Genesis 17:1-17
Psalm 34

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, grace to you and peace from God, who makes and keeps promises, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Let us pray.  O most loving God, you want us to give thanks for all things, to fear nothing except losing you, and to lay all our cares on you, knowing that you care for us.  Protect us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds in this mortal life may hide from us the light of your immortal love shown to us in your son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

For many weeks now, we have been referring to Abram not Abraham, and this week we find out why.  Like many others in the Bible, Abraham is given a new name, in chapter 17 verse 5.  This is a name that is symbolic of the role that he plays in the life of the community.

Abram is a Hebrew name that means “exalted father.”  When it changes slightly to become Abraham, it means “father of many.”  Verse 15 also has a change in name for Sarai.  The variation in spelling here is more a matter of dialect than a change in meaning.  Both Sarai and Sarah mean “princess” – a name that shows Sarah will give birth to those who will be rulers of the nation.

In verse 2, we get yet another repetition of the covenant between God and Abraham.  “I will make you numerous.”  Why are descendents so important to a man like Abraham?  Why is it so important to the story that this covenant is repeated over and over and over?

In the ancient world, a family’s power and influence was carried on through the sons of the father.  The family name, the family wealth, the family reputation, and so on were all passed from father to son, from generation to generation.  It was incredibly important for a man to have a son to carry on after he had died.

Also, in this ancient world, the mortality rate for infants and children was much higher than what we experience now.  So having one son might not be good enough – it was better to have several, so that the father could be quite certain that at least one would survive to adulthood.

Just to further complicate matters, as we have already seen, conflicts and wars between peoples and nations were fairly common.  Fighting over the best farming lands, fighting for power and wealth, fighting for the best trade routes, all of these things could put the young men of a community into battle – where they could also be killed.

Descendants – particularly sons – were very important for families in the ancient world.  This is one of the reasons that it was common for one man to have several wives – there were not enough men to go around, and every man needed to have descendents so that this family would live on generation after generation.

For this reason, the story repeats the promise over and over, that God will provide descendents for Abraham.  And that this is a promise God will keep – forever.

In verse 7, we are reminded that this is “an everlasting covenant” – that it will not change over time – and that God is promising to be the God of Abraham and his descendents forever.

In the ancient world, many families had a “personal” god – one whose statue stood on the hearth and to whom they would pray and who was looked upon as protector and provider for that family.

When God promises to be with Abraham and his family, this is a promise for daily blessings and protection from harm.  In a world where nothing was predictable, famine and disease could strike hard and without warning, a family needed the assurance that God was watching over them minute by minute.

And in verse 8, the promise of a land for them to live in is also repeated.  Fertile and well-watered land was the only means to have food.  The promise that God would enable them to live there – permanently – that no war would force them from their land, that famine would not chase them away … these things also were very important for a family to have.

Unlike the previous covenant with Noah, this covenant requires a response from the people.  In verse 10, we see that the sign of this covenant is circumcision – every male in the household, children, servants, slaves, no matter what the relationship is with the family – every male in the household must be circumcised … on the 8th day of life for those born into the household and whenever they enter for those who come in from outside.

The family cannot risk violating the covenant by leaving any male uncircumcised – verse 14 is very emphatic about that.  The covenant is broken if a male is not circumcised.

For us, reading this several thousand years after Abraham and Sarah lived, it seems like overkill – to repeat again and again that the promise from God is for a multitude of descendents, for a land as a permanent home, and that God will never leave them or their family.

But keep in mind that this was a man who had only one son – Ishmael – and that son was the child of a slave, not his wife.  Abraham probably needed to be reminded, and the people who came after him needed to remember that these promises had been made – because they were not living in the Promised Land when these stories of Abraham were being written down.  And when the traditions of the broken kingdoms of Israel were collected, they were living in exile in Babylon after a war that destroyed their country and their temple.

They needed to be reminded that God was with them and would never, ever, abandon them.  They needed to hear again and again that God’s covenant is forever.

Perhaps this is something that you can also relate to.  When times are tough, when a loved one has died, when things seem to be going against you, it is important to hear over and over that God loves you and is walking with you.  When times are good, you might not crave the stories of God’s faithfulness.  But when they are not good, the reminder of God’s everlasting promise – the promise that will NEVER fail – is the food that keeps us going.

Even when we find it hard to believe …

In verse 3, we saw Abraham fall on his face in awe and worship God.  In verse 17, Abraham again falls on his face … but not in awe and not in order to worship God … Abraham falls on his face and laughs!

This promise of another son, this time a son born to his wife who has been barren for many, many years, is too far-fetched for Abraham to believe.  It cannot possibly be true.  He has a son – and that will have to be good enough.  Another son is impossible, even for God.

His laughter, of course, will not negate God’s promise.  And we will hear more about that promised child in the next few chapters, but for now we see a faithful man who continues to trust in God and God’s promises … even when it seems there is no hope for those promises to be fulfilled.

And remember – that trust, despite circumstances to the contrary – is reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.

Righteousness even though Abraham laughs in the face of God.  Last week we saw Abraham challenge God, calling God to account for a promise that had not been fulfilled … and now Abraham laughs at a promise that seems impossible.

These are reminders to us that God does not expect perfection or even perfect belief without any doubts.  God expects us to trust enough to continue in a relationship with God – no matter what.

That is righteousness reckoned to us by God – the God who loves enough to come into the world to show us that love.

As we prepare for the birth of our Lord, we remember that it is this little child who grants us righteousness … even when we do not seem to deserve it.

Amen