The Promise of Faith

Lent 2 – February 25, 2024

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Psalm 22:22-30
Romans 4:13-25
Mark 8:31-38

I was in the fourth, maybe fifth grade when some strangers showed up at our house. They were relatives, cousins somehow, but I had never seen them before. I don’t know much about them, only that they lived somewhere outside of Chicago. I also don't remember much of their visit or any of the discussions they had with my father. I do know that it made him pretty angry. Many years later he told me what their visit was all about. One of my father’s aunts had died and had given most of her money to charitable organizations and they wanted it for themselves and were trying to get my father to join them in an attempt to break her will. My father refused. He told them that it was her money and her decision who to give it to. I think they also wanted my father to foot the lawyer’s bill. That was my first experience with the issue of inheritance. I only saw those relatives once more. They were hoping my father would get involved and solve another problem. That story is for another time.

Inheritance can be a sticky issue. Many have had some experience with it. Some have been gifted money through inheritance. We know of incidents when someone thinks that they were cheated out of their supposed inheritance. You may even know of a family that fought over their inheritance. Some who still harbor resentment. But it does not have to be that way. My mother was the executor of her parent’s estate. After all the issues were settled and all the bills paid, my mother divided the remaining money and distributed it evenly between her siblings. They were all much surprised. She correctly understood that inheritance is a gift. I suppose that’s why so many people get in a tizzy about it. They, for some reason, believe that the money is theirs. But then, people always seem to get funny around money or even the perception that there is money to be had.

I bring this up because Paul talks about faith as an inheritance. Which reminds us that it is a gift given to us even though we do not deserve it. This can make it difficult to comprehend and sometimes difficult to accept. We learn very early in our lives that you must do something in order to receive something. In fact our lives are so filled with requirements in order to receive, we think and talk about faith in the same way. You know the routine. There is a whole list of things that you must do in order to be saved. And there is another list of things you cannot do if you wish to be saved. That makes it work, not an inheritance. It also takes away the spontaneity of life. It can also rob you of the joy of life. Yes, we are inheritors of a great gift. A gift freely given to us by the life, death, and resurrection of God’s own son.

As my mother understands it, a gift not shared is no gift at all. Especially if it is a gift from God. That is the difficult task here. We don’t have to work to win our salvation. That’s given to us along with the freedom to live our lives the way we wish. That means making decisions. And if you are like most people you don’t like making them. What if you choose to do the wrong thing? What if you get hurt because of your decision? Or someone else suffers because of it? There are many variables in life and many choices. If your salvation depended upon making the correct choice every time you, like me, would never have received faith. That is why God has freely given it to us. Having received faith as an inheritance, we are able to make those decisions in life knowing that, right or wrong, we are still saved. And if we choose wrongly, we always get another chance. This Lent pray that you may be able to share the faith that you have inherited with others so that they can glimpse their inheritance.