The Faith of Abraham
The Second Sunday in Lent
February 25, 2018
With the death of Billy Graham this week I was reminded of the beautiful story of Unbroken – the story of Louis Zamperini written by Laura Hillenbrand back in 2010. Many of you have probably read it. Unbroken is one of my favorite books of all time. Its full title is Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. It is a harrowing, true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete, a World War II veteran who survived two plane crashes, and who miraculously survived being adrift at sea for 47 days, and two years in Japanese prisoner of war camps.
It is a miracle that he survived. But the torture did not end in the Pacific Theatre of World War II for Zamperini. It returned home with him to California. He suffered from nightmares every night and he self-medicated as many did and do, through the excessive use of alcohol. His life was falling apart and his wife was making plans to leave him. That is, until something miraculous happened. At the last minute, at the invitation of his wife and his neighbors, Zamperini decided to attend a crusade being held by Billy Graham. He was not interested in Christianity, but he did not want a divorce so thought it would be good to accept the invitation.
Apparently Zamperini stormed out angrily from the tent the first night, but felt drawn to return for a second night. And it was then that Zamperini’s heart was touched. That time, the Bible verses Billy Graham quoted went straight to Zamperini’s heart. He realized that the life he was living was an ugly life. In that moment he recollected a promise he made to God when he was floating on the life raft in the pacific. And on that second night, Zamperini went forward and accepted Christ.
Zamperini later said:
“This Billy Graham thing is a phenomenal miracle the way it started. The way it spread out. I’m one guy that got saved, and I’ve spoken to hundreds of thousands and had my testimony in papers where millions read it. One person! Think of the spider-web effect all over the world.”[i]
And when I think of people like Billy Graham, and Louis Zamperini, I am in awe of their faith. And I am in awe of how their singular faith has touched the lives of millions. But I suppose it should not be a surprise – because that is in the nature of God and the nature of the life of faith.
In our Hebrew Scripture lection for this morning, and in our Epistle, we hear about the faith of Abraham – God tells him and his wife Sarah – you are going to be parents – I promise you – and not only that, you will be the parents of descendants more numerous in number than the stars you can see in the night sky. It is in God’s nature to multiply all that is good within us.
This week I learned about an unlikely hero of faith. Amy Plante, our parish administrator, shared with me the story of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the namesake of the school in Parkland Florida where the horrific shooting took place last week. Stoneman Douglas was born in 1890 in Minneapolis, MN. She was raised Episcopalian, although most of her family members were Quaker. She went to Wellesley College and graduated in 1912 and became a journalist for the Miami Herald after graduation, a paper that her father owned. She did other worthy works such as becoming, albeit briefly a Yeoman in the Navy, and she joined the Red Cross and bravely went to France in 1916 at the height of World War I, she was part of the suffrage movement, and she spent most of her life as an outspoken conservationist of the Everglades – and was even responsible for seeing to it that the poor African Americans in her town of Coconut Grove, Florida, were finally able to have running water and sanitation.
Marjory’s life was far from easy. Her parents separated when she was a young child, she moved from Minneapolis to live with her mother and with her mother’s family in Taunton, MA which was a tumultuous time with much family conflict especially aimed toward Marjory’s father. Her mother was mentally ill and was committed multiple times to a mental hospital. This traumatic time led Marjory to suffer from night terrors in her teenage years, and perhaps also contributed to three nervous breakdowns later in her life.
Her mother also died of breast cancer not long after Marjory graduated from Wellesley – and when she felt God did not answer her prayers – she became an agnostic.
But despite this, she seemed to be a woman who had tremendous faith – faith that human beings have the capabilities to effect positive change in our world. And a faith that was fostered by her family’s Quaker background which led her to be an activist.
In one of her books, Women Pioneers for the Environment she wrote:
Join a local environmental society, but see to it that it does not waste time on superficial purposes… Don’t think it is enough to attend meetings and sit there like a lump…. It is better to address envelopes than to attend foolish meetings. It is better to study than act too quickly; but it is best to be ready to act intelligently when the appropriate opportunity arises…
Speak up. Learn to talk clearly and forcefully in public. Speak simply and not too long at a time, without over-emotion, always from sound preparation and knowledge. Be a nuisance where it counts, but don’t be a bore at any time… Do your part to inform and stimulate the public to join your action….
Be depressed, discouraged and disappointed at failure and the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption and bad politics — but never give up.
And I am not sure that the students from the High School that is named after her even know her history but they are living out her legacy in ways that are truly uncanny.
Yesterday I went to the ordination of the Reverend Daniel Bell in Medford. And the preacher the Reverend Edwin Johnson, gave Dan some advice. And one of those pieces of advice is that when things get hard in ministry, hold on, because just around the corner something will happen to fill you with hope and will be a reminder of your vocation. As true as that is for clergy, that is also true of all God’s people. Don’t give up – God is with you, and whatever you bring forth in good faith and deep abiding love God will see it through, multiply it and bring it to life for your sake and for the sake of the world. In each of us, God has planted some unique promise – something for us to bring forth in the world – whether it is a witness to our faith that helps others heal, whether it is activism for the preservation of God’s exquisite creation, or for God’s precious children, whatever it is, God is with you multiplying in you that promise in ways that you may never know, and, so, in the words of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, “Do your part…and never give up.”
Amen
[i] billygraham.org/story/louis-zamperini-billy-graham-and-a-life-changing-decision-the-rest-of-the-unbroken-story/
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