"God Calling: Abraham and Sarah"
Genesis 11:27-12:9
It can be terribly difficult to make decisions in this life.
Some of us have a difficult time deciding what to wear in the morning.
Others of us may have a hard time trying to decide what to order from a menu.
And as far as major life decisions...
..,wow!!!
Ask an average teenager what they want to be when they grow up, and your are liable to get at least two or three vague answers, with very little thought having gone into the "how" of how they would go about getting there.
Ask the same person a week later and the answers might change.
Some people never figure it out.
I've known lots of folks, well into their years, say something to the effect of: "I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up."
Many of us go through several different career changes before we settle on the one that seems to "fit."
As to where to go, how to get there, how are we gonna spend our time--there are just so many choices these days.
How can we know we are making the right decisions?
How can we know what the right move is?
One thing that the Bible is pretty clear about is that we aren't down here to just twiddle our thumbs and watch Judge Judy.
Neither are we down here to try and make a name for ourselves, build our own separate kingdoms, see who can die with the most stuff and so forth.
But what exactly are we here for?
That's a big question.
I don't know if there are a lot of people who expect to find the answer to that question.
Neither do I know whether or not most people expect God to show up in their lives in order to give them some help or hints along the way, although I believe God does this for all of us all the time.
How in the world does God do this?
I think that the call of God on Abraham and Sarah's life is a good place to start looking.
"The Lord said to Abram, 'Leave your land, your family and your father's household for the land that I will show you.
I will make your name respected, and you will be a blessing'...Abram left just as the Lord told him."
This call and these promises to Abraham form the basis for what will later be called the Abrahamic Covenant.
And in receiving this call, these promises, and doing as the Lord told him Abraham became the father of our faith.
Do you know that, aside from Moses, no Old Testament person is mentioned more in the New Testament than Abraham?
God used Abraham to play a pivotal role in working out the history of redemption, culminating in the birth of Jesus.
The Book of Matthew starts with this: "A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."
James, the brother of Jesus refers to Abraham as "God's friend," a title that is used nowhere else in Scripture.
Believers of all generations are called "the children of Abraham."
You and I, as followers of Christ are "spiritual children" of Abraham or "Abraham's seed and heirs to the promise."
In Romans Chapter 4 Paul calls Abraham "the father of all who believe" in Christ.
So, we are talking here about a BIG time guy.
But how did he get so BIG?
What was he doing to deserve such a calling?
Why did God call Him in order to start the Judeo-Christian faith?
What was he doing when God called him?
Where was he?
Was he praying?
Was he fasting?
How did he deserve such a privilege?
What were the requirements that God gave Abram before he was called?
Did he have to give up worshiping other gods?
Because, before God called Abram, he was a polytheist--a pagan.
Did God say to Abram, "I want you to stop worshiping other gods, stop smoking marijuana, stop stealing car stereos, and selling drugs?
I want you studying your Bible and praying every day, and going to church.
I am going away for a few months and then I'll come back.
If I find you have done all these things, then be ready.
I will call you?"
No.
Abram's call had no preconditions.
God does not call Abram because he is a righteous person.
All we know is that God calls Abram out of his problems, right when everything is the darkest.
And wait; suddenly, Abram starts sounding a lot like us, does he not?
Abram and Sarai were up against a wall.
They were facing a crisis.
Sarai was barren.
She couldn't give birth.
This was a cause for great shame in those days.
And so God's call to Abram was also a call to Sarai.
Because God promised, "I will make you into a great nation..." and later in Genesis 15 God said to Abram: "Look up at the sky and count the stars if you think you can count them...this is how many children you will have..."
Wow.
In any event, we are talking about God calling...
...and how God does this.
Let's not get too far off course.
It is exciting though.
I could go on all day!!!
In Genesis Chapter 26 God says: "Abraham obeyed me."
So, we might say, "Oh, okay. It is about what Abraham did.
He was such a good guy that he 'obeyed God,' and God blessed him because of it."
But that's not the case, the word translated as "obeyed" in Hebrew is actually the word "hear."
Abraham heard God's voice.
Now Abram did, in fact respond to God's voice and God's voice changed Abram's life.
But how did God speak to Abram?
Was it a loud voice or a soft voice?
Was it audible to the ears, or did he hear it in his heart--in his gut?
We don't know.
The Bible doesn't tell us.
In any event, in Abram's life God took the initiative.
God sought Abram out.
There is no indication that Abram was looking for God.
But, again, Abram and Sarai's life situation was marked by sterility, chaos, emptiness, sadness, heartbreak, and darkness.
Hey, but that's very similar to the way things were in Genesis Chapter 1 before God said, "Let there be light."
We are told that "the earth was without shape or form, it was dark over the waters..."
Does that sound like Abram and Sarai's situation when God's voice came to them?
Does that sound like your situation right now?
Remember a couple weeks ago when I mentioned the teenage girl I saw who was wearing the tee-shirt which read: "We are all mistakes"?
There is another tee-shirt going around.
It says, "Someday I'm going to kill myself."
Have you ever felt this way?
Have you ever been at the edge of losing all hope?
Lives that are marked by darkness, and chaos are the kinds of places that God shows up, speaking a word that brings light and movement out of darkness.
God calls us out of our places of stagnation and death, and moves us into New Life where there is meaning, liberation, hope and love!!!
And in doing so, God gives us a job to do.
God calls Abram out from his home in Haran and tells him to go to a land that He will show him.
And when Abram "heard God" Abram did as the Lord told him.
And this act of faith on Abraham's part is so impressive that the Author of Hebrews enshrines Abraham in the Faith Hall of Fame--which is what the Christian faith is built on "Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don't see...by faith Abraham obeyed...by faith even Sarah received the ability to have a child..."
Theologically speaking, Abraham's life is a living example of how we are saved--by grace through faith!!!
In Galatians Chapter 3 Paul proclaims: "Understand that in the same way that Abraham 'believed God and it was credited him as righteousness' those who believe are children of Abraham."
Do you believe?
Does your ability to believe and act on that belief rely solely on the free grace of God?
That's how it works.
And Abraham and Sarah's hearing and acting on God's call on their lives was the beginning of God's redemptive work which leads all the way to us today.
Have you ever heard God calling you?
I have.
Not audibly, mind you.
But I hear God calling me every day.
I hear God calling me to get up in the morning, and help Clair take care of Owen.
I hear God calling me to reach out to the poor.
I hear God calling me to love my neighbor.
I hear God calling me to serve God's Church.
I hear God calling me to seek to serve all humanity.
I hear God calling me to put off the old Ken Sauer and put on Christ.
I hear God calling me to learn to love more like Jesus loves.
I hear God calling me to try and make a positive difference in other people's lives.
I hear God calling me to pray.
I hear God calling me to read the Bible.
I hear God calling me to visit the sick, to make a phone call or visit to someone who is alone.
I hear God calling me to feed the hungry.
I hear God calling me not to give up.
I hear God calling me continuously, every moment of every day.
Do I always obey?
No.
And neither did Abraham.
Does it become easier and more natural to obey the longer I seek to follow Jesus?
Yes.
Does it make life worth living?
Yes.
Would I trade it for anything, anything at all?
No.
Not in a million years!!!!
God is calling you too, continuously.
Do you hear?
As we come to the Communion Table this morning, let's all make a concerted effort to begin listening to God.
