Narrative Lectionary Scriptures:
Genesis 12: Abram and Sarai
1 God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.
2-3 I’ll make you a great nation
and bless you.
I’ll make you famous;
you’ll be a blessing.
I’ll bless those who bless you;
those who curse you I’ll curse.
All the families of the Earth
will be blessed through you.”
4-6 So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound.
Abram passed through the country as far as Shechem and the Oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites occupied the land.
7 God appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your children.” Abram built an altar at the place God had appeared to him.
8 He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there and prayed to God.
9 Abram kept moving, steadily making his way south, to the Negev.
Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
Commentary on Genesis 12:1-9 by Jacqueline E. Lapsley
Having made the world and seen it succumb to violence and sin in the first eleven chapters of Genesis, in Genesis 12 God suddenly zeroes in on one couple -- Sarah and Abraham.
We are no longer looking at the huge canvas of the whole world, but at a tiny corner of it. Calling him to leave all that he knows for an unknown land, God makes three big promises to Abraham whom God has chosen: descendants, land, and blessing. This is the first of many times in the Bible that we hear of God’s election of Israel, God’s choosing Israel in a way unlike other nations.
God chooses one nation among all the others to have a distinct relationship -- that is what election means. But wait a second: Isn’t that like parents preferring one child over the others? If you think about it, it is a bit chilling. How are we to understand God’s choice of Abraham, and so Israel? Is it really as exclusionary as it sounds? Christian tradition affirms that God’s election of Israel is for a purpose, that is, God chooses Israel in order to bring blessing to the whole world: “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Part of that third promise of blessing is that Israel’s work of covenant obedience is not for its own sake alone, but so the whole world will be blessed. The prophets pick up on this: the nations will stream up to Zion to receive the life-giving blessing of life lived with God (Isaiah 2); Israel is a light to the nations (Isaiah 49:6; 60:3; Amos 3:2). Later, God will work through the one man Jesus, the incarnation of God on earth, for the blessing of the world. Particularity, working through one for the good of the many, is the modus operandi of God.
Christians have long understood ourselves to be grafted into this tradition of Israel’s election: in Christ we are blessed so that we might share that blessing with others. It is not something to be kept to ourselves; the good news of Jesus Christ is to be shared. This is the idea of the “missional church,” which is, according to missional theologian Darrell Guder, “not just a program of the church … It defines the church as God’s sent people … [O]ur challenge today is to move from church with mission to missional church” (Missional Church, 1998, 6). The church is not just about perpetuating itself, maintaining its own survival; it is about being a blessing to and for the world.
So that is one aspect of Israel’s, and our, election: blessing others. But God’s love for Israel, and for us, is not simply instrumental. It is not just about how we might be of use for a purpose, even such a noble one. Rather, God loves Abram, Israel, us, not because we are useful, and not even because we are lovable; indeed much of God’s love can be described as irrational, that is, there is no reason given for it (Deuteronomy 7:7-8).
The meaning of God’s encounter with Abram in Genesis 12 is greater than the three promises taken individually: God establishes a relationship with Abram, that will last through and beyond his “journey by stages” (verse 9), reaching down through his descendants to this very day.
God’s call to Abram is a call to serve, to be a blessing to others, but it is also a declaration of love: God loves Abram, and God loves the world and so sends Abram on a journey that will bless the whole world. R.W.L. Moberly says of Israel’s election: “Even if that love brings with it a call to serve, that service is a corollary to being loved, not the core of being loved. So too, the Israelites are loved for themselves, prior to any impact for good that they may have on others” (OT Theology, 2013, 48).
God recognizes the unique identity of Israel, and loves them without condition. In this lies the guarantee that God loves all others, including us, in our unique identity. So being a blessing to others comes second to our being loved, blessed, by God, for who we are, not what we do. The larger Old Testament story is that God remains faithful to Israel, even as Israel’s faithfulness to God waxes and wanes.
