A long time ago, when I’d screwed things up yet again, a respected church leader told me: “Well, if you can’t be a good example, you can always be a terrible warning.” She said it with an indulgent smile. I’m sure she didn’t invent the dichotomy, but it’s stayed with me and had many applications since.

A couple of weeks ago, it had another outing when I was preaching on Genesis 15. Yahweh (in chapter 12) has promised Abram that he will father a great nation through which the whole world will be blessed. But years later, Abram and Sarai still have no child. Abram is quick to complain about this when Yahweh comes to visit him in a vision. The story tells us that God takes Abram outside his tent, shows him the stars and says his offspring will be as numerous as the stars he can see.

Then we get the bit that the New Testament will take up. Abraham believes God, who credits his faith (trust) as righteousness (15:6). Thus, Abraham becomes the great example of faith for Paul (Romans 4:3) and is duly inducted into the hall of fame for faith by the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:11-12).

And yet Abram’s conduct is far from ‘faith and nothing but faith’. In fact he, like many great Old Testament heroes, is BOTH a good example AND a terrible warning at different times.

In chapter 12, Abram and Sarai leave Canaan and go to Egypt to escape famine. But he is afraid that the Egyptians will see how beautiful Sarai is and will kill him to get her. So, to save himself, he tells Sarai to pretend to be his sister. The expected happens, and Sarai is taken into Pharoah’s harem. Pharoah rewards Abram very richly for Sarai’s sake. God is very displeased with the arrangement and inflicts terrible diseases on Pharoah and his household. Pharoah finds out that Sarai is married to Abraham and sends them packing, but with everything that Abraham has acquired.

To make matters worse, Abraham (the new name Yahweh gives him in chapter 17) again pretends (in chapter 20) that Sarah is his sister when they travel to the Negev, where Abimelech takes Sarah into his harem. This time God intervenes more quickly before Abimelech can lay a hand on Sarah. Somehow, Abraham still comes away richer with gifts from Abimelech. I suppose this is something of what it means to be chosen by God.

These stories are told fairly matter-of-fact, but Abraham’s conduct is surely not to be held up as a good example. We might particularly pick out Jacob and David as key players in God’s purposes whose conduct is sometimes far from exemplary.

For me, I take solace that I follow in hallowed footsteps in that sometimes I’m a good example and sometimes a terrible warning. What really seems to matter is that God has chosen Abraham, and has chosen us and he’s the one who generously keeps bringing us back into the right way when we’ve strayed.

To conclude: this is what I think I should have preached a couple of weeks ago. Sadly, it didn’t come out that well! I often know what I should have preached after the event. But my trust is that it all depends on God and he can further his purposes just as well through my mistakes as through the things I get right. Praise God!