What Is Your Credit Score? Genesis 15:1-6 (main text); Romans 4:1-5, 13-15, 18-25 Pastor Paul Mueller Let s pray. Let me set up the context for this sermon a bit at least the context of the Genesis story we just read in which the writers states, Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness. Last week, if you were reading through the Bible, you read the creation account, Cain killing Abel, birth of Seth, Noah and the Ark, and the Tower of Babel. Up until that moment in the narrative, there is no way to positively identify the exact time in history other than it was in the past waaaay past nor the exact place on the planet. With the narrative of Abraham, it is possible to actually put a date on the time and an actual place in which Abraham and Sarah lived. Abraham and Sarah were called to go to Canaan from Ur. That city was an important center discovered in the 1800s. The most important remains revealed a luxurious material culture, a library, the royal cemetery, the standard of Ur, a great Temple bearing the inscriptions of kings, the great ziggurat, and an inscription of the oldest known law code yet discovered. No one is exactly sure where the Garden of Eden was. No one knows exactly when and where the Ark landed. No one knows when and where people tried to build a tower to the sky. But, Abraham and Sarah have places and times and people and leaders identified with them which are archeologically certain. It is when Biblical narrative time and place can be marked. But let me assure you it is NOT when Biblical teaching and understanding and faith and walk with God began. That began in the Garden of Eden loooong before Abraham and Sarah were around. In fact, in some of my study for this sermon, the place where Abraham was living before he left for Canaan, Ur of the Chaldees, had Semitic or Jewish cultural identities. The knowledge of the God of Abraham and subsequently, Isaac and Jacob was not a new phenomenon. Yahweh was, is, and always will be. He began this thing we call the universe and the earth on which live in this universe. So, though actual archaeologically identified marked time and history of the Biblical account does not start until Abraham, the story of the God and His activity and subsequently people who followed Him and worshipped and revered Him did not begin with Abraham. That, too, was from the beginning. It began with the promise of forgiveness for our human rebellion shared with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Shared again with Noah. And shared throughout history as people spoke about the promise yet to come. The march toward Christ began in the beginning. However, in the Biblical narrative it is marked in time and place we can positively identify beginning with Abraham. With that as background, let me also inform you that the sermon you will hear today is one as old as the Garden of Eden. It is one which you have heard over and over again. At least I hope 1 P a g e
you have. In fact, I hope you hear it each and every time you attend services. I hope you hear it in your Bible studies in your homes or on Sunday mornings in church. It is the theme of the Christmas story, the theme of the Epiphany message, the theme of the entire life of Jesus Christ. It is the theme of the entire message of God from the beginning of creation until He returns again. It is the story of grace. The narrative read this morning from Genesis talks about this grace did you hear it? It was a very short line only one verse and in the English version read this morning, it took up only 12 words. Abraham is wondering how can I be the Father of nations if I don t even have a kid boy or girl? Of course, to have a son is the way lineage was traced in Abraham s time, even for us today how many of you after you were married kept your mother s last name? And even if you kept your maiden name, it was probably the name on your father s side. But even a daughter would at least give him some part in the story entitled, Abraham, Father of the Nations. In your upcoming reading this week, God says to Abraham, I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing (Genesis 12:2). Without a kid that will be difficult. So God comes to Abraham again and says that he will have lots of kids. Look up at the heavens and count the stars, if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be (Genesis 15:5). In addition, God noted that the child would come from Abraham, and not be the slave Eliezer Abraham helped raise who lived in his house as Abraham had previously suggested to God. Eliezer probably hung around and grew up with Abraham as a surrogate father grandfather. When we lived in Liberia, old man Kanangali was our kids surrogate grandfather. He watched them, kept them in line, even disciplined them at times. Probably the same was true for Abraham and Eliezer a close relationship had developed. And then comes the one liner recorded in Genesis. The writer pens, Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Not very long. Almost imperceptible in the story you want to read right through it and get back to the story line did Abraham get kids? How many? Did he inherit the land? How? But maybe the most important line in the Old Testament is that 12 word sentence in Genesis 15:6. Abraham believed, and his faith made him righteous. The idea is that Abram simply took God at His word. That is the simple, yet profound definition of faith (taking God at His word). OK God, you said it, I believe it. All arguments aside this is the truth. We have two choices believe it or deny it. Choosing to ignore it does not make it go away. That theme, or should I say, that truth, is referred to in the New Testament. Ephesians 2:8-9 reads For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. In fact, this verse from Genesis is so important, it is quoted by Paul when he pens a letter to the Galatians. Consider Abraham: He believed God, and it was credited to him as 2 P a g e
righteousness. Understand then, that those who believe are children of Abraham (Galatians 3:6). Paul makes it clear that the faith of Abraham is what declared him righteous, that is holy, and what continues to declare and make people righteous before God today. It is not what you do or say or think or feel. You are declared sinless because of the faith you have been given in Jesus Christ. Though the world from before Abraham s time until today works with give to get, work to own, pay for services rendered, God continues to reveal that His love is greater than that. He gives for free. He worked so we don t have to work. He gives His service without us paying a thing. For it is by grace that you have been saved. You are declared righteous because of your faith. And in addition, all those that believe as Abraham did are his children. The promise to Abraham I will make you a great nation and your offspring will be as the stars in the sky comes true. Though someone could try to create some genealogical tree of Abraham and all the people that come from his family line (and there would be lots and lots of them), the real family tree is the one that is created as a result