ABRAHAM

INTRODUCTION

Both readings for today - and Psalm 105 - in between - talk about Abram or Abraham - so let me pull together a few comments about Abram or Abraham - on this 5th Thursday in Lent.

5 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT ABRAHAM

Since this is not an actual pulpit homily - I don’t have to worry about boring a reader with the following observations. If interesting, they might continue; if not interesting, they can simply push that X up in the corner and move on like Abram or Abraham did.

FIRST OBSERVATION: MANY APPEARANCES

In the New American Bible, the name Abraham appears 254 times - mostly in Genesis. Abram appears 63 times. So that’s 317 times.

It’s not as many as Jesus - who has 1049 name appearances or David with 1025 or Moses with 814 name appearances.

Yet Abraham must be noticed - and paid attention to - as one goes through the Scriptures - Jewish and Christian.

SECOND OBSERVATION: MODEL OF FAITH

In both the Jewish and Christian Scriptures - Abraham is seen primarily as an example of faith - moving forward - with trust - and without clarity what will happen next.

In the Jewish scriptures this message appears in the 12th Chapter of Genesis - when Abram’s name is the shortened version of Abraham and he is asked to move to a new land and a new life. The second big faith struggle takes place when Abraham is asked by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac.

The so called, “Letter to the Hebrews” certainly proclaims this motif and message. We find it loud and clear in Chapter 11: 8-19.

THIRD OBSERVATION: COVENANTS AND PROMISES

If one wants to understand the Jewish and Christian religions, one must understand covenants.

We know the meaning of the words, “I promise!”

We know the meaning of, “Let’s make a deal?”

We know the meaning, “Let’s handshake on this.”

We know the meaning of, “I give you my word.”

We know the human sentiment behind the advice, “Get it in writing.”

Human beings make agreements, deals, contracts, covenants with each other. The Bible is filled with them.

The Jews believed that God made a covenant with Abraham - that God spoke to this man - which included the promise of a son - whose seed would fill the world.

FOURTH OBSERVATION: REVELATION

When talking about Abraham - when seeing him as one of the founding pillars and fathers of the Jewish religion, we’re accepting the concept of revelation - that God reveals Himself to some humans - in somewhat mysterious ways.

Artists and story tellers have to be creative on how they present this experience of revelation. Check out the You Tube version at the beginning of this blog piece.

FIFTH OBSERVATION: A LONG TIME AGO

When talking about Abram or Abraham, we’re talking about a long time ago. The story is in the bosom of legend and the ancient history of a people. The story develops in time - to become core religious tradition for a people.

Scholars place him sometime between 2000 and 1500 B.C.

CONCLUSION

I would suggest reading the material in Genesis on Abraham at first and then go to the Abraham material in the Letter to the Hebrews.

I would then suggest reflecting on the human condition of making promises, covenants, and wanting revelations and surety from God that we are moving in the right direction. Amen.