Emphasis Preaching Journal

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Names are a big deal in Christianity. It's a big deal when Adam goes through and names all the animals. Throughout the Bible, we see God changing people's names. Today we read about a particularly famous name change: the change that brings us Abraham and Sarah. It's interesting that neither Abraham nor Sarah had that big of a leap to make in their name: Abraham only has to add one syllable to his former Abram, and Sarah changes a single letter from her original Sarai. For Abraham, not even the meaning of his name changes much: Abram means "high father"; Abraham means "father of many." A slight difference, but one that will become important. For Sarah, on the other hand, one single "h" changes her from Sarai, which is believed to be a Hebrew name meaning "contentious," to Sarah, which many parents still use today. After all, it means "princess." God wasn't playing havoc with us or trying to create confusion with his name changes; he was giving everyone a clue. Abraham was not simply a "high father"; he would become the father of multitudes. God had better things planned for Sarah than to let her die old, lonely, and contentious. She would be a princess of God's people and mother to a nation.

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
I remember when the boxer, Cassius Clay, converted to Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. The basketball player, Lew Alcindor, also changed his to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after he converted to Islam. What I most remember is that many white males were angered. These men didn't seem to mind that their wives' names changed when they married. The offense that I remember about Ali and Abdul-Jabbar and the nonchalance of women's last names changing at marriage signifies the heavy emotional meanings that we place upon names.

That Abram and Sarai receive new names so late in life demonstrates God's grace that changes the identity of those who receive it. Within God's mercy we're no longer the same people -- no matter our race, sex, or age.

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Covenant is not a word we hear in our everyday conversation. In simplest terms, a covenant is a dynamic give-and-take relationship between two parties. Our lives are defined by relationships. We are employers and employees, with certain responsibilities to fulfill. Some of us are students and others teachers, with performance expectations to be met. We are sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, and marriage partners with obligations to carry out. A similar obligation exists between homeowner and the financial institution holding our mortgage.

God has initiated a covenant relationship with Abram and Sarai, promising to give them countless descendants in return for their maintaining faithful, righteous lifestyles. Along with this promise comes land, numerous blessings, and divine protection. God renames Abraham and Sarah, sealing this promise. God gives new names to others in scripture as their covenant relationships with God change, but this is the only incidence of God changing a woman's name.

Romans 4:13-25
Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary-General of the United Nations, died tragically, in 1962, in an airplane crash in Africa. Because Hammarskjöld was trying, at the time, to negotiate a peace treaty between two bitter enemies, there were some who feared his death might not have been an accident. Expert investigators were dispatched to the scene to try and discover the cause of the crash.

The investigators did their typically thorough job. They picked over the wreckage of the plane, looking for signs of mechanical failure -- and found none. They checked out the weather forecasts for that day, looking to see if there had been any wind shear, or other unusual conditions. They even checked the medical records of the pilot, to see if he might have suffered a heart attack. But none of these factors turned out to be the reason for the crash.

What the investigators discovered was this: The pilot was working from the wrong "approach plate." An approach plate is a specialized map, detailing the locations and physical features of runways at an airport. Approach plates exist for every major airport in the world.

The pilot had, in the cockpit that day, an approach plate for Endola airport, located in the Congo. The airport he was actually flying into was Endola, Zambia. There was a fatal altitude difference of 3,000 feet, which meant the Secretary-General's plane literally flew into the ground, short of the runway.

The cause of the crash was, technically, pilot error -- although it wasn't the sort of error that could have been prevented by thorough training. The pilot of Hammarskjöld's plane was an expert, one of the best in the world. The problem was, someone had handed him the wrong approach plate. He did everything right, according to the map that was before him. But the map did not reflect the actual territory.

Righteousness is like having the right approach plate.

Romans 4:13-25
When Maureen's children were infants she would rock them to sleep, praying for them. She recalls holding her fifteen-month-old son praying for his future relationships with friends. She prayed that he would make good choices as a young man. She remembers praying that same prayer for years as Jon grew.

