The Call of Abram, Genesis 12:1-8 Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
I’d like to share a typical military experience. I was teaching a Character Guidance class one afternoon to a Company of soldiers from the 519th MP Bn at Fort Meade, MD. About halfway through my presentation, in walked 2 Chaplains from the Post Chaplain’s office. They took their coats off and sat in the back. I thought that was a bit unusual, since they normally never came to observe my training. For part of the class I used a video; so after turning it on, I went back and greeted them. I then learned why they were there. With a grave expression, the senior of the two said, “Bob, we’re here to inform you that you’ll be receiving orders for an unaccompanied tour in Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division.” This meant a year away from my family in a potentially dangerous area of the world.
Whether it’s good news or bad, God calls us in varied ways--sometimes He uses a change in employment, a health-related issue, or a family situation. Even in those rare times when we think we can “write our own ticket,” He guides our decisions and impresses us with what we should do. God takes an active part in the plans of our lives.
In the case of Abram, God intervened directly. He appeared to this chosen man and spoke. Abram was in his seventies, an elder in his community. Perhaps his life experience prepared him to hear God’s call. It was time to harvest the wisdom of a lifetime. He was at a crossroad, facing a journey like no other. He was also in a pagan culture where gods had form and was placing his trust in a non-physical, unprovable deity asking for trust.
In these verses, God gives Abram several promises but issues only one command. The command, to “go”, is simply the logical outcome of the promises. God offers Abram a call to break from the past by offering him a new life, from an environment of idolatry to a place of fellowship with his Creator. This was also a call to separate from the familiarity of his hometown. For those of you who’ve lived here in Saugus all your lives, leaving would be traumatic. Leaving involves loss, yet losses lead to growth. Abram’s call was an emotional test. In his bestselling book about Abraham, Bruce Feiler observes that, “If we can learn anything about the early life of Abraham it is this: God is listening when humans cry.”
In Abram’s day, leaving home was an unthinkable act. This might not seem so difficult or unusual to us in our mobile society; but in Bible days extended families banded together out of necessity, for protection and prosperity. We see few examples of extended families anymore. In Abram’s day, families developed into tribes. The homes into which people were born provided an education, occupation, spouse, religion, and purpose in life. Abram was told to break away from all he had known.
A nagging complication in Abram’s call is that he wasn’t specifically told where to go. We can assume he knew the general direction, but not a specific destination. He might have preferred it all mapped out. When we follow God, He always gives us enough light to take the next step. We think life would be easier if God handed each of us a specific plan detailing all the places and choices and events of our lives…but if He did that, there’d be no need for faith! God is silent on the details, but He promises to walk with us. He fills in the details along the way. As Abram moved on, the purpose of God became increasingly clear.
God not only sends Abram, He equips him. In verse 2 God explains, “I will make you”. Abram was not “self-made”; God made Abram what he was. God tells Abram that he would receive and be a blessing. Through the experiences of life, God forms our character. He has a plan for us. Our predicaments are part of His plan.
God promised to protect Abram from a hostile world. In God’s promise to Abram we see a warning to any who might mistreat his descendents. God will curse those who curse His people. To curse Israel is equivalent to cursing God. All manifestations of anti-semitism will encounter the wrath of God. So how should we relate to the children of Israel today? Their rejection of Jesus does not allow us to treat them harshly. Someone condescendingly wrote, “How odd of God to choose the Jews.” Cecil Brown replied, ”But not so odd as those who choose a Jewish God and spurn the Jews.” We must show the children of Israel our love, and tell them how grateful we are for our Jewish Messiah, Who has allowed us to become part of His family and Who is the Savior of all who believe.
As we trace Abram’s journey, we can see him making a circular tour of the Promised Land. But all the while, he lived in a tent. He left his prosperous life in Ur and became a wanderer, a nomad…and he was satisfied. Abram had a portable faith with which he sought a city with permanent foundations.
With every military assignment I thought of Abraham and saw how I too was a wandering pilgrim. I viewed every set of orders as a divine directive. In the military, every set of orders is numbered; Abram’s order number was Genesis 12:1-3. God directs where we live. Imagine the best place God could send you--there are people there who love it, and others who choose to be miserable. People in the military jokingly say their best assignment is their last one and next one (never their current one)! Contentment come from knowing that we’re in the place of God’s choosing. When I finally reached Saugus, I felt like I’d made it to the Promised Land!
Although the land was given to Abram, he did not actually own a single foot of it. The hostile Canaanites lived in the land in walled cities. Abram’s faith anticipated his possession. He could have at this point offered some objections: “OK, Lord--You want me here, but what about these Canaanites?” We can be easily devise reasons why we should not follow God. Abram chose to follow by faith, trusting in God’s purpose. He may have been apprehensive, so in verse 7 God reassures him by saying, “to your offspring I will give this land.” A God-centered, moral nation would be established by the children of Abram (his legacy). Songs describe entering Canaan as dying and going to Heaven, but it is more accurately a picture of believers claiming God’s promises by faith.
Near Shechem and Bethel, Abram erected altars. In those days an altar was not just a place of sacrifice--for Abram they were monuments of places where God appeared to him. They marked the spot where events of self-commitment to God were reaffirmed. They were reminders of God’s protection and promise.
I asked Christ into my heart one September evening in 1966 while walking home from a friend’s house, where we talked about Who Jesus is and why He gave His life for us. I wonder if Oakhurst NJ would let me put a marker by the sidewalk on West Lincoln Avenue?
The altars Abram set up were places to revisit and remember…and in an occupied land these altars were also Abram’s way of raising his flag in the face of opposition to claim the land of God’s promise. Abram’s neighbors noticed that there were no idols on his altars. They symbolize his surrender to God. One day upon an altar he would offer his son.
God called Abram out of idolatry to a new life. God’s call has been described as “an internal journey.” Jesus told His disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.” What does it mean to be “called” today? Have you ever felt called to do something for God? Has He chosen you for some task? Has He impressed you with some way you can offer your life and talents for His use? What has been your response? Some people think that God only calls ministers, and the rest of us are free to do whatever we like. There was a book written a number of years ago; on the cover was a picture of a guy standing next to a church with a look of relief on his face. The title of the book was “Thank God I Don’t Feel Called”. You may not be called to full-time Christian service, but if you’re a believer, you’ve been called to be a full-time Christian, and you no longer have any plans of your own. God may call you to leave your “comfort zone,” to do something you might feel is difficult. It’s been said, “If you’re too comfortable, or too secure, or too into having control, then you won’t be willing to trust God” (Feiler). Like Abram, our lives are a series of new beginnings. The One Who calls us will empower us and accomplish His purpose in us.
We learn from this chapter that, in a world crowded with people, our Lord remains a personal Guide, involved and interested in the details of our lives. To all who receive Him He offers new life, new hope, new strength, and a new direction.
