*below is my manuscript from a message I will be sharing tomorrow to wrap up our local church's mission month. Please keep me and my translator in prayer as we share this word. The scripture is in Spanish so you'll have to find the verses on your own (biblegateway.com). And please not that I correct grammar on the fly, not in my manuscripts.
Abram Today
He is recognized among the most significant men in history by 3 of the world’s largest religions.
In the Jewish scriptures, our “Old Testament”, he is mentioned 40 times.
In the Islamic holy book, the Koran he is only behind the prophet Muhammad in importance.
In the Christian New Testament, he is referred to 75 times. Paul used him as the finest example of a man who is justified before God by faith apart from works (Romans 4). James referred to him as a man who demonstrated his faith to men by his works (James 2:21-23). The writer to the Hebrews pointed to him as an illustration of a man who walked by faith, devoting more space to him than any other individual in chapter eleven (Hebrews 11:8-19).
This man was Abraham. And understanding his calling from God, the covenant that he made with the Creator and the faith that it took is key in understanding the Bible as a whole and living our lives as people who truly desire to see God’s plans come to pass in this world.
I wish we had enough time to really examine every aspect of the life of Abraham, but unfortunately we don’t, so this morning, let’s focus in on the covenant, or agreement that was made between God and Abraham, actually called Abram at this point, and the events surrounding that.
We’ll be starting in Genesis 12.
This here is one of the key passages in all of scripture, without which we have an incomplete picture of God and his relation to us, his creation. It is the thread that ties the rest of the Old Testament together and also a prime passage showing the global nature of God’s ultimate plan of salvation.
Let’s read this together
1 El Señor le dijo a Abram: «Deja tu tierra, tus parientes y la casa de tu padre, y vete a la tierra que te mostraré.
2 »Haré de ti una nación grande,
y te bendeciré;
haré famoso tu *nombre,
y serás una bendición.
3 Bendeciré a los que te bendigan
y maldeciré a los que te maldigan;
¡por medio de ti serán bendecidas
todas las familias de la tierra!»
4 Abram partió, tal como el Señor se lo había ordenado, y Lot se fue con él. Abram tenía setenta y cinco años cuando salió de Jarán. 5 Al encaminarse hacia la tierra de Canaán, Abram se llevó a su esposa Saray, a su sobrino Lot, a toda la gente que habían adquirido en Jarán, y todos los bienes que habían acumulado. Cuando llegaron a Canaán,6 Abram atravesó toda esa región hasta llegar a Siquén, donde se encuentra la encina sagrada de Moré. En aquella época, los cananeos vivían en esa región.7 Allí el Señor se le apareció a Abram y le dijo: «Yo le daré esta tierra a tu descendencia.» Entonces Abram erigió un altar al Señor, porque se le había aparecido.
Now, Abram was living the dream life. He had plenty of money, tons of possessions, people who waited on him and served him, a loving wife and a great job as the owner of a large number of livestock. Not only was Abram rich, with lots of things and people who worked for him, but he lived in Ur, a great city. It was a wealthy city, known for its craftsmanship, technology and science. It was the New York City of Abram’s day.
But something interrupts his dream life. Something happens that cannot be ignored. God speaks. In v.1 we see God says to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.”
Now, I want you to consider how Abram probably felt about this. He’d worked his whole life to build the life he now had. He was in his 70’s and had worked hard to get to where he was. He had his stuff, his staff, his wife and his city. He was comfortable. And now he had to make a choice, and it is the same choice that we as individuals and as a church have to make today.
Will we be obedient and go where God has prepared for us to go? Or would we rather be comfortable, and stay put, accepting where we are in our lives as sufficient?
The truth is friends, when we are obedient to God, we will not be comfortable.
Just like Abram and Sarah, when walking in obedience, we most likely will not know what comes next.
