Assurance of Faith // October 29, 2023

Read: Genesis 17

We come to a chapter about how God provided assurance of faith to Abraham at a crucial moment when he really needed it. The tension is that God expands and enlarges his promises beyond anything he has ever said to Abraham before, but everything about Abraham’s situation makes it almost impossible for him to continue to have faith in any of it. Have you ever felt like this? “God, this is who you say you are and what you say you will do, but when I look at my situation, it’s almost impossible to believe it.” In this passage, God shows us how to find assurance when our faith wavers. 

1. Our Need for Assurance

In the first verse, we can see why Abraham needed assurance. Many years had passed since the Lord had last appeared to him, and he was now 99 years old. Like Abraham, we need assurance, and God knows we need assurance. The picture here is not one of Abraham having total certainty between these encounters. He is very likely wrestling with God, struggling to believe. Not only that, but God’s promises seem impossible, and his timing doesn’t always make sense to us.

God waited to do what was humanly impossible in order to show Abraham and all those after him where faith truly belongs- in Him alone. His power, not ours, His timing not ours, His way not our way. God knew this was hard for Abraham. He knows it is hard for us.

God did not dismiss the reasons why Abraham’s faith was shaky and uncertain. He acknowledged them and addressed them in appearing to him. he Bible does not teach that to be a Christian means having 100% certainty, no doubt, or a never wavering faith. As time goes on, we will struggle, our faith can weaken, and sometimes God will seem utterly silent. God does not condemn or scold us for needing assurance of faith but recognizes our need in the midst of doubts, fears, anxieties, and worries.

2. God Gives Us Reasons For Assurance

God knows our need for assurance and meets us in our uncertainty. He doesn’t simply understand our need for assurance, He also provides solid reasons as a basis for our assurance. Two powerful reasons given in this passage are as follows:

• Who God Is - God reminds Abraham, “I am God Almighty” (v.1), and “I will be your God” (v. 7,8). Our God is God Almighty (El Shaddai) - omnipotent. There is no situation that is too impossible or hopeless for Him. Abraham’s focus was on himself and his circumstances. God was showing Abraham to begin not with who Abrahm is but who He is. We can see this in the passage: God begins, “As for me” (v4), then “As for you” (v9), then “As for your wife Sarai (v15), and finally, “As for Ishmael” (v20). In telling Abraham “I will be your God” (v7), God is saying he is not just a god out there but a God whose Almighty power is at work in Abraham’s life and situation.

• Who God Says We Are - Sometimes, our struggle with the assurance of our faith is with God. Other times, it is with ourselves. The same is true for Abram and Sarai, so God renames them Abraham and Sarah. Notice that God renames them before their lives show any evidence, any measurable or concrete proof, that they really are a new Abraham and a Sarah. This shows us an important truth - God says we are not who we say we are; we are not who others say we are; we are who He says we are. When we don’t feel like we are worthy to call ourselves a Christian or a son/daughter of God, this passage tells us - our names/identity are not earned by our performance, they are given by God and received as a gift.

3. God’s Gift For When The Reasons Don’t Seem To Work

When we fall back on reasons, but they can’t seem to hold us up, God gives Abraham (and us) something even more. God gives us a sign, which is “a sign of the covenant between me and you” (v.11). A sign is something that points to something else. Circumcision was the sign of God’s covenant put on the man’s reproductive organ because a child was at the center of the covenant promise. In the sign, God declares the child of the promise through whom He will bless the world will come not by you (Abraham) - your power, your wisdom, or your timing - but by me (the Lord), my power, wisdom, timing. This sign would be not just for Abraham but for his descendants as a sign to live by faith in the God who keeps his promises.

Just as Abraham was given a sign to assure him when the reasons didn’t seem to work, so are we. It’s a different sign. The sign of the new covenant in Jesus Christ is baptism. The apostle Paul connects circumcision to baptism when he says, “You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” (Col 2:11-12). 

Baptism is our sign that we have a new name: the same as Jesus’ - son or daughter of God. We have a promise: I will be your God and you will be my people. We have assurance that God is who he is and that he is our God. When all else fails, we need only to look back to the sign of our baptism to see that God Almighty (El Shaddai) has been there all along and he will carry us through.

QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. Have you ever gone through an extended period of time where you felt a lack of assurance of faith? What does God’s appearance to Abraham in a time he needed assurance tell us about how God responds to the ups and downs in our faith?

3. Three reasons were given for Abraham’s struggle with assurance - 1) God’s timing is not our timing 2) Our ways make more sense to us than God’s ways 3) God’s promise seems impossible to us (in our situation, circumstance.

   Which of these is most impacting your assurance of faith today? How?

4. Sometimes our lack of assurance has to do with doubts about God, how does this passage give us reasons to regain our faith?

5. Sometimes our lack of assurance has more to do with ourselves. How does this passage give us reason to regain our faith when this is the case?

6. What are some practical ways we can “use” the reasons God gives us when our faith is weak, assailed or ebbing? Discuss practical examples that have worked for you.

7. Have you ever been at a point that no matter how hard you tried to “use the reasons” God gives for assurance - they didn’t seem to work? How did you make it through this season?

8. God gave Abraham a sign to assure him when the reasons didn’t seem to work. The sign of circumcision was a physical, visible reminder of God’s covenant promise (when he doubted God) and Abraham’s place in God’s covenant (when he doubted himself).

   In the new covenant, we are given the sign of baptism. Baptism is a physical and visible reminder of how God has fulfilled his covenant promises in Jesus Christ. It’s a physical and tangible sign that the promises are ours by faith.

   How can baptism be a sign that assures us of God’s faithfulness - even when we don’t feel it? even when we don’t feel we deserve it?

Faith That Falters // October 22, 2023

Read: Genesis 16:1-16, 21:8-21

The Westminster Confession defines the “principal acts of saving faith” as “accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone…” This confessional understanding helps us identify how and where our faith can falter. Even those with great faith, like Abraham or Peter, have moments of faltering faith. Both accepted what the Lord had said and received the promise with faith, but he struggled with resting in God’s means and timing to fulfill the promise. But no matter how bad it gets, God is not done working. God sees and hears us in moments of our greatest weakness. Like Peter, when we sink beneath the waves, we find it is the grace of God in Christ that saves us.

1. Genuine Faith Falters

The setting of the story (16:1-3) highlights a problem: God’s promises are not coming to pass as Sarah and Abraham had expected. Sarah accepted and received the promise of many descendants, but when she remained barren after living in the “land of Canaan ten years” (16:3), there was no resting in God’s plan. Sarah felt the weight of emotional pressure (she wanted a child), social pressure (she was expected to have a child), and theological pressure (it was God’s will for her to have a child). Abraham is under pressure too, but this section leaves out details other than “Abram agreed to what Sarai said” (16:2). In despair, Sarah blames God for her barrenness: “the Lord has prevented me from bearing children” (16:2). The emotional, social, and theological pressure was too much. 

This is a low point for both of them and as the story progresses, it worsens. It is worth remembering that Sarah and Abraham have genuine faith and struggle to live out that faith in actions of trust and obedience. These are two realities that reflect our experience today. Like Sarah and Abraham (and Peter), even when we accept the truth of the gospel and receive God’s grace in Christ, we still struggle with “resting on Christ alone for salvation.” A changed life is not automatic; we don’t one day wake up and have it all figured out. As a living sacrifice, we tend to crawl off the altar only to depend on ourselves once again.

2. The Way that Faith Falters

Because Sarah feels this immense pressure—because she is not resting in faith—she devises a plan to accomplish it on her own. Sarah tries to accomplish God’s plan in her own way and timing by offering her maidservant, Hagar, to Abraham to “build” her family (16:2). Notice that Abraham has been completely silent and goes along with the plan. His misguided compliance is cast in the same terms as Adam’s obedience to Eve in Gen 3:17. The point is that Abraham is as guilty as Sarah—they both fail to rest in God’s promises and take matters into their own hands. Both Eve and Sarah “took” and “gave” something (an apple or Hagar) to their husbands (Gen 3:6; 16:3). Doing it “my way” is the way that faith falters.

