9,096

Today we, again, read about Abram’s lack of an heir of his own (a few Sundays back we read from Genesis 18:1-10). We note a few things. First, his name is Abram not Abraham. In chapter 29 we are told later on that God changed his and Sarai’s name because of the gift of the covenant (Genesis 17). Although this may be a technique used by the writer of Genesis to combine two different traditions of the Abraham story. Which may also explain the duplicate stories of his and Sarah’s barrenness. Secondly, in my curiosity. I went to Sky and Telescope to see how many stars can be seen. There it told me the total number of stars that are visible is 9,096. Since the earth is round and one can only see half of those, the true count for Abram would have been 4,548. Not many descendants then. Now if you include all the stars in the universe you will find the number beyond human comprehension (somewhere around 70 billion trillion (7 x 10^22). It is a good thing that Abram was too busy doing other things and did not spend any time counting the stars. But then the story is not about the number of stars  visible in the sky, or whether Abram could count them, and not even about the barrenness of Abram and Sarai. The point is that Abram took God’s word and believed.

Abram’s belief did not come from seeing some great work or God – some miracle – it came from believing the word of God. That was not an easy thing to do in the face of his reality. In their old age Abram and Sarai had no expectation of having children yet Abram believed God. That kind of faith is a rare thing. I know many people who just do not believe because they want solid proof of God. (Yet, some of those same people often jump to conclusions about many other things and even tend to believe in conspiracy theories that have no basis of truth.) The difference is that with God you still need to make your own decision. With lies and conspiracy theories someone else tells you what to do and say. I suppose life might be easier if you allow someone else to tell you what to do. That is not God’s way. God calls you into new life and gives you the things that you need to live that life but allows you to choose another route.

Hebrews builds upon this theme from Genesis. There we are reminded that, “faith is the acceptance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” That is why Abram believed. That is why we believe. Although we have more evidence than Abram. We have Jesus who is our faith. The one who tells us to, “have no fear,” is present with us. It is Jesus who upholds us and assures us. It is Jesus who died for us, who intercedes for us so that we may hear the call of God and walk as God desires for us to do. For, no matter what happens, we know that we are loved by God and given the gift of life eternal. With that gift in hand we are able to face the world around us and share the gifts that God has given us. We can do no other. Pray that you may always see the prize and will be able to share your faith with those around you.