Now the LORD said to Abram, ?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.?
So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. (Genesis 12:1-4)
God?s calling of Abram, must be one of the most difficult call stories in Bible. ?Go from your country and your kindred and your father?s house to the land that I will show you.? God asks him to leave everything and everyone he knows?his family and friends, his house and home and even his own culture. To make things even more difficult God doesn?t tell Abram where he is going exactly. He basically says, ?Abram you?ll know the place when you there!?
People often read this story and believe what the Bible saying to us is that we must be exactly like Abram. We must be willing to give up everything on moments notice and trust that God will provide. This reading of Genesis 12:1-4 does have some merit and those who have been called as missionaries or as ordained clergy (including myself) often resonate with this interpretation. For those of us who are called to these sorts of ministries it is a good reminder that even if the call seems impossible, God can lead us to where we need to be.
At the same time Abram?s call and the promises that God makes here and in later chapters are unique. They are the Genesis or beginning of a special people? God?s people. A people who have one father biological ancestor, Abraham, whom God blesses to in order that he may have descendants more numerous than the stars in heavens or the sand on the seashore (Gen 15:5 & 22:17). A people who we are a part of, if not by