Overcome the Inertia and Go

Transcript

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[0:00] Well, let's go to Genesis 11, and our reading is 1127 through chapter 12, verse 9. It's the story of the call of Abram. And as I said, we're not preaching through Mark today, and maybe you could figure out why, because that particular Mark text was a bit of a repeat. It's possible that the Bible repeats itself here and there. And I read it, and I thought, I have absolutely nothing new to add to this one. But I thought, you know, it's a good time to look at this text from Genesis chapter 11. So this is the story of the call of Abram. And at this point in his life, his name is Abram. You know him as Abraham. His wife's name in this part of his life is Sarai. Later, she gets the name Sarah. And so when people get name changes, that's often a sign that something is happening in their lives. So Saul becomes Paul. Other people have name changes as well in the Scriptures.

[0:56] Jacob becomes Israel. You see the point. But we're going to look at this story. It's sort of an introduction here of our text. There's a story of migration going on. It's a story about peoples moving from one part of the ancient world to the other. It's a story about family. It's a story about loss. And it's a story about obedience to God's call. And we also see how God's call can divide a family for a time. So there's this. This sense of obedience to God has this ability or this sort of property that it kind of tears families apart a bit. And that I think we should see as normal. We should see that as something that does actually happen. So I'm going to invite you as we read to listen for the names of people you may recognize. For the names of places you may recognize. And listen for the relationships that are sort of delineated between people in the story. But also listen to how in the obedience. In the obedience. In the obedience of one person. God makes these sweeping promises that actually set the tone for the entire Old Testament and beyond. So there's a lot going on here. I think it's a very exciting passage. And let's read now from Genesis 11, 27 through verses. Chapter 12, verse 9. It reads like this.

[2:15] Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran was the father of Lot. Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth. In Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai. And the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren. She had no child.

[2:51] Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot. Son of Haran. And his daughter-in-law Sarai. His son Abram's wife. And they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, which is the city. Not the brother. We'll get into that. When they came to the city of Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years. And Terah died in Haran. Chapter 12. Now the Lord said to Abraham, Go from your country. And your kindred. And your father's house. To the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you. And make your name great. So that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

[3:46] So Abram went. As the Lord had told him. And Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old. When he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai. And his brother's son Lot. And all the possessions that they had gathered. And the persons whom they had acquired in Haran. And they set forth to go to the land of Canaan.

[4:08] When they had come to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem. To the oak of Morah. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring I will give this land.

[4:23] So he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country. On the east of Bethel. And pitched his tent. With Bethel on the west and I on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord. And invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negev. Let's pray.

[4:46] Heavenly Father. Thank you for your word. And we ask that you would add your blessing to it. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Well I asked you to look at relationships. Or listen for relationships. And I'm going to go through these relationships. Because they matter. And also because they're a little bit confusing. So I'm going to start with the three sons. Right? There's three sons. Three sons. Three brothers in this story. One of them we hear the most about of course is Abram. But he has two brothers. One named Nahor. And one named Haran. And maybe even Caleb if you're willing to put the first slide back on. Okay. Their father's name was Terah. And he was one of the descendants of Noah. And so already we see that Abram has this connection with the family tree of everybody really. But he's related to the... He's a patriarch. And he's related to the patriarchs. And they all lived in a town called Ur. Which if when I was a kid I wish I could have lived in Ur. Because if you're supposed to write your address down that would have taken a lot less time. Just you are. You're there. I had to write Tucson. T-U-C-S-O-N. Nobody spelled it right. Of course we didn't spell it right until we were corrected. So I grew up in Tucson. But if I lived in Ur.

[5:58] Like what if you lived on 123 Main Street Ur. Like you could write your address like lickety split. So anyways. They lived in Ur which is in modern day southern Iraq. You can go visit it today. There's archaeological digs and all sorts of things. So they were far from Canaan. Way in the south. Sort of southeast of modern day Iraq.

[6:20] So one of Abram's... Brothers. Was named Haran. And as I mentioned earlier. He has a brother named Haran. And then eventually they moved to a town called Haran. And that's a bit of a coincidence. Okay. But Haran has two daughters. And one of which was Milcah. And already we see that tragedy strikes this family. And this is a theme. And even in this story. The genesis of this story of God's call on Abram. And the beginning of his ministry. In all of the Old Testament. Is birthed in the kernel of family tragedy. Which is really astounding. So we... Already we see that Haran dies.

