Trusting in the Impossible

"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." Genesis 15:1b

Trusting in the Impossible
By Rev. William Dohle

The other day my family and I were sitting around the house when the topic of Jesus came up.

Matthew, my middle son, turned to me and said:

"You know, daddy. Jesus didn't really rise from the dead. That was just his spirit."

"No, Matthew," I said. "Jesus did rise from the dead."
"He did?"

"There was no body in the tomb. Just some grave clothes folded up. And a couple angels announcing he had risen."

"So...Jesus is... alive?"

"Yes, Matthew," I said.

After a moment, he got this strange look on his face and then gave me a hug, "I love you."

"I love you too, Matthew."


The problem Matthew(even at his young age)had with Jesus physically rising from the dead is that it is, technically, impossible. There is no way a body could rise from the dead... could it? With everything we know we can't possibly imagine this happening! Could it?

Abram too faced the same situation. God had just told him, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield and your great reward." Looking up to the heavens, Abram is told. "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be."

Of course Abram knew that this was impossible. His wife and he had long aged past childbearing years. Imagine a typical eighty year old man and woman expecting children. Absurd! It's just not possible!

Only with God it is! With God all things are possible. Childless men and women can bear children. Whole nations can come from two infertile people. Why...with God...even the dead can come physically back to life in a new and perfect way!

Trusting in such things requires faith. "Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness." Abram believed the impossible...and God called him righteous! That's faith! That's trust! Abram said "Yes" to the promises of God, even when those promises were not his to grasp. Abram trusted that God would give him children(somehow). Abram trusted that those children would go on to do great things. That they would inherit the land he was now in. Abram trusted God...and God called him righteous.

Where is trust needed in your life? What promises do you have a hard time hearing? Do you have trouble believing that God is present with you, through good times and bad? Do you have hard time with forgiveness, with seeing that God can and has let go of your past mis-deeds? What "impossible" prayers have you prayed today? What have you declared "impossible" for human reasons?

God has promised us a new heaven and a new earth. Impossible? Maybe for us. But not for God. With God all things are possible. As we wait for that day, we live in the hope of that promise, trusting in the Lord who has declared us righteous because of the faith he has planted in our hearts.

God of Abram, we too have trouble believing in the impossible. Give us faith by your Holy Spirit. Help us see the impossible through the possible here that we might, along with Abram, be declared righteous, in Christ name. Amen.

Breaking Out of the Box

"Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God most high and he blessed Abram..." Genesis 14:18

Breaking Out of the Box
By Rev. William Dohle

We are all creatures of habit.

We hang out with the same folks we always have, forming and nurturing social bonds with very few strangers. We go to the same church we've always gone to and associate with friends with whom we share common interests, beliefs, and morals. We sit in the same pew in church, the same desk at school, the same cubicle at work. Seldom do we even rearrange the furniture in our own home. Seldom do we invite someone new in. It's just... habit!

We seldom venture far outside of our comfort zones. But what if we did? What if we set aside our own comfort and opened ourselves up to the wider world? What if we sat down and discussed politics with someone from another political party? Or religion with someone of a different faith? What might we discover then?

Perhaps we might discover what Abram did. That God is bigger than we can ever imagine.

Abram, after rescuing his nephew, Lot, from those who took him captive is greeted by the king of Salem, Melchizedek. The Bible tells us he was a priest of "God Most High" and he brings out wine and bread for Abram to eat.

Melchizedek is a foreigner, an outsider, and, in all likelihood, a pagan. He should have no knowledge of the God of Abram... should he? He doesn't belong to Abram. He isn't one of God's chosen people... but listen to the blessing he gives and see what you think.

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
And blessed be God Most High who delivered your enemies into your hand."

Melchizedek is written of thousands of years later by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews who speaks volumes about him.

"Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!"(Hebrews 7:4)

This man, this outsider, was a priest, not because he was born into it, but because of his life. Because he was King of Salam (which means "Peace") and Melchizedek (which means "King of Righteousness"). And this outsider blessed the father of our faith.

So what does this have to do with you??

Well... what if Abram had stayed in his corner of the world, not venturing out, not risking his life for Lot and others? What if Abram had closed his mind to the possibility that God might be worshiped outside his circle? What if Abram had been as much of a creature of habit as you and I are.

God continues to call us outside of our circles, out into the larger world around us. We are called to converse with people different than us, to be open about what we believe and to share that open conversation with them. We are called to risk ourselves for our neighbor, to feed the hungry, quench the thirsty, visit the prisoner, tend the sick. We are called to walk where others dare not trod, to open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit wherever he is! We are called to be friends with Baptists and Jews, to speak with Methodists and Muslims, to associate with Mormons and Catholics. We are called to witness to our faith, to step where few have gone, knowing that the Holy Spirit goes ahead of us. Knowing that God has been there before us. And knowing that, priests like Melchizedek abound throughout the world, ready to bless with us God's blessing.

Lord Jesus, you are our high priest in the order of Melchizedek forever. Your living presence is active and alive in our world. And so we are blessed when we tend to the stranger. Open us up to different opinions and different ways of looking at the world. Help us witness to your life within us, through the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Family Ties

"During the night, Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and other people." Genesis 14:16

Family Ties
by Rev. William Dohle

Family. We can't live with 'em! We can't live without 'em!

