"Name Changer " Sunday, February 25, 2018 - 9 AM

Name Changer - Romans 4:13, 20-25 Bascomb UMC / February 28, 2018 / 9AM – Boy Scout Sunday Focus: Faith in God’s life-changing power that is exemplified in our willingness to act upon our belief. Function: To challenge the believer to ACT, to RISK belief in Jesus enough to allow the Holy Spirit to bring change in behavior and lifestyle. 5 Purpose Outcomes of the Church: Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Evangelism, Service Romans 4:13, 20-25 (CEB) Abraham’s promise is received through faith 13 The promise to Abraham and to his descendants, that he would inherit the world, didn’t come through the Law but through the righteousness that comes from faith. 20 He didn’t hesitate with a lack of faith in God’s promise, but he grew strong in faith and gave glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that God was able to do what he promised. 22 Therefore, it was credited to him as righteousness. 23 But the scripture that says it was credited to him wasn’t written only for Abraham’s sake. 24 It was written also for our sake, because it is going to be credited to us too. It will be credited to those of us who have faith in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was handed over because of our mistakes, and he was raised to meet the requirements of righteousness for us. Charles Blondin was a famous French tightrope walker who gives us a wonderful illustration of true faith. Back in 1860 (30 years after Bascomb was founded), he became the first person to cross a tightrope stretched over a quarter of a mile across Niagara Falls. He walked across, 160 feet above the falls, several times... each time with a different daring feat. The crowd “Oohed and Aahed!” (get them to act that out) - …with a bag over his head (Ooooo)! …with a table and chair, he sat down to eat (Ahhhh)! …once he cooked an egg out there (Oooooo). But his premier stunt was to walk across pushing a wheelbarrow holding a sack of potatoes (Ahhhh). The point was to prove he could take a loaded wheelbarrow across the wire. Why? Because then he asked the crowd: "Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?" The crowd knew he was the greatest tightrope walker in the world, so they enthusiastically yelled, "Yes! We believe!" (Get the congregation to chant “we believe!”) "Okay," said Blondin, "So somebody get into the wheelbarrow!" No one did! They said they believed. But... their actions proved they truly did not believe. To get in that wheelbarrow took belief to a new level – something we call FAITH! To get in that wheelbarrow would be a game changer! And that’s the play on words I’m using today – “game changer” to “name changer.” (sing Father Abraham) You see, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all claim Abraham as their ancestor. For Christianity, it is this chapter from Romans (perhaps more than any other) that explains why WE are “children of Abraham.” We are supposed to apply the same faith, the same trust in God that Abraham did. When we trust the promise of God in the resurrection of Jesus – we actually fulfill God’s promise to Abraham - He is the father of many nations (Father Abraham had many sons and daughters). Paul sees a parallel here: a nation is being born from a couple who thought they were as good as dead – way too old to have children AND Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried until God raised him and now people from all nations are invited under God’s grace and salvation. WOW! Now Paul speaks very well of Abraham, but in Genesis we know that Abraham is very human, very skeptical about God’s promise. His relationship with Hagar is proof of that. How many times do we take matters into our own hands and get ahead of God. God must correct Abraham several times! But Paul’s major point is that God’s promise to Abraham is prior to the law – the rulebook that Paul’s people were so into. Paul is setting up a model here: the resurrection of Christ is simply a return to the situation prior to the giving of the law. Abraham (and now you and me) must believe with true FAITH! God speaks to Abram as commands him to: “Go forth.” In other words, get in the wheelbarrow – you know, leave everything and everyone that makes you somebody in the Biblical world and trust God for a new identity and a new place. Take a moment to translate this into your current economic and social situation. Leave your house, your job, your friends, your church, your relatives, abandon your inheritance, a 401K that will not transfer and maybe even the equity in your home— and go somewhere where you don’t speak the language, you have no business contacts, no friends or relatives . . . and trust God to make a new place for you. This was a very tall order for someone that may have never know of this God/Yahweh before now (at least Moses got a burning bush – what does Abraham get? A feeling? A whisper?). I can safely bet that most folks in the ancient world, and most folks today, would not have gone. But Paul reminds us that Abram believed in Yahweh’s good word, and it says in Genesis that Abram’s FAITH was “reckoned it to him as righteousness” by God. His FAITH saved him. His FAITH allowed God to be present again! This sort of covenant is know as a “covenant of grant” - Abram’s gets land Moses gets a people for God and David’s throne becomes a dynasty all the way