WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.899 Friends, our scripture today comes from the 12th 00:00:02.899 --> 00:00:06.559 chapter of Genesis, a brief cliff notes version 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:09.220 to catch you up on what has happened by this 00:00:09.220 --> 00:00:11.640 point in the story of Genesis. You'll recall 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:15.240 chapters 1 and 2 are the story of creation, everything 00:00:15.240 --> 00:00:17.760 is as it's supposed to be, and then essentially 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:22.059 chapters 3 until 11 detail the train wreck that 00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:26.219 humanity becomes. You have the fall, You have 00:00:26.219 --> 00:00:29.100 Noah in the flood. You have Cain and Abel right 00:00:29.100 --> 00:00:31.219 before where we are picking up today. You get 00:00:31.219 --> 00:00:33.140 the story of the Tower of Babel where humanity 00:00:33.140 --> 00:00:36.640 literally tries to become like God and it doesn't 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:42.179 go well. And so we meet God in this moment. That's 00:00:42.179 --> 00:00:45.939 the beginning of chapter 12 where it becomes 00:00:45.939 --> 00:00:50.539 clear that God does not desire for us, for humans. 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:54.460 to remain in this state of discontinuity, of 00:00:54.460 --> 00:00:58.399 brokenness, of sin. God desires for us to be 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:02.399 healed, to be made whole and together again. 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:05.680 I've heard some people refer to this passage 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:08.719 that we'll read as the beginning of God's rescue 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:11.739 plan. There's a great children's Bible, the Storybook 00:01:11.739 --> 00:01:14.359 Bible, and that's what it calls it, God's rescue 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:17.549 plan. It is a rescue plan that will ultimately 00:01:17.549 --> 00:01:20.790 lead many years later to the person of Jesus 00:01:20.790 --> 00:01:24.370 Christ. But it's a rescue plan that begins here, 00:01:24.469 --> 00:01:29.370 with verse 1 of chapter 12. In a particular family, 00:01:29.549 --> 00:01:35.530 a couple named Abram and Sarai. So let us listen 00:01:35.530 --> 00:01:38.349 now for a word from God as we hear these verses 00:01:38.349 --> 00:01:41.370 of Scripture, beginning with verse 1 of Genesis 00:01:41.370 --> 00:01:46.590 chapter 12. Now the Lord said to Abram, go from 00:01:46.590 --> 00:01:49.310 your country and your kindred and your father's 00:01:49.310 --> 00:01:53.150 house to the land that I will show you. I will 00:01:53.150 --> 00:01:55.790 make of you a great nation and I will bless you 00:01:55.790 --> 00:01:57.950 and make your name great so that you will be 00:01:57.950 --> 00:02:01.010 a blessing. I will bless those who bless you 00:02:01.010 --> 00:02:03.430 and the one who curses you I will curse and in 00:02:03.430 --> 00:02:07.530 you all the families, all the families of the 00:02:07.530 --> 00:02:15.530 earth shall be blessed. So Abram went. As the 00:02:15.530 --> 00:02:19.930 Lord had told him, and Lot, his cousin, went 00:02:19.930 --> 00:02:24.090 with him. This is the word of God for the people 00:02:24.090 --> 00:02:27.729 of God. Thanks be to God. Will you pray with 00:02:27.729 --> 00:02:35.990 me? Gracious and loving God, send your spirit 00:02:35.990 --> 00:02:41.710 now that it would stir within each of us. Through 00:02:41.710 --> 00:02:44.789 its work, you would take not only the words of 00:02:44.789 --> 00:02:47.530 my mouth, but the meditations of all of our hearts 00:02:47.530 --> 00:02:50.009 gathered together here in your sight and use 00:02:50.009 --> 00:02:55.349 them, O God. Use them to your glory. You and 00:02:55.349 --> 00:03:00.129 you alone are our rock and our redeemer. Amen. 00:03:02.669 --> 00:03:07.349 So Abram went. Can we just talk for a moment 00:03:07.349 --> 00:03:11.860 about how crazy Just those three words of this 00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:15.759 passage are. We have only known Abram and Sarai, 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:19.000 who will eventually become Abraham and Sarah. 00:03:19.580 --> 00:03:22.819 Scripture has this tendency to take one person's 00:03:22.819 --> 00:03:25.120 name and change it later on in the story. But 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:27.460 here we meet Abram and Sarai, and we've known 00:03:27.460 --> 00:03:30.840 them for only about eight verses. And yet in 00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:33.039 that eight verses, we get some pretty important 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:36.240 clues that help us understand a little bit about 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:39.300 who they are. So for one thing, if you read just 00:03:39.300 --> 00:03:41.919 a few words after where I ended, we discover 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:47.060 that Abram is about 75 years old. Sarai, we'll 00:03:47.060 --> 00:03:49.139 learn later, is about 10 years younger. So they're, 00:03:49.300 --> 00:03:52.020 I'll be careful here, a little bit advanced in 00:03:52.020 --> 00:03:55.599 age. Don't forget, right? Don't forget in the 00:03:55.599 --> 00:04:00.139 ancient world to make it past 40 was a feat. 