Sarah’s scheme works exactly how she planned, and it is a disaster. The temptation is clear: to get the promise (a good thing) on my own terms (a bad thing). When Hagar learns she is pregnant by Abraham, she becomes proud. Hagar looks at Sarah with contempt. According to Paul (Gal 4:22-25), Hagar’s contempt represents the judgment that works-righteousness brings down upon those who try to plot their own way forward into the promises of God. No condemnation is more severe than the lofty path one has set for oneself as the means of salvation!

Sarah tries to drive her failure away by making Hagar’s life miserable, but she cannot put Hagar away. Repentance draws fault near by accepting responsibility and asking for forgiveness rather than trying to drive fault away. Sarah cannot cover her actions, just as we cannot put away the consequences of our sin by driving them out of our memories and into the wilderness of forgetfulness. Regret alone accomplishes nothing. Only repentance leads back to wholeness again.

3. The One Who Rescues Faith that Falters

Though Hagar fled, the Angel of the Lord found her. It gives the impression that the Lord sought Hagar, not vice versa. We may think that we found Him, but the reality is: He found us. We were lost and confused, wandering away from Him. He came looking and found us! Hagar could flee from the presence of Sarah, but she couldn’t flee from the presence of the Lord.

The angel of the Lord comforts Hagar, “The Lord has heard your cry of affliction” (Gen 16:11). The angel speaks of “the Lord” (Yahweh) as a separate person, and it seems that the angel is speaking on behalf of Yahweh. Yet, Hagar refers to this angel as God: “You are El-Roi” or the God who sees me” (Gen 16:13). ​​This is a story of how God himself comes near to the lost and broken. God came near to Hagar. He sought her out in the wilderness and found her.

And the Lord sees you, he hears you, right now, today. He has come near to you as Christ became a man and took on flesh, like the angel of the Lord, Jesus. Christ alone is the one who sees and hears and rescues faltering faith. Do not take matters into your own hands, but accept, receive, and rest in Christ for salvation! Whether for the first time or the hundredth, let Peter’s cry be yours: “Lord, save me!”

QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. What are some examples of emotional, social, and theological pressures that challenge your faith? How can wrestling with our faith through pressure reveal that we have genuine faith?

3. Is it more difficult to rest in our faith than to accept and receive God’s promises for us? How does accepting, receiving and resting in God’s promises look in our life?

4. What might we learn about ourselves from the experience of Sarah and Hagar? 

• Can you think of a time you took something into your own hands, and it went as you planned, but you still failed to achieve what you expected? Did you shift any of the blame? 

• Have you ever participated in someone else’s plan only to find yourself full of contempt by the end? Did you hide or run away from these feelings?

5. What does this story have to do with works-based righteousness? Do you ever fall back into this mindset? Why or why not?

6. Hagar refers to God as El-Roi, “the God who sees me.” How does God’s intervention in this story give you hope and point you to the Gospel regardless of where you have been? How does this impact the way you treat others? 

7. When we are struggling, what difference would it make for us to know God hears and sees us? 

8. Where in your life do you need to say, “Lord, save me?” Has your faith faltered recently? Have you trusted in your own plans? Have you refused to come near to the God who sees you? Take time to confess this to the Lord and encourage someone else if they share this with you.

Listen to the sermon on SoundCloud here.

Justified by Faith // October 15, 2023

read: Genesis 15

In Genesis chapter 12, Abraham’s story begins with God calling him and giving him a HUGE promise: to bless him and make him a blessing to all nations.  God promises that this will happen through his offspring in a land God will give him, and from there all peoples will be blessed. Things will be set right again. Big promises!!

But what happens next? The land he is sent to is hit with a famine. Abram wanders into Egypt and makes a bunch of mistakes. Then his nephew gets captured as a prisoner of war. Abram rescues nephew.  All the while, Abram is getting old, and many years have passed since he heard the call of God.  To top it off, he has no child and no land of his own. 

Abram has the Promises of God.  Abram sees his situation.  But there is a huge gap.  As if he is on one side of the Grand Canyon and God and His promises are on the other side, Abram is “living in the gap between promise and reality”.

Then we come to Genesis 15, which gets to the very heart of how it is possible to live by faith even when we feel like the gap between us and God’s promises is huge. There are 3 things we are given in the chapter that are essential vital components to the life of faith.

• Permission to honestly name our struggles to believe

• Declaration of God for those who believe despite the struggle and doubts

• Guarantee of God to assure us he will certainly keep all his promises.