They knew Ur. They liked Ur. They had friends in Ur. They had family in Ur. Leaving, or going rather, meant more than just setting up their home in another place. It meant sacrifice, and sacrifice is never comfortable. It meant turning their backs on their families and friends. It meant having to deal with the criticism they received when their family asked, “Where will you go?” and only being able to respond, “Well, we’re not sure, but God said he’d show us.”
It meant not knowing whether or not they would have enough supplies to feed their servants and animals after they left Ur and while they were waiting for God to show them where they were going.
But we don’t like not knowing what will happen next. We go to conferences and received a minute by minute detail about what will be happening and at what time. When we’re watching TV we even get little reminders throughout the commercials about what show is “up next”.
But when we are obedient to God, we will most likely not know what is next. We won’t know how things will happen in our lives, or in the life of our church, we just have to trust, we just have to have faith that it will happen.
Jesus himself didn’t know what would happen from one day to the next in his ministry. In Luke 9:57-62 Jesus is explaining this very thing to the people who want to follow him. And note, he does not explain what great happiness waits for them if they follow him. He doesn’t tell them about fame, wealth or liberation from political powers, instead he tells them that it’s going to be rough.
57 Iban por el camino cuando alguien le dijo:
—Te seguiré a dondequiera que vayas.
58 —Las zorras tienen madrigueras y las aves tienen nidos —le respondió Jesús—, pero el Hijo del hombre no tiene dónde recostar la cabeza.
59 A otro le dijo:
—Sígueme.
—Señor —le contestó—, primero déjame ir a enterrar a mi padre.
60 —Deja que los muertos entierren a sus propios muertos, pero tú ve y proclama el reino de Dios —le replicó Jesús.
61 Otro afirmó:
—Te seguiré, Señor; pero primero déjame despedirme de mi familia.
62 Jesús le respondió:
—Nadie que mire atrás después de poner la mano en el arado es apto para el reino de Dios.
In other words, “Being obedient to my call means you will not be comfortable, you have to sacrifice everything that you have and know and live a life where you may not even know where you will sleep one night to the next.”
Will we be obedient and go where God has prepared for us to go? Or would we rather be comfortable?
This month, we, both as individuals and as a church, have been challenged. We have been brought face to face with the call of God for all of us, personally and corporately, to be involved in missions in one way or another.
Friends, our obedience here will not be easy. It will come at a price. We may not know how will work things out financially or with whatever resources God is asking us to provide in missions, but if we are to be obedient, we cannot be concerned with the how of things. We cannot be concerned with being comfortable or knowing how we will do what God is asking us to do.
We must simply be ready and willing to obediently sacrifice the things we are being asked to give up for the sake of answering God’s voice.
But this is not the only thing that characterizes obedience.
We must also be willing to recognize something else about obedience. Just as it was with Abram, when we are obedient, we may never see the fruit of our obedience.
V. 2 says:
"I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
In Chapter 15 God clarifies, telling the childless Abram, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
And then clarifies the geographical boundaries regarding the land that he would give to Abram in v. 18, explaining the vast amount of property he would posses.
Some 70 years later, Now called Abraham, he stood on the edge of the land that God had promised him. He had acquired some of it, but not all. Even when his wife died, he was forced to pay for a plot of land to bury her. Hardly the “Great Nation” that God had promised.
I can just imagine the temptation Abraham must have faced at the end of his life to look backand see God’s promises as empty words.
“I’ve been obedient and this is what I have. I have wandered in the desert a good portion of my life, and own a small fraction the lands that God promised me. I have two sons after God has promised me more children than there are stars in the sky. If this is what obedience brings, why bother?”
And I think that we as Christians also look at where we are in the midst of our journey and think, “If this is obedience, why bother?” We look at the plight of AIDS in Africa, or the persecuted church in China, or child trafficking in southeast Asia and think, if after 2,000 years of Christianity being present on this earth and after 2,000 years of at least some people being obedient to Christ, this has been the result, why bother?”
Because eventually, Abraham’s descendants were more numerous than sand on the beach. Because eventually those descendants did occupy the land that God had promised Abraham, because eventually the greatest blessing the nations have ever known, came through his descendants in the form of Jesus Christ.
