The story is told of four high school boys who couldn’t resist the temptation to skip morning classes one day. Each had been smitten with a bad case of spring fever. After lunch they showed up at school and reported to the teacher that their car had a flat tire.
Much to their relief, she smiled and said, “Well, you missed a quiz this morning, so take your seats and get out a pencil and paper.”
Still smiling, she waited as they settled down and got ready for her questions. Then she said, “First question — which tire was flat?”
“When God promised Abraham and his descendants that the world would belong to him, he did so, not because Abraham obeyed the Law, but because he believed and was accepted as righteous by God.”
— Romans 4: 13
We’re not saved by a public performance, but by a private faith. Maybe you remember the story of the Pharisee. He was a religious leader who walked down to the altar to tell God how lucky he was to have him on his side, and the Publican, a Jewish tax collector who stood in the back of the sanctuary and asked God for forgiveness and mercy.
Then Jesus asked which man was accepted by God and the answer was clear — the Publican!
Abraham believed and hoped, even when there was no reason for hoping, and so became “the father of many nations.” Just as the scripture says, “Your descendants will be as many as the stars.”
The children of Abraham are not those who share his genes. The children of Abraham are those who share his faith.
And in Revelation, we were transported into God’s throne room to meet the 24 elders who represent the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. They are the 12 he is and he does what he says he will do.
In fact, God’s name is “Yahweh,” meaning “I am who I am!”
When the Israelites wrote down God’s name, they left out the vowels and avoided even writing down or saying God’s name, because to know someone’s name is to — in some ways — control that person. If I know your name, I can make you look up or turn around by simply calling out your name.
So God’s name was written as Y-HW- H… and at some point both the vowels and the pronunciation were forgotten. Later, someone added the first two vowels, “a” and “e” to make God’s name “Yahweh” — he is who he is!
So what does it mean to say we have “faith” in God? It means we believe he is who he says he is — Creator or Father, Redeemer or Son, and Sustainer or Holy Spirit.
He is a God of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And Abraham was saved, not by a law that didn’t exist at the time, but by his faith, his trust, his belief that God was who he said he was, his belief that God would do what he said he would do, and his belief that his own best path in life was doing what God wanted him to do.
Charles “Buddy” Whatley is a retired United Methodist pastor serving Dawson Street Methodist Church in Thomasville, Ga. With wife, Mary Ella, they are missionaries to the Navajo Reservation.
