Welcome to Thursday’s podcast from STC Sheffield.  Our Bible reading today is Galatians Chapter 3 vs1-9, and I’d like us to reflect on verse 9 which says:

“So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”

REFLECTION:

In years to come we will tell stories to our children and our grandchildren about this current situation.

Our children will say to their children, “Don’t you complain about going to school.  I remember the Coronavirus crisis in 2020, when I didn’t go to school for months, and I missed my friends and teachers so much.  You should think yourself lucky that you get to leave the house each day and don’t have to be taught by me!”

I have spoken before in podcasts about the importance of story.  Of the power that comes through not only knowing the story of the Bible, but understanding that we ourselves are part of the continuing story of God’s love for his people and his desire to have a relationship with us.

In today’s Bible passage Paul uses the story of Abraham and the promises that God made to him, to make a powerful connection to the situation that the Galatians found themselves in.

However, what is so amazing about the Bible is that it is always fresh, always new and always relevant; and so it should be no surprise to discover that this great story – Abraham’s story – also connects directly to the situation that we find ourselves in today.

Let’s take a quick look back at what that story was.

In verse 8, Paul reminds the Galatians that God promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him.

This blessing is first given in Genesis Chapter 12 vs3 and is repeated in verse 18 of both chapters 18 and 22.

In God’s blessing to Abraham we see the beginning of His rescue plan for the whole world – to bring blessing through a relationship with God that is based on faith.

Abraham was not blessed because he had kept the law, or because he was circumcised.  Circumcision did not come until Genesis Chapter 17, and the Law does not arrive until Moses climbs Mount Sinai in Exodus Chapter 19.

All that Abraham had was faith.  He trusted God entirely.  He took God at his word.

And, as God saw Abraham’s faith, so he promised to bless him.

In the Genesis Chapter 12 passage, God speaks blessing to Abraham four times.

Through faith:

* Abraham himself would be blessed,

* he would be a blessing to others,

* those who blessed Abraham would be blessed

* and through Abraham all the families or all the people of the earth would be blessed.

And it was this last part that was so powerful and so releasing for the Christians in Galatia.  Because Paul was reminding them that people were not recipients of God’s blessing due to lineage – because they were flesh and blood Jewish descendants of Abraham – but that Gentiles, all people, from all families, from all nations, could receive God’s blessing because of the Abraham-like faith that they had shown in Jesus.  Blessing didn’t come through the law; it came through trusting God entirely and taking him at his word.

And this is where the story of the Bible connects right into our situation today.

We too can inherit the same blessings promised to Abraham.

In Abraham we see a man who, in faith, abandoned all earthly things to God; even his son.

In this current situation, when all the earthly things that we might normally put our faith and security in – our health, our finances, our freedom of movement, our weekly routine – when all these are stripped away or totally removed, all we can do is trust God entirely.

When we struggle to know what is fake news or real information, when politicians can’t give us answers to the questions, when what we read and understand changes daily, all we can do is take God at his word.

And by doing this our faith will grow,