Journey to the Passion: Committed Hearts

Sunday, March 16, 2025 – Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18, Psalm 27, Philippians 3:17—4:1, Luke 13:31-35

There’s a story motif that appears in many different cultures and historical periods throughout the world that mythologist Joseph Campbell called “the hero’s journey.” It’s a pattern that has become familiar to us through books or movies like Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings series.

In a hero’s journey story, someone – and this could be either a man or a woman – is called to a great adventure. But the task requires the hero to leave the comforts of home and family and head toward an unknown future. Sometimes the hero is joined by a friendly companion, but he must then move through many challenges and tests. He’s often gravely injured and experiences what appear to be impossible hurdles.

But after an initial defeat, a rebirth of some kind occurs, and the hero is deeply transformed into someone truer and of greater integrity. After finally succeeding in the quest, he or she returns home, bringing the gifts gained through the fiery trials and tribulations to share with his or her community.

What does it take to embark on a hero’s journey? It requires ears open to the greater needs of the world, a willingness to leave what is familiar, and a heart committed to the wider mission.

Our readings today give us two opposing examples: Jerusalem and Abram.

Jesus describes Jerusalem as the city where God’s prophets are killed. They don’t appear to want to hear the truth, and like the people in Paul’s letter, seem to worship the “god in the belly,” meaning that they’ve been tempted to focus on their own self-interests. They’re unwilling to be gathered under the wings of God’s loving presence and resist God’s greater mission. Jerusalem has a stubborn heart.

On the other hand, Abram – who later becomes Abraham – is a perfect example of someone called to the hero’s journey. As we read in Genesis 12:

Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’[a]”

Abram takes his wife, his nephew, and their possessions and they head toward the land of Canaan.

Imagine that. Abram was 75 years old when God called him out of his La-Z-Boy recliner and sent him on a big adventure! Yes, God promised to make of him a great nation, but the greater mission was that Abram would be a blessing “to all the families of the earth.”

Abram didn’t follow “the god of the belly” when he left his home. He followed the God of Everything and Everyone and that God’s call upon his life.

Abram could have had a stubborn heart. He could have refused to budge from the place where he was comfortable and where his friends and family were. He could have said, “God, don’t make me go to where I don’t know anyone!”

But he didn’t have a stubborn heart. Why? Because he allowed God to give him a wider perspective.

In today’s text, God appears to Abram in two visions or dreams. In the first – and I love this humble image – God takes Abram outside, like a good friend, and shows him the starry sky. He tells him that his descendants will be similar in number to the uncountable stars. And Abram believes God.

On what grounds? There was no concrete evidence to support this crazy claim! Abram and his equally senior wife were long past childbearing years and had no direct descendants.

But Abram believes, and God calls him righteous.

And then there’s a very curious covenant ritual. God asks Abram to bring animals for sacrifice; he does so and splits them in half. And when Abram falls into a deep sleep, he enters a terrifying darkness and has another dream.

In between the verses we have, God shows Abram Israel’s 400+ years of captivity and other horrors they’ll experience. But then Abram sees the “smoking fire pot and the flaming torch” pass between the split halves of the animals. What can this image mean? What I’ve discovered is fascinating.

According to Matthew Barrett, a professor of Christian Studies, in ancient rituals like this, the two parties making the covenant each walk through the halved animals to demonstrate their willingness to undergo the same fate should they fail to keep the terms of the covenant.

In our narrative, the smoking fire pot and flaming torch represent God’s presence, and Barrett alerts us to the fact that in Abram’s vision, only God moves through the split animals. Abram does not. Why is that?

He suggests that while the covenant requires Abram’s commitment, God’s promise is not conditionally dependent upon Abram’s fulfilling the terms of the covenant.

By passing through the pieces alone the Lord was communicating to Abram that it depended upon the Lord alone to fulfill the covenant…In other words, while it is necessary for Abraham’s children to be obedient if they are to enjoy the covenant blessings, the fulfillment of the covenant does not ultimately depend on [humans’] work, but is due to God’s grace and mercy.”

Abraham is given a wider vision for blessing his people. He sees that he’s part of a larger story. He’s open to hearing the truth about his greater mission, he’s willing to leave behind what is familiar and comfortable, and he has a committed heart rather than a stubborn heart.

I just listened to an interview with Dr. Martha Beck where she was asked what makes for a good story. She said a good story is one where bad things happen to good people.

But a great story is one where bad things happen to the hero and the hero then creates something beautiful and true out of the bad things that happened.

We’ve surely had setbacks, individually and collectively. Can we be like Abraham? Are we open to the truth of our greater mission or are we following the god of our bellies? Are we unwilling to leave behind what is familiar to journey into the unknown or are we willing to commit our hearts to God’s dream for us and our people?

If we can be open, willing, and committed to God’s mission and call upon our lives, then we will truly be heroes and heroines to the people of this world and to this community.