Reading: Genesis 12:1-4. Young Ben’s family was quite active in a church that emphasized a personal commitment to Christ. Even though he was quite young, Ben had heard more than one sermon about the importance of surrendering one’s life to Christ. And so, one morning as the family sat around the kitchen table eating Cheerios, little Ben announced that he, too, was ready to give his life to Christ.

He then got up from the table and went upstairs. His mother and father looked at each other and then decided to follow Ben. They thought they might find him on his knees in prayer. They didn’t. Instead, they found him folding his Star Wars pajamas into his Sesame Street suitcase.

They asked, “Ben, what are you doing?” He answered, “Packing.” “Why?” they asked. “To go to heaven,” he said. In Ben’s young mind, giving one’s life to Christ was no small step. It meant the willingness to leave his family and travel immediately to be with Christ. (“Future Tense,” by CHRISTIANITY TODAY, Wendy Murray Zoba, October 2, 1995, p. 22.)

This Sunday First Reading presents an Old Testament figure, Abraham. The picture of Abraham is of a man with the same kind of complete and unreserved faith in God that little Ben had. He possessed the fame of steadfast faith that generations have called him “the Father of Faith.”

God said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.” “Go forth” is a behest of separation. Abraham was ordered to leave one place and go to another. He was to separate from his land, his country, and his people. In order to “jump through hoops” for God, Abraham must have sacrificed things that would be very dear to him.

It teaches us that sacrifice is of vital necessity to serve God and his Church. When we are willing to sacrifice for God, we will listen to God’s calling and be eager to build his kingdom. Sacrificing position, possessions, family, friends, wealth, time, or comfort for God’s sake becomes easier. Because Abraham had sacrificed, he went to Canaan and became the great patriarch of the Jews. God had sacrificed his Son in order to bring salvation to humankind. Cardinal Newman said, “It is not God’s way that great blessings should descend without the sacrifice first of great sufferings.”

When God enjoined Abraham to go to a place, he did not reveal to Abraham a clear destination. He did not give Abraham a map or route directions. But Abraham set off with a total trust that God would reveal the directions to him as necessary. God did not tell Abraham everything at once. It was piece by piece.

It would intimidate us horrendously if we were in Abraham’s situations. By our nature, we would request everything be revealed at once. We would want a clear destination, a known route, and a well-defined vision, all brought out before we could take one step towards the destination. However, that is not faith. We must have the faith that God will show us what we need to know when we need to know it. We must swear by God’s wisdom and way. In the absence of such faith, we cannot honor God well and will not serve him well.

Next to telling Abraham what he was supposed to do, God gave Abraham some promises to embolden and kindle him to obey the commands. There are seven promises in God’s summons. They are (1) “I will make of you a great nation,” (2) “I will bless you,” (3) “I will make your name great,” (4) “you will be a blessing,” (5) “I will bless those who bless you,” (6) “I will curse those who curse you,” and (7) “all the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.”

God gave Abraham a couple of orders, but plenty of promises. God would do things for Abraham much more than God asked him to do for God. At times, we "kick up a fuss" about God’s rigorous commandments, but hardly pay attention to his promises behind those. God’s promises are more than any exertion we must do to obey his commandments.

It seems that God often give commands before he gives promises. God first told what Abraham was to do; then God told what he would do for him. Therefore, every promise was a test of Abraham’s faith. It is true because when we take notice of Abraham’s life, we don’t see God’s promises be fulfilled at first.

For example, God promised that Abraham would be a great nation, but Abraham and Sarah were over age of having a child. God promised that he would bless Abraham. But as Abraham took his leave to a new place, he seemed to lose many temporal things. God promised that he would make Abraham’s name great, but people of Ur would laugh at his foolishness when he decided to leave his native land to go into a strange country. God promised that Abraham would be safe, but when Abraham just arrived at the Promised Land, he immediately faced a severe famine there.

With the onset of his journey, Abraham hardly saw the fulfillment of God’s promises. But later on, every promise made to Abraham was victorious over the opposing circumstances. For example, God promised that he would make Abraham a great nation. He granted Abraham and Sarah a son, Isaac, even when they were over age of having a child. To Israel alone, the promise was fulfilled under the leadership of David and Solomon. To the world, God has made a great nation of people of faith through Abraham.

Despite the famine with which Abraham grappled from the beginning, later on Abraham was blessed with great material prosperity. Equally important, he was blessed with great spiritual blessings. God truly fulfilled his promise about blessing Abraham.

Abraham’s name would be great as said by the Lord. From generation to generation, the name of Abraham has stood above most names in terms of fame. His name is not only venerated by the Jewish people, but his is also honored by many other people on the face of the earth.

Pope Saint Gregory I, in his book Morals, states, “The good neither take the blessings offered them here below as anything great, nor dread very much the ills brought upon them. While they use present advantages, they point to the in­convenient things to come, and when they lament over present evils, they are comforted in the love of the good things to follow.”

In sum, Abraham overcame the adverse circumstances by faith to seek the fruitions of God’s promises. It lifts our spirits and causes us to not let circumstances get us down when they seem so against the fulfillments of God’s promises to us. Then, when God blesses us, like Abraham, we bless others. God’s blessings are not to be enjoyed selfishly, but they are to be used to bless others. Finally, to honor Abraham, the Father of Faith, we beseech God to give us more faith; so that like Abraham, we can fulfill our journey of faith here on earth towards the promised land of heaven.

Lord, give me faith! – to live from day to day,

With tranquil heart to do my simple part,

And, with my hand in Thine, just go Thy way.

Lord, give me faith! – to trust, if not to know;

With quiet mind in all things Thee to find,

And, child-like, to go where Thou wouldst have me go.

Lord, give me faith! – to leave it all to Thee,

The future is Thy gift, I would not lift

The veil Thy love has hung 'twixt it and me.

(John Oxenham)

Rev. Linh N. Nguyen