[7:00] Before his father dies. Which is considered a very tragic thing. To have to bury your own son. So Terah's son Haran. Abram's brother. Dies before his father. And he leaves two orphan daughters. Milcah and Iscah. Now Nahor is the other brother. And here's a part that I think could give us a bit pause. And it's a bit... Maybe was a bit not unusual at the time. But it turns out that Nahor marries his niece Milcah. Who is an orphan. The daughter of his dead brother Nahor.

[7:36] Now that could have actually been a way of adopting her. Sort of taking care of her. Taking her into his household. And when she was old enough. He married her. We don't know. Later on. Later on in the Bible. In the Leviticus. Levitical writings. Moses outlaws such relationships. And so it is... Later on it's illegal. Or against the law of God to marry your niece. But at that time. The law had not been given. And these were people who didn't have the law. They didn't have this robust relationship with the Lord. This was maybe just a cultural thing. So I want to make that known. That that's part of the story. And you could even say maybe it was a tragic part of this story. That the niece had to marry her uncle to find protection. In the world. Finally we read about Abram. And it says he takes a wife named Sarai. And then right away we understand that she is barren. She cannot have a child. Which was a huge problem in that time. And of course it's a very challenging problem now. For anyone who experiences. Back then if you experienced that. There were all sorts of questions about. What would happen to your estate? What would happen to your honor? If you could not produce an heir. Or even a male. Heir. And so infertility is a huge problem across all of human history.

[8:55] But at that time it loomed quite large. And so we have. You look at Abram. His wife is childless. His brother has died. His other brother has married his niece. And now. The family has to move. Because God tells the father. Terah. Time to go to Canaan. Time to go to Canaan. And to get there they have to kind of. Sort of imagine. The fertile crescent. Which you maybe learned about in social studies classes. Right? It's sort of the Levant. Which is sort of the ancient near east. Which is Israel and Syria. And lower parts of Turkey. At the top. And then you get into what's called. Mesopotamia. The land between the rivers. That's what Mesopotamia means. And so that crescent. Is where all these ancient civilizations. Were founded. 5,000. 6,000 years ago. Is where agriculture. And animal husbandry. Was invented. It's where first cities. States. Began to appear in the world. There and also in the Nile River Valley. So. They had to move. I'm going to kind of do it reversed. They had to move. From here. In Ur. All. And they wouldn't cross the. The desert there. It was just too inhospitable. So they would have to follow that crescent. All the way up to the tip. And then down again. To Canaan. Which was over here in the Mediterranean Ocean. Was here.

[10:14] I think I'm doing. This backwards for you. So you can see it. So. So. It's a long walk. And it's a big upheaval. And it's actually counter. If you look at the history. It's a counter migration. Because actually at that time. There were many people migrating. From. From Canaan. The Canaanite area. And they were migrating. Up along the fertile crescent. And. And. Settling in Mesopotamia. In fact. They grew so numerous. That they founded. The city of Babylon. And they overthrew it. And they. They replaced. All the ancient. Sort of. The empires. And city states. Of. Of Mesopotamia. Were infiltrated. Over generations. By people from Canaan. So they were actually. Migrating in the opposite direction. Which is an interesting thing. Like why. They had already come there. His family had maybe already come there. Why was God telling them. To go back. But he wanted them to go back. To Canaan. That was. Maybe where they were from way back. And this was where he wanted them. To go to. So Abram and his family. Have to leave. Their city. They follow his father. Terah. And. At this point. The family begins to divide. Because Terah is leaving. His son Nahor behind.

[11:31] Nahor is left behind. And. Lot comes with him. Which is the son of. And now. I just. My brain. I just forgot. Right. So Lot's father. Did not come along. Or he had died. I'm just totally confused right now. So you can see. How it's confusing. I was like. What's this family. I have a family tree. I'm just not printing it up right here. But for. For some reason. I'm having a brain moment here. Where. So. So they leave a brother behind. Now it turns out. That this family. That they left behind. Eventually. Goes up. To Haran. Later. And that's where. Isaac. Sends his servant. To go find. His wife. Rebecca. So they actually do go back. But they. They're not there. At the same time. So already. God's call. On Terah. And his son Abram. And his grandson Lot. Has divided. This. Family. Which is already. Beset. By tragedy. So they travel. To a town. Called Haran. Which again. Is the name of the town. Not the brother. They go there. It's at the northern. Tip of the fertile. Crescent. It's hundreds. Of miles. Away. Would be in. Sort of. The region. Of. Sort of. Southern. Southeastern. Turkey.

[12:37] And there. They stop. And so. This is something. That we don't. Always notice. Because I think. We read. This passage. And we don't. Really get. What's going. On here. All the movement. All the family. Relationships. It's very.

