Almighty God, by the prayer and discipline of Lent may we enter into the mystery of Christ’s sufferings, and by following in his Way come to share in his glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
There’s a wonderful cartoon that often does the rounds in church circles but is relevant to any institution or organisation –
A speaker asks the question ‘who wants change?’ and in the audience every single person raises their hand. When the speaker then asks ‘who wants to change?’ – every hand is immediately lowered!
This is a universal truth but the reality is that as we get older, we tend to become more set in our ways and find change ever harder.
However, in today’s Old Testament reading from Genesis it seems that Abraham and Sarah, despite being so old they are almost as good as dead (as Paul rather rudely puts it when he describes it later in his letter to the Romans) are nevertheless prepared to take on all sorts of change.
Responding to the call of God, they have already left their home city of Ur and started afresh in Haran, and even after that, are prepared to set out again, on yet another journey into the unknown.
And then, as we hear today, they even have change their names it seems!
There is quite some debate about what this signifies – the name Abram means ‘The Father, or God, is exalted’ whereas Abraham means ‘Father of multitudes, or Father of nations’ so God is giving Abraham a name that in itself demonstrates the change that is promised…that despite currently being childless, he will give rise to a multitude of descendants.
For Sarai becoming Sarah – both names mean ‘Princess’ but possibly the change in the final letter moves the sense from ‘my Princess’ to ‘the Princess’ which coupled with God saying to her that she will be ‘Mother of Nations’ suggests that she will become a princess of multitudes – not for one family alone but for every family.
It’s also worth noting that both their names receive an extra ‘ha’ – which in Hebrew is part of the word for the Holy Spirit. For Sarah and Abraham then, and for us all – and it’s there in the incarnation too, as the Angel Gabriel explains to Mary – it needs God’s Spirit to bring life – which cannot be achieved through our own efforts – through the flesh alone.
Paul makes this abundantly clear – it all relies on faith in God, which Abraham and Sarah, demonstrate very clearly.
To be able to change then – needs both God at work in us through the Spirit, and needs our faith in God.
This is a two-fold letting go, if you like. We let go of control of our lives to God’s Spirit and trust that God is in charge! In reality this might feel like stepping out of an aeroplane with a parachute on your back!
We see this in Abraham & Sarah’s story and also for Jesus too – last week, we heard how the Spirit drives Jesus out into the wilderness as he begins his ministry and there he learns to trust utterly in God alone.
In the wilderness, in the letting go, there is testing….but also the discovery that we have all we need through God’s grace.
Abraham and Sarah do become the father and mother of multitudes – but not in their own lifetime – all they see is the birth of Isaac – one child – the first step on the way – it will be much much later, several generations down the line, before the Great Family is a reality.
The Great Family was God’s promise to them, and in that they trusted and rejoiced – but it was not FOR them alone. One thing that was clear from the start was that the promised Great Family was for a purpose – it was not to found an exclusive dynasty who saw themselves as better than others, but to live in such a way under God that the other nations, who hadn’t had yet had the benefit of knowing God so directly, would be drawn to want to know God too. They were called to be a light to enlighten the whole world.
The problem is, that by the time Jesus is himself being tested in the wilderness, they have forgotten all that and have retreated into a self-referential enclave, defining themselves against others, and believing that because they are descendants of Abraham, part of the Great Family, they can rely on that no matter what. God will keep his side of the promise, they think, but seem to forget that humanity was supposed to be keeping their side too.
So when Jesus says – if anyone wants to become my follower, they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me- well it wouldn’t have gone down very well at all….!
As Paul explains in the letter to the Romans – we are all inheritors of Abraham and Sarah – we are part of that Great Family whose members are as many as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand in the desert.
And so the same promise is true and the same challenge for us all.
But when Jesus talks about taking up the cross – what does it mean for us?
It will certainly involve risk, and letting go, and trusting in faith, but, as for Jesus and his followers ever since, it might very well also mean suffering.
In his presidential address on Friday to the General Synod currently meeting in London, the Archbishop of Canterbury said – suffering, (by which we might read, carrying our cross), is inevitably part of the Christian life.
To follow Christ means pain and suffering – there is no way of getting away from it – suffering is simply part of being human, and to be Christian means we willingly share in one another’s joy and pain. If we see ourselves as all one Great Family under God, one body of Christ, then the cross we carry is to feel the pain and to share the burdens of our sisters and brothers, our siblings, in Christ.
This Lent we are learning that living as Christians means loving our neighbours – seeing one another, even our enemies as our closest relations – one Great Family all made in the image of God.
Yesterday I joined with the Ukrainian Community for a Vigil in Cathedral Square on the 2nd anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, followed by a moving service at St John’s/here of prayer for the dead as a result of the war.
In all the differences – language, customs, forms of worship, what was remarkable was how we were one people, experienced and expressed as we joined in worship together and celebrated, even in the sorrow, that every life is a gift of God – through the Spirit and through faith.
As Christians, as we live out this calling of love – we too, like Abraham and Sarah, change our names – we take on the name of Christ – and like Abraham and Sarah – the change of name is part of the promise, and we must live it out in faith in order to inherit what God promises us in prospect. We cannot say to God -Please come and save us – but don’t change us!
And so the next time we are asked those two questions ‘who wants change/ who wants to change’ – well we know what we must do!
‘If anyone wants to be my follower, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.’
Service: Reverend Michelle Dalliston. 25th February 2024. (St John’s Church Peterborough UK)
Readings: Genesis 17.1-7, 15-16; Psalm 22.23-end; Romans 4.13-end; Mark 8.31-end
