Sunday Morning, April 30, 2006
Title: Settled Too Soon? Text: Genesis 11:31-12:2
And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. 32So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.
1Now the LORD had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
I’ve not lost faith in God, nor his grandeur. I have lost sight of it, though. So my God is god not God. I’ve adopted a puny idol. I settled for less. In my comfort I stopped something, though I’m not sure what, nor am I certain I was that comfortable to begin with. Something changed.
Terah intended to go to Canaan. He settled in Haran. Upon his death God spoke to Abram, Terah’s son, and told him, “Go to a land I will show you.”
When one begins the journey of following Christ, the goal is always the Promised land. But most of us settle in Haran. We fatigue from the journey. We grow old, disillusioned with the long, harsh journey. We set up more comforts for ourselves, not sure how far away this Promised Land is. We grow comfortable short of Canaan, satisfied with Haran. And then we die, never seeing the land God promised, because somewhere along the way we lost heart for the journey, took our eyes off the prize, or settled for less faith in the One who leads. We don’t lose faith, but settle for less. After all, we left Ur, got as far as Haran, just didn’t make it to Canaan.
This will be the temptation of every follower of Jesus. For Terah and Abram it was geographical and spiritual. For some of you it will be geographical. God will call you to ministry, the mission field, or simply a new job. But for all of you it will be spiritual, and that’s where I want to focus this morning.
It works like this. You ask Jesus into your heart. Not because you’re really smart or really good. You can’t respond to God unless he first reveals himself to you. That is called prevenient grace, or just grace for short. So God speaks to you, maybe in the storm of your life, maybe through a sermon, or through a friend. You suddenly realize your condition: You are separated from God. Whatever that means, you want to change it. So you pray, receive Jesus into your heart. At this moment you are born from above. Please don’t tune me out. Don’t think, “Oh, he’s talking to lost people, so I can think about lunch.” No, I’m talking to each of you: lost and saved, young and old. Because once you begin this journey of following Jesus, once you identify yourself as a follower of Christ, (which most of you have) then you are called to pick up and go to a land that God will show you. If you’re not careful, you’ll grow weary in the desert of life, and you’ll settle for less than God wants you to settle for. You will settle in Haran. You’ll settle for less of God.
God calls you to Canaan. I’m not talking about heaven. Let’s settle that. When you receive Jesus by faith, and obey him in believer’s baptism, identifying with God’s church, your name is eternally inscribed in the Book of Life. Every step you take through the desert on your way to Canaan gives evidence of your salvation. But Canaan is not heaven. You can settle in Haran and still go to heaven. But God didn’t tell you to settle in Haran. He told you to settle in Canaan, or more specifically, a land “I will show you.”
But here’s the problem. Most of the Christ-followers that I run into stopped looking for Canaan a long time ago. They’ve contented themselves with what they know and what they’ve experienced. They’re not looking for more of God.
Perhaps romance is the best way to illustrate. Did you know that God created romance? Man has ruined it, but God created it. Think of a young couple in love, and how they spend endless hours in conversation. They can never learn too much about each other. While away from one another all they can bear to think of is when they’ll be together again. But it’s not only that way for new lovers. Take any soldier away form home and see how the love is rekindled and he longs for letters, phone calls, or emails. That’s how God wants you to yearn for him. That sort of love and yearning will carry you through the desert times to a land that he will show you. But most believers stop short. Most of us are just like the church of Ephesus, as quoted in Revelation 2:2-5:
“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3“and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. 4“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
Like the Church today, they had done a lot of great work. Like most churches today, they let their love grow cold. These are the words of Christ, the One they follow! He has not neglected to acknowledge, even show gratitude for their work, but he’s more concerned about their love. Why do you suppose that is? Well, it’s like your care. You can run it low on oil, for a little while. It may even run well, for a little while. But that thing is going to lock up eventually. It’s like an athlete who has cancer. She can ignore it and still run well – for a little while. She can even win some races, for a little while. But eventually, her body will fail if not treated. That’s how love is in you. You can do good things for God’s church, through God’s church, for a little while. But unless your life is characterized by that curious, romantic, pursuing love of God, then your love, too, will grow cold. God calls you to a land he will show you, but you settle in Haran. When you do that, you settle for less.
