God invites Abram to follow Him, and wonder of wonders—Abram accepts God’s invitation, even without an itinerary or map.
God invites Abram to follow Him, and wonder of wonders—Abram accepts God’s invitation, even without an itinerary or map.
Advent Day 4, Abram's Call.
Today we turn to Abram, soon to be called Abraham, the father of many nations.
Abram hears from God, but Abram receives no blueprints.
God tells Abram to travel to a land that God will show him.
That's it.
No map, no landmarks, no destination, just God.
And Abram does.
He listens to God.
Abram packs up his belongings and heads to a destination unknown.
But his belief sometimes falters, and he makes mistakes.
He's human, like you and me.
Fortunately for him and us, God's faithfulness doesn't depend on our unblemished record, but on his unblemished son, Jesus.
Jesus, God with us, descended from Abram, is born, lives, and dies, and rises again to set people free from sin and death.
By the time of Abram, people no longer live to the ripe old age of Nathuselah.
People live on the generous side in average of 200 years.
So for Abram to head off from a place he knows and the people with whom he has chosen to dwell at the age of 75 is a risk.
But Abram receives a promise from God, and he acts on it.
He goes, and Sarah and Lot go with him, as do all of Abram's possessions.
Abram leaves a country, a birthplace, in his father's house.
Why do you think he chooses to leave?
What might his motivations be?
When have you chosen or experienced the season of uncertainty, and what helped you navigate that season of life?
Abram travels and waits, travels and waits.
Is this the place?
What about this one?
Silence.
Onward and onward, they go, camels and sheep and other livestock trailing behind them to Canaan.
And through Canaan, nothing.
Not a word, not a sign, then a tree.
And Abram took Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.
When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the Oak at Moray.
At that time, the Canaanites were in the land.
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, to your offspring, I will give this land.
So he built there and altered to the Lord, who had appeared to him, Genesis 12:5-7.
In Canaanite culture, certain trees indicated places where people could seek messages from the gods.
If the tree at Moray is one of these trees, why might Abram stop at it?
When God speaks with Abram, God speaks blessing upon blessing.
He says in Genesis 12, "And 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.
I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you, I will curse.
And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
The next time God speaks with Abram, God reiterates the blessing.
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, to your offspring, I will give this land."
Genesis 12:7.
In response, Abram builds an altar, but he doesn't linger beside it.
He and Sarah and all these people and possessions keep traveling.
The next time Abram sets up camp, he builds another altar and calls upon the Lord.
Until those call upon the Lord, Abram has been silent.
Why might it be important that his first words are to call upon the name of the Lord?
We all need to remember who God is and what he is like.
Perhaps most especially when we dwell in uncertainty or insecurity.
How could you remember God more frequently this advent?
What could help you to do that?
Abram receives blessing upon blessing, but he sees few of them come to fruition.
He remains a sojourner for most of his life.
He has two sons, but only one is the promised son.
And the land which God says he will give to Abram and his descendants is occupied.
Abram lives in tension, constantly wrestling with the world as it is and the world that God has promised.
How does he hold on to hope?
What or who helps him faithfully follow God?
Consider your own in-between places.
Who or what helps you follow God, even when life is hard?
Abram fails, of course.
He's human.
He sins.
He makes mistakes.
He tries to make God's promises materialized through his own efforts.
These efforts always fail, often in heartbreaking ways.
Through all of Abram's all-too-human reactions and actions, though, God remains faithful.
God doesn't stop loving Abram just because Abram forgets God loves him and has a plan for him.
The same is true for us.
We forget that God loves us.
We wonder if God cares about our day-to-day life.
But that's the beauty of Advent and Christmas.
In this season, we remember.
God loves us so much that he sent his one and only son, Jesus.
Jesus is God's love on full display, born as a baby in Bethlehem and as an adult crucified on a tree.
In remembering Jesus, who lived the hard and rose from the dead, we hope again.
Our spirits renew, though we will make mistakes just like Abram did, though we will wander off and have to be brought back from whatever pit we have fallen into, God still loves us.
God still invites us to draw near to him.
Spend a few moments remembering how much God loves you.
How does his love, given form in Jesus, are Emmanuel renew your hope?
God chooses people because God chooses people.
God's love is independent on ours.
God is faithful, and he brings about what he promises.
What has gone wrong this past week?
How has God invited you to draw near to him, despite that?
God blesses us to be a blessing to others.
What is God asking you to do to be a blessing to others in the season of Advent and Christmas?
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, you set people on strange courses.
You told Abram to go without giving him a destination.
We have a destination.
Our home is with you.
Until we reach that home, may we be people of hope and people of blessing.
You have blessed us in your Son, Emmanuel, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
Help us to share that blessing with someone else this Advent.
Amen.