Second Week of Lent - Let Us Demand?
“A wandering Aramean was my ancestor….” Deuteronomy 26:5
‘And Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me….?” Genesis 15:2
The story of Israel’s wandering ancestor Abram, who became Abraham, has been exercising my mind this week.
In church on Sunday one of our readings will be from the book of Genesis, and we will be hearing of Abram being visited by God who says to him, ‘your reward will be great’. Now Abram has already received many blessings from the God who sent him off on his wandering journey – a wife, possessions, slaves and flocks of animals.
But Abram wants to know what this reward will be (he really wants a child to inherit all his wealth).
There is a sense that Abram is saying ‘all right…prove it to me’ – it could be said that Abram has a smidgeon of distrust or disbelief as to whether God can really provide the reward.
It could also be said this is the height of disrespect and a really dangerous thing to challenge God. But I find myself being inspired by this ‘Abram who became Abraham’ - who demands to know from God what will be provided. And in Abraham the reward is provided (not without a few wrong turns that are part of life).
Abram’s demand is a reminder that God wants a real and deep relationship with us where we trust enough that our real and deep needs are going to be heard. There is risk on both sides of such a relationship – vulnerability and failure as well as faithfulness and perseverance. Which as followers of Christ we see in the journey to the cross.
Maybe this Lent – with all the highs and lows that we are going through – might be the time where we take a leaf out of Abram’s book.
If our relationship with God is one of passive acceptance or a deeply buried distrust that God can actually do something, we risk standing up and demanding: ‘here we are Lord…help us and show us how we can truly help others!”
Blessings
Ceri