Abram’s obedience paid off. No, Abram never did see the full effects of his obedience in his lifetime, but in the end, the world is different, in the end the world has the opportunity to live a reunited and resurrected life with God, because of one man’s obedience.
We live in a consumer driven world. Constantly we are seeing more “free trade agreements” popping up, more consumer products coming into the market, more services being offered. The bottom line is we live in a world that wants to see an immediate return on our investments. When we buy something, we want to see the product now. We get indignant if we have to wait. That’s why this idea may be hard for us to grasp.
When we are obedient to God’s calling on our lives, whether it be in missions, in other forms of ministry, or even in our jobs or family lives, we cannot expect to immediately see the effects.
This is why it is so hard for a church to put missions as a priority. When we invest our time, money and resources into ministry in our own neighborhood, we see the immediate results. More children come to our programs, youth ministries become popular among students and young adults, more people come on a Sunday Morning. We see people’s lives changing as they begin their journey with the Lord. I am in no saying that any of that is bad, I’m simply saying that we have to be willing to give up the need to physically see the results if we are to be obedient.
When we support missions, we may never see those who benefit from our support until we meet them one day in Heaven. When we step out in faith and put missions as a priority, we must trust that the work being done is making a difference in the lives of those around us, even when we don’t see it.
Almost two weeks ago my son, Micaiah’s, life had a huge change. You see from the first day he arrived he has been the center of our universe. Everything revolved around him from when we got up in the morning, to when we ate our meals, to when we had to be home from visiting friends to how late we could be out at church events.
Then, came Shaylee. Now he is coming to realize that he has to share the spotlight with someone else. He is having to realize that this life is not just about him and his wants, but there are other people to consider.
You know. When we walk in obedience with God, this is something else that happens. Just like Micaiah, we come to realize that, unlike what we have though, our life, is not about us. We don’t exist for us to simply get ahead, or make money, or be happy. When we are obedient to God we realize that we actually are here for the opposite reason, to help others to get ahead, to help others live their life to their fullest potential, so that they too can then help others to live to their potential, and that is how the cycle works.
This was true in Abram’s life because When we are obedient the focus is taken off of ourselves and put onto others.
God had said in v. 2 and 3 that he would make Abram into a great nation, make his name great and bless him as a result of his obedience, but then he gave his reason. He explained that he would do all this so that “all the peoples of the earth will be blessed through you.”
It’s not about you. It’s not about us. We should not be obedient to God’s call on us to be involved in missions simply because of what we may get for it.
I have heard many people encourage churches to support missions by explaining, “I know of a church that never had any money and only 20 people coming a week to it, but when they started giving to missions they grew to 1,000 and now have more money than thy know what to do with.”
Now please understand, I do believe that when we are obedient, God will bless us. I believe that because I have experienced that in my own life. BUT, that blessing should not, and cannot be what drives us or motivates us to obedience.
Such blessing only occurs so that the greater blessing, that of blessing all the people of the earth, will grow.
Allow me to illustrate this from the gospels. In Matthew 25 Jesus illustrates blessing like this:
14 »El reino de los cielos es como un hombre que, yéndose lejos, llamó a sus siervos[e] y les entregó sus bienes.
15 A uno dio cinco talentos,[f] a otro dos y a otro uno, a cada uno conforme a su capacidad; y luego se fue lejos.
16 El que recibió cinco talentos fue y negoció con ellos, y ganó otros cinco talentos.
17 Asimismo el que recibió dos, ganó también otros dos.
18 Pero el que recibió uno hizo un hoyo en la tierra y escondió el dinero de su señor.
19 »Después de mucho tiempo regresó el señor de aquellos siervos y arregló cuentas con ellos.
20 Se acercó el que había recibido cinco talentos y trajo otros cinco talentos, diciendo: "Señor, cinco talentos me entregaste; aquí tienes, he ganado otros cinco talentos sobre ellos".