1. Permission | God gives us permission to name our struggles with honesty.  In verse 1, God comes to Abram in a vision and speaks personally to Abram.  He calls him by name and speaks tenderly to him, meeting him in his fears and anxiety.  God is his shield, his protector, and his defense!

Abram’s response to God is humble and reverent, yet honest and raw.  Abram admits honestly that there is quite a gap between His promise/word and his life – “I am childless…you have given me no offspring.” In this first recorded prayer of Abram, we have in his story, he speaks an honest complaint we would probably all feel very uncomfortable praying, especially after a vision of God!

How does God reply? God receives Abram’s prayer, acknowledges his complaint, and answers it. God gives him a visual sign and shows him the sky and the countless stars, and promises that his offspring will be that numerous. God responds to Abram by graciously meeting him where he is and by giving him a visual reminder that He will keep His word. As one author commented on this passage, “God is never shocked when you tell him the truth about your feelings” When we are feeling the gap, God gives us permission to honestly name our struggles to have faith in Him.  

2. Declaration | In verse 6, we have a declaration of God for those who believe despite the struggle, doubts, and gaps.  “Abram believed the Lord, and he (the Lord) credited it to him (Abram) as righteousness.”  This is one of the most important verses in all of the Bible. It is a declaration in which the narrator speaks to us, declaring what is happening.  

In Romans chapter 4:22, the apostle Paul says, “Therefore, it was credited to him for (as) righteousness.”  To be “righteous” is to be fully right with God, to have nothing standing between you and his favor, no sin, no unbelief.  It is to have his full approval, acceptance, and vindication of your life. All who are right with God, (who are accepted by Him, declared not guilty, who are in good standing as a part of His people) have a claim and right to all his promises. God would be unjust and unrighteous if he does not fulfill his promises to a person who is right with him.

What is being declared here is incredible! Unbelievable! God credits this to Abram as righteousness.  Credit has two meanings. On one hand, it is an accounting word; in Abram’s account with God, he has righteousness.  On the other hand, credit is a legal word; in the holy courtroom of God’s judgment, he is declared righteous! 

In Romans 4:22, Paul says this is a declaration for us! How is this possible?

22 Therefore, it was credited to him for (as) righteousness. 23 Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, 24 but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

What are we credited when we believe? The perfect faith and obedience of Jesus. All that Jesus deserves, earned, and is his by right - is ours! Simply by faith - this is the gospel. In our “account” with God, we have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Because of His complete and full obedience and his death for our trespasses and sins, we do not have to die for our failures.  He already did it on our account. We don’t have to live a perfect life of faithfulness and trust. He already did on our account. 

How does his righteousness get into our account with God? By faith alone. That’s how we receive the gift and that is how we get the credit!  If we are justified by faith in Christ, we never have to wonder IF the promises of God are true for us personally. 

This means that even in trials, pain, and seasons of darkness, we can know with certainty that God will make good on his promise.  He has to! We can have assurance that God is not mad at us.  He is not punishing us. He has not abandoned us and He has not forgotten about us. We can trust and wait in faith “in the gap” knowing that when we are right with God he WILL set all things right for us. 

3.  Guarantee | On top of this amazing declaration, we have a guarantee.  In verse 8, we know that Abram believes, and has faith, and God himself counted him as righteous.  But, he still has doubts and needs assurance, and asks “how can I know?” 

God’s response seems bizarre to us.  He shows Abram a bunch of animals and slices them in half and in verse 18 (key to understanding what is happening), “The Lord made a covenant with Abram.”  A covenant is a super promise.  It is a vow, a solemn obligation where you are binding yourself and your life to your promise. God guarantees his promise by way of a covenant. 

This was a common Ancient Near East practice, where they would take animals, cut them in two (“cut a covenant”), and walk through them. It was a physical picture of what they were covenanting to each other - that if I don’t keep my part of the covenant – I forfeit my life. 

What is most remarkable here is that only God passes through the pieces. It’s a one-way covenant. God is invoking a curse on himself (!) if he does not keep his covenant.  

This is God saying to Abram that if he does not keep his covenant promise, he forfeits his life. But this isn’t possible for God the creator of the stars to die! 

