Family of God
Text: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Can you be in relationship with someone you’ve never met? If so, what does that relationship look like? What does it mean for you to be in relationship with your ancestors or your future generations?
Perhaps, these are some of the questions Abraham and Sarah have in their minds when they hear God promise, “You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.” This childless couple is getting older, but God repeats the promise without giving any tangible sign of hope. The old saying “God helps those who help themselves” didn’t seem to work for the couple. They took the chance by following the custom of giving birth through a female servant, Hagar only to be told that their own child shall be their heir. 24 years have passed since they first heard the promise. The couple is reaching their limit. The fulfillment of the promise has been delayed time after time. For how much longer should they wait? Or is there anything they have missed that could lead them to a new way of waiting, trusting, and living?
Since God promised Abraham to make him a blessing in Genesis 12, God has continued to affirm the covenant in chapter 15, 17, and 18. Among these, chapter 17 (which we heard today) shows the most personal, profound, and powerful covenant-making. What makes it stand out is how God expands the circle of the covenant relationship by including the future generations of Abraham and Sarah. “I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you …... I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:7, 8)
At the heart of renewing the covenant, there is a ritual of naming. God gives the couple new names. From Abram to Abraham. Now he is no longer an exalted father, but a father of a multitude of nations. From Sarai to Sarah. They both are different forms of the same Hebrew word, meaning princess or woman of strength. But God gives a new meaning to the name to signify that her strength does not belong exclusively to her immediate family, but to the future nations. Moreover, God makes Sarah an equal partner and full participant in sharing God’s blessings. Abraham and Sarah are in relationship with their future generations even before giving birth to their own child. They can expand the circle of their concern and influence beyond their own current circumstances when they realize the depth and width of God’s covenant that includes everyone and everything.
How big is the circle of your relationship? How has your social circle changed during the pandemic? Has it been expanded or shrunk? With physical distancing and travel restrictions, many of us are experiencing a great deal of social isolation. Some things, however, are beginning to emerge as a result of the limit. Though the impact may vary, there is not a single person in the world who has not been affected by the pandemic. We all have covid-19 stories to tell. We can now assume that our neighbours, whose stories we never knew before, are dealing with what we are dealing with. There are no more strangers because we all share the same concerns and hopes. There are no more enemies either because the only way to get to the other side is by working together, and that we need everyone on board. The inequality or imbalance we see in the global distribution of the covid-19 vaccine tells us that we are still missing the mark. Many rich counties have yet to learn the lesson that no one is safe until everyone is safe and that no one is free until all of us are free. Turns out, the real threat to the humanity is not the virus itself. It’s indifference or unwillingness to share by failing to see oneself in the other. Oppression in its many forms is a result of collective indifference. The only remedy to such disease is our action.
I support a Guaranteed Livable Income program because it invites all of us to expand the circle of our relationships. Growing up in a poor family, I know well how poverty creates hunger and indignity. I had to decide whether I would buy textbooks or food. My family could have not survived if there had been no support system – the help from our extended family, the church family, and many of my mother’s friends. We must ensure a support system so everyone in Canada can not only survive but also thrive regardless of their work status or ability to work. Recognizing the basic necessities for everyone – food, shelter, clothing, and full participation in community – is a deeply spiritual work. For, we can only do that when we realize the depth and width of God’s covenant with the whole creation. So, to be children of God is to refuse to support any systems or barriers that allow anyone to go hungry because of their social, economic, or work status.
Expanding our relationships goes both horizontally and vertically. The news of my father’s death has prompted many reactions from my friends on Facebook. A considerable number of my friends have also lost their loved one recently, and some of them couldn’t say goodbye. In fact, many people in my circle of friendship have been grieving their own losses, and I did not know that until I shared my grief journey. I shared how I turned over my memories and mined them for hope; how I came to realize that I am the continuation of my father and of my grandfather. A friend of mine in BC sent me a thoughtful email sharing how he has been dealing with the death of his own father. He writes memorial stories and post pictures online so his children can remember their grandfather. He also sent me an insight, how Thich Nhat Hanh, a global spiritual leader and peace activist dealt with his own loss, that can help deal with ours. That is, to look at our hands and see all the creases and lines in the texture of our skins. There can we see not just our parents but all our ancestors. They never leave us, for good and for bad.
Abraham and Sarah took years and years to realize their relationships were expanding to future generations. Carrying the wisdom of their story, we don’t have to wait. We can still broaden and deepen the circle of our relationships right where we are. For, there are no strangers in the family of God.