Sermon Central
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2nd Sunday After Pentecost. June 11th, 2023. Series
Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Apr 1, 2023 (message contributor)
Summary: Year A, Proper 5.
Genesis 12:1-9, Psalm 33:1-12, Hosea 5:15, Hosea 6:1-6, Psalm 50:7-15, Romans 4:13-25, Matthew 9:9-13, Matthew 9:18-26.
A). THE CALL OF ABRAHAM.
Our history begins in Ur of the Chaldees, in what is now Southern Iraq, a predominantly pagan city of about 250,000 people, with a central temple to the moon god Sin. Here Abram’s father Terah was thought to have been a craftsman within the moon cult. At a crucial turning point in history, and for reasons unknown, Terah and various members of his family determined to travel to Canaan, and, uprooting themselves from all that was familiar, took to the road.
They got as far as Haran, another centre of moon worship on the trade routes between Syria and Turkey. The allure of this pagan city detained them, and there they settled down (Genesis 11:31). Where they stopped, there Terah died.
Abram was called to leave his father’s house in order to go to a land which the LORD would show him (Genesis 12:1). So with his wife and nephew, and the people he had gotten in Haran (Genesis 12:5), he ventured out once more, into the unknown. This was a step of faith not unlike our initiation into Christianity, where we are required to leave all and follow Jesus (Luke 9:57-62).
Along with the command, the LORD made two promises. First of all there was a promise of land (Genesis 12:1). Secondly, though Abram’s wife Sarai was barren (cf. Genesis 11:30), Abram was informed that he would become a great nation (Genesis 12:2).
Furthermore Abram would be blessed in his walk with God. That blessing would manifest itself in a tangible “greatness.” The “exalted Father” (as his name means) would become a source of blessing to others (Genesis 12:2).
God was focussing the whole of salvation history into one family. From that family, the whole world would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). Yet every single person who opposes this family, which is ultimately the family of Jesus Christ, falls under a divine curse.
At 75 years old Abram obeyed the call of the LORD, left Haran (Genesis 12:4), and came to Canaan (Genesis 12:5). Shechem may have contained a Canaanite teaching shrine (Genesis 12:6), but it was there that the LORD appeared to Abram and promised him the land (Genesis 12:7). Abram staked his claim by building an altar.
From there, Abram and his entourage moved to a mountain to the east of Bethel (Genesis 12:8). The pitching of his tent in this mountainous area represented a departure from the well-used trade routes. This was unknown territory, and who knew what lay ahead of them? Again Abram built an altar, and called upon the name of the LORD (Genesis 12:8), before continuing southward (Genesis 12:9).
Abraham’s name is found in the list of faith’s champions (Hebrews 11:8-12). There we are reminded that Abram obeyed God, stepped out beyond the spurious security of all that was familiar, and set his sights beyond the temporal to the eternal. Sarah’s faith is also praised in relation to the birth of their son.
This is only the beginning of the life story of Abraham, but we know from the rest of Scripture that it had a good end. Certainly Abram possessed little by way of land within the land of promise, but he was blessed with prosperity there, and received the promise of posterity (Hebrews 6:13-15). And through Jesus Christ “the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1) blessing does come to “every tribe and kindred and tongue and nation” (Revelation 5:9).
B). A SONG FOR THE UPRIGHT.
PSALM 33:1. We see first of all the exhortation: “Rejoice in the LORD” (cf. Philippians 4:4). Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:22). When we abide in Jesus the true vine, not only do we dwell in His love, but we also partake of His joy (cf. John 15:11). Jesus has a special joy in the redemption of His people (cf. Hebrews 12:2), and we are privileged to share in that joy. We have such a special joy in His goodness to us that we hardly need to look for reasons to keep the Apostolic precept to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice’ (cf. Philippians 4:4).
Second, we see in whom we are to rejoice: “in the LORD.” There is no real or lasting joy in earthly comforts. But when we consider what God has done for our poor benighted beleaguered souls, our heart bubbles over with joy, and our voice soars upward to join the heavenly host in their song.
Third, we see who are to rejoice: “O ye righteous.” The only ones who can rightly rejoice are those who are partakers of the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ our Lord (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21). It is all very well when worldly choral societies take the words of Scripture upon their lips, and seem to sing with passion and gusto to and about our Lord: but sometimes their faces give away the sham. ‘The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is His delight’ (cf. Proverbs 15:8). Those who are born again may be less precise in their diction or in their rendition, but what they lack in finesse they make up for in their genuine interaction with the One to whom they raise their voices.
