Reflection for Sunday – July 27, 2025

Readings: Genesis 18: 20-32; Colossians 2: 12-14; Luke 11: 1-13 
Preacher: Margot VanEtten

Today’s readings might at first seem to contradict one another. Abraham bargains with God like a customer at a merchant’s stall, bidding him down from 50 innocent people to just 10 whose presence will move God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah.  Jesus teaches a prayer with no pressure, no need to bargain. It is a simple, straightforward approach to God, a wonderful model for all prayer, and it seems quite the opposite of Abraham’s convoluted approach.

Do they really contradict each other? Does putting them together like this have anything to say to us in these troubled times?

You could see Abraham as displaying real chutzpah, serious nerve, daring to influence the Divine will. To keep after God, upping the ante after each bargain. Abraham is certainly careful in his approach to this almighty Deity, hedging it with apologies and demonstrations of humility like a courtier remonstrating gently with an angry king.  Jesus’ prayer, on the other hand, wishes God’s holiness to be recognized, affirms God’s will, and makes very simple requests for the necessities of life—safety, protection, forgiveness…

They look so different. But both rest upon the same absolutely essential foundation.

Trust.

Absolute, unshakable trust.

Abraham can dare to bargain with God because he trusts God with all his being. This is the man, after all, who uprooted himself and his family to follow what most of us would consider a scarily vague call and promise into the unknown, away from any security and stability. All his actions are based upon enormous trust in the God whose name he does not know.  And this same trust allows him to approach God in a way no one has ever done to intercede for mercy.

And perhaps God’s very loving kindness and mercy is what draws Abraham into a very transactional prayer of intercession, the first we see in the Bible, the best he can offer at that time. Perhaps in this way God nurtures that seed of trust, allowing it to grow and put down roots. To become the trust that is “counted as righteousness,” as Paul will say so many centuries later.

In Jesus’ prayer we, along with the disciples, learn to approach God with trust both full and deep. No bargaining, no lengthy negotiations, no obsequious pleading. The simplicity of the prayer is breathtaking, yet it covers everything. Honoring the profound holiness of the One to whom we speak. Praying for all God intends to break forth in our life and our world. Asking for physical and spiritual sustenance. Promising to channel God’s mercy to those who “owe” us, and knowing God forgives us.  It is a prayer rooted in total, unlimited trust.

Jesus shows us what it is like to trust God. Think of it: he falls asleep on a boat in the middle of a storm—clearly trusting that no harm will come despite the howling winds. That same trust, I suspect, empowers his miracles…there’s no “maybe” about any of them. Just “I am willing” (to the leper), just “your faith (trust) has made you whole” to so many people. Even in the moment of terrible fear, pain and suffering, Jesus casts himself into the loving Father’s care (“into Your hands I commend my spirit”)… And after Jesus’ resurrection, after Pentecost we watch the same unshakable trust transform his disciples into fearless preachers of the Good News.

Here is the essence of faith. It is not belief in a set of doctrines (helpful in other ways, but not in this). It is not in memorizing Scripture, pondering theology (which depends on faith to be useful). Faith is not knowledge (even the devil knows that God exists). Faith is the opposite of certainty.

So what is it?  Faith is trust. Our journey of faith is essentially learning to trust—ourselves, our fears and needs, our lives and all the outcomes we seek or fear—in the loving hands of this marvelous God we follow. The God whose plan for us is the deepest possible joy, well-being and peace. 

Lord, help us to recall all the ways You have been there for us, all the moments Your love has shown through people in our lives; in the beauty and peace of Your creation; in the surprises and events of our lives. Give us all that perfect love that casts out fear: give us unshakable trust in You. For You are good and full of love for us, and we pledge all our trust in You.