of that one-liner. We are Abraham s children because we are the children of the promise, the children of faith. WOW we are part of the promise from way back in Abraham s time almost 4500 years ago. I guess I could end right here. If you believe in the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, if you have a faith that accepts not only the promise of the coming Messiah as Adam and Eve and Abraham did, but in the reality of the Messiah actually born in a stable and laid in a manger, in the Christ who lived for you and me, in the Savior who walked to the cross and suffered and died, in Jesus who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven all for your sinfulness you have a faith that is credited to you as righteousness. You stand holy and perfect before God because you believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to cover all your sins. So, what is your credit score? Are you counting on your faith to be credited to you as righteousness? I want to walk a little further down this road. You will be reading some of this stuff this upcoming week if you are involved in reading through the Bible. Not too long after Abraham received this promise and he embraced it through faith in fact, in the next chapter in Genesis Abraham takes his wife Sarah s maidservant her name was Hagar and has a kid with her. I mean, Sarah is 75 years old. Abraham is 85. What are the chances the two of them will have kids? Let s help God along let s use a surrogate mom. In today s world, it would fly! In fact, this was a common practice during Abraham s time in other cultures which surrounded him and in which he was born and raised. If you need an heir and one is not in the foreseeable future, this practice was one way to assure the inheritance stayed in the family. And even as God promised, this is not a slave who was going to inherit as Abraham suggested. It was a son from Abraham himself. How about that, God? Seems like a plan! So Ishmael is born. Obviously, not the plan God intended. Abraham s wife was Sarah. Hagar was a servant. The plan was for the son to be born of Abraham and Sarah. How could this guy, just recently praised for his faith and righteousness, turn from the plan and follow his own ideas? What happened to his faith in the plan and more importantly, in God who was going to complete the plan? About 14 years later, Abraham has another conversation with God about this son he is supposed to have, and Abraham simply laughs when God tells Him Sarah and he will have a kid. Not too much later, Abraham is travelling and resettles where another king controls the land. The king thought Sarah was Abraham s sister that is what Abraham told him and took her as his wife. Won t tell you what happened you will need to read it. 3 P a g e
But here is the man who was called righteous lying to a king, exposing his wife to an adulterous situation, laughing at God, sleeping with a servant, conceiving a child out of marriage, changing God s plan for his human plan and still he is called righteous, even by Paul in the NT. In fact, the entire OT talks about Abraham he was associated intimately with God who was called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the Gospels, the Scribes and Pharisees wanted to be identified as a child and heir of Abraham. How does all that square with that one-liner? Actually, it squares quite well. And to me, it brings a lot of comfort and peace. As I noted earlier, we live within a world which expects payment for services rendered. The TV show, America s Most Wanted will give you a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of criminals and very few people would do it for anything less! I am paid, not because I am some nice guy or people like me a lot. I am paid because I do a job. If I do the work, I get the check. If I don t, eventually the paycheck stops coming. Rewards in school are based upon good behavior or good grades. Only the team that wins the tournament gets the trophy. Where we worked in Africa it was the same. I remember losing my rain jacket in Liberia while it was on the back of the motorbike I was riding. It was found on the road by a man who offered to return it for a small fee. Nothing was done without expecting at some time a return of the favor. It was part of the culture. You helped someone knowing that in the future that would be repaid to you in some form or manner. Do you remember when you were applying for jobs here in the states maybe even doing so now in this economy of ours? First there is the filling out of an application form. Often we do that on-line today. Next comes an interview you are called on the phone and an interview set up. After that, a job may be offered to you. Often the process is rather long and cumbersome: interviewing, resume reading, recommendation letters, comparison of applicants, and then an offer to someone of a job under a probationary status. But God works differently. God hires us before we prove ourselves, without an interview, resume, degrees, academic prowess, or proven ability. He doesn t read letters of recommendations sent by friends, colleagues, or other organizations. We bring nothing to the hiring table. God chooses us solely by grace! He has given to all people the opportunity to become part of His company, organization, factory, part of His Kingdom. And it does not require anything on our part. God raised us up while we were still dead. God called to us while we were yet deaf. God chose us to play before we were even on the playing field. God does not judge based on sins or no sins, bigger or smaller sins, a well managed life or a life which is down the tubes. God basis his judgment on the grace He gives and the faith which accepts that grace. People either deny and leave it, ignore it and hope it goes away, or through the power of the Holy Spirit, believe this unbelievable story and receive this unfathomable free gift and live forever in heaven. 4 P a g e
And God expects no reward for His grace. He expects no payback for His generosity. He does not require payment to the offering plate, a more moral lifestyle, or a perfect marriage for this free gift of grace and forgiveness. But when you factor in the truths of what God in Jesus Christ has done for us and then offers to us freely, one cannot help but have a changed life and heart. Though it is not payment for what you have received, your life changes stuff does go in the offering plate; your immoral life does begin to change to moral living; your marriage begins to take shape. Are you children of Abraham? Without a doubt not only because you sin just like he did, but because you have been forgiven just like he was as well. Your faith has been credited to you as righteousness. Your credit score is as high as it can get! If Abraham s life was perfect, we would all live in fear. None of us can match a perfect lifestyle. But because he was a sinner just like you and me, we can know that it is truly not what we are or do or say that counts, it is only because God credits to us holiness and righteousness on account of our faith. That is grace. That is our God. 5 P a g e