[12:49] Briefly. Sort of. Introduced. It doesn't. Develop. It a lot. But if you. The beautiful. Thing. About. Scripture. Is that. If you. Look at. It. And you. Kind of. Unpack. It. And peel. Away. The layers. And you. Kind of. Understand. The geography. And the history. And the things. Like that. You begin. To realize. That what. God. Asked. Of. These. People. At. This. Time. In. Their. Lives. Was a very. Challenging. Thing. It. Was a very. Deep. Thing. That. That. He. Was. Asking. Them. To. Leave. Security. And. Family. And. Relationships. To. Follow. Him. And. And. There's. Not. A. Very. Robust. Understanding. In. At. Least. Our. Scriptures. Of. What. Their. Relationship. With. God. Was. Like. It. Doesn't. Talk. About. Them. Worship. Very. Much.

[13:40] Of. God. Is. Almost. Like. There's. Almost. Not. Religion. It's. More. Like. God. Speaks. To. People. At. Various. Stages. In. The. Patriarchal. Period. Like. Noah. Go. Build. This. Arc. You. Know. And. Tara. And. Abram. And. He. Speaks. To. Them. And. It's. Not. Until. Later. That. The. Worship. Of. Yahweh. Is. Really. Developed. And. So.

[14:01] Already. We. Get. The. Sense. That. Tara. Is. We. Don't. Know. What. His. Relationship. With. God. Is. Like. But. Is. Not. Fleshed. Out. But. He. List. Sons. And. God. Speaks. To. Him. And. He. He. Goes. And. He. Leaves. He. Leaves. The. Son. Behind. And. He. Leaves. His. Town. Behind.

[14:28] Him. Really. Being. Faithful. To. God's. Call. Because. He. Doesn't. Finish. The. Journey. He. Kind. Of. Gets. Stuck. Along. The. Way. And. Abram. And. Sarai. And. Lot. All. Of. Also. We're. Getting. A. Sort. Of. The. The. As. We. Get. Later. Because. Sarai. Has. A. Hand. Servant. Or. A. Slave.

[15:08] Handmaiden. Or. A. Slave. Or. A. Crew. Or. Crew. Or. A. Crew. Or. A. Crew. Or. A. Crew. Or. A. Crew. Or. A. Crew. Or. A. Crew. Crew. Or. Crew. Crew. Look at what Abram has done now. He's moved from his hometown with his father to a new town, although he's done well in this new town, but now his father has died.

[16:10] And then his brother has died, et cetera. So we have, and you may ask yourself, you're kind of laying it on thick, Hans-Erik, and you're right, I am. But there's a reason. Why are we breaking all this down? Why are we giving it so much attention to these details? And the answer is, it helps us frame the response of Abram to God's call. All right? So let's look at that list again. He's lost one brother, and he's left another brother behind. He's lost his father. His wife is unable to have any children. And it says he's 75 years old. All right? This is where we locate Abram. He has settled down where he was. He's acquired a lot of possessions and servants. He's gone into. He's gone into some enterprise there in Haran, and it's paid off handsomely. His Silicon Valley home has doubled in value, basically. Like, he's like, I'm sitting pretty here, right? So there was a lot of tragedy and family difficulties and personal and financial inertia that stood in his way of going any further. So he was pretty well set up in Haran. He had already gone through a lot of stuff. He had acquired some wealth. And then God says, leave. And Abram might have thought, well, why should I leave that? Why should I sell? Why should I sell in this hot market?

[17:27] You know? The Zillow on my, the Zestimate on my house just keeps skyrocketing here. And so, but this gives us an insight into Abram, right? Chapter 12 tells us that God speaks directly to Abram. And maybe put that slide up there. Yeah. It said, go. This is what, this is the verb. It starts with this verb. Go.

[17:48] Go. Go from your country and your kindred. So you get the idea. Like, this is your home, right? Go from your country. And your kindred. So this is your sort of clan or your tribe. And your father's house, sort of a telescoping down of sort of people groupings, right? These are all these things that make you who you are. And God is saying, you have to leave all that behind. Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. Now listen to this part. I will make of you a great nation. And I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. And the one who curses you, I will curse. And now this is the part that all of the Old Testament and the New Testament even hangs on. And in you, all the families of the earth. Let's say that again. All the families of the earth. Not just his descendants. All the families of the earth shall be blessed.

[18:48] So this is a classic place in which God is making a covenant with Abram. He will be made into a great nation. He'll have a great name. Which is important. And later when he gets to the land it's promised to his descendants. Which is another promise. Because at that point Abram doesn't have any descendants. So when God says if you look at all this land I will give it to your descendants. That's two promises right there. Because right now he doesn't have any descendants.