We do not always feel loved or blessed by God. We should, but we don’t. Sometimes it’s a fleeting feeling that is chased away by the grind of life. Or the screeching voices of our culture drown out any whisper from our faith that we matter because of who we are, not what we do. The increasingly loud shriek of our culture is that our outward wealth reveals our inner worth. This leads to a sense of inferiority on the part of the less wealthy, and a sense of superiority on the part of the wealthy. Both are not only false, but also debilitating to the soul and to community life.
We just never feel that we are good enough. But Abraham wasn’t really good enough either. Consider his record: true, he offered his son to God, as commanded, but he also gave his wife to another man out of fear -- twice, and he exiled his son Ishmael, and Hagar, Ishmael’s mother, to a near certain death. God rescued them. Paul rightly stresses Abraham’s trust, not his deeds, in Romans 4. Blessing did not come from what Abraham did; he became a blessing to others because he was open to the on-going relationship God offered him. In accepting that blessing, he could become a blessing to others.
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John Wesley's Notes-Commentary"
Genesis 12:1-9
Verse 1
[1] Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
We have here the call by which Abram was removed out of the land of his nativity into the land of promise, which was designed both to try his faith and obedience, and also to set him apart for God. The circumstances of this call we may be somewhat helped to the knowledge of, from Stephen's speech, Acts 7:2, where we are told, 1. That the God of glory appeared to him to give him this call, appeared in such displays of his glory as left Abram no room to doubt. God spake to him after in divers manners: but this first time, when the correspondence was to be settled, he appeared to him as the God of glory, and spake to him. 2. That this call was given him in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and in obedience to this call, he came out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran or Haran about five years, and from thence, when his father was dead, by a fresh command, he removed him into the land of Canaan. Some think Haran was in Chaldea, and so was still a part of Abram's country; or he having staid there five years, began to call it his country, and to take root there, till God let him know this was not the place he was intended for.
Get thee out of thy country — Now, (1.) By this precept he was tried whether he loved God better than he loved his native soil, and dearest friends, and whether he could willingly leave all to go along with God. His country was become idolatrous, his kindred and his father's house were a constant temptation to him, and he could not continue with them without danger of being infected by them; therefore get thee out, (Heb.) vade tibi, get thee gone with all speed, escape for thy life, look not behind thee. (2.) By this precept he was tried whether he could trust God farther than he saw him, for he must leave his own country to go to a land that God would shew him; he doth not say, 'tis a land that I will give thee nor doth he tell him what land it was, or what kind of land; but he must follow God with an implicit faith, and take God's word for it in the general, though he had no particular securities given him, that he should be no loser by leaving his country to follow God.
Verse 2
[2] And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Here is added an encouraging promise, nay a complication of promises, 1.
I will make of thee a great nation — When God took him from his own people, he promised to make him the head of another people. This promise was. 1. A great relief to Abram's burden, for he had now no child. 2. A great trial to Abram's faith, for his wife had been long barren, so that if he believe, it must be against hope, and his faith must build purely upon that power which can out of stones raise up children unto Abraham. 2.
I will bless thee — Either particularly with the blessing of fruitfulness, as he had blessed Adam and Noah; or in general, I will bless thee with all manner of blessings, both of the upper and nether springs: leave thy father's house, and I will give thee a father's blessing, better than that of thy progenitors. 3.
I will make thy name great — By deserting his country he lost his name there: care not for that, (saith God) but trust me, and I will make thee a greater name than ever thou couldst have had there. 4.
Thou shalt be a blessing — That is, thy life shall be a blessing to the places where thou shalt sojourn. 5.
I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee — This made it a kind of league offensive and defensive between God and Abram. Abram heartily espoused God's cause, and here God promiseth to interest himself in his. 6.
In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed — This was the promise that crowned all the rest, for it points at the Messiah, in whom all the promises are yea and amen.
Verse 4
[4] So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
So Abram departed — He was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. His obedience was speedy and without delay, submissive and without dispute.
