Over the last several weeks we have looked at Paul’s developing case for both Gentiles and Jews being equal in God’s sight. They have different roles and responsibilities but are all included in our failure to live up to God’s standard of righteousness and yet we are all included in his grace that he might redeem us and reconcile himself to us. In the first half of Chapter 4 we see how Paul distinguishes between children of Moses and children of Abraham – children of the Law and children of faith. Now, in the second half he uses the life of Abraham to illustrate the family traits of a child of faith.

First, the child of faith faces the facts but sees the love of God behind the facts. While we may have no earthly reason to hope we have decided to hope nonetheless. Hope is not the same as positive thinking or optimism or happy self-talk. It is not believing that somehow everything will turn out all right. It is not having faith in faith or saying it’s good for anyone to believe in something. Hope is hope only in God in the face of impossible odds. It is saying with Job, “Though he slay me yet will I trust him.” It is resting in spite of everything in the sovereignty of God. Not fatalism but rest.

Second, the child of faith faces the fact and, as Jim Wallis says, waits for the facts to change. It is being honest about our circumstances and still trusting that God has the power to do what he said he would do – but in his time. Abraham waited twenty-five years beyond the time it was impossible for him as an old man and Sara as an old woman to have a child. He faced the indisputable facts and not only did not waver but was actually strengthened.

Third, the child of faith knows that life can come from death – and often does. A seed falls into the ground and dies. What appears to be dead is only the shell of new life in God’s time.

Fourth, the child of faith knows that God’s purposes for their life is larger and longer than their life alone. God’s promise is for generations and not just years. It is for descendants and not just this moment in time. I love the Reinhold Niebuhr quote:

“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.

Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith.

Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love.

No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.”

Fifth and finally, the child of faith realizes they are a means of blessing for others. “The Lord said to Abram, leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.”

This is why today’s lesson is such a perfect context for Caitlyn Mortus – a child of faith and a blessing to others.