Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr
Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
June 28, 2023
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, both our readings speak to the call to bear holy fruit for God.
In the passage from Genesis, we are witnesses to a delightful conversation between Abraham and the Lord. The homey tone and mutuality of their exchange reveals Abraham’s great comfort in God’s Presence – to the point of his feeling free to give God some advice:
The Lord said, “Fear not, Abram!
Genesis 15:1-3
I am your shield;
I will make your reward very great.”
But Abram said,
“O Lord GOD, what good will your gifts be,
if I keep on being childless
and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer?”
Abram continued,
“See, you have given me no offspring,
and so one of my servants will be my heir.”
Like many of us, what Abraham doesn’t realize is that God already has him covered. God has a desire and plan for Abraham’s fruitfulness – a dream far beyond any that Abraham can himself conceive.
God took him outside and said:
Genesis 15:5-6
“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
The “act of righteousness” described here in Genesis is an offering God asks of each of us in our lives: confident faith expressed in loving action.
Think about it. Abraham and Sarah have waited and waited (for five chapters now) for God’s promise of fruitfulness to transform their barren lives. It hasn’t happened yet! Abraham asks God, “What’s going on????”
Brueggemann says:
The large question (posed in this chapter) is that the promise does delay, even to the point of doubt. It is part of the destiny of our common faith that those who believe the promise and hope against barrenness nevertheless must live with the barrenness.
… the promise does delay,
even to the point of doubt
Oh, my dears, have we not all been there? Have we not all, at some time or another, anguished over the questions of our own fruitfulness, destiny, meaning, survival, relevance in this life? Have we not sometimes wondered if God is even there?
But God is, and will arise out of any barreness or darkness if we can be faithful. God says to us, as to Abraham, “Take it easy, Abe. I gotcha’. Trust me and believe. The “fire pot” and the “flaming torch” are coming. Keep your heart ready!”
When the sun had set and it was dark,
Genesis 15:17-18
there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,
which passed between those pieces.
It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram,
saying: “To your descendants I give this land,
from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River the Euphrates.”
Poetry: The Night Abraham Called to the Stars – Robert Bly
Do you remember the night Abraham first saw The stars? He cried to Saturn: "You are my Lord!" How happy he was! When he saw the Dawn Star, He cried, "You are my Lord!' How destroyed he was When he watched them set. Friends, he is like us: We take as our Lord the stars that go down. We are faithful companions to the unfaithful stars. We are diggers, like badgers; we love to feel The dirt flying out from behind our back claws. And no one can convince us that mud is not Beautiful. It is our badger soul that thinks so. We are ready to spend the rest of our life Walking with muddy shoes in the wet fields. We resemble exiles in the kingdom of the serpent. We stand in the onion fields looking up at the night. My heart is a calm potato by day, and a weeping Abandoned woman by night. Friend, tell me what to do, Since I am a man in love with the setting stars.
Music: Promise Keeper – David Joost
Lavish Mercy 