“Don’t Stop Believin’”

Prayer: Holy One, during this Lenten season may we turn our faces, our bodies, our minds toward you. May we hear you speak through the words of scripture, the words of the sermon, and the reflections of our hearts. Keep us focused on you and let nothing, especially not the preacher, get in the way of that.  Amen.

“What an interesting combination,” some people have said. You see, when people first come to learn about my husband Ryan and I – and especially about what we each do for work, that is often times the response. It usually goes something like this, especially when I am meeting people that Ryan associates with through work for the first time. They ask what I do, and I tell them I am a pastor. Then they look at me quizzically…a pastor, really? (Seriously? As if someone would joke about this!!) Then they realize who it is that I am married to – a stay at home dad/amateur brewmaster/karaoke DJ. Ryan and I have been together for nearly 15 years, and for 12 of those years that last title has been his claim to fame. He is the karaoke guy. And because he is the karaoke guy I have spent my fair share of evenings listening to people belt out songs that are sometimes good, sometimes not so good, and sometimes…an interesting combination of the two.

I don’t know how much you all know about the band “Journey,” but this is where the story connects. After all, “Don’t Stop Believin’” is #4 on the top 500 songs that people sing for karaoke. A song that came out over 30 years ago in 1981, it was popular then. And thanks to the likes of “The Sopranos” series finale and “Glee” it has taken the world by storm yet again. I say this all to tell you that I have heard this song now not just belted out in the places where Ryan DJs but also on TV commercials, in the car on the way to youth events, and most recently during worship at the CT Conference Confirmation Retreat. And “what immediately followed “Don’t Stop Believin’” at the confirmation retreat?” You may ask. Well, a reading of the passage from Genesis about Abraham – a man who never stopped believing - of course.

Abraham and Sarah, what an interesting combination for God to choose as new parents, to be the mom and dad of a multitude of nations. Especially considering they felt like they were definitely at the end of their rope when it came to the possibility of bearing children together. Sarah was a woman scorned by years of barrenness – resorting to handing over her slave Hagar to mother a child for Abraham, and Abraham a man of steadfast faith who desperately wanted a child with his wife. Yet when they received the news about the possibility of having a child, about the foretelling of Isaac’s birth, they both laughed. It was one of those laughs that was full of a fleeting moment of doubt, coupled with a nearly gut-wrenching sense of hope beyond all hoping, and ramped up by a joy like no other that this could be true. And so they had no choice but to believe and believe they did.

It was that belief, that trust in God, that landed Abraham his place in biblical history – and in the history of the three faiths, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, that trace their ancestry back to Abraham even today. It was that belief that led God to seal a covenant with Abraham – one that would not only secure his place in history, but ever more importantly would help generations even unto us today understand that it is not in what we say or do, not in our slavish adherence to any law, that we are saved – but rather through faith by the amazing and crazy generous grace of God.

And that’s where the apostle Paul comes in. Many upon first learning about Paul’s history might say “Paul and Jesus – what an interesting combination.” After all it was Paul, a very faithful and devout Jewish man, who was a persecutor of the followers of Christ until his own conversion experience. At that point he became so aware of the amazing gifts that God offered, and especially that which God offered in Jesus, that he made it his job to share the good news with all people – not only Jewish brothers and sisters but all others as well. And through his letters, like that to the Romans, he shared his feelings and beliefs about God, about the place of God’s grace in the salvation of humanity and the world, and about the appropriate response to God’s generosity – namely faith and thanksgiving. In his letter to the Romans he lifts Abraham up as a model of faithfulness, but stressed that it is God who was doing the work in Abraham’s life and has worked in the lives of so many throughout history.

It is God who is able to bring things back to life. It is God who is able to make things new. It is God who opens the door offering the extravagant welcome, inviting all, especially during this Lenten season, to turn back and draw closer. It is God who loves and cares and wants the best for us.

So God and us…what an interesting combination. After all, we are a diverse crew drawn together in this family of faith for so many different reasons. Yet what we hear from folks who come to our church and are reminded of today as we renew our covenant with those who have joined with us, is that we have arrived here because we are people of faith, because we want a place where we can learn more and grow, because we want a place where we can put our faith into action out of gratitude for the life, breath, and salvation that God has first offered to us.

Part of the challenge of being faithful people in the world today, however, is putting our faith and our gratitude for the blessings of God to words and to work. That is part of what we hope happens here as we gather on Sunday mornings and as we join together at this table of grace. This is a place for healing and re-energizing. This is a place where we realize that our belief has more to it – has heft and reality. This is the place where we share our faith in prayer for and with one another, in learning as we come together for events and education opportunities, in service as we put our hands and hearts to the test of working for charity and justice through things like food drives and letter writing, and in welcome as we invite people to join us no matter who they are or where they are on life’s journey. The truth is that part of our covenant with God has us wishing to shout from the rooftops who we know God to be and challenges us to strengthen our relationship with God. So I ask today, do you wish to build a relationship with God? Or do you perhaps seek to deepen that relationship? Because that’s what matters to God – not your faith background or your ability to be the “perfect” Christian, but rather that you wish to be in a relationship with God and to live as someone who is reacting to the opportunity for that relationship in such a way that you share your faith and welcome others, and all that entails – with openness, joy, and honesty.

This covenant – this promise – is for all of those who believe and trust in God, in God’s power, and who are open to the grace of God poured out in love for us and our ancestors in faith throughout history in the likes of a promise made to Abraham and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God is at work in Abraham’s story, setting a plan in motion to shape a family of faith and to walk the journey with that family – including us. There are days when we are easily able to see God still at work in the world, and there are other days when we need a bit of a reminder. That’s why it’s so wonderful that we don’t walk this journey of faith alone but have one another to walk with – to help share and point out the places where God is still alive and working. Because the covenant is not something that is locked away in the Bible, but rather it’s something that we live out each day as we celebrate with and comfort one another, as we strive to listen to and serve God, and as we gather together at the table.

So now we come full circle, my friends. Thanks to years of exposure to karaoke, the confirmation retreat this year, and the opportunity to preach today, I will never look at the story of Abraham again without a soundtrack playing in the background. “Don’t stop believin’. Hold on to that feelin’.” Even when the outlook seemed bleak and any hope for new life seemed impossible, Abraham didn’t give up his faith. He believed in a God who was generous and steadfast – in a God who didn’t promise that the journey would always be easy but did promise to share an everlasting covenant of love and strength and support with Abraham and those who followed him in faithfulness. He believed in God, OUR God, who renews that covenant with us even today, who shares and strengthens US for the journey, who shines grace through the cracks in our hearts to let us know that we are not alone – that we are forgiven, that we are welcome. And because of that we are called to remain faithful and to share that experience of God’s grace with others through word and deed. May we do so complete with our own soundtrack playing behind us getting us pumped up for the journey ahead.  Amen.