to Jesus. NICE! But the REAL prize is this…..God is present – right here with us. Really, this was Abram’s great reward and that same presence is our blessing as well. Abram follows God into an unknown future, can you and I do that? Because here’s where it gets tricky – here’s where I might jump ship…..three times - over decades of time - God makes this promise to Abram! Genesis 12, Genesis 15, and Genesis 17 – are spans of decades! Anybody able to trust God for decades? But Paul declares that: “[Abram] believed in the LORD; and God reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:3 (CEB) Paul makes this point for us AND he connects it to us in Galatians: …in the same way that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, those who believe are the children of Abraham. But when it saw ahead of time that God would make the Gentiles righteous on the basis of faith, scripture preached the gospel in advance to Abraham: All the Gentiles will be blessed in you. Therefore, those who believe are blessed together with Abraham who believed. Galatians 3:6-9 (CEB) Paul states that the FAITH God expects from Abram is exactly the FAITH that is expected of us. Hmmm . . . maybe this old and new covenant thing is not that different. So why the name change? In Abram and Sarai’s world, when a person was raised to a new position— a princeling to a throne, or a servant to an office— it was common for the patron to change that person’s name in order to signify the new role. Thus, when Yahweh changes his clients’ names, God formalizes their new roles as the parents of the chosen people (Father Abraham and Sarah had many sons). Basically, what we have here is the designation of a new Adam and Eve. We have now navigated through the first two stages of the great rescue plan during these 1st two Sunday’s in LENT. God has reestablished contact with fallen humanity through his covenant with Noah (that was the 1st Sunday). Now the people (the descendants of Abraham), the place (the land of Canaan) and the presence (“I am . . . your very great reward,” Gen 15: 1 NIV) are established in this covenant with Abraham. And to our joy and good fortune, we also see that the plan is expanding. In Eden everyone born was in a close, covenant relationship with God - until the Fall, then we were all excluded – cast out. Then, with Noah, one man and his immediate family are rescued, and with Abraham one extended family is welcomed into covenant relationship by FAITH. Next week, we will see that with the transition into the Mosaic covenant, this extended family will become God’s people. Paul is connecting the dots! Pulling his Jewish and Gentile church into ONE family – ONE covenant with all humans in Jesus. Our part is to believe! Now, are we standing in the crowd shouting “we believe” (play movie clip – Shrek “I Believe”). Yeah, we hear you donkey. But Paul says there’s more to it than just yelling with the crowd. It’s not real until….what? You have to commit – get into the wheelbarrow! This is called a preacher story – which, in this case, means it can’t be verified as historical fact. However, the point can still be made – listen: Alexander the Great was one of the greatest military generals who ever lived. He conquered much of the known world – that much we know is true. One story has the great general, after a major battle, acting as judge over his soldiers – giving rewards for those who had won great victories in battle and judgement for those who had committed offenses in battle. One by one they appeared and to those who failed, he sentenced them – some even to death – for their offenses. Finally, there came before the seat of judgment the last soldier, a very young man, a warrior hardly out of boyhood, just a boy scout who must have followed an older brother into war. Still, he was fit and he seemed intelligent, but he was naïve and unexperienced in battle. “What is the offense? Alexander the Great inquired. The Sargent said: “Cowardice in battle!” Everyone hung their heads, because cowardice was what Alexander the Great most despised. But Alexander, looking upon the boy, his face softened. The crowd sensed that he was considering the boy’s youth and potential. Perhaps he would show mercy upon the lad. “What’s your name, son?” Alexander asked. Relaxing a bit, the young man replied: “My name is Alexander.” The General’s expression hardened. In a louder voice he asked: “What's your name?” Snapping to attention, the boy answered again: “My name is…realizing his predicament….Alexander, sir.” The general rose to his feet, marched across the room and grabbed the boy by his tunic. Alexander the Great looked the young soldier straight in the eye and said: “Soldier, either change your conduct or change your name.” How do we answer our Lord and savior on the Day of Judgment? I know we serve under Grace, but will we cheapen the very Grace that walked the path to the cross? Can we not “fight the good fight?” Will we not claim the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus made available to us when he set his face like flint toward Jerusalem? Our commitment to believe, to risk the wheelbarrow, may make the difference in God’s kingdom expanding to all of Abraham’s other children. To we who claim the name Christian --- may our conduct give strong witness to our name! God is a name-changing, a life changing God! Let us pray………… Page 6 of 6