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:04.800 So 75 really is out there on the outer edges. 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:08.759 We learn, too, that they have settled in a place 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:12.680 called Haran. It's in modern -day southeast Turkey. 00:04:12.759 --> 00:04:14.800 I've never been there. Perhaps you have. It's 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:18.500 situated in this geological area that stretches 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:20.779 all the way down to Africa, all the way up through 00:04:20.779 --> 00:04:22.639 the Middle East, that is called sometimes the 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:26.160 Fertile Crescent. It's an area rich in agriculture. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:30.779 And agriculture then and now, it spells life, 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:34.779 crops. You can sustain yourself, not just yourself, 00:04:35.019 --> 00:04:37.620 but a whole civilization in that area. And sure 00:04:37.620 --> 00:04:40.680 enough, Iran is a populous place. It's an urban 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.819 center. This is a place where trade and commerce 00:04:43.819 --> 00:04:46.500 happen, right? This is the kind of place that 00:04:46.500 --> 00:04:48.800 shows up on like a U .S. News World and Report 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:53.160 like best places to retire spot or fastest growing 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:56.540 regions in the country, right? This is a place 00:04:56.540 --> 00:04:59.019 where Abram and Sarai probably have a Publix 00:04:59.019 --> 00:05:01.459 around the corner. There's good health care. 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:04.439 Maybe even a Trader Joe's on the way. Fingers 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:08.220 crossed. That's what I'm always hoping for. It's 00:05:08.220 --> 00:05:12.360 a good area. And we learn, too, it's subtle in 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:14.300 just these verses, but it's confirmed later on. 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:19.720 We learn that Abram and Sarai are well off. They're 00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:23.459 wealthy. They have everything they could probably 00:05:23.459 --> 00:05:27.019 need. Maybe a house on the golf course. Maybe 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:29.279 a river cruise in Europe every once in a while. 00:05:30.509 --> 00:05:32.050 The point is, though, that they're comfortable. 00:05:33.850 --> 00:05:39.410 And God calls them from all of this with only 00:05:39.410 --> 00:05:43.990 this vague assurance that God will lead them 00:05:43.990 --> 00:05:51.689 to the land that God will show them. And Abram 00:05:51.689 --> 00:05:59.079 went. It's crazy. Last week, we started training 00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:01.740 for our new officers. So in the Presbyterian 00:06:01.740 --> 00:06:03.959 Church, officer is just sort of a fancy word 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:06.579 for leaders, the women and men who are called 00:06:06.579 --> 00:06:08.660 to serve as leaders in our congregation. And 00:06:08.660 --> 00:06:11.060 we do a series of training sessions through the 00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:12.879 spring to prepare them to begin their service 00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:16.540 later this year. And one of my favorite questions 00:06:16.540 --> 00:06:19.519 to ask at new officer training is, why did you 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:22.779 say yes? When someone from the nominating committee 00:06:22.779 --> 00:06:25.139 called you and asked if you would serve as an 00:06:25.139 --> 00:06:26.699 elder or deacon in our church, why did you say 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:30.800 yes? And the answers are always beautiful. Incredible. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:34.180 I was struck, though, this week, because as we 00:06:34.180 --> 00:06:36.699 went around, there were two, maybe even three 00:06:36.699 --> 00:06:38.860 folks who were brave enough to confess, you know, 00:06:38.899 --> 00:06:43.139 when I first got that call, I said no. I said 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:47.279 no. And they had very valid reasons in a season 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:49.420 of life where there's just too much going on. 00:06:50.410 --> 00:06:53.910 Maybe caring for a loved one. Maybe work is just 00:06:53.910 --> 00:06:57.550 especially pressing right now. But there's one 00:06:57.550 --> 00:06:59.629 person at the table who had made that confession. 