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the freeing, supportive presence of God. So your experience of God may
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“Abraham Laughed;
Peter said ‘Never!’ ”
March 12, 2006
According to Genesis, God planned this world to be the place for a heaven on earth. The Garden of Eden was to be a perfect creation in which human beings could exist with peace and contentment.
But there was trouble in paradise. In the midst of this perfection, the human beings wanted more; they wanted the same power and authority as their creator; they wanted to implement their own plan for life. Their plan, however, ignored God and God’s infinite wisdom.
Fast forward a few generations to the life and times of Abraham. Abram, as he was known before he encountered God, was one hundred years old and was not looking for God at the time. The difference between Adam and Abraham was obedience and respect for God. Abram had it; Adam did not.
You or I, at the age of one hundred, would probably be very much inclined to be content in our retirement. God has a different plan. God wants Abraham to begin a major project—that of becoming an ancestor to a multitude of nations.
As you can see, God once again shows his tremendous sense of humor. Knowing that he wants an individual who can procreate, he looks over all the land and chooses a couple who is one hundred years old and ninety years old, respectively. Abram’s response was fully understandable—he doubled over in laughter; and the couple remained skeptical until Sarah gave birth to a son.
You see, God knew the plan ahead of time. He wanted his plan to have a touch of the miraculous. God had no doubt that he could pull it off. Abram, on the other hand, was not privy to the plan and apparently was not privy to the miraculous power of God. After all, there was no scripture or organized religion at this point.
But even with the Scripture we have today, and the testimony of the church for two thousand years, it is still not easy for us to place our faith and trust in God. God’s ways and God’s thinking are so different from ours.
We are oriented toward facts and human reality. For the most part, we find it difficult to live with trust in the unseen; and yet, this is precisely what God is after. God wants us to be — as he did both with Adam and Abraham—people of faith.
Actually, Peter struggled with the same issue. He had been raised with the rather worldly notion that a military king or savior would arise to lead a rebellion against the Romans and set the Judean people free. Even though Jesus taught peace and even respect for the authorities, Peter’s belief structure was so strong, his indoctrination so complete, that he was unable to understand what Jesus was talking about. He actually thought Jesus was saying something very wrong, and that is why he rebuked and scolded him.
We, too, must guard against our own understanding of what Jesus is saying. There are those who say “Jesus was a pacifist,” or “Jesus was a moral teacher,” or “Jesus was a social activist.” While each of these may be very true, not one of them—by themselves—is the whole truth; and you know what they say about partial truth. Partial truth can be very deceiving, and if you do not press on, you may miss one or more of the essential elements of the whole truth.
Jesus began to teach the apostles about God’s plan for salvation for the house of Israel—the chosen people of God. Jesus said that he must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. To this Peter cries out, “Never!” which occurs in another translation.
Peter’s response was anger because he could see that his perception of setting the people free was not about to take place with the scenario of which Jesus was speaking. Down through the generations, people have responded in many different ways to God’s plan for salvation . . . including anger and laughter.
We can not be hard on Peter. After all, if we believed that the answer to our problems was to have a strong political leader to fight and overcome our enemies, we too, would be disappointed in Jesus’ words.
One wonders if the Arab and Muslim world will ever become our friends. All we ever do is threaten them, and seek to impose our will on them. Instead of offering to listen and negotiate with newly elected Palestinian government, we choose to say that since we do not agree with them, we will not talk to them. I may be politically naïve, but it seems to me that refusing to talk to one another in an effort to learn and understand will never be the path to friendship nor peace.
If Jesus can advocate taking a hit on the “other cheek” in times of disagreement, does it not seem reasonable for the big Christian super power of the world to offer to talk? We already know that we are the “biggest” and “the best,” must we also become “the bully”? On which principle of Jesus is this philosophy based?
Imagine, if you will, asking God for his advice on all that is before us in our relationships with other peoples and other countries. If it were a multiple choice question, would God’s answer be (a) bomb them, (b) blockade them, (c) refuse to talk to them, or (d) “come, let us reason together”?
It is truly frightening how obvious the answer is. God help us, and God help our political leaders! Some one will have to answer for this anti-Christian approach to God’s creation.
We must learn to trust and have faith in the living power of God’s love—reasonably tried, and properly applied. Trusting in big guns rarely accomplishes what we intend. Even in our personal lives, we tend to trust in the “big guns” and options around us instead of the power of the Holy Spirit.
I admit it—God’s plan usually does not look as reasonable nor as effective as those we think up ourselves. Ask Abraham. Ask Peter. Yes, at times, God’s plan looks laughable; but God wants the opportunity of applying a little of the miraculous into our midst.
What harm is there in trying? What benefit might be ours to trust in the plan that our creator has given us? What will finally get us to seek out and utilize the wisdom of God—for our lives, and for the life of our nation? Amen.
