The Companions of Challenge and Promise
Genesis 15:1–12, 17–18 Luke 13:31–35
Preached by the Reverend Kathy Peters
February 28, 2010

 “Do not be afraid,…. I am your shield” (Genesis 15:1). “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings….”  (Luke 14:34)…images of a God that comforts and protects, yet how often do we resist and fear that such a loving God is not speaking to and for us. How often do we like Abram say…but God all is not well yet, when will things be as I wish them to be?  How often are we unwilling to accept the care of the mother hen out of fear of what now might be required of us. How and why do we resist the promise that nothing can separate us from the love and care of God?  One writer observed that “there seems to be no good reason for God to draw near to us (as is God’s habit), except God’s sheer love for (all) creation.” (Kae Evensen in Christian Century 2/23/2010 p. 25) With all of our quirks and propensity to push God away and believe somehow that we can do it on our own….God will not let us go or cease from loving us even when we complain or quarrel or just plain don’t believe. 
We are a lot like Abram. This is about the third or fourth time that God has told Abram…do not be afraid. Things will work out. And perhaps because it taking a really long time…Abram and Sarai are not getting any younger and their desire for a child is desperate, they are having trouble believing.  Since words are not working God takes Abram out to look at the night sky and says, "Abram, trust me. Look up at the stars. Remember how I've been telling you that you will have land, a home, and children and grandchildren and a future far beyond anything you can imagine? Trust me. Don't be afraid. I've got you covered. You can't begin to count these stars, can you, and you can't begin to count the blessings – and to be honest, the trials – that the future will bring. But there will be a future for you, and I will be with you every step of the way." The story says that Abram "believed" God, and "God reckoned it to him as righteousness" – a great phrase, isn't it? It means that their relationship was good and solid. Then God makes a promise to Abram, a covenant, and today we're still part of that covenant, the covenant that says that God has got us covered. This life – it's a trust walk. And we don't have to fear. (adapted from Kate Huey S.A.M.U.E.L. ucc.org 2/28/10) We don’t need to believe that it all depends upon us, that we are in charge. God has promised to be with us, and God is at work underneath everything. So no matter what things may look like, we can be assured with Abram that God is good, all the time!
We are also like the people that Jesus spoke to in our gospel lesson today…we are too often unwilling to believe and to allow God to shelter us under God’s protective wings.
And who can blame us: look around at the world in which we live, children go hungry, families and lands are destroyed by war, we are encouraged to live in fear of terrorism, there was another devastating earthquake this week, a woman in our own community was stabbed to death in an all too frequent incidence of domestic violence…….why should we trust, why should we put aside fear?
Walter Brueggemann tells us: "To be fully human, so Israel testifies, is to have a profound, unshakable, elemental trust in Yahweh as reliable, present, strong, concerned, engaged for; and…to live and act on the basis of that confidence, even when Yahweh is not visible and circumstance attests to the contrary" (S.A.M.U.E.L. ucc.org 2/28/10)   God’s habit is to draw near to us and we are drawn to that love by something deep within.
Abram obviously hung in there and in God’s time, God’s promises were fulfilled.
Jesus knew the sorrow and pain that he would be facing but even as some tried to warn him off, tried to encourage him to take an easier path, he knew what he was called to do…..cast out  demons, heal the sick, welcome the outcast, teach about the love of God for all God’s children. He knew that some would be unwilling and unable to hear his message, yet he trusted that he too would be under the mothering and protective wing of God.
Both Abram and Jesus trusted that God was with them.
So we come to the “so what” portion of the sermon: what can we take away?
Barbara Brown Taylor observed that we often refer to "Mother Church," and perhaps that is apt: "It is where we come to be fed and sheltered, but it is also where we come to stand firm with those who need the same things from us. ("Chickens and Foxes," in Bread of Angels by Barbara Brown Taylor as quoted in S.A.M.U.E.L. ucc.org 2/28/10)  
So……come to this place to hear God’s word that can lead you to relax and trust that no matter what comes your way, God walks with you, shelters you, and like a mother hen will care for you in every circumstance of life. Trials will come your way…it is part of what it means to be human….the promise is that you will never need to face them alone. 
And go out from this place and practice being a Christian!  Fred Plumer of the Center for Progressive Christianity writes:  “if you want to know what it means to
be a Christian, practice, practice, practice!  (And) Here are seven teachings that certainly will give you a good start. Practice compassion; practice trust; practice forgiveness; practice non-judgment; practice generosity; practice thankfulness; and practice joy.”  (as quoted in Seasons of the Spirit Congregational Life lent 2010 p. 46)

God chose in the person of Christ to enter into our particular time and place and love us and teach us what it might mean to be the fully human creatures, creatures created in God’s image, the fully human creatures that we were created to be. In Christ we see both the promise and the challenge of that call.

May God grant us that we open ourselves to be sheltered and fed on our journey even as we seek to do the same for those whom we encounter along the way.  Look at the night sky and know that the promises of God are meant for you! Amen