00:07:00.370 --> 00:07:03.709 And what she said was, I sat with it, though, 00:07:03.769 --> 00:07:06.129 for a few days after declining, after saying 00:07:06.129 --> 00:07:09.870 no. And what I couldn't shake was this unsettled 00:07:09.870 --> 00:07:16.129 feeling. This unsettled feeling inside me. I 00:07:16.129 --> 00:07:18.910 have to imagine that Abram and Sarai. as they 00:07:18.910 --> 00:07:23.970 left all of that, surely they had and knew that 00:07:23.970 --> 00:07:28.290 unsettled feeling. It is unsettling, isn't it? 00:07:28.509 --> 00:07:34.149 To be asked to step into the unknown. If you've 00:07:34.149 --> 00:07:37.949 ever moved yourself or your family from one place 00:07:37.949 --> 00:07:41.209 to another place, maybe a place you love to a 00:07:41.209 --> 00:07:46.319 place you barely know, it's unsettling. If you 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:49.279 have ever dropped your kid off at kindergarten 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:52.660 for the first day or college for the first day, 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:55.600 it's unsettling. If you've ever left a career 00:07:55.600 --> 00:08:01.480 for a calling, it's settling. If you have ever 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:04.540 led a church visioning process, I'll say more 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:06.620 about this sermon series we're beginning today, 00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:10.139 but we have been, as a congregation, for... onwards 00:08:10.139 --> 00:08:12.699 of two years now doing this visioning work to 00:08:12.699 --> 00:08:14.959 discern where God is leading us into the future. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:16.920 If you have ever helped to lead a church visioning 00:08:16.920 --> 00:08:20.300 process and you legitimately have no clue what 00:08:20.300 --> 00:08:24.160 the outcome of that process is going to be, it's 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:27.959 a little unsettling. If you've ever been asked, 00:08:28.019 --> 00:08:31.720 like those officers felt, to do something that 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:36.860 you feel wholly unqualified for, you know that 00:08:36.860 --> 00:08:40.740 feeling, and yet, And this is the part that just, 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:46.019 hmm, every year. And yet the people around that 00:08:46.019 --> 00:08:55.559 table said yes. And yet Abram went. The question 00:08:55.559 --> 00:09:00.320 that is obvious at this point is why? Why do 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:04.500 we go even when we are unsure? Why does Abram 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:09.860 follow God's call to this uncertain future? Now 00:09:09.860 --> 00:09:12.019 there's lots of possibilities, at least within 00:09:12.019 --> 00:09:14.460 Abram's context, that we can point to. Maybe 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:16.740 just the promise of God's blessing, that word 00:09:16.740 --> 00:09:19.940 bless, is sprinkled throughout these four verses. 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:22.960 Maybe just the promise of God's blessing is enough 00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:26.519 to make Abram and Sarai feel confident enough 00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:30.740 to take those first steps. Maybe two, because 00:09:30.740 --> 00:09:33.279 we've just learned at the end of chapter 11 that 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:36.100 Sarai is barren. This is a theme that will continue 00:09:36.100 --> 00:09:39.720 throughout Abraham and Sarah's story. Maybe the 00:09:39.720 --> 00:09:42.919 promise that God will make them the parents of 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:48.159 a great nation, no matter how unlikely, how unlikely 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:51.100 it is that that will ever actually happen. Maybe 00:09:51.100 --> 00:09:56.659 just that one pinprick of hope is enough to make 00:09:56.659 --> 00:10:00.960 them say yes. But I actually think maybe there's 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:07.919 a simpler answer. I think perhaps, perhaps Abram 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:13.440 goes, perhaps we go, simply because God calls. 