“A Great Nation”
Genesis 12:1-9
Tray and Malia were members of my first church in Plains. They were a young couple who had been invited by friends and amazingly drove several miles every Sunday to worship with us. Tray was the game warden for the county that they lived in and if I remember correctly Malia worked at a bank.
One Sunday evening Tray sent me an email and in it he told me how my message that morning had spoken to him, and he was going to make some changes in his life. He was going to quit his job, go back to college, and then apply to Law School. My first response was, “What exactly did I say that made this impression on you?”
Well, he did just what he said he was going to do, and they ended up moving to Alabama. Through the internet and social media, we reconnected several years ago and remain friends yet today. Last month Tray was elected as the Elmore County District Court Judge. All this because God used me as His mouthpiece to give Tray a nudge to move on to bigger and better things.
Frederick Buechner, in his book Secrets in The Dark, writes that “Faith and fiction both journey forward in time and space and draw their life from the journey, are in fact the journey.” He goes on to say that “Faith and fiction both start once upon a time and are continually changing and growing in mood, intensity, and direction. When faith stops changing and growing, it dies on its feet.”
Continuing from last week’s theme, the story I shared about my friend Tray and the Scripture from Genesis could have both began with those words, “Once upon a Time.”
Our Scripture story begins 1800 years before the birth of Jesus with a man who is 75 years old. His name was Abram and he lived in a region of a country that today is known as Iraq. And what made Abram one of the most unique men who ever lived is this: God spoke to him and he believed God and left his family and immediately set out to a new land which God would give him.
Do you ever wonder how God spoke to Abram? Was it in a clear audible voice? Was it in a dream? Was it in a still, quiet voice within his own heart? Did God give him some kind of sign? I wonder how God spoke.
I ask that question because I am continually wondering if God is speaking to me or am I just hearing what I think I want to hear. I want to know If I’m walking in God’s will. I want to know if there are things God would have me do to make a greater impact with my life. During my quiet time this past Monday morning God gave me a name, Kelli. I have no idea who Kelli is, but I’ve been praying for her, or him, and I know that God will eventually reveal their identity and His purpose for giving me this person to pray for.
Our Biblical story is about a man with great faith and courage—about a man who relied heavily on God—about a man who showed great courage yet had some questions for God [don’t we all]—about a man who was less than perfect, who made some mistakes in judgment yet was still used by God—and a story about a man who was promised some things that he never got to see—seeds that he would plant that he never got to see grow.
Our Gospel Lesson last Sunday was from the Great Co-Mission; Jesus telling His disciples [apprentices] to GO and make disciples of the whole world. This would have taken great faith on their part, but as we have been learning in this latest Wake-Up Call series is that faith is spelled R.I.S.K. Abram was willing to step out, to risk everything, which would have taken a large amount of faith.
Could you imagine being told to leave your family and everything you possessed to move to a country that you would be shown when you got there? Not many of us would be willing to take this venture, would we?
And Abram didn’t have all the modern conveniences such as those we have: the Internet—Map Quest—the Weather Channell and more. But he didn’t need them because he just packed up everything and went on his way. I’ve moved several times in life, especially in the Methodist ministry and it just never seemed to be that easy: pack up and be on your way.
When God called him, Abram moved out in faith from Ur to Harran and finally to Canaan. God then established a covenant with him, promising that from him would come a great nation. Not only would this nation be blessed, but other nations of the earth would be blessed through Abram’s descendants. The people of Israel, the nation that would come from Abram, were to follow God and influence those with whom they came in contact. But the greatest blessing of all is that through Abram’s family tree, Jesus Christ was born to save humanity. Through Christ, people can have a personal relationship with God and be blessed beyond measure.
Romans 4:13-25
Evidently Abram, whom we would later know as Abraham, was an extremist. Abram heard God’s voice. He listened and he believed. Even more importantly, he set out to do what God had called him to do.
How about you? Is God speaking to you about some area in your own life, some relationship, some responsibility? We are not accountable for knowing God’s will perfectly. The question we are accountable to answer is, are we acting on what we do know about God’s will? Are we packing our bags to make a new journey to the land which God beckons us?
Eastman First Methodist Church 