Father Abraham

As a child I was often entranced by the great stories and characters of the Bible; indeed, the attraction has never left me!  The Bible tells it as it is, without pulling any punches.  There is no sugar-coating, and no glossing over the major character flaws in the lives of many of its major figures.

Take the Old Testament figure of Abraham, for example, whose life we examined this week in our Lent group  Abraham is one of the Biblical heroes; indeed, he is revered within all three great monotheistic religions, Christianity Judaism and Islam.  The 11th chapter of the New Testament book of Hebrews is a list of the names and heroic deeds of faith of some key Biblical characters.  Abraham gets more column inches than anyone else, and is warmly commended for his great faith.

There is no doubt that at times Abraham demonstrated tremendous faith in God, and was obedient to God's commands even when they didn't seem to make any sense.  Yet we know that at other times his doubts overcame him.  One of the main examples of this is when Abraham and his wife Sarah travelled to Egypt to escape the famine which was taking place in Canaan.  At this point, Abraham was more concerned for his own welfare than Sarah's:  

As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarah, ‘I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, “This is his wife.” Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.’  When Abraham came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarah was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abraham well for her sake, and Abraham acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels'  (Genesis 12.11-16).

Perhaps the implication is that Sarah was taken into Pharaoh's harem.  The episode didn't end well; when Pharaoh discovered the truth he sent the pair packing.  Not a great example of Abraham's faith or integrity!  Later in the story, Abraham failed to trust God to fulfil his promise that Abraham and Sarah will have a son; he took matters into his own hands and had a child by his servant Hagar.  Yes, Abraham had some deep flaws.  Just like Israel's greatest king, David, who not only committed adultery with Bathsheba but arranged for her husband to be killed.  Moses was a murdered and a fugitive from justice.  The list could go on!

What all this means is that when we mess up, God doesn't write us off.  In fact, he never gives up on us.  As the verse of the old hymn states,

Jesus is seeking the wanderers yet;
why do they roam?
Love only waits to forgive and forget;
home, weary wanderers, home!
Wonderful love dwells in the heart of the Father above.

In Jesus we can know forgiveness and new beginnings.  There's always hope, for every person.