Sermon Romans 4:13-25, Mk. 8:31-8

Paul was writing to a new community. Each side of Jewish and Gentile Christians seemed to claim superiority. Paul takes an Old Testament story and radically reforms it. Paul’s transformation of the old story works magic for his new community. For Paul, the story is not so sacred that it becomes a shrine. It has living power in new situations. (see hays) Here, Paul takes the clear command about circumcision and instead makes Abraham the father of many in faith. Why? He wants converts to be unde4tered by the circumcision requirement. Everyone would agree that the Jews spoke of Father Abraham, but now Paul is saying Abraham is the father of all Christians in matters of faith. It would be like someone saying that bobby knight represents the best of Purdue For Paul, the living word is too important to be left with a quick quotation as if that decides an issue. He scours the Scripture to try to have it breathe life and wisdom into his circumstance.

The Bible was living communication for Jesus. He too interpreted Scripture. He lived Scripture. From Scripture, he drew the template of Christian ethics, love God with everything you have and your neighbor as yourself. He would use Scripture easily in arguments about the shared faith and as his sure defense against the snares laid for him in the wilderness. . Indeed Jesus looked at the messiah and saw not a conquering hero, as we still want it to be but someone who would suffer and die.

The Christ story has suffering. We say it so easily, that Jesus suffered and died for sin. Gospel songs get drenched in blood. It is a hard task to watch someone you love suffer Peter could not bear the thought. Jesus reacts so strongly because he would have preferred to go on teaching and healing for many, many years. He has a sense that his young life would be terribly foreshortened. Luke’s gospel says that the devil left Jesus after the first set of temptations until and opportune time. Maybe Peter’s words were an opportune time for Jesus to try to avoid the via dolorosa to the cross. Luther spoke of the theology of the cross, that we see god most clearly in the cross, no in power and glory. Both Jesus and paul emphasized faith, that is trust in a good God. Even when the facts are against us, we can maintain faith. As Paul said, Abraham and Sarah were as good as dead, yet a child came to them. Calvary surely looked like a defeat, but only god could move that horror into Easter.

During the season of Lent, I would hope that we allow the Bible to live in our lives a bit more fully. I was at a presbytery gathering on Tuesday and a grumpy retired pastor stated categorically that adults don’t look at the Bible, and no one, other than me, even batted an eye. It has to be more than a sacred, untouched book. Give it some fresh air of the Spirit and read it. Talk back to it, question it, struggle with it, find some solace in it. It is just another big book if it sits around and gathers dust or acts as a handy paperweight. The end of our reading from Paul is vital for us all. Those words were not for Abraham alone, not for Jews alone, not for Paul alone, but for all of us. The living Bible reaches across time to grab us by the souls. Here in Lent, biblical seeds planted long ago have taken root. For our future we do well to continue to let the bible shower our imaginations with seeds that will sprout down the line. As new circumstances arise, we will continue to have the living word speak to us. John Calvin would speak of a teachable spirit, a willingness to go back to ti over and over in the expectation of some new riches, some deepening thought. For the Spirit continues to hover over the Bible and us for wisdom.