April 8, 2001
Genesis 12.1 ¡V 13.4
1Then the LORD told Abram,
¡§Leave your country, your relatives, and your father¡¦s house, and go to the land that I will show you.
Genesis 12:1 (NLT)
Some fear is healthy. Starbuck in Moby Dick said to his prospective crew: I¡¦ll have no man in my boat who is not afraid of a whale!
There¡¦s fear, and then there is fear. The 82nd Airborne Rangers train at Fort Bragg, NC. The division commanding general was inspecting, and as he reviewed the ranks of paratroop trainees he carefully scrutinized one West Virginia recruit standing proudly at attention, jump wings and boots shined to perfection. The general spotted a loose thread and scowled, Trooper, your fatigue jacket is frayed. The young private shot back, Sir¡Kbeggin¡¦ yer pardon, sir ¡V but this here airborne jacket ain¡¦t ¡¥fraid a-nothin¡¦¡K.SIR! -1-
Some fear isn¡¦t so healthy. Nelson Price had a short football career. One night in a college game he scooped up a fumble and looked down the field at 95 open yards. He ran with all his heart.
Price looked over his shoulder to see if he was being pursued; there was nothing but his own shadow. He glanced back over the other shoulder and saw another shadow. Knowing he was about to be tackled, he cut left, then right, swerving and dodging with his best moves all 95 yards to the end zone! When he looked back, there wasn¡¦t a player within 50 yards.
The lights on both sides of the stadium had cast a shadow on both sides of Nelson Price. He had put his best moves on his own shadow! -2-
It could have been that way for Abraham in the waning moments of the early morning darkness. Abraham could have seen lots of shadows when that voice first spoke to him.
1Then the LORD told Abram, ¡§Leave your country, your relatives, and your father¡¦s house, and go to the land that I will show you. Genesis 12:1 (NLT)
God had something great in store for Abraham and his descendants. It all started with a man who was obedient to listen to that urging of God to Saddle-Up!
How do you feel about trail blazing? What if God called you to leave the comfort and security of¡K
Your country,
Your family
Your father¡¦s house,
Your cousins and uncles,
Grandma and grandpa,
Your smooth roads,
Your huge shopping malls,
Your McDonalds,
Your Pizza Hut,
Your Satellite TV with 400 channels,
Your showers with water pressure,
Your microwave ovens,
Your efficient mail delivery system,
Your honest police officers,
Your democratic political systems,
Your lucrative business opportunities,
Your plush carpets,
Your padded pews,
Your multimillion dollar building projects,
Get out!
Leave it!
Go! -3-
Suppose you got a phone call from NASA. You¡¦ve been chosen to live in the space station¡Kyour task is to saddle-up and go on a great adventure, different than anything you¡¦ve known. Well, what would you do?
IF you¡¦re like me, you would probably say,
But, I am not made to live in space,
But, it¡¦s dangerous ¡V people have died in space,
But, I like it here,
But¡K..But¡K.But¡K.
Has God ever shown you the road to the Great Adventure? Saddle up and come along on the road with Abraham:
It¡¦s a Road God Shows
1Then the LORD told Abram,
¡§Leave your country, your relatives, and your father¡¦s house, and go to the land that I will show you.
Genesis 12:1 (NLT)
In your life, either you lead, or God leads. In the sixth grade (long before Mrs. Preacher came along), some girl tried to teach me to dance. She kept saying, No, let me show you this way¡K I kept saying, But I¡¦M the boy ¡V I lead!
Well, I never did learn to dance very well ¡V and most of the times I¡¦ve messed it up in life were the times I wanted to get away from God¡¦s leading in my life.
It¡¦s a Road Away from the Familiar
1Then the LORD told Abram, ¡§Leave your country, your relatives, and your father¡¦s house, and go to the land that I will show you. Genesis 12:1 (NLT)
Abraham lived a settled, safe life in Ur. His family was prominent and rich. Life was very good! What God called him to was the life of a nomad ¡V no home, no guaranteed water stops in the desert, no protection from scavenging thieves.
What he could count on was sand in everything as they moved about the desert ¡V sand in their eyes, sand up the nose, sand in hair, teeth and grits! And that unfamiliar sand out there would provide plenty of shadows ¡V the unknowns!
Most of the things we fear in life are those things we have never faced ¡V or will ever face. We hold back! I wanted to stay in the second grade. Ms. Tufano was my first love. She smelled good, and man she was pretty. I liked the second grade. The only reason I went to the third grade is Ms. Tufano became Mrs. Richardson just before second grade ended. Imagine that! I had told her I¡¦d marry her ¡V she didn¡¦t need some guy named Richardson! But she wouldn¡¦t wait! Imagine!
But the real reason I wanted to stay in the second grade was because Ms. Tufano made it safe, and happy, and fun. That was familiar ¡V Second Grade was a good place to stay. But it wasn¡¦t the best place for me to stay. God leads you away from the familiar sometimes because the great adventure beyond the familiar holds the best!
In 1980 our little band of Russell, Elizabeth, Jenn, Jason and Carrie packed up our U-Haul, two cars and went to seminary. New Orleans was another world! We didn¡¦t know where we¡¦d live, how we¡¦d eat, or anything else. All we had was a letter of acceptance from the Dean of Students. God sent ¡V we left everything familiar. It was a Great Adventure! It¡¦s still unfolding ¡V and it isn¡¦t second grade.
