The Everlasting God Tour
Genesis 12:1-4
Today’s scripture deals with a pivotal moment in the beginning of three world faiths, Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
Abraham’s decision to move away from his country, his kindred and his parent’s home was quite remarkable in a day when people were identified by the place they lived and the people to whom they belonged. Abraham felt God leading him to do something different.
The prelude to Abraham’s decision to leave the familiar is marked by two great tragedies. Firstly, his brother Haran dies prematurely and sends their father, Terah, into horrible grief. A child dying before the parent was particularly difficult for the family. Secondly, we know that Sarah and Abraham have been unable to have children, so the promise in our text to become a “great nation” seems implausible.
There are a number of things we can learn from this story.
The immediate problem you are facing is never the whole story. Tragedy is not an impediment to God’s grace and is often a springboard to something amazing. I couldn’t count for you the number of times I have heard someone say something like, “I don’t know why God did this to me, but I guess there’s a lesson in here somewhere.” Number one, God didn’t do it to you. The reality that we know as God is not about creating vindictive scenarios to teach you a lesson. However, and this is a big however, there is something to be learned in tragedy. God can bring something good out of anything – evil, disaster, death. That is not the same thing as saying God caused it to teach you a lesson. Does that make sense?
It is sad to say, but often it seems we box ourselves into the corner. When there is nobody else to turn to – when all of our options are bad – then we ask about God. The grace of God was there all along. It doesn’t have to take tragedy, hitting bottom, being devastated or making a mess of your life for God’s grace to be accessible to you. It was there all along. But if tragedy does cause you to lift your eyes unto the hills from whence comes your help, then know that tragedy does not impede God’s grace and when you are ready, you will be able to receive.
Abraham and Sarah took the tragedies of their lives as part of the world they lived in. They trusted God’s promise even when it seemed impossible to fulfill. And that is why we still know the names of Abraham and Sarah. That is why they are held up as examples of faithfulness in Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
The journey may take you to many places. Destination is not the issue. It is who you are on the journey and that you decided to take it. Making the decision to begin a journey of faith is the first step. That decision means you are already off and running (or at least, moving) in the right direction. It is in the journey that character is developed. It is in the journey that faith is honed. It is in the journey that we learn to rely on grace and hope. It is in the journey that we come to fully appreciate unconditional love. Give yourself two snaps for realizing that you couldn’t stay stuck any longer – something had to change.
Abraham and Sarah had no idea where they were to go. They simply knew they were blessed by God and they were to bless their world – and they couldn’t remain in the place that had kept them stuck.
“Get yourself out of there!” They had to leave the comfortable, the known, the familiar and step out into faith. You probably recognize part of the reading from our campaign over the last year, “Blessed and Blessing Others.” God told Abraham, “I am blessing you so that you may bless your world.” It was only later when Abraham and Sarah developed a deeper trust in God’s grace that they would discover something new about God. Abraham used – for the first time in recorded history – the name, El Olam for God, God the Everlasting. Would he have discovered this deeper understanding if he had not figured out that he was blessed in order to bless his world?
That was a lesson we learned over the last year as well, isn’t it? Every time when the journey we are on as a church takes an unexpected turn (or sometimes seems to plunge off a cliff) God’s grace has sustained us again and again. We have discovered this quality of El Olam – everlasting. Several years ago we knew we were facing a huge challenge as a congregation to replace our heating system. Most of us think of our home heating systems when we think of a furnace so that’s what – a couple of thousand? Piece of cake. Oh no. The size, the possible asbestos, the age of the building, the demolition of the previous beast (as we lovingly use to call the heating monster in the basement), the duct work, the electrical issues, the codes. Sometimes it seemed like a mountain too big to get over. But somewhere along that journey we glimpsed El Olam and we remembered we’re in this for the long haul. We sacrificed and planned, saved and sweated, laughed a lot and got irritated, but knew we had to move forward. “Get out of there!” Spirit said to us. You can’t stay put. You are here to bless your world. You have to keep moving forward. Today we are enjoying wonderful economical heat on this cold winter day but that was not the primary destination of this journey. Heat is wonderful and essential, but the journey we took to get here – and the trust in God’s grace we learned along the way are – priceless.
Sources:
www.homileticsonline.com Faith Trips, February 2008.
http://www.ldolphin.org/Names.html Names of God.