Just trying to look ahead to check out the OT lectionary passages... next week's Exodus one looks interesting, but at this point I have no idea where to go with this text. Obviously the journey metaphor... and the stepping out in faith? I'll look forward to some dialogue around this text. RevAmy
A colleague tells me the divine command "go" has a sense of urgency to it. My facility with Hebrew isn't so great, so I'm wondering if such an interpreation is apt. Rev Amy-- journey metaphors carry well with the "intuitive feeling" types on the Meyers Briggs personality inventory. Journey fits so well with Lenten themes and our life story. I wonder what A.N. Whitehead would say about salvation history as a journey? Peace! bc in MT
Add vs. 4b Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. Then this speaks to old, tired congregations, that there is, with God, life yet. (For the Abram/Abraham-Sarai/Sarah saga, don't forget to note 11:30 and then that the Promise of a child is to Abram and Sarai.) R.J. in ND
Add vs. 4b Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. Then this speaks to old, tired congregations, that there is, with God, life yet. (For the Abram/Abraham-Sarai/Sarah saga, don't forget to note 11:30 and then that the Promise of a child is to Abram and Sarai.) R.J. in ND
Thanks RJ! Just what our congregation needs to hear. We're beginning to talk "restructuring" and combining parish ministries across six congregations. We're all a bit fearful-your insight gives me a good direction to go (and it's only Monday!) bc in MT
I am focusing on the aspect of being a blessing. Trying to build up the faithful after telling them last week that we are all sinners. (Oh, stop. i always put in the good news that Paul proclaimed so loudly in Romans 5.) But the folks did hear loudly last week that we are all sinners, and that their pastor is the chief sinner among them. This week will be more of a challenge to live out the blessing. So many people have this idea that we need better self esteem, and I use to tell people that! Sorry. We don't need better self esteem. We do need to see ourselves as God sees us, and not try to buy into that I'm Okay, you're okay theology. Certainly we need to see that our generations can be indeed a blessing as the generations after Abraham were a blessing. Any comments or ideas??? RevArt in KY
Two things strike me at this point. First is that Abram had to leave his place of belonging & security in order to see the land that would be his. You have to let go of the trapeze your on before you grab the next.
Second is that we are blessed so that we in turn might be a blessing to others. MaryS
Before getting too carried away with the journey theme I think it's important to remember that Abram was called by God to go. I think it's important to ask first, "Are we, am I, being called to take this journey?"
This speaks to the covenant with Abram...I'm not certain where I fit into this covenant. I don't know if it's fair to simply approach this passage by saying as it was with Abram being blessed and cursed so it is with me/us.
Why does Abram go? How is God the hero? What would it be like to be chosen by God? Pretty enticing deal here...perhaps God made Abram an offer that he couldn't refuse.
Perhaps it's interesting to look at this passage in regard to last week's temptation of Jesus i.e. Jesus is promised all the great kingdoms if he follows Satan...Abram is promised a great nation if he follows Yahweh. What makes one a temptation and the other a calling? How do you discern the voices?
Just a few ramblings.
John near Pitts.
Abram gets up and goes! Hmmm. I do believe that God speaks, but often our willingness to get up and go is kind of lame. I think it helps Abram's ability to hear and heed that he is hopeless (as childlessness was in those days) and he was in grief. He was travelling post Tower of Babel with his dad and now- dad's dead, they aren't really in a place they call home, and he's hopeless. I hope to weave a story of hopelessness to hope using the Psalm phrase "I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help". But also want to bring in a story about Jay- who during the fat and prosperous time of Solomon wrote this call of Abram down. He saw the beautiful temple as well as the opulent palaces, horse and chariot trading, forest harvesting, multi-marraige excess of Solomon's global diplomacy. Jay Yahwist is the one who is credited with finally writing the call and he remembers that Abram was given land, posterity and a blessing to be a blessing to all nations. Now that they are fat and happy in Solomon's time, now that they have not only arrived but are in the excess...what next. ST
I am working with the idea of intense trust (as opposed to just talking about faith. ) I think everytime I mention "Faith" from the pulpit, the congregatins eyes glass over and I can almost see them humming "Jesus, Loves me this I know for until the benidiciton." It seem to me that God's invitation to Abram inspires "intense trust" but why? I wonder if it because even if we have never heard the voice before, it is the most familiar vocoice to the soul. But I am not sure how this will work out yet. First time posting, Bruce, Fayetteville Ga.
Hi Bruce,
Welcome. I like to liken the soul to a tuning fork, you know, one that vibrates when the correct note is played. Our soul is that within us leftover from the time when God breathed into our nostrils, that starts vibrating whenever we get close to God again.
Maybe something was stirred in Abraham when he heard the voice, received the call?
John near Pitts.
(Determined to preach from the O.T. this week!)