When Jon left for college, Maureen could not wait to hear about his roommate. "Well, Mom," Jon said, "he is a recovering drug addict. He was sent here for a year of rehabilitation." His roommate was studying psychology hoping to help other young people avoid the pitfall of drugs and alcohol addiction. His roommate was trying to reenter a normal life.

Maureen was upset, she felt as if God had let her down. She told Jon how she had prayed for him for years. "I prayed for eighteen years for you to have a good roommate," she told her son, "someone who would be a positive influence."

There was a moment of silence on the telephone before Jon replied, "Maybe his mother was praying the same prayer." Jon knew he was loved his whole life and now had a chance to help a young man with serious problems.

Maureen learned that God always answers our prayers, though not as we thought.

The apostle Paul lifted up Abraham as a person of great faith who throughout his life continued to believe in God's promise. "Hoping against hope," Paul wrote, Abraham "believed that he would become 'the father of many nations.' "

Romans 4:13-25
On May 22, 1787, twelve men gathered in a printer's shop at 2 George Yard in London. Their objective: to put an end to slavery in the British Empire. At the center of the group was Thomas Clark-son. The challenge before them was daunting. At that point of time in history nearly three-quarters of the earth's population was in bondage of one kind or another. The economy of the world's superpower then was driven by slave trade. To advocate the abolition of that trade and the practice that it fueled, was literally, hoping against all hope. (For a fascinating look at Clarkson's determined and successful crusade, read Adam Hochschild's, "Against All Odds," Mother Jones, January-February, 2004.)

Paul recounts that Abraham hoped against all hope when he believed that he would become the father of a great nation. His hope was reckoned to him as righteousness.

Mark 8:31-38
Aren't we all a little like Peter? Yes, Jesus, tell them the truth, but be a little more subtle. Use some tact. Have some common sense. Do you want to scare them off? Do you want to get a bunch of weird people following you? Tell the truth, but be careful. That's how we like to tell the truth. Yes, we follow Jesus, but mum's the word. Don't let too many people hear you. Tell the truth but keep it quiet. It might scare off some people or it might attract the wrong kind of followers. Jesus is risen! No, don't bother coming to church unless you've got nice clothes. Don't bother if you don't want to get up that early. You might come, but since we're not sure about you, we're not going to invite you in to any of our groups, and we may just ignore you afterward in the fellowship hall. We follow Jesus, but it's a select club. Get out.

Mark 8:31-38
In Mark Helprin's best-selling novel, A Soldier of the Great War, the character, Alessandro Giuliani, tells years later of his being in the First (the Great) World War. As an Italian soldier he's captured by Austrians who treat him very humanely. He ends up as personal servant to the Austrian Field Marshall Strassnitzky. The positive tone of life for the Austrian soldiers who serve under the Field Marshall is finally explained when the Field Marshall tells Alessandro that his weapon isn't loaded. "It's never loaded. I'm a pacifist."

A field marshall who's a pacifist! Alessandro is struck with a great cognitive dissonance. So also, after Peter has identified Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus begins to teach that he will be tortured and killed. For Peter "Messiah" is the same as God's Field Marshall for Israel's Army. Jesus defines God's Messiah as a suffering servant.

Mark 8:31-38
Books are continually being published and seminars taught on techniques for being a successful, innovative leader, but there seems to be a dire lack of any instruction on the way to be an effective follower. Some of Jesus' disciples had ambitions for themselves even though they remained faithful followers almost to the end. We all realize that living with a disease makes life difficult and is not a condition we would choose for a loved one or ourselves. However, the cross is an impediment that we voluntarily accept, not a burden over which we have no control but must learn to live with.

We do look forward to a new day that brings a new pecking order, when we will be the top dog. The true meaning of a cross to bear is the one Jesus took upon himself for the sins of the world. He could have avoided much physical pain and humiliation for himself by refusing to obey God's plan, but he accepted the cross that we might have life and have it eternally.