21 Su señor le dijo: "Bien, buen siervo y fiel; sobre poco has sido fiel, sobre mucho te pondré.[g] Entra en el gozo de tu señor".
22 Se acercó también el que había recibido dos talentos y dijo: "Señor, dos talentos me entregaste; aquí tienes, he ganado otros dos talentos sobre ellos".
23 Su señor le dijo: "Bien, buen siervo y fiel; sobre poco has sido fiel, sobre mucho te pondré. Entra en el gozo de tu señor".
24 Pero acercándose también el que había recibido un talento, dijo: "Señor, te conocía que eres hombre duro, que siegas donde no sembraste y recoges donde no esparciste;
25 por lo cual tuve miedo, y fui y escondí tu talento en la tierra; aquí tienes lo que es tuyo".
26 Respondiendo su señor, le dijo: "Siervo malo y negligente, sabías que siego donde no sembré y que recojo donde no esparcí.
27 Por tanto, debías haber dado mi dinero a los banqueros y, al venir yo, hubiera recibido lo que es mío con los intereses.
28 Quitadle, pues, el talento y dadlo al que tiene diez talentos,
29 porque al que tiene, le será dado y tendrá más; y al que no tiene, aun lo que tiene le será quitado.[h]
30 Y al siervo inútil echadlo en las tinieblas de afuera; allí será el lloro y el crujir de dientes".[i]
Every blessing that we have comes from God. James says in James 1:17: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights,”
Just as the man who had doubled the number of talents he had received, was then given charge over even more, Abram was blessed with a great nation and much more so that he could in turn use those blessings to bless others.
As I said, when we are obedient, we will be blessed, but not as a form of reward.
I have a dog. Some of you have met her, and if you have, I apologize. She is a huge, crazy ball of energy that lives her little life by her own rules. But when she does something right, I try to always have a small dog treat or snack in my pocket to give her. I reward her obedience because it ensures more obedience in the future.
This is not why God blesses us. We are not his dogs, we are his children. We are blessed in our lives with money, friends, jobs, family or whatever resources we have so that we can in turn be a blessing to other people. When we are obedient to God in our lives, we will be blessed even more, but that is simply so we can turn around and be an even bigger blessing on those around us and those around the world.
If you look back at this parable of Jesus, you’ll notice something. The owner did give the servants the talents. He did not say, here, what was my money is now yours to invest and use. No, he entrusts his money to his servants, in essence he loans out what is his so that what he has can grow.
That is also the case with God. These blessings that Abram received, these blessings that we have, the blessings that we as a church have, are not our blessings. At best, they are on loan from God.
Anyone who says, “I don’t have enough money to support missions.” Is not understanding the concept of blessing. We don’t have any money, it all belongs to God, he has just chosen to entrust us with some of it, in hopes that we make wise decisions with it.
And of course we also have the ultimate blessing. You see, we have Christ, a descendant of Abram himself, has come, died on the cross and was resurrected so that we may have a relationship, a friendship with the creator of the universe, so that we can experience this restoration that is promised to us throughout the Bible.
But even this blessing cannot stop at us. It cannot stop at our salvation, our relationship, our restoration. We must now take this blessing and in turn bless every family on the earth, every nation by taking to them the amazing truth of Jesus Christ and what he has done for them. We must bless the nations by bringing to them the same restoration that has been brought to our lives, and to our church.
So again, we have a choice. It’s comfortable to focus on us. It doesn’t take nearly as much energy and whatever we do have we can use for our own desires. But when we are obedient to God, the comfort fades, as does the focus on ourselves. The blessings will no doubt abound, but not for us, not for our happiness or for us to use to get ahead. We will be blessed so that as a result all of the nations of the world will be blessed.
When we are obedient, we may not be comfortable, we may never see the full effect of our obedience, and we will no longer be focused on our selves.
But here is the most basic principle. Unfortunately, it’s often overlooked. When we are obedient, we will never be just standing still.
