“17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty]; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” Genesis 17:1-8
The Bible is a book of promise. It is also a book of hope and encouragement being a vivid mirror reflecting the brokenness of humanity and God’s own desire and design to set things right. God has always had a plan and a purpose… rooted in loving God with everything we got (Deuteronomy 6:4ff) and a love for neighbor as much as we love ourselves (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus actually combined those two verses into one when asked ‘what’s the most important thing in life?’ (see Matthew 22:36-40 for details).
The Bible is also a chronicle of an interrupting God with a solution addressing our own personal and collective incompleteness while providing an eternity of being in the presence of God once our days on this earth have come to an end. And if I’m reading my Bible properly… God wouldn’t want it any other way… and it’s all over the place with God interrupting Noah to build an ark… Abraham being father of nations… Moses being asked to return to Egypt to give Pharoah a sermon on freedom… young David leaving his flock to go fight Goliath… and even John the Baptizer was interrupted at the river when Jesus showed up… along with disciples who left everything to follow their Lord… and then don’t forget Saul of Tarsus who stumbled on Jesus on the road to Damascus. How has God interrupted your life to bring you from one moment to another? Faith matters!
A long time ago… my seminary advisor asked me this question… “Can you live with incompleteness?” I wasn’t sure what he meant so I asked him… ‘what do you mean?” to which he replied, ‘well… if you are going to be a pastor… there will always be incompleteness. There is always one more sermon to write… one more Bible lesson for the adult class… one more person to visit in the hospital… one more couple to get ready for marriage… one more baptism to officiate… it never ends… if you can’t live with incompleteness… parish ministry will eat your lunch!” How true his words and yet remain… not just for pastors… but for pretty much everyone I know!
Martin Luther once said to his students… “A Christian is never in a state of completion but always in a process of becoming.” Thus, completion is an illusion. Growth is our reality. Embracing the process means we are continually evolving, always reaching for more. This journey of becoming is endless, and that is the beauty of our faith. He also said… “The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.” … meaning… the Bible isn’t just text… it is a living force chasing after each of us with purpose. In today’s chaotic world, its message seeks to ground us, offering wisdom’s guiding hand. Let it catch you and see how it transforms your path… as this interrupting God of ours will never relent… loving us and forgiving us despite the incompleteness we entertain day after day.