It¡¦s a Road of Reward We may never see
7Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ¡§I am going to give this land to your offspring.¡¨ And Abram built an altar there to commemorate the LORD¡¦S visit. Genesis 12:7 (NLT)
Adoniram Judson was a great missionary. He once said about serving God, and success:
There is no success without sacrifice. If you succeed without sacrifice it is because someone has suffered before you. If you sacrifice without success it is because someone will succeed after.
Often on the road to the Great Adventure, we are called-upon to make great sacrifices. God did that too. His sacrifice had a name ¡V it was Jesus.
A few weeks ago we called upon the members of this church to make sacrifices. We came forward and placed our pledges and offerings in the Joash chest. Only eternity will reveal the depth of those sacrifices ¡V but make no mistake, those who sacrificed the greatest will reap the most out of this life of adventure!
It¡¦s a Road of Tents and Altars
8After that, Abram traveled southward and set up camp in the hill country between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar and worshiped the LORD. Genesis 12:8 (NLT)
I have heard well-meaning Christian believers tell others they were hoping would accept Christ, that following Jesus is a life of joy, peace and all problems solved. That doesn¡¦t even begin to wash!
In fact, it is just plain untrue. The life of a nomad is filled with difficulties. When you live in a tent, ready to move whenever the leader says, ¡§go¡¨ ¡V you are likely to have the roof leak, or the wind blow down your walls.
On the other hand, altars are strong places, built for worship. It¡¦s where you meet God. Tents are portable. You put down few long-lasting pegs in the sand. However, everything in life that is truly precious is portable. Your relationships are portable, for here and eternity. Your service for God is portable. And your soul is portable ¡V and transportable¡Kto heaven when you die. So, when it comes to stuff, build God¡¦s; just set up camp with yours.
It¡¦s a Road that¡¦s Easy to Get OFF
10At that time there was a severe famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to wait it out.11As he was approaching the borders of Egypt, Abram said to Sarai, ¡§You are a very beautiful woman. 12When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ¡¥this is his wife. Let¡¦s kill him; then we can have her!¡¦ 13But if you say you are my sister, then the Egyptians will treat me well because of their interest in you,
and they will spare my life.¡¨ Genesis 12:10-13 (NLT)
One of the things I like best about the Bible is that it gives you a complete picture. Abraham was a man of God ¡V he wasn¡¦t God! He wasn¡¦t perfect.
You and God both know that you aren¡¦t perfect. If you fail to saddle-up for this Great Adventure because you don¡¦t know if you can stay on the road, you have missed the point entirely. We all hit the ditch.
When we first arrived in North Carolina last year, Elizabeth found every ditch on the side of every road between here and the Oak Hollow Mall with her Dad¡¦s old Buick. That didn¡¦t stop her from going to the Oak Hollow Mall! :0)
Beloved, if you get on the road, God will help you with your predisposition to wander. That¡¦s why you have a Good Shepherd!
It¡¦s a Road that Leads back to VOWS, Not Visions!
20Pharaoh then sent them out of the country under armed escort¡XAbram and his wife, with all their household and belongings. 1So they left Egypt and traveled north into the Negev¡X Abram with his wife and Lot and all that they owned, 2for Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. 3Then they continued traveling by stages toward Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where they had camped before. 4This was the place where Abram had built the altar, and there he again worshiped the LORD.
Genesis 12:20 ¡V 13:4 (NLT)
Sooner or later, everything comes down to, and back to, the vows you make to God.
„« The vow you make to Jesus to love and follow Him comes back to you in assurance, peace, and an eternity to be close to the one you followed.
„« The vow you make to give so others can hear of Him comes back to you in abundance, sometimes thirty-fold, sometimes sixty, and sometimes a hundred-fold!
„« The vow you make to God to share Christ daily with others who need to know comes back to you in others sharing with your loved ones who you just can¡¦t win¡Kand ¡V in the end ¡V it comes back in the echo of the heavenly father saying, Well done thou good and faithful servant¡Kenter into thy master¡¦s rest!
Every road you follow ¡V every place you go becomes a small place sooner or later¡Kas it did for Abraham:
8and he died at a ripe old age, joining his ancestors in death. Genesis 25:8 (NLT)
There were detours, and plenty of bumps ¡V but the road led. And Abraham came home. And we¡¦re still talking about his Great Adventure today. Abraham followed God.
The question before the house today is not for Abraham; the question is for you and me ¡V
There¡¦s a Great Adventure
in God¡¦s Kingdom for you¡K
Are you gonna sit there, or saddle up?
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Note: The idea for this sermon is credited to Dr. Clyde Fant, who preached a similar message entitled ¡§On the Road With Abraham¡¨
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FOOTNOTES
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-1- Jim Russell (Makakilo, Hawaii) quoted in Reader¡¦s Digest
-2- Nelson Price, Shadows We Run From, (Nashville, Broadman Press, 1975), 9-10.
-3- From a sermon, The Heartbeat of God, Greg Waddell, SermonCentral.com
