Pushing Through Doubt to Greater Certainty
- davidwperk
- Jan 26, 2024
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Friday, January 26, 2024
The week of the third Sunday after Epiphany
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:
15 God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarah your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’ 17Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, ‘Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?
You will find the full text of today’s Hebrew Scripture reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 945)
AM Psalm 40, 54; PM Psalm 51
Gen. 17:15-27; Heb. 10:11-25; John 6:1-15
Today we celebrate the Feast of Titus amd Timothy. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
Would you name your child “laughter”? Probably not. Yet, God in this conversation with Abraham told him to do just that. Isaac means laughter in Hebrew. At this point, it had been thirteen years since God had initially promised Abraham and Sarah a child. Desperation had prompted Sarah to encourage Abraham to father a child with her servant, Hagar, and Ishmael had been born to them.
God’s oft-repeated and long-delayed promise gets repeated in today’s reading. Abraham and Sarah will have a child. Abraham fell on his face and laughed. Falling on one’s face was a sign of reverence; Abraham did that before he laughed. The laughter gives us a pun on the name Isaac. Abraham was laughing in doubt about the birth of a child to be named “laughter.” Another expression of his doubt came in his request that Ishmael might be seen by God as Abraham’s heir and the one with whom God keeps promises made to Abraham.
Carlyle Marney* once observed: “You are sure that you believe--but you know it does not yet make sense, and like Tertullian is sometimes said to have done, you pray in a corner in the dark--Credibile est, quia ineptum es. It is believed because it is absurd!”Are you aware of those places in your soul? Those places where you have expected or hoped for God’s action in your life or the life of another. You have been prompted to persist in believing and expecting by a recurring inner voice. And, when you have faltered, encouragement has persisted in the form of a Bible verse, a hymn, a poem, a word in a sermon, or a dream.
God’s response to Abraham’s laughter and doubt intrigues me. (Sarah’s laughter and doubt can be found in the next chapter.) He repeated the promise, as if to encourage Abraham. But, that repetition had the effect of divorcing the fulfillment of the promise from Abraham’s faith. God would act whether Abraham could believe it or not. What Abraham must do is keep walking before God with a whole-hearted devotion (see 17:1).
Back to those inner spaces of expectancy and uncertainty. If God has been speaking in that recurring inner voice, can I muster the will to keep walking with God with a devoted heart, even if doubts persist? To Abraham's and Sarah's credit, they did just that. Perhaps I can find that strength of will in the energy of God’s repeated whisperings about what God will do, even if I find myself a mixture of reverence and uncertainty. Will God act in the face of my wavering uncertainty? This passage encourages me to believe that, while my faith-response would deepen my connection with God and deepen my inner peace, God works the work of salvation in the face of my wavering.
(I cannot locate the source of this quote in Marney’s writings. I suspect it comes from a book I gave away or pruned from my library.)
Collect of the Day, The Third Sunday after Epiphany
Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 215)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Titus and Timothy, companions of Paul.
Collect of the Feast of Titus and Timothy
Almighty God, who called Timothy and Titus to be evangelists and teachers, and made them strong to endure hardship: Strengthen us to stand fast in adversity, and to live godly and righteous lives in this present time, that with sure confidence we may look for our blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
A Collect for Fridays
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 97)
A Prayer attributed to St. Francis
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. (BCP, 833)
A Collect for Early Evening
Almighty, everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your Word and Sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to the ages of ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)
A Collect for Mission
O God of all the nations of the earth: Remember the multitudes who have been created in your image but have not known the redeeming work of our Savior Jesus Christ; and grant that, by the prayers and labors of your holy Church, they may be brought to know and worship you as you have been revealed in your Son; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 257)
Daily Office Old Testament Reading, Genesis 17:15-27
15 God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarah your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’ 17Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, ‘Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?’ 18And Abraham said to God, ‘O that Ishmael might live in your sight!’ 19God said, ‘No, but your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.’ 22And when he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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