow blind and lose his health, “Do not go gentle into that good night./Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Struggle and doubt are not incompatible with a “deep and honest faith.” But if all we do is rage against or question the “dying of the light,” then our faith will remain shallow and our obstacles unmoved. Focused only on the limits and obstacles of life, we become blind to the promise that lies ahead, sometimes just over our horizon.
This month, we are called to grow beyond the questioning and the doubting and into to the confident trusting of faith. And again, we come back to Abraham and Sarah.
When an angel of God told Abraham and Sarah that they would have a child, they laughed. Was it the cynical laughter that comes from the depths of silent despair? Was it a joyful side-splitting laughter that comes from learning that one’s deepest hopes are to be fulfilled? Or was it a laughter that began as the former, but eventually grew into the later as their despair bloomed into joy? We can only imagine. But what we do know is that the promise was fulfilled, their age and barrenness proved no match for God’s power, and God brought laughter (“Isaac” means “laughter”, by the way) into their and our lives.
A deep and honest faith may begin with the honest expression of our doubt, pain, and, yes, rage. But it moves beyond that. It embraces in confidence the truth that, as Jesus once said, “for God all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27) A deep and honest faith “asks” as it anticipates receiving, “searches” confident of finding, and “knocks” knowing that the seemingly unmoved door before us will be opened. (See Matthew 7:7)
Why have I been fascinated by Abraham and Sarah? Because their story gives me hope.
Hugh Haffenreffer
Summer 2007
A FEW WORDS ABOUT THIS MONTH’S FEATURED ART
Flemish painter, Jan Provoost, or Provost, was born at Mons in 1465. He worked in Valenciennes and then later set up a workshop in Antwerp before opening a second workshop in Bruges in 1494, where he was made a burgher. Over time he became the most famous Flemish painter of his generation, meeting and entertaining the famous Albrecht Dürer. (A portrait by Dürer, in the National Gallery in London, is thought to be of Provoost.) He died at the age of 64 in 1529 while living in Berge.
During the first quarter of the 16th century, toward, the end of his career, he painted his famous “Abraham, Sarah, and the Angel,” which is featured here this month. It is an oil on wood painting and today is found at the Musée du Louvre in Paris.
What drew me to this painting is the depiction of that moment when the angel announces to Abraham, with Sarah overhearing, that they are to become parents. (See Genesis 8:9) I love the gesture of incredulity that Abraham makes toward his wife. It’s as if he is saying, “That Sarah?” And the look on Sarah’s face, who is trying to remain hidden from view, is ambiguous. Is she smiling, about to break into laughter (which the text would suggest), surprised, stunned? Or all of the above?
What would you do in her place?
Hugh Haffenreffer
Click Here for Other Meditations
|
