1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and
your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 “I will
make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever
curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram
was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife
Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people
they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they
arrived there. 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of
the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in
the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring a
I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had
appeared to him. 8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel
and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There
he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
- Genesis 12:1-8, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.
Dear Friends in Christ,
Outside of Jesus Christ Himself, the man our text speaks of is arguably the most important individual in Bible history. Abram (better known by his later name, Abraham) is a major figure in the Old Testament, with almost one fourth of the Book of Genesis devoted to his story.
Why is he so significant? From a purely human standpoint Abraham is key because with him began the nation of Israel, God’s “chosen people.” Through this nation – according to His human nature – God would bless the world with the Savior, Jesus Christ. So, for a purely biological reason, Abraham is important...
But he is equally important to us for his example of great
faith in God. In fact, it is for this more
than any other reason that he has come to be known. At different times in Scripture he is
referred to as “the father of the faithful” and “the father of
believers.”
In our second Scripture reading for today the Apostle Paul
uses Abraham as a shining example of the message which is the very heart and
core of Christianity: we are saved
eternally not by works, but our righteousness in the eyes of God comes through
faith in Jesus Christ. When it came to
the Word and promises of God we are told that “Abraham believed God, and
it (referring to his faith) was credited to him as righteousness.”
Our text for today takes us back to Abraham’s early history. It is the account of Abraham’s call from God and God’s promises to him. It is an event that is both interesting and packed with application for our lives as believers today. Let’s turn to it now and consider the
LESSONS
FROM THE CALL OF ABRAHAM
1. A lesson on grace
2. A lesson on faith
3. A lesson on trusting God’s leadership in our
lives
“The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.’” In a day and age like ours that puts a lot of emphasis on planning, it is hard to imagine the magnitude of what Abraham is asked to do. The Lord tells Abraham to 1) leave his country, 2) leave his people, and 3) leave his father’s household. And go. Where? To an undisclosed location. Essentially God says to Abraham “I’ll tell you when you get there.”
But this is not an eviction notice. There is more to what God has to say. Much more. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God’s abundant blessings are promised to Abraham. Seven of them, to be specific. Let’s take a look...
#1: “I will make you into a great nation” = Israel would in time become great in numbers, influence and importance as God’s Old Testament chosen people... #2: “I will bless you” = Abraham would be personally blessed... #3: “I will make your name great” = Abraham would become revered both in his time and throughout history. (As a modern day fulfillment of this promise consider the fact that Abraham is the in-depth cover story for a recent [Dec 2001] National Geographic Magazine.)... #4: “You will be a blessing” = to others; his nephew Lot, for example... #5: “I will bless those who bless you” and #6: “Whoever curses you I will curse” = so intimately was Abraham linked with God that how others treated him had a bearing on how God treated them...
#7: “All peoples
on earth will be blessed through you.”
This is the most all-encompassing, far-reaching and important of the
seven blessings because it is Messianic.
How would all people be blessed through Abraham? Because from his line would come the Savior
of mankind, Jesus Christ.
How did Abraham respond to all of this information? “So Abram left, as the Lord told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.” Here we see why Abraham is so often referred to a man of great faith: He obeyed God’s word to him...
Perhaps one could make a case that the pain of separation was somewhat alleviated by the accompaniment of his nephew Lot, but the fact remains that Abraham struck out at a time in his life when most men are cautious toward change (Abraham would live to be 175, so he was “middle aged” at the time). He also seemed to have carved out a prosperous life for himself in Haran. Nevertheless, he went as God asked him to. Doing so was not a matter of convenience or business savvy. It was a matter of faith.
“Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. The Canaanites were then in the land but the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.” Noteworthy is that the land Abraham ends up in is already settled and he himself is childless. Nevertheless, his faith in God’s promise did not waver, as evidenced by the fact that he built an altar and offered a sacrifice to God out of thankfulness.
“From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.” Here we find a second reference to Abraham building an altar. We’re told he “called on the name of the Lord,” meaning he worshiped. Martin Luther translated this phrase: “He preached concerning the name of the Lord.” In other words, there was no hesitation on Abraham’s part to give credit where credit was due, and there was no fear in boldly proclaiming the name of the One True God, even in heathen territory...
So far the account of the call of Abraham. What can we learn from this Word of God and apply to our lives? We’ll limit ourselves to the three lessons outlined earlier...