But yes, it is.  The gospel tells us that God did walk through the pieces.  “Christ became a curse for us”; Jesus said of the bread and wine, “this is the new (renewed) covenant in my blood”; “my body broken”. God – who became man – did forfeit his life. His body was torn and his blood was shed. He shuddered in the darkness under the curse. 

Here is the power of the one-way covenant guarantee - when God walked alone through the pieces. He was saying, “If I don’t keep my end of the covenant, I take the curse” AND “Abram, if you don’t keep your end, I take the curse”. No matter what, God alone guarantees his promise will come to pass. There is no stronger guarantee we can have. Every other religion says “You do your part, and I will do my part.”  Only the gospel says – I’ll do my part. You just trust me, even when we waver, struggle, suffer, or wonder where God is. Even if we falter in our faith, the cross is our guarantee - for all who trust in Jesus the promises cannot fail. The God who passed through “the pieces” will see it through. 

QUESTIONS:

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. Think of the Grand Canyon.  Do you ever feel like you are on one side of the canyon and everything you know about God and His promises are on the other side, and there is a huge GAP that separates the two? What is this gap for you right now? How big is this gap? 

3. Abram honestly and transparently admits to God that there is a huge gap between His promise and his life (verse 6).  Is Abram’s posture surprising to you?  How do you feel about praying to God with such raw honesty?  

4. “God is never shocked when you tell him the truth about your feelings” and God gives us permission to honestly name our struggles to believe and have faith in Him.  Do you believe that you have this permission to go to God?  Have you ever told God how it feels to be in the gap?  Do you struggle with telling Him that you doubt His promises?

5. Application of question #4 to our church community: At any moment in time in the church, there will be those feeling the gap and struggling to have faith.  How can we be honest with each other about our struggles? What are some barriers to being open and vulnerable with each other? Practically as a member of God’s family, how can we be a friend (rather than an obstacle) to those who need support and encouragement?  

6. Martin Luther famously said, “Because if this article [of justification] stands, the church stands; if this article collapses, the church collapses.”  He claims that Romans 4:22 is the very heart of the gospel. Why would Luther make such a strong claim? Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

7. Imagine checking your bank balance and doing a double-take because you see $3 billion in your account. You did not earn it.  Then you get a text from Jeff Bezos, “A little something from me.” He earned it but it was credited to your account.  How would you feel? How does righteousness get into your account with God? Do you struggle with unbelief in this regard, and if so, how can we be certain that God will make good on His promises?

8. God makes a covenant with Abram by passing through the pieces of the animals cut in two. It is a one-way covenant where God says, “I’ll do my part, you just trust me.”  How is this good news to you? How might the Lord be calling you today to trust him more? What would it look like for you to believe the guarantee of God - that his promise to set all things right cannot fail? What difference would this make?

Faith and the Test of Prosperity // October 8, 2023

READ Gen 13:1-18

Abram means “exalted father,” and Abraham means “father of a multitude.” These two names tell us that he is the founding father of all who believe. His journey can teach us what it means to live by faith from beginning to end, especially when our faith is tested. Abram’s story is told as a series of tests. We have seen the test of his call and the test of famine, but this chapter tells us about the test of prosperity. 

1. The Test of Prosperity

The test of prosperity is one most of us would sign up for any day! But the bible cautions us. Prosperity is a gift of God, but it is also one of the most difficult tests, greatest dangers, and threats to living by faith. The passage tells us that both Abram and Lot had become so wealthy that they could not stay together. In v. 7, we see quarreling between the herdsman of Abram and Lot. They are left with a choice to separate (v.8). This choice becomes a significant turning point in both of their lives.

This test is not only one for Abram and Lot but for us today. The Bible tells us in many places that prosperity can increase our pride, decrease our reliance upon God, and even lead us to destruction. All this should be a flashing warning lot for anyone living a culture of prosperity like ours. 

2. Lot’s Choice

Abram gives Lot the first choice of the land. Lot chooses the entire plain of the Jordan for himself. His choice makes sense because it is lush, fertile, and great for livestock, but there’s something Lot didn’t see or chose to ignore. Lot decided to go to the very edge of the promised land near Sodom, where the people were described as “evil, sinning immensely against the Lord.” Lot thought something we all do: “I could be dangerously close to evil, but it will never affect me.”