I want you to think about one of the names God gives his Church. He calls her the “Bride of Christ.” He does not call her his “Old Lady.” Grasp that imager with me. What comes to your mind when you envision a bride? Usually a beautiful young woman in a beautiful bridal gown. The groom and bride look longingly into one another’s eyes. Even in the fallen world, the image is almost always one of a “clean slate” and hope for the future. Just look at how the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle John to write it in Revelation 19:5-9:
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
A wife/bride! Imagine if instead it read, “… his Old Lady had prepared herself…”
Following Jesus involves walking through the desert at times, but not all the time. Remember the destination is a land God will show you. At times you are going to walk through dry places. But God will provide streams in the desert. At times you’ll walk over beautiful hills. But remember Canaan! Following Jesus is likened to a wedding feast, not a funeral procession! It’s not for you to say, “I’ll follow Jesus, but not through the desert. I’ll join Jesus at the party. I’ll waltz with him on top of the mountain. But I won’t go with him through that valley. I have better things to do than that. I’ll wait until he gets out of there before I join him. After all, I’m not sure this Canaan place is worth the effort.”
You know God has called you to a land he will show you. You’ve probably, I hope, heard that it’s a long, tough journey. You’ve counted the cost, meditating on verses like Luke 14:26-33, which says:
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29“lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30“saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31“Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32“Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33“So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
And still you say, “Yes! I want to follow Jesus!” Notice how different this is from simply saying, “Yes, I’ll go to church…”? Following Jesus is not about going to church, though that is part of it. Driving your car is not about changing the oil, though that is an essential part of it. Following Jesus is an all consuming lifestyle that bleeds over into your school, and work, and home. If it does not, then you are not following Jesus.
So let me ask you, all of you, but especially those of you who have followed Jesus for a number of years now. God has called you to follow him to a place you’ve never been before. He’s told you to walk by faith in a very radical, other-worldly way. So, have you settled in Haran? There’s a word in English that started out as a golf term. It’s when you are on the green, making a putt, and your opponents ball obstructs the path your ball is taking to the hole. I don’t play golf, so I don’t know if this is still the way it is played. When I do make it to the green, if my opponent’s ball is in the way, I walk over there and kick it out of the way. But if you can’t get your ball in the hole because of an obstruction, you have been stymied. Most followers of Christ have been stymied at one point or another because they let something get in the way of God’s will. Yes, they started out well, just like Terah did. They started out for Canaan. But some obstruction occurred, something happened that made them settle for Haran, short of their goal.
Have you gotten tired of the wilderness? Have you gotten comfortable with where you are in life? Have you settled in Haran? When was the last time you stayed up late with God, because you love Him? When was the last time you gave an offering to God, rather than a “membership due?” How long has it been since you heard God call you to do something? Probably something not so “prudent” in the eyes of man! How long since you walked by faith, doing something or living in some way for the sheer joy of following Jesus?
The Bible has a lot of positive things to say about prudence. But if you’re not careful, prudence becomes the mask behind which you conceal your lack of faith. If you’re not careful, prudence will keep you in Haran, when God calls you to Canaan.
Abram was willing to pick up where Terah fell short. Against all odds, dangers, and difficulties, he presses on to the land to which God call him. After reminding the reader of this, the writer to the Hebrews admonishes his readers in Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
Friend, you’ve settled in Haran. But God calls you to Canaan. What weighs you down? What has stymied your determination to obey God? What do you need to get rid of in order to walk by faith again? Or have you settled it in your heart that you’re just going to stay in Haran? You don’t think you need more of God. You love grew cold long ago. You know all you need to know. My prayer to you is that you won’t settle for less that that to which God calls you. Too many Christ-followers never know their Master, their Lord, because they settle so far from where he calls them to be. Have you? If so, what are you going to do to change it?
