Second Sunday after Christmas – January 3, 2010

Genesis 17:1-7 - When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. ² I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” ³ Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ⁴ “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. ⁵ No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

You just can’t trust anyone anymore! Have you ever heard that opinion before? Have you even been led to it yourself? If so, you really can’t be blamed. Our world has more than its share of those who have few, if any, principles. So we need to be careful where we put our trust, or else we could easily wind up on the losing end of some situation. That’s what makes it such a valuable possession when we do find someone we can trust. And just such a person is highlighted this morning in God Almighty: A name you can trust.

It had been 24 years since the Lord first called Abram to leave his family and his home and move to the land of Canaan. During that time God had given Abram many promises: a son by his wife Sarai, descendants so many they couldn’t be counted, a role in God’s plan of salvation that would make Abram a blessing to all nations, the land of Canaan in which he was now wandering, and a great reputation in the world. During this time, however, Abram had yet to see any of these promises clearly fulfilled.

Instead, what had happened was that Abram had tried to take matters into his own hands. What had happened was that Abram had grown to be 99 years old. What had happened was that Sarai had past the years of childbearing. And one doesn’t need a wild imagination to imagine the possible nagging doubts that could have developed in Abram’s heart and mind. He was, after all, a human being just like us. But the Lord didn’t want Abram to waver in his trust. He wanted him to be assured that his faith was resting upon sure promises. So, in order to bolster his faith, “The LORD appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty.’”

This is the first place in the Bible that the Lord uses the name God Almighty to reveal himself to one of his believers, and that is significant. The special name God Almighty identifies God as one who can compel even nature to do what is contrary to itself. It means that God calls things that are not as though they were. It is designed to convey the sense of all-sufficient. And to understand why God would use a name like that, just put yourself into Abram’s sandals. Abram’s age and failing powers cast a shadow over the likelihood that he could father children anymore. Over time tempting doubts as to whether God could or would fulfill his promises would grow louder and louder. But God wanted his friend to know that Sarai would have a son. The Lord wanted Abram to know that He is God who is all-sufficient and all-powerful, and that nothing is too hard for him. With such power there is nothing beyond his ability. He is entirely capable of keeping every promise he has made, even though the earthly circumstances make it appear impossible.

With the benefit of history we see that God was not full of hot air when he said, “I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” Within one year, Isaac, the child of promise would be born to Abraham and Sarah. From his son Isaac, Esau and Jacob would be born. And from Jacob and his family the nation of Israel would grow to thousands upon thousands of people who would later be delivered by God from the hand of the Egyptians and brought to, low and behold, the land of promise. And from that nation, and in that land, the promised Messiah would be born into the world.

Of course, Abram didn’t have the benefit of seeing what we see now. But that didn’t matter. God Almighty was a name he could trust. His promises are true. His promises are sure. He always follows through on his promises. So, “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead” (Romans 4:19). He trusted God would provide that son because God said he would, even though it looked impossible from his point of view. That faith proved to be placed in its proper place as God did exactly as he said he would.

Isn’t it marvelous that God had these words recorded for you and me? We are just like Abram. We live by faith. But is this faith a leap in the dark? Is it a blind faith? No, just like Abram, it is a faith resting on the sure promises of an Almighty God. How blessed we are to have the privilege of seeing these promises to Abraham already fulfilled. We see the birth of the miracle child Isaac. We watch the nation of Israel grow. We witness God direct and guide the course of history so that, as Paul said in our second lesson today, “when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, ⁵ to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:4,5).

What more do we need than that! Wrapped up in the fulfillment of the promised Messiah is every promise God has ever made. Knowing that he did not spare his Son, but gave him up for us all just as he promised, we know that he will fulfill and carry through on every other promise he has made. Knowing that he fulfilled the promise to send his one and only Son to do the impossible - to bring us sinners back from the dead; to win for us reconciliation with a God we wanted nothing to do with; to give us life when we deserved eternal death - we indeed know that he is the one who is enough, who is self-sufficient, who is all-powerful, with whom nothing is impossible. That’s precisely why he reveals himself as God Almighty. That’s why his is a name we can trust. Our faith in the God who reveals himself to us in the Bible is not misplaced. Talk about assurance for our everyday living. Talk about ammunition in our fight against Satan. Talk about the reason for our hearts to be less anxious as we realize the strength of the God in whose hands all things rest.

In addition to revealing himself as God Almighty, we see how concerned the Lord is about the maintenance of Abram’s faith when he says, “No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.” That the Lord had spoken his promise to Abram once ought to have been enough to settle the matter. God’s word is certain. But since God Almighty does immeasurably more than what we ask or can imagine (Ephesians 3:20), he comes to Abram and gives him another vivid seal to keep his faith-building promises constantly before Abram’s eyes and ears. He changes his name from Abram, which means “exalted father,” to Abraham, which means “father of multitude.”

By making this name change, the Lord was sealing his covenant. It was a guarantee that God would keep his promise. It was a guarantee that the child of the covenant was soon to be born. Every time someone addressed Abraham, God’s promises would be called to mind. Every time someone called Abraham’s name, the gospel was being preached to him. If God didn’t keep his promise, the name change would constantly testify against God. See how concerned the Lord is about the maintenance of Abraham’s faith!

He’s that concerned about our faith too. That’s why he gives us 66 books in the Bible. If he were to just give us one to proclaim both law and gospel, like the book of Romans, that would be enough to settle the matter. God’s word is certain. But he doesn’t just give us one. No, he gives us many which include heroes of faith like Abraham and David and Peter and shows their sins and doubts and complaints and impatience and how the law confronted their sins and convicted them of their guilt. Then he shows those same heroes of faith receiving, on account of nothing they do, the free forgiveness of God in Christ.

Like with Abraham, the Lord shares with us many titles for himself that preach the gospel to us, not the least of which is the name of his Son, Jesus. Recall what the angel said to Joseph, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). It is shown that he is the Christ, which means Messiah, fulfilling the promise made to Abraham and fortifying our faith. We are informed that the child born in Bethlehem is Immanuel, which means God with us.

He also comes to us and repeats himself again and again just like he did to Abraham. Not just once. Not just law. Not just gospel. But both…many times. So we read, “There is no difference, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22,23). “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Every inclination of the heart is evil all the time. (Genesis 6:5) “You [are] dead in your transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). He does this so we don’t think to highly of ourselves and walk our way right to hell because we trust in ourselves. He does this so we can be brought to see our desperate situation and be ready to hear, “[all] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23). “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4,5).

The strength we need to get it through our rock-hard heads that God is trustworthy is found as we look back to sins forgiven and salvation won in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God graciously deals with us doubters and complainers; with us who are impatient and see the Lord as too weak and too slow to believe that he is worth trusting, by making his love and forgiveness vivid and unforgettable in the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. There in that water we are washed clean by the blood of Christ as the Spirit makes his home in us. Here at the Lord’s Table, together with bread and wine we receive in a miraculous way that very body and blood Christ given up for us as his personal promise of forgiveness.

God doesn’t want us to waver back and forth between trust and mistrust in Him. He wants the lives of his children to be marked by faith. And it can be, because this faith is gift of God worked by the Holy Spirit, built upon the sure promises of God, fortified by his Word, and backed by the Almighty God, a name we can trust. Amen.