The very beginning of Abraham’s life story in the Bible begins with God telling Abraham to “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Gen. 12:1-2).
At face value, this covenant that God makes with Abraham can be seen as just another example of God executing his will within the human realm. Yet what is fascinating about this covenant is that Abraham lacks any particular attribute that makes him deserve this covenant that God promised him. In fact, the only thing we know about Abraham at the covenant’s inception is his genealogy, which bears little significance in telling us who Abraham is. In other words, at the time of his calling, Abraham was no different from us.
Nevertheless, Abraham undertakes what God commands and does so through his faith in God. Indeed, the New Testament book of Hebrews states that, “by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8).
This is, in essence, the story of Abraham. While it may seem as though Abraham’s journey is solely to the land of Canaan, it is ultimately, as Christians believe, a journey to the fullness of the kingdom of God – a journey in which we all share – one ultimately manifested in the coming of Jesus Christ.
Last spring, I decided to come here, to Trinity, the same decision that every one of you once made. And while I knew the location of where I was going –this beautiful campus in which we reside – I had no clue what I would experience once I got here – who I would meet, which classes I would take, and which lessons I would learn. This is true faith, the faith that Abraham has in God. This is the faith in which we commence our own unique journeys, through college or other walks of life, not knowing exactly where we are going, but trusting in that higher guidance which is so graciously bestowed upon us.
American poet Wendell Berry describes such faith as this: One faith is bondage. Two are free. In the trust of old love, cultivation shows a dark graceful wilderness at its heart. Wild in that wilderness, we roam the distances of our faith, safe beyond the bounds of what we know.