V. 4 begins with a few short words that truly prove that Abram was obedient to God. “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him.” “Abram partió, tal como el Señor se lo había ordenado”
Obedience does not happen when you receive a call from God. Obedience does not happen when we let those around us know that we plan on being obedient and following the plan or call that God has given us. Obedience does not happen when we have a mission conference and have preachers talk about missions for an entire month. Obedience happens when we take action.
Obedience happens when, instead of simply talking about all the great things that could be done in Africa, or China, or Australia, we refuse to simply sit back and be comfortable and actually hand over the money it will take to get things done.
Obedience happens when instead of simply saying you will pray for missions on a daily basis, you get serious about setting aside a time each and every day to actually go to battle and pray for those who are on the mission field and the needs of those around the world.
Obedience happens when you quit the job you are in and stop being so concerned about what your family will think because you have been called to go as a missionary to another country. Obedience happens when you do this and announce it to the world and to God that I will go.
Read with me in John 12:15-17.
Obedience is what Jesus wanted from Peter when he appeared to Simon Peter and other disciples for a post-resurrection breakfast by the lake.
15 Cuando terminaron de desayunar, Jesús le preguntó a Simón Pedro:
—Simón, hijo de Juan, ¿me amas más que éstos?
—Sí, Señor, tú sabes que te quiero —contestó Pedro.
—Apacienta mis corderos —le dijo Jesús.
16 Y volvió a preguntarle:
—Simón, hijo de Juan, ¿me amas?
—Sí, Señor, tú sabes que te quiero.
—Cuida de mis ovejas.
17 Por tercera vez Jesús le preguntó:
—Simón, hijo de Juan, ¿me quieres?
A Pedro le dolió que por tercera vez Jesús le hubiera preguntado: «¿Me quieres?» Así que le dijo:
—Señor, tú lo sabes todo; tú sabes que te quiero.
—Apacienta mis ovejas —le dijo Jesús—. 18 De veras te aseguro que cuando eras más joven te vestías tú mismo e ibas adonde querías; pero cuando seas viejo, extenderás las manos y otro te vestirá y te llevará adonde no quieras ir.
19 Esto dijo Jesús para dar a entender la clase de muerte con que Pedro glorificaría a Dios. Después de eso añadió:
—¡Sígueme!”
Our salvation is not dependant on our actions. Jesus does not offer his gift of reconciliation to us because we have done something or will do something.
But obedience is something else. Obedience requires action. It was not enough for Jesus to hear the words from Peter’s mouth, “Yes Lord, I love you.” In order to be obedient, in order to follow him as Jesus instructs him to do at the end of the verses we have just read, action was required.
It is not enough for us to sit here and sing songs and say, “Lord, we love the world. Lord, we value missions.” Because Jesus response is simple, “So love them. Don’t just say you love them, don’t just say you value missions, get moving. Do something to love them, do something to value those who the world has said are of no value… Feed my sheep!”
I hope that 5 years from now, we do not look back at the month of missions in 2007 and say, “That was the year we had some good messages.” Or “That was the year we had some great times of worship.”
I pray that 5 years from now we will look back and say that after the month of missions in 2007, after, like Abram, we heard from God, we did something. We did more than just talk, we did more than just sing, we did more than just thought about how nice it would be to be part of what God is doing around the world. I pray that we will say “That was when we got serious about being obedient to God! That was when we decided not be concerned with ourselves and our own comfort. That was when we decided that even if we never see the results with our own eyes, we will be obedient to God in missions. In all areas of our lives and whatever blessing that he has given us and asks us to use for his glory, we will use it, and whatever he asks us to sacrifice, we will sacrifice, and whatever he asks us to do we will do…
And wherever he asks us to go, as individuals, as a church, we will go.
That is what I pray happens as a result of what God has done in our hearts and in the heart of our church over the last month.
It's a quarter after six in the morning and Shaylee has been fussing since 4am so I thought I would go ahead, make some coffee and sit in my office with her until she decides to head back to sleep. At least this way Dena can get some sleep.