Our lives are based so much around family. We gather with them around special, and not so special, occasions. We count on them to remember things like birthdays and anniversaries. We mourn with them, laugh with them, celebrate and cry with them. They are the ones we share our lives with. And we'd do anything for them!

Even when we disagree with our family and go our separate ways, we still love them. They still mean something to us. And we would give or do anything for them, should they be in trouble.

Family has always been tight. It's tight now...and it certainly was tight at the time of Abram.

In Genesis we read of Abram's family. Himself and his nephew, Lot. Lot and Abram didn't always see eye-to-eye. They had their disagreements. And when their herdsmen couldn't get along, they separated.

"Let's part company," Abram says. "If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left."

Pretty reasonable, it would seem. And so the two separate, Lot going east and Abram going west. Separate...but still not apart.

For when the kings of the land rally against Sodom and Gomorrah and capture Lot, who comes to his rescue? His uncle! Abram comes to rescue Lot! And, though I'm not sure what choice words he had for his nephew, family is family. And, like most of us, we'd do anything to help family.

Our family now, though, doesn't just consist of those we're related to by blood or marriage. It's not limited to those we gather together in our family reunions with. In Christ, we are family with all Christians throughout the world. With the Christians in India we are brothers. With the Christians in Afria, we are sisters and cousins. With the Christians in Asia, we are mothers and fathers. And with all Christians everywhere, we are related in Christ Jesus.

As we extend ourselves out to our blood-and-marriage family, we extend ourselves out to them as well. With the Christians in Japan, we work to rebuild after their devastating earthquake. With the Christians in Asia, we work to supply Bibles so the word of God might be preached from their pulpits. With the Christians in South Peoria, we work for justice and peace for the residents that live just down the street. With all Christians everywhere, we strive for peace and justice so that all our nephews and nieces may be rescued from whatever has taken them captive.

Too often we concentrate our attention on only the family we have by blood or marriage. Brothers and sisters, let this not be true. May we have equal concern with those outside our family as we do for those within. May our eyes be open that we may see how we are all related and interconnected in Christ.

Family God, your servant Abram risked his life to rescue his nephew Lot from the kings that had held him captive. May we risk our lives too, not just for our immediate and extended family, but also for the family we have in you, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Perfectly Human

As he was about to enter Egypt, Abram said to his wife, "I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you." Genesis 12:12-13

Perfectly Human
By Rev. William Dohle

"Whatever am I going to do with you?!"

I can't count how many times I have heard that said to me (Usually by my wife) or have spoken those words (Usually to my children.) In either case there is a sense of shock. A sense of surprise at the actions taken. A feeling of bewilderment.

Usually these words are said after I or my children have done something that doesn't make sense. (At least to the prevailing wisdom in our household.)

"I can't understand why... you left that spill on the ground, didn't take out all the garbage, only cleaned up a part of your room, etc."

Behind these words too is love. Even as frustration might mount, there is love and faith and trust behind these words. There's a relationship that endures far past whatever mysterious behavior there was. And when the moment has passed, the relationship endures.

These words, and that relationship, are behind this curious story from Genesis. Here, right after Abram has heard the promises of God, Abram goes to Egypt. In Egypt, he tells his wife to say she's his sister. Why? Who really knows. Abram seems to have said it to save his own skin, so Pharoah won't see how beautiful she is and take him as his own.

Who knows what she thought, but Sarai complies...and Pharoah does take her into his household, giving Abram "sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels." Sarai has become one of Pharoah's wives...only that's not the way it's suppose to be. God's planning on blessing Abram's family and his plans include Sarai too and not Pharoah.

So...after an unsightly (and unspeakable) illness, Pharoah calls Abram to account, demanding he tell explain why he called Sarai his sister in the first place. Abram doesn't answer...but instead leaves Egypt with everything he had been given.

So...what was Abram thinking? Why did he do such a thing? Was he really afraid of Pharoah? Was he wanting to pawn off his wife on someone? What was behind his decision to enter Egypt in the first place? There were so many other places to go.

We'll never know the answers to those questions, but we do know this. Even after this stupid move, God doesn't abandon Abram. God doesn't leave! Even this action, the giving of his wife to the king of Egypt, doesn't stop God's plans. God has promised that Abram will be a blessing to all nations...and God means it! There's no turning back on God's word!

How often do we think that something we've done has come between us and God? How often do we walk on eggshells in our lives, worried that something will separate us from God and his love for us? I didn't go to church last Sunday... I didn't give as much as I should...I did some unspeakably stupid thing...

Let me tell you, whatever you do,... it won't separate you from God's love! If God can stick with Abram, a character(we shall see) who is far from perfect. And if this man can be the father of all of our faiths, declared righteous not because of what he did but because of who he trusted, the same can be true for us. Stop worrying! Pharoahs come and Pharoahs go. God's promise remains faithful through it all and he has promised that he will never leave you nor forsake you, no matter what you do.

Holy God, I have walked in Abram's shoes and done things that you might shake your head at. But you have promised to be with me, to love and care for me no matter what. Give me boldness that I might be who you have called me to be, confident that your love will cover all my sins, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.