Acts 7:1-8: a reflection

1The high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3and said to him, ‘Get out of your land and away from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’ 4Then he came out of the land of the Chaldaeans and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, God moved him into this land where you are now living. 5He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his offspring after him, when he still had no child. 6God spoke in this way: that his offspring would live as aliens in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7‘I will judge the nation to which they will be in bondage,’ said God, ‘and after that they will come out and serve me in this place.’ 8He gave him the covenant of circumcision. So Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day. Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

Stephen begins his defense by recalling Abraham, and the way his life of faith began. God appeared to Abraham and called him: Leave your land and your relatives, and go to a land I will show you. Abraham obeyed, going out into the unknown, to a land he had not seen. And God gave him no inheritance in it yet, not even a foot of ground, but promised it to his offspring, when Abraham as yet had no child. Abraham obeyed the call and believed the promise before he saw any of it fulfilled.

Notice how Abraham's faith worked: he obeyed God's call into the unknown, and believed a promise not yet fulfilled. God called him to leave the familiar and go to a land he had not seen; and Abraham went, trusting God's call though he did not know where it led. And God promised him a land and offspring; and Abraham believed the promise though he had, as yet, neither land nor child. His faith obeyed and trusted before it saw the fulfillment.

That faith, obeying God's call into the unknown and trusting his promise before seeing it fulfilled, is the faith we are called to. God sometimes calls us to leave the familiar and step into the unknown, not showing us where it leads; and he gives us promises whose fulfillment we do not yet see. Like Abraham, we are called to obey the call though we do not know where it leads, and to trust the promise before we see it fulfilled. When God calls you into the unknown, or gives you a promise not yet fulfilled, do not refuse to move until you can see the whole way, or believe only what you can already see. Obey the call, as Abraham obeyed, trusting God though you do not know where it leads; and believe the promise before you see it fulfilled. Faith obeys and trusts before it sees; follow God's call into the unknown, and trust his promise before its fulfillment, as Abraham did when God called him out.

Lord, Stephen recalled how Abraham's life of faith began: you called him to leave his land and go to a land you would show him, and he obeyed, going into the unknown; and you gave him no inheritance yet, but promised it to his offspring when he had no child, and he believed before he saw any of it fulfilled. Show me how his faith worked: he obeyed your call into the unknown, and trusted a promise not yet fulfilled. That faith is the faith I am called to. You sometimes call me to leave the familiar and step into the unknown, not showing me where it leads; and you give me promises whose fulfillment I do not yet see. Like Abraham, I am called to obey the call though I do not know where it leads, and to trust the promise before I see it fulfilled. When you call me into the unknown, or give me a promise not yet fulfilled, keep me from refusing to move until I can see the whole way, or believing only what I can already see. Help me obey the call, as Abraham obeyed, trusting you though I do not know where it leads; and believe the promise before I see it fulfilled. Faith obeys and trusts before it sees; help me follow your call into the unknown, Lord, and trust your promise before its fulfillment, as Abraham did when you called him out.