Another way of looking at this passage is as a reminder that we are not, in & of ourselves, the center of the universe. What we do will affect future generations, and if we are faithful what we do will be a wonderful blessing inherited by future generations. A sermon on this passage could easily focus on the faithfulness (and sometimes lack thereof) of previous generations in any given congregation, and what the present generation has inherited from them (ie a church building, invested funds, traditions, the communion of saints, etc.)
Just rambling out loud. I may go with this. I haven't decided yet. NEOW in Maine
There seems to be a possible tie between Abram/Abraham and Nicodemus in the Gospel. Both are instructed that a change was coming or needed.
Is baptism necessary or is it like the circumcision of Abram/Abraham the symbol of that which has already taken place? ie proclamation of righteousness and salvation.
Tom on the "Pray"rie
There seems to be a possible tie between Abram/Abraham and Nicodemus in the Gospel. Both are instructed that a change was coming or needed.
Is baptism necessary or is it like the circumcision of Abram/Abraham the symbol of that which has already taken place? ie proclamation of righteousness and salvation.
Paul has taught the Jews and Gentiles alike are made right with God through faith. "For the promise that he would in herit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the rigteiousness of faith." It was not the circumcision the made Abram/Abraham righteous, it was the free gift of God.
Tom on the "Pray"rie
RevArt in KY: My theme is similar. So what are you singing that helps focus on the blessing part of this text?
pHil
We Episcopalians have a couple of oldie-but-goodies:
the God of Abraham
Faith of Our Fathers
What Wonderous Love is This (Gospel tie)
In Baptism some take a new name to reflect the power of the change; God gave Abram a new name. God sought out Abram. He seeks us also, but in choosing baptism (neing born from above) we also seek Him. And so the seeker is sought. And in our seeking we enter into a dance, a journey, an adventure, a mystery: Love How Deep!
HW in HI
We Episcopalians have a couple of oldie-but-goodies:
the God of Abraham
Faith of Our Fathers
What Wonderous Love is This (Gospel tie)
In Baptism some take a new name to reflect the power of the change; God gave Abram a new name. God sought out Abram. He seeks us also, but in choosing baptism (neing born from above) we also seek Him. And so the seeker is sought. And in our seeking we enter into a dance, a journey, an adventure, a mystery: Love How Deep!
HW in HI
oops! sorry! HW
Greetings all,
Lovely little O.T. Scripture to preach on. I'm in! Sermon theme: "Grace in Action" Part 1 -- Grace compelled God to bless (vv1-3,7) Part 2 -- Grace compels us to beleive (vv4-6,8)
I intend to emphasize that Abram did not deserve God's grace. God simply picked him out and bestowed on him 7 major blessings (vv1-3,7). The Hebrew word for "bless" means to "bestow favor." The word "grace" defines God's favorable disposition toward people (us sinners) who do not deserve it. God's grace is clearly seen in action with Abraham (Part 1). The only proper response of the sinner is faith that says "yes" to God's promises. May our preaching this weekend bring out God's grace in our lives -- those who don't deserve his grace, God still gives it! That makes me so happy I almost forget it's Lent! Then again, God's grace appears most brilliantly on the Lenten cross against the backdrop of darkness. SUMMARY: I will focus my parishioners to see God's grace as more than a feeling. God's grace can be seen by objective facts. Look at God's grace in Abraham's life. Look at God's grace in Christ in my life. Preaching has never been more fun!
Dubby in Topeka
PS -- How many of you on the regular Sunday basis proclaim Christ's death and resurrection as absolute assurance for the hope of heaven? Just curious.
i'm thinking about using the jasper texas trial as a takeoff point to "you have to leave behind your father's house to get to the place i will show you." i.e., we are going to have to give up racism (pretty generally practiced by our fathers where i live) if we are going to get to the place that God wants us to be. sue
One of my seminary professors said once that "we often focus on Abraham's faith in God, when the real story here is God's faith in Abraham." There is no evidence whatsoever that Abraham was in any way especially qualified for the task that God gave him. It was almost like he won a lottery...was picked at random. KB, Severna Park, MD
The movement is from barrenness to fertility, from living in the secure to risking all; Nicodemus was faced with this same call as he moved out of darkness (unbelief) into light (faith); to be born from above is to accept the new life God has given you, a life of promise and fertility.
tom in ga
Greetings - I don't know if this will cause anyone else to have an "aha" moment... when I did a word study on "Haran," I discovered that it means a desolate and barren place. God called Abram out of a parched, dry land, just as God calls us out of the parched, dry places in which we live (spiritually) to move forward to receive blessings we can't even imagine. Hope this little tidbit helps. Preach boldly! RevDeb
Paul's take on Abram's journey holds that Abram launches out, not knowing where he's going. So he leaves Haran (the barren place) and heads out somewhere. (Heb. 11) It's intriguing to me that God's promise to Abram is deferred for several generations. Even Moses doesn't get to enter the promised land, but sees it from afar. How difficult it is to live in the "now and not yet" sometimes! But as a few point out on this site, God's faithfulness is the point, rather than Abram's virtue. Thanks for the insights! bc in MT