[19:12] Nor does he have all the land. But God says your descendants. Thus you will have descendants. Will receive this land. So God is in this covenant making mode. road. And all that Abram needs to do is go. All that he needs to do is just wrap up his affairs, push against all the inertia that's holding him there, and get on the road and start walking. And he does. But really, it's the last promise of verse 3 we want to look at. It says, in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And this is the theme of Genesis, actually. I mean, if you want to find a theme verse for Genesis, it's kind of a large book, 50 chapters, a lot going on. But this is kind of the keystone here. In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And even the New Testament, that God wants to bless the whole world through people that he calls into obedience, right? And it starts with one person and their willingness to participate in God's plan and simply go. And to go, despite the fact that troubles they're in, and the uncertainties of infertility, the financial reasons not to, the family reasons not to go. And so all the world is blessed through Abram and his descendants, all the way through Jesus and beyond. And it all starts here in chapter 12. And so you see

[20:36] that God is making a roadmap for the whole rest of the Bible in just a few short verses here. Your faithfulness to me, your upholding this part of the covenant, is going to become a blessing to all of us. And so you see that God is making a roadmap for the whole rest of the Bible in just a few short verses here. Your faithfulness to me, your upholding this part of the covenant, is going to become a blessing to all of creation. And this is the way in which God is going to undo the curses that happen in Genesis chapter 3 when Adam and Eve fall. So this is sort of the counterbalance. All of creation, all of humanity is cursed with sin because of what Adam and Eve did in the garden. And now God is ready to balance the story and say, all of them will now be blessed by you. But it's not going to be perfect. It's not going to be easy. It's not going to be perfect. It's not going to be perfect. It's not going to be perfect. It's not going to be perfect. It's not going to be perfect. It's not going to be end.

[21:40] end. end. end. end. end. end. end. end. a descendant of Abram. I'm a descendant of some crazy sort of Visigoths that lived up in Scandinavia and were worshiping somebody named Odin. And at some point, you know, a missionary came to Norway and kind of helped them not be that way, I guess, and to stop being so barbaric. And there's some ups and downs to that too, of course, but praise God that this was a blessing for all the world. So that in my family, even, I'm descended from a line of maybe five or six generations of pastors and people who ran Christian printing presses in Norway and things like that, that wouldn't have happened if God wasn't going to bless the whole world, all the world, through Abram, through Jesus, through the disciples as they go out at Pentecost. So it all starts here and it's just the simplest enough message. And I'm not telling you today that today's sermon is like super insightful or super amazing. Really, here's the message, is that I'm not telling you today that today's sermon is like super insightful or super amazing. all we need to do is go.

[22:52] All we need to do is go. All we need to do is overcome the inertia of what's holding us back from going. All we need to do is to work through those challenges and tragedies in our lives. And that doesn't mean we can go right now. Sometimes some healing has to take place first, but we can go. Maybe God heals us along the way.

[23:19] The question of infertility wasn't resolved when he said, okay, I'll go. And it wasn't even resolved when he first got there. It was promised, but it wasn't until years later and some mistakes that that actually came about for him. So I want to ask us, and this is a simple question, where is God sending us? Where is God sending you? You may in your own life, in your prayers or in your thinking, you may be thinking, God wants me to go and do this thing. And it doesn't have to actually, be a physical place anymore. It could be to go there. You should go there, not a physical place, but go there, a place of growth for you or a relationship to heal or a relationship to begin, right? Or a relationship to end, honestly. There are some things we need to go away from and some things that we need to go toward.

[24:11] Where is God asking us to go? Where is he sending us? And what tragedies stand in the way? What inertia? What inertia? What is holding us back? And the question I think is really insightful here is, have we only come halfway? Like Tara to Heron? Or are we on the second leg of the journey in following God and obedience? And don't think, really don't think for a second that any of this made Abram perfect, right? If you read the next few chapters about Abraham, they show him being incredibly faithful at times and they show him being incredibly faithful at times. And they show him being incredibly stupid at other times. I am not kidding. He acts like a real dumb person, you know? Like he makes these really stunning mistakes. He's not a perfect person. He backtracks in his faith in several places, but God uses him and his simple decision to go. And he can and does do the same for us.

[25:12] And so I end with this question. Where is God telling you to go? Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for this word. Thank you for this powerful story of a broken family that yet finds a way to be obedient and travel and move and embrace your covenant and embrace your promises. And thank you for the blessing of the whole world that comes from this. So Lord, put in our hearts and our minds what it is you want us to do, where it is you want us to go.

[25:47] Amen.