00:10:15.470 --> 00:10:17.289 So we're starting this series. It was supposed 00:10:17.289 --> 00:10:19.409 to start last week. The snow sort of disrupted 00:10:19.409 --> 00:10:21.429 everything. But this series, God's Vision for 00:10:21.429 --> 00:10:24.649 Us, and it's intentionally meant to sort of parlay 00:10:24.649 --> 00:10:27.269 with our vision work that we've been doing as 00:10:27.269 --> 00:10:29.429 a church. Many of you participated in listening 00:10:29.429 --> 00:10:31.610 sessions or a survey last year. That work is 00:10:31.610 --> 00:10:34.549 about to finish. We're about to offer a report 00:10:34.549 --> 00:10:37.029 to our session, to those leaders, and then we're 00:10:37.029 --> 00:10:39.690 going to offer that to the congregation as our 00:10:39.690 --> 00:10:43.980 roadmap, our map for what is ahead. point us 00:10:43.980 --> 00:10:47.600 in a new direction. And so this series, God's 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:50.059 Vision for Us, is meant to go with that. It's 00:10:50.059 --> 00:10:52.919 meant to ask, what lessons does Scripture have 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:56.159 to teach us about God's vision, both for our 00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:00.159 church, but also for our individual lives? And 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:03.740 I think the first lesson, the first lesson offered 00:11:03.740 --> 00:11:07.080 to us today through this call of Abram and Sarai, 00:11:07.139 --> 00:11:11.879 is that in order to know God's vision, we must 00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:17.059 first learn to recognize God's voice. Before 00:11:17.059 --> 00:11:22.840 Abram knows where he is going, he knows who is 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:26.639 speaking. You see, vision in Scripture, and we 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:29.120 have all of these different stories where vision 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:31.840 is offered to individuals or communities or to 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:34.799 a world. Vision in Scripture is rarely about 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:38.480 having the full picture. It's about trusting. 00:11:39.370 --> 00:11:41.509 the one who holds the full picture. It's like 00:11:41.509 --> 00:11:45.669 Leslie was talking about with our children. When 00:11:45.669 --> 00:11:49.570 we face those scary things, can we trust that 00:11:49.570 --> 00:11:53.809 there is one who goes with us? It's about being 00:11:53.809 --> 00:11:57.490 willing to take that step, that very first step, 00:11:57.570 --> 00:12:01.210 even when the map we are stepping onto is incomplete. 00:12:02.840 --> 00:12:05.360 Abram does not go in this story because he has 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:07.700 every detail figured out. Remember, we've only 00:12:07.700 --> 00:12:11.580 known him for eight verses. There's no way he 00:12:11.580 --> 00:12:14.899 fully has it put together what is about to happen. 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:18.759 Rather, he goes because he has heard the voice 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:23.500 of the one who calls him blessed, the one who 00:12:23.500 --> 00:12:27.899 calls him beloved. Now, it's worth offering a 00:12:27.899 --> 00:12:29.860 note here because I don't know about you, but 00:12:29.860 --> 00:12:31.740 there's lots of voices that bounce through my 00:12:31.740 --> 00:12:33.759 head every once in a while. Don't be scared by 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:38.080 that. And certainly all of us, we are awash in 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:42.139 voices every moment of every day. People who 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:45.360 are willing to tell us what God's vision is for 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:47.759 us. So how do we tell the difference between 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:51.419 those voices and God's voice? We talked about 00:12:51.419 --> 00:12:53.870 this at that... training session on Wednesday 00:12:53.870 --> 00:12:56.509 that Presbyterians, in my opinion, actually have 00:12:56.509 --> 00:13:00.070 a pretty good response to that. You can discern 00:13:00.070 --> 00:13:04.629 God's voice by praying, by studying scripture, 00:13:04.929 --> 00:13:08.669 and by actually turning to others who are in 00:13:08.669 --> 00:13:12.629 community with you and asking them, do you hear, 00:13:12.690 --> 00:13:17.230 do you see what I hear and what I see? We always 00:13:17.230 --> 00:13:19.529 talk in our tradition about being a connectional 00:13:19.529 --> 00:13:22.690 church. We don't believe that we get to do this 00:13:22.690 --> 00:13:26.090 faith business alone, whether individually or 00:13:26.090 --> 00:13:28.669 as a congregation. We are connected to others, 00:13:28.830 --> 00:13:32.649 and that's not by accident. We're called to actually 00:13:32.649 --> 00:13:35.950 turn to those who we are in community with and 00:13:35.950 --> 00:13:38.570 to ask them, are you hearing, are you sensing 00:13:38.570 --> 00:13:45.519 what I'm hearing, what I'm sensing? Abram goes, 00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:49.159 not because he knows where it is he is going, 00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:52.620 but because he has heard the voice of the one 00:13:52.620 --> 00:13:59.639 who calls him and each of us blessed and beloved. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:05.799 And I'm mindful as I stand here and just look 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:11.559 out across this space about how many incomplete 00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:16.500 maps there are here today. about how many unseen 00:14:16.500 --> 00:14:22.519 things each of us are carrying. In this space, 00:14:22.620 --> 00:14:25.659 right here, right now, there are unseen decisions. 00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:31.759 Maybe it's about your job. Do I stay? Do I go? 00:14:31.899 --> 00:14:36.019 Do I risk something new? Unseen decisions may 00:14:36.019 --> 00:14:39.200 be about a relationship, whether to begin one 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:45.289 or to end one. There are unseen struggles. So 00:14:45.289 --> 00:14:49.769 many. Maybe it's struggles about school. Maybe 00:14:49.769 --> 00:14:52.250 it's struggles about an illness that we're facing. 00:14:52.309 --> 00:14:54.570 Maybe struggles with addiction, with anxiety, 00:14:54.850 --> 00:15:00.669 with grief. So many unseen questions. Questions 00:15:00.669 --> 00:15:07.389 about calling, purpose, and faith. All of us 00:15:07.389 --> 00:15:13.190 stand at places where the path ahead is not clear. 00:15:14.220 --> 00:15:17.919 And the temptation for us, the temptation can 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:22.659 be to wait. I'm just going to wait it out. Wait 00:15:22.659 --> 00:15:27.000 until it does become clear. Wait until it does 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:29.779 feel safe. Wait until that thing I'm hoping for 00:15:29.779 --> 00:15:34.700 is actually guaranteed to actually happen. But 00:15:34.700 --> 00:15:39.740 the story of Abram and Sarai, the story of God's 00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:44.940 blessing being stitched back, into the world 00:15:44.940 --> 00:15:51.360 after the train wreck of chapters 3 to 11. The 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:54.799 story of God's blessing being stitched back into 00:15:54.799 --> 00:15:57.340 the world, of God's rescue plan beginning to 00:15:57.340 --> 00:16:01.919 unfold, it moves forward because someone trusted 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:07.299 the voice of God more than the comfort of Haran. 00:16:08.139 --> 00:16:13.039 See, friends, when we choose the path that might 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:17.600 unsettle us. When we trust that there is one 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:23.460 who sees the things that we cannot yet see. When 00:16:23.460 --> 00:16:28.460 we take that step, our yeses, our yeses become 00:16:28.460 --> 00:16:34.000 threads in God's healing of the world. There's 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:36.100 that piece in this passage we shouldn't overlook. 00:16:36.860 --> 00:16:39.779 where God tells Abram and Sarai, I will bless 00:16:39.779 --> 00:16:42.759 you that you might be a blessing for others. 00:16:43.399 --> 00:16:47.519 There is this reality that when we trust in the 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:51.820 unseen, when we are faithful in taking the step 00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:56.039 onto that incomplete map, God can use our yes 00:16:56.039 --> 00:17:02.059 to bring healing to churches, to communities, 00:17:02.620 --> 00:17:07.299 to the world. To those who maybe we are sitting 00:17:07.299 --> 00:17:12.759 beside in this very moment. We don't always understand 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:15.059 how it all connects. And I'm here to tell you, 00:17:15.140 --> 00:17:18.119 I love to connect the dots more than anyone. 00:17:19.819 --> 00:17:24.579 We do not always control how that story will 00:17:24.579 --> 00:17:28.099 unfold when we take that first step. And I, for 00:17:28.099 --> 00:17:33.700 one, love to be in control. We do not always 00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:38.029 know. what it's going to look like. And oftentimes, 00:17:38.130 --> 00:17:40.650 friends, I hate to break it to you, but what 00:17:40.650 --> 00:17:44.650 we imagine it looking like in our future is not 00:17:44.650 --> 00:17:50.029 always the same as what God imagines. And yet, 00:17:50.230 --> 00:17:58.190 and I know how crazy this sounds, and yet, Abram 00:17:58.190 --> 00:18:05.410 went. And so do we. Friends, will you pray with 00:18:05.410 --> 00:18:12.250 me? Gracious and loving God, for the faithfulness 00:18:12.250 --> 00:18:15.789 with which you abide in our lives and in your 00:18:15.789 --> 00:18:20.470 world, we give you thanks. God, there is so much 00:18:20.470 --> 00:18:27.130 unseen before us today. So much unseen and unknown 00:18:27.130 --> 00:18:30.549 about not just what tomorrow will bring, but 00:18:30.549 --> 00:18:35.970 what our next breath might bring. Assure us once 00:18:35.970 --> 00:18:41.690 more, O God, that we do not step alone. Tune 00:18:41.690 --> 00:18:46.230 our hearts once more, O God, to hear your voice, 00:18:46.329 --> 00:18:52.730 to be courageous in following it. We pray it 00:18:52.730 --> 00:18:55.049 in the name of the one who leads us now and always, 00:18:55.109 --> 00:18:57.630 your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.