Why would Lot put himself in this situation? The text reveals Lot’s perspective, who saw the land was “watered everywhere like the Lord’s garden” (v. 10). It wasn’t just about material prosperity, but a way back to the garden of Eden. Prosperity isn’t bad or sinful in itself; it’s what we believe our prosperity will do for us that leads us away from God. Here Lot looked and saw what looked like the garden of the Lord, but one thing was missing… The Lord! His choice is a lot like the first temptation in the garden: you can have all you want and even more without God and His rule, His word, or His boundaries.

3. Abram’s Choice

Abram faced the same choice as Lot, but his response was not only counterintuitive but countercultural. As the head of the family, including Lot, and the one initially promised the land, he could have simply chosen the best land for himself. Abram let go of the opportunity to advance himself, his wealth, and his riches. There are a few reasons for this:

• Abram valued his relationship with Lot more than his wealth.

• Abram valued his relationship with God more than his wealth.

No one would ever say aloud, “I value money more than my relationships,” but we often act like it in how we live. Our pursuit of security and significance ends up squeezing out all our time or leaving us so empty we have nothing left to give those we love or God Himself. Abram let it all go so he could preserve his relationship with Lot and the Lord. 

4. Our Choice

Lot chose the garden without the Lord over the Lord of the garden. The result for him was ruin. By contrast, the result of Abram’s choice was God promising to give it all back to Him - not just for him alone but for all his descendants (v.14)!

Abram here points us to his greater Son, Jesus, who passed an even greater test of prosperity and earned an even greater blessing for his family.

He left His Father's throne above,

So free, so infinite His grace.

Emptied Himself of all but love,

And bled for Adam's helpless race.

In our sin, we chose the garden without the Lord. On the cross, Jesus took the judgment of that choice in our place – a life apart from God. Now, we can come back to the Lord of the garden and find the safety, security and significance we long for in him. This sets us free from the “hook” of prosperity so we can live countercultural and counterintuitive lives like Abram. We can become poor (by letting go and being generous) so others can be enriched. By doing so, we bear witness to the One who gave it all up to restore our relationship to Him. 

QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. How can prosperity be a gift of God and also something that leads us away from God? How does this relate to our faith? How have you seen this play out in your life? 

3. Look up Deut. 8:12-18, Prov. 30:8,9, Mk. 10:23, 1 Tim. 6:9-10. What practical insights can you take from these passages regarding having prosperity or wanting more of it?

4. When Lot saw prosperity - he was blind to the evil he was getting dangerously close to (in Sodom). How can this happen in our pursuit of success, wealth or prosperity?

5. How is a desire for prosperity looking for a “way back to the garden without the Lord”? Why doesn’t it work? How is it like the bait on a hook that draws us away from God? 

6. Abram made his choice because he valued his relationships with Lot and with God more than gaining more wealth/success. How can our desire for prosperity, quest for more security, safety, significance harm our relationships? How have you seen this in your life? 

7. Jesus passed an even greater test and earned an even greater blessing for us. How does Jesus letting it all go, emptying himself, and giving everything up for us set us free from seeking prosperity as our “god”? 

8. How might Jesus be calling you to look at your own financial situation, needs and pursuits differently? How might He be calling you - like Abram - to give something up to be free and bear witness to his promise?

Listen to the sermon on SoundCloud here.

Leadership By Faith // October 1, 2023

bible passage: Genesis 14

As we celebrate the ordination and installment of our new elders at Trinity, we consider the relationship between faith and leadership. The story of Abram is not only about him learning to live a life of faith for himself but also about leading by faith as one called to bring God’s blessing to all nations. His example of leadership in a challenging context of kings, conflicts, and family provides three leadership lessons for our new elders and for us.

1. The Motive for Leadership

In the midst of a conflict, Abram is pressed to help his nephew Lot ( and others) trapped in a terrible situation. We find Abram is willing to go out on a long and dangerous journey on their behalf. Why would he go through that? 

The answer is found In v.14. The word for kin or relative is the same word for “brother” from Cain’s infamous question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Abram’s motive for taking leadership is simply that Lot is his brother, his family. Despite previous tension and the fact Lot got himself into this situation, he saw Lot as his brother, which meant looking out for him in all circumstances. 