First is a lesson on the grace of God. In the 1920’s and 30’s a British archeologist by the name of Leonard Woolley excavated and unearthed the city of Ur, which in the verses just before our text is identified as Abraham’s home town. From there he moved on to Haran, which is mentioned in our text. Both places appear to have been bustling cities in Abraham’s time, as well as very religious – meaning there were lots of idols and local deities. Prominent to both cities were temples to Sin, the moon god.
We mention this because it was from that kind of background of spiritual darkness and uncertainty and fear that God in his grace called Abraham. Abraham didn’t come to the conclusion on his own that there was but one true God who loves and saves people eternally. He didn’t initiate the whole process of faith for which we now know Him. Abraham was nothing more than an ancient, nameless pedestrian through life – until God called him. Then everything changed. And the only explanation behind that call is the grace of God.
There are tremendous similarities here between Abraham and us, aren’t there? Because that same grace of God which soon became evident in Abraham’s life is evident in our lives as well. God in His glorious and amazing grace has also called us to the knowledge of who He is and what He has done for us – especially what He has done for us in Jesus Christ. As God plucked Abraham from the darkness of despair and unbelief and brought him into the light of truth, so He has done the same for us... It’s just as we sang in our sermon hymn minutes ago:
“Lord ‘tis not
that I did choose you; that, I know, could never be,
for this heart
would still refuse you, had your grace not chosen me...”
To really understand this, let me ask you a question. How is it you are here today? Our first inclination is to say that, well, I got up, got dressed, and made the decision to come; so here I am. And to some extent that may be true...
But in the bigger picture all of us have been drawn here by the grace of God. He is the One who initiated the whole blessed spiritual relationship we enjoy with Him. Through the waters of baptism He called us to be His own, strengthening and sustaining us through His Word to this very day. So whether we are here as members of St. John’s for the umpteen thousandth time or are visitors for the first time – our presence here today is first and foremost an act of God’s grace.
As God in His grace called Abraham to be his own, so God in His grace has called us to be His own. That is the first lesson of our text... a lesson for which we can only be profoundly thankful. Remember that in your prayers tonight and everything else we may be dealing with – be it positive or negative – will fall into its proper perspective.
A second lesson has to do with faith. In line with what we just said, the Apostle Paul writes in the book of Ephesians “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” What this means is that God in His grace has given us faith to believe in Him. We did not choose Him, He chose us. Faith itself is a gift from God. But once we are brought to faith, then we are to use and build and act upon what God has given us.
That is what Abraham did in such an exemplary manner. Faith led to obedience. And obedience led to blessings (which really takes us back to grace, doesn’t it?). Think of the mathematics of Abraham’s situation. One act of obedience to God yielded a seven-fold blessing. What this means is that when it comes to blessing His children, our God is a bonafide, card-carrying liberal.
Jesus put it this way in His Sermon on the Mount: “Seek first [the kingdom of God] and His righteousness, and everything else will be given to you as well.” When we live our lives in obedience and faith, God promises to bless us. That blessing may not necessarily come in physical or financial packages (as some televangelists promise), but will always come in “the peace of God that passes all understanding” and the satisfaction of knowing we are living to the glory and honor of a God who loves us deeply.
And, of course, the greatest blessing of faith is the eternal salvation that is ours through Jesus Christ... Abraham “believed God and it (faith in God’s promise of salvation through a Savior) was credited to him as righteousness.” He looked forward to the Savior from sin who was to come; we look back on the One who has already come and will come again. The result: Our sins are forgiven. By grace we are saved through faith.
Perhaps a third and final lesson has to do with trust in God’s leading. All of us have had, are having, or will have uncertain times in our lives when we wonder where our lives are going. Abraham certainly must have experienced that as well. Who knows what was going on in his mind during those quiet moments of traveling to an unknown destination.
For many of us, our lives and the circumstances in our lives
may be far different than what we thought they would be (or planned them to
be). But even if we don’t know the
future, what a comfort is to know that the only One who does is in the lead of
our lives. And when we understand that,
we can follow the divine advice found in Psalm 46 to simply be still and know
that God is God. Or as the hymnist puts,
“Savior I follow on, guided by Thee...”
At the outset of this sermon we said that with the exception
of our Savior Himself, Abraham is perhaps the central figure in the
Bible. After spending a few minutes
reflecting on his life, we can probably see why. May it be that the lessons we have learned
from his life today – a lesson on the grace of God, a lesson on the obedience
of faith, and a lesson on God’s leading in our life – bring us strength and
comfort as we continue to make our journey through life. Amen.