Verse 5
[5] And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
They took with them the souls that they had gotten — That is, the proselytes they had made, and persuaded to worship the true God, and to go with them to Canaan; the souls which (as one of the Rabbins expresseth it) they had gathered under the wings of the divine Majesty.
Verse 6
[6] And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
The Canaanite was then in the land — He found the country possessed by Canaanites, who were likely to be but bad neighbours; and for ought appears he could not have ground to pitch his tent on but by their permission.
Verse 7
[7] And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
And the Lord appeared to Abram — Probably in a vision, and spoke to him comfortable words; Unto thy seed will I give this land - No place or condition can shut us out from God's gracious visits. Abram is a sojourner, unsettled, among Canaanites, and yet here also he meets with him that lives, and sees him. Enemies may part us and our tents, us and our altars, but not us and our God.
Verse 8
[8] And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
And there he built an altar unto the Lord who appeared to him, and called on the name of the Lord — Now consider this, (1.) As done upon a special occasion when God appeared to him, then and there he built an altar, with an eye to the God that appeared to him: thus he acknowledged with thankfulness God's kindness to him in making him that gracious visit and promise: and thus he testified his confidence in, and dependence upon the word which God had spoken. (2.) As his constant practice, whithersoever he removed. As soon as Abram was got to Canaan, though he was but a stranger and sojourner there, yet he set up, and kept up, the worship of God in his family; and wherever he had a tent, God had an altar and that an altar sanctified by prayer.
Matthew 28:19-20
Verse 18
[18] And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
All power is given to me — Even as man. As God, he had all power from eternity.
Verse 19
[19] Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Disciple all nations — Make them my disciples. This includes the whole design of Christ's commission. Baptizing and teaching are the two great branches of that general design. And these were to be determined by the circumstances of things; which made it necessary in baptizing adult Jews or heathens, to teach them before they were baptized; in discipling their children, to baptize them before they were taught; as the Jewish children in all ages were first circumcised, and after taught to do all God had commanded them. Mark 16:15.
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Sermon Story by Gary Lee Parker for Sunday, 14 September 2014
After Abram and his family relatives were in Haran for awhile and Abram's father died who first heard from God to move to Canaan from their home but stopped in Haran, God spoke to Abram to move to Abram with God's promise. Abram immediately moved with his wife, Sarah, and his nephew Lot along with all their possessions to the land of Canaan. Abram noticed that the Canaanites would not be very good neighbors, but God spoke to Abram saying that his descendants would live in this land and be a blessing to God and all the other people. Yes, Abram realized that he was chosen or elected to be the father of God's chosen or elected people, but not as elites but to be a blessing to all the other people in the world to come and have a right relationship with the one true God. A blessing that his descendants which would include the Messiah of the world who came in human form as both man and God who showed us who the Father is who we have not really seen. What character do you relate to or not relate to? How would you have responded as Abram did, immediately? How will you respond when God ask you to be or do something for His Kingdom? How do you really understand being chosen or elected by God to be a blessing to God and all other people. I am reminded of this song "Hello, My Name Is" by Matthew West, so read and listen to the song on you tube:
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh (ah oh),
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh (ah oh),
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh
Hello, my name is regret
I’m pretty sure we have met
Every single day of your life
I’m the whisper inside
That won’t let you forget
Hello, my name is defeat
I know you recognize me
Just when you think you can win
I’ll drag you right back down again
‘Til you’ve lost all belief
Oh, these are the voices. Oh, these are the lies
And I have believed them for the very last time
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, I have been set free
"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh
I am no longer defined
By all the wreckage behind
The one who makes all things new
Has proven it’s true
Just take a look at my life
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I've been saved, I've been changed, I have been set free
"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh (ah oh),
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh (ah oh),
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh
What love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called His children
I am a child of the one true King
What love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called His children
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I've been saved, I've been changed, I have been set free
"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh (ah oh),
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh (ah oh),
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh
I am a child of the one true King
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh (ah oh),
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh (ah oh),
Whoa oh ah oh ah oh oh...
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