Abram’s response ultimately points us to Jesus, whose motive to take leadership for our redemption was the same. He did it for his family, his “brothers and sisters” (Heb 2:14-17). The example of Jesus reminds us that church is family, and our leaders are called to be, in essence, like older brothers. Elders are the first to say, “I will be your keeper,” in the way that Abram did for Lot and the way that Jesus did for us. The motive for leadership is not whether or not others “deserve it” or even whether we “feel like it”. The motive for leadership is the value and importance we place on other people. If they are family - their needs are ours, their predicament ours. 

2. The Call to Leadership

We often think of the call to leadership as the call to take charge, get people to take orders, and be at the top while others do the hard work from which you have earned your way out. The Bible presents a very different picture of the call to leadership. Abram’s call to lead was not a call to comfort and safety but a call to risk, suffer, step out; to make himself vulnerable when he could have chosen otherwise. The other leaders (kings) mentioned in this passage risked much by going to war, but they did it to take advantage of spoils for themselves. Abram even refused the spoils of victory, displaying the sincerity of his leadership.

For Abram to be his brother’s keeper meant he had to choose situations that would bring him pain instead of staying nice and safe in Mamre, where things were well. The call of leadership for him, our elders, and all Christians is to take risks, become vulnerable, and suffer on behalf of others. The Bible teaches us that this  how God chooses to bless others through us. We see this in Jesus, for whom the call to lead was the call to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

3. The Choice of Leadership

We carry a lot of suspicion and lack of trust these days toward leadership. It doesn’t help that stories about abuses in leadership abound, whether political, corporate, or religious. The behavior of several kings in this passage reminds us that this issue goes far back in history. Most bad leaders don’t begin with intentions to harm others, so how do they get there? The answer is recognizing that every kind of leadership comes with a choice (or temptation). What did Abram choose? He made a vow to the righteous king, Melchizedek, over the king of Sodom, who represents the world’s way of leadership. He vowed that no one except God would get the glory for his leadership success.

Immediately after his call to ministry, Jesus faced the same choice in the wilderness. He could have led by the world’s ways, taking his place as Most High over the splendor of all the world’s kingdoms by making a vow to Satan. No. Jesus made a vow to God - “Not my will, but yours be done.” He chose to empty himself of all divine rights to be made a servant, humbling himself to the lowest point possible, choosing to become a gift to bless others. 

Melchizedek taught Abram a fundamental lesson, one that is central to all Christian leadership: we are not the hero; God is. God deserves all the glory. It is not our wisdom, gifts, abilities, strategies, skills, meetings, or decisions that win the victory. Our greatest victory is pointing people to Jesus – the real hero – with our lives of faith and our leadership in faith. Our elders made significant vows before the congregation, choosing not to receive glory but to give it all to the Lord and become a blessing for others. May they be filled with the grace of God to live out this high calling and help us to do the same.

QUESTIONS

1. What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2. What kinds of motives drive people to seek and take positions of leadership? How is Abram’s motive for taking leadership different? 

3. If leadership according to the Bible is the being the first to say in a community (family) I am my brother/sisters’ keeper, what does this look like practically?  

4. How does Hebrews 2:14-17 describe the motive of Jesus in becoming our leader for our salvation? How might this passage from Hebrews provide us with a description/traits of biblical  leadership? Come up with as many traits as you can from the text. 

5. How does a leader's willingness to suffer, be vulnerable and risk pain for you relate to your ability to trust that leader? How is this true of your ability to trust in Jesus’ leadership over your life? How should this look in church leadership? other forms of leadership (parents, workplace, coaches)?

6. It was said in the sermon - all leadership comes with a choice. 1) Use the position for your own advantage/glory OR 2) Use the position to give glory to God? Do you agree? How have you seen this play out? 

7. We see how Abram was able to make the choice to give glory to God by the intervention of Melchizedek. He reminded Abram of the central lesson of spiritual leadership - God is the hero, not us. How might this truth help us in our leadership to be a blessing to others (and not take from them)? to make it about God and not ourselves? 

Listen to the sermon on SoundCloud here.