Genesis 12:1-9
The days of life come and go and the days seem to stay the same. Then some event or experience changes our days forever. I just sent out letters to my high school classmates with the date for our 64th reunion. Some times 1954 seem like a long time ago but then at times it is like a blink of an eye. The truth is that many events and things have happened in our lives that shaped our journey. That day of graduation in 1954 ended our high school days and we would never have the same kind of relationship with each other as a class.
Another life changing event is marriage. It is one of the major decisions you make in life. Some of the people I have had in my congregations, family and friends have made what turned out to be a very bad choice in who they married. It leaves scars on the soul and brokenness in your life. It is a pain that only time and God’s love and grace will heal and give you a second chance at life. Marriage should be a covenant based on love, respect and concern for the person you marry. If it is not that way then divorce and hurt will take place and your world will have a crash landing.
In the days of life we will, or can, experience unexpected loss of a job. I have seen the harsh reality when the company says to a person that has worked for a long time and given a life time of effort and work that that they no longer need them. One of the sad times in life is to be no longer needed. When the textile mills closed in this part of the country there were people who had for thirty or forty years worked in the same plant. They were at a loss as to what tomorrow would bring because their jobs had been so much of their daily life that they never expected to change. When the mills closed it was like breaking up a family.
Across the years I have walked with families through their grief over the death of a loved one. I have personally experienced the grief that comes with the death of parents, brother and sister. I can still hear their voices and remember laughs as we lived together as a family. I have one brother still living and it is hard to believe he will soon be 75 years old. The death of a child is very hard on marriage unless the couple grieves together and shares love and concern for what is going on in each others’ life. The marriage can die if they do not share.
In all of life’s changing experiences the only answer is found in the God of life we meet in Jesus. In the scripture lesson today we meet Abram who was living in Haran. He was 75 years old. His family was in Haran. He was rich in material things for his work had blessed him with the good life. Then God called Abram and said that it was time for him to move to a place that God would show him. He said, “It is time for you to leave your country, your family and relatives.” How would you respond to God if He called you to make this kind of radical change in your life? You could say, “No way, God. I will not give up so much I love to go to some unknown new place.” Or you could do what Abram did? He stopped and listened to the promises God made to him if he would follow the call of God.
God said to Abram, “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed though you.” What if Abram had rejected God’s call? The truth is if Abram had rejected God’s call we might have never known his name and God’s judgment would have been on Abram for choosing his own plan.
After his encounter with God we see in the scriptures that Abram chooses to follow the call of God. “So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sari, his nephew Lot and all his wealth, his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. Then he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canannites.”
Then God made this promise to Aram. “I will give you this land to your descendants and Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord who had appeared to him. After that Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord and he worshipped the Lord. Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev.”
We see in scriptures that God kept his promise to Abram. He is considered to be the father of three major religions and even in all the ups and downs of the Jewish people they have the land that God promised Abram.
God has made a promise to each of us that claim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This is God’s promise to us. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the old heaven and the old earth disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, ‘Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.’
And the one setting on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new!’ And then he said to me, ‘Write this down for what I tell you is trustworthy and true’, and he also said, ‘It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings and I will be their God and they will be my children’.”
For those of us that reject God’s plan and promises the scriptures tell us that we will face God’s judgment. “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars, their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
How will you respond to God’s plan and promises to you? Will you choose love, grace, forgiveness and life or will you take your human plan and face God’s judgment upon your life?
