Ordinary People Extraordinary Faith

Story of God calling Abraham

Genesis 15:1–6 NRSV

1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” 4 But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” 5 He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

This is the word of God, for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Introduction:

I want you to think back to when you were a child at Christmastime—or maybe when your own children or grandchildren were small. You know how it goes: the tree is up, the lights are twinkling, and for weeks there’s this hum of excitement in the air.

And then comes Christmas Eve. The stockings are hung. Cookies and milk are set out. Maybe even a carrot for the reindeer.

And that child—whether it’s you years ago or a little one you love today—goes to bed with absolute certainty that something wonderful is going to happen overnight.

They don’t lie awake worrying if Santa can find the house.

They don’t wonder if he’s running behind schedule.

They don’t even doubt whether the gifts will arrive.

They simply believe.

No proof, no evidence—just the promise they’ve heard and the trust they’ve chosen to hold onto.

And that belief shapes their behavior.

They go to bed earlier than usual.

They wake up with anticipation.

They tell their friends what they’re expecting to get.

Because in their hearts, it’s not a possibility—it’s a promise.

That’s the kind of faith God was calling Abram to in Genesis 15.

No evidence.

No timeline.

Just a promise—descendants as numerous as the stars, land that would one day be his, and a future only God could see.

And Abram believed.

Hebrews 11 tells us that this is the very essence of faith: being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

You see, a child’s faith in Christmas magic is sweet—but our faith in the promises of God is life-changing.

Ordinary people—people with doubts, questions, and limitations—become extraordinary when they trust the One who never breaks His word.

Just like that child on Christmas Eve, Abram was invited to trust in something he couldn’t yet see.

But the difference is, this wasn’t a seasonal story or a sweet tradition—this was the living God making a covenant that would change the course of human history.

Abram didn’t have the evidence in front of him.

He didn’t have the how or the when.

All he had was the Who—and that was enough.

And the writer of Hebrews tells us this is the heartbeat of faith: being sure of what we hope for, certain of what we do not see.

We see this here for ourselves in God’s Word—first from Genesis 15, the moment God makes His promise to Abram, and then from Hebrews 11, where we see the bigger picture of what faith looks like.

A child’s faith at Christmas and Abram faith here seems illogical to say to the least.

Abram didn’t have the benefit we have today.

There was no Bible for him to read.

There weren’t many oral traditions passed down from generation to generation.

He had no knowledge of God parting a Red Sea or resurrecting his Son from the grave.

Yet, Abram showed extraordinary faith.

And honestly we see the inception of that faith when God calls him in Genesis 12 as God calls Abram to leave his father’s house to follow him.

Abram is in a comfortable place in his life at this point.

He’s in his 70’s and he has married the love of his life.

His father is extremely wealthy and pretty soon he will obtain this wealth as a birthright.

Seems like a great life huh?

Abram has we all are searching for.

He has future wealth, future land, safety, and security, but Abram feels that something is missing in his life.

The one thing that is missing in Abram’s life is a son.

He doesn’t have anyone to care for him in his old age.

He doesn’t have anyone to leave this wealth to.

He and his wife have tried and tried and tried but still no child.

Now they are in their 60’s and 70’s and Sarai is beyond child bearing age and not only that but she has proven to be barren.

Yet, God still chooses Abram to fulfill the promise he made earlier in Genesis to restore humanity.

God calls a man in his seventies and a woman who is in her 60’s, past child-bearing age, and barren to carry out his mission of restoring humanity.

And it begs to question, why out of all people would God call Abram.

I mean there had to be other options than Abram.

I think that God called Abram for two reasons.

We would surely see the power of Yahweh, God, through this old couple.

During my last semester of seminary, I had the joy of taking a class on the Pentatauch. That is the first five books of the Bible.

One of the first things our professor Dr. Josh Sneider told us about the first five books in the Bible; that is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers, is these books more so than any other book in the bible with the exception of the Gospels, is God’s way of making himself know to his people.

These stories and laws is essentially how God introduced himself to a people whom he chose to bless the world and restore humanity.

God’s chosen people would carry these stories from generation to generation and today we have these stories in our Bibles.

Y’all these stories introduce us to God. These stories in the first five books are not about the patriarchs. These stories aren’t about Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishameel, Jacob, Essau, Joseph, or even Moses for that matter.

These stories are events in the story of God.

God is going to do the impossible through Abram and Sarai to make himself known to humanity.

God wants humanity to know that he is indeed the God that can and will do the impossible. You just have to have faith.

I think and I could be wrong about this but hear me out. I think that God was strategic in finding an ordinary couple with an impossible situation as a means to make himself known to humanity.

And here’s the other side of that. He had to find someone that would be capable of following him.

I think the second reason God called Abram and Sarai is because he knew that they would be capable of having faith.

God knows what each of us are capable of.

He knows that we have the capacity to have faith.

He knows that we are wired in a way that would cause us to believe things even when it seems impossible.

Not only that but he knows Abram’s deepest desire.

Abram’s deepest desire in life was to have a child someone who would carry on his name.

God recognizes this and so he comes to Abram and says, “I want to give you son.”

I want to fulfill your hopes and dreams but I want you to do one thing.

I want you to follow me.

I want y’all to notice something here.

Notice how much Abram wants a son.

You see, what God asked Abram to do was essentially foolish for Abram to do.

Abram is in his 70’s and he has a wealthy father.

If Abram is in his 70’s, could we imagine how old his father was?

Abram has comfort and wealth right there on a platter.

God is asking him to leave all of this behind to follow him.

We can tell that Abram wants a child more than anything because he leaves all of that to follow God.

He didn’t say, God let me wait until my father dies and I have all of this wealth then I can leave this land.

He didn’t say God I don’t see how that can happen.

Abram simply abandons all that he knows at this point.

He takes his wife and he leaves the comfort of his father’s house.

He leaves wealth and security in a familiar land to follow God to uncertainty.

Y’all this is the definition of faith.

Faith is about leaving a place of comfort while embracing the discomfort to follow God.

When I think about this, I think about the apostle Peter leaving the security and comfort of the boat to essentially embracing the discomfort of walking on water in a deep sea.

Abram doesn’t know what’s around the corner.

He doesn’t know where God is leading him.

What he does know or believe is that he can trust God.

And we see the level of trust here.

We see that Abram believes that God can do what God says he can do.

There have been points in our lives where we wanted to trust and wholeheartedly put our faith in God but what we were asking seemed illogical or impossible to ask so we just tucked it away and said to ourselves, “I wish”

We say to ourselves maybe if this was years earlier or maybe if I were younger.

Friends, let me let you in on a little secret.

God does not work off logic, at least logic as we see it.

If we focused so much on how logical or illogical something about God was, we would miss the sheer wonder and majesty of God.

God is indeed a mystery and I believe that God intended it to be that way because without mystery how can there be faith?

I mean, if we go be the definition that the writer of Hebrews give us then we would understand why there is or has to be some mystery to the God we serve:

The writer in Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 11:1–3

Hebrews 11:1–3 NRSV

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

There is no faith without mystery.

Even though Abram communicated directly with God. There was still something mysterious about this divine being to Abram.

Yet, something within Abram caused him to place his faith in God.

Hence why the writer of Hebrews tells us that Abram was the poster boy of faith.

Abram embraced the mystery associated with God.

My sisters and brothers, I believe that God is calling us to embrace the mystery of our faith. God is calling us to take essentially that leap of faith.

So, I want to challenge you this week to think about what bold thing God may be calling you do.

What may God be calling you to let go of to follow him.

Embrace the mystery of God.

And here’s the beauty in all of this.

There were times when Abram doubted and wavered.

I mean we see it here in chapter 15 but God through his grace reassured Abram and counted him righteous.

There will be times of doubt on this faith journey. That doesn’t mean that you have a shallow faith. It simply means you’re human.

But in those moments of doubt, embrace the mystery and take that doubt to God. Taking that doubt to God exhibits faith in God. Going to God for reassurance shows a trust and a confidence in God.

At the beginning of the message, we thought about a child’s faith at Christmastime—their unshakable belief that something good is coming. They don’t see it yet, but they live like it’s already on the way.

But here’s the difference: a child’s faith in Santa is sweet, but it’s built on a story that eventually fades. God’s promises are different. They don’t depend on myths or make-believe—they rest on the character of the One who has never lied, never failed, and never broken His word.

Hebrews 11 reminds us that Abraham didn’t see the full picture in his lifetime, but he lived in hope anyway. And that’s the call for you and me. To live each day with that same expectancy—trusting that God is already working, even when we can’t yet see the results.

So as you leave today, carry this with you: God’s promises are better than Christmas morning. They don’t come wrapped in paper or tied with ribbon, but in grace, mercy, and eternal life. And they are guaranteed—not by the magic of a season, but by the faithfulness of our Savior.