The world around us … it is an ever changing world. Since I could be considered the modern version of ZZ Top’s hit “Sharp Dressed Man” and am up on all the modern fashion trends, let’s take a look at the world of fashion for a moment. After World War I, people in the 1920’s were excited. They had jobs, they had money. Women dressed in the “flapper” style, had short haircuts and wore bright makeup, not that you can really tell in black and white photos. Men back then wore suits, suspenders, and bowler hats.
Fashion changed in the 1950’s after World War II. Again, people were excited. Women wore dresses showing off their figure more. Their hair got longer and curly. Men followed The Fonz and brought out the “greaser” style with jeans, white t-shirts, and black leather jackets.
In the 1970’s, with the “hippie” movement, clothing became very colorful. Tie-dye shirts, hot pants, and miniskirts were the craze. Both men and women had long hair and men started to have mustaches and beards.
The 1980’s brought out the punk rock type of clothing. Women’s hair and jewelry were big and makeup was bright with lots of color. Men and women also started strutting around in fitness clothes which included a lot of colorful tights, probably thanks to Richard Simmons.
The 1990’s were more down-to-earth fashion wise. Women still had big hair, but their make-up was more natural looking. Many people wore jeans and plain colored shirts with Converse shoes. People also started to get more piercings than in other decades.
Today it is whatever people want to wear for the most part. Some of the designs from past decades are coming back, even though some really shouldn’t be. Fashion is one of those things which is always changing.
Some things never change. This past week at VBS, we were okay with that. Besides the t-shirts of the volunteers not changing … the story of Scripture, the great narrative of salvation, does not change. The over-arching theme as well as the little parts we looked at are all connected to each other. In the first six days when everything is created, we see the love and care God has for this creation. We looked at Jesus being king and how as king, even though he rules all things, he was willing to humble himself and take on the problem of sin which has infected each and every one of us. Jesus as our Savior went to the cross to die, to shed his blood so that you and I could be forgiven of our sins. We looked at God as our truth. The truth of God’s grace and protection never changes. The theme for Friday was about God as our Rock, the solid foundation upon which we stand.
The story of Scripture is the same each time we read it. The narrative though is much more than just God being the Creator and Ruler of all things. It is so much deeper than that and the connections made throughout the Old and New Testament to Jesus and the events surrounding his life are delivered to each of us each time we dig into the pages of God’s Word.
But we live in an ever changing world. Trust me, trying to keep up with our youth on the latest trends on social media, music, sayings, and what-not is a full time job in and of itself. Technology itself is constantly changing.
To live in an ever changing world and to say that the Word of God does not change … that makes us sound old-fashioned. It makes us sound like we have our heads stuck in the mud, that we as a church are stuck back in the dark ages. People say that the Bible is an old antiquated book which has no relevance in today’s world.
This is why instead of people conforming their life to the ways of God found in the Bible, they are twisting the Word of God to make it fit their own thought process, into their own styles of how they want to live their life. When we do that, life gets messy and certain worldviews of what life should be start to break down. It should be the other way around. Instead of trying to fit the Bible into our lives, we should be trying to fit our lives into God’s story found in the Bible.
Look again at what the writer to the Hebrews says in our text for this morning. “When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surly bless you and give you many descendants.” And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised” (Hebrews 6:13-15).
Notice who made the promise. It wasn’t Abraham. God made the promise and he made it to the Abraham when he called him to come up out of his homeland and go to an unknown land. Way back in Genesis 12 God says to Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing” (12:2). At the time of this blessing, Abraham was 75 years old.
But as time went on, Abraham was starting to wonder about God’s promise. As we heard earlier, Abraham questions God and so God reiterated the promise again by taking Abraham outside of his tent and says, “Hey, look up at the heavens and count the starts—if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be” (15:5). Scripture then says that Abraham believed.
But still … time passed along … no kids, no offspring. So instead of conforming his life to God’s Word, he tries to make God’s Word fit into his life. Ten years after being given the original promise and with nothing happening, no children being been born to Abraham and Sarah, they decided, “you know, it’s time we take matters into our own hands.” You can probably guess what happened, but let me tell you anyway.
Sarah tells Abraham to go and be with her servant girl Hagar and that through Hagar Abraham will receive the descendants by which God will bless him. But that’s not what God had said is it? Abraham was trying to make God’s Word conform to his life, instead of conforming his life to God’s Word.
After the birth of Ishmael, God pulls Abraham aside and was like, “Listen, I told you I would bless you and give you many descendants. Here’s how we’re going to do it. Your wife Sarah will give birth to a son and because you and her have laughed at my idea, you will call him Isaac.” A year later, with Abraham at the ripe young age of 100 and Sarah at the age of 90, Isaac is born. Later, Abraham got to see his grandsons, Jacob and Esau born. Abraham saw the beginning of a great nation. By the time Abraham died, he saw God’s promise in full.
Each and every Christian is in the same boat as Abraham. We have all been given God’s glorious promise of salvation. It’s ours! God does not and will not break his promise! Some things never change.
Life for Abraham was not always glorious. He and Sarah left the comfort of their home to go to some unknown land that they had no clue where it was. God said follow me, and they did. Abraham and Sarah had to go to Egypt due to a famine, a lack of food in the land. After wrongfully trying to conform God’s Word to their lives instead of living within God’s Word, they got kicked out of Egypt. Abraham had to suffer through kicking Hagar and his son Ishmael out in the wilderness. Abraham had to deal with the emotions of having to sacrifice his one and only son through Sarah whom he loved.
Through it all, God had a plan. Abraham thrived within the land, Ishmael was blessed, and Abraham didn’t have to sacrifice Isaac. When it came down to it … Abraham believed in the promise of God and received what was promised him.
God’s promise that He made to Abraham back in Genesis 15 that told him his descendants would be as numerous as the stars … that promise was sealed in blood. God made an unbreakable covenant with Abraham in blood.
Some things never change. The promise of eternal salvation which has been promised to all who believe … that is a promise sealed in blood. From the blood of Jesus which stained the wood of the cross on top of Mount Calvary … God’s promise of eternal salvation was sealed.
At times, we may doubt, we may wonder like Abraham did. That’s our sinful nature shining through. God doesn’t take us outside and have us look at the stars … He has us come to His table and participate in the meal where Christ gives us his very own body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins, the strengthening of our faith, and to reassure us of the promise of eternal life. This promise, the reminder of it … it never changes. We don’t need to make God’s Word fit our lives … our lives fit into His story. Unlike changing fashions … God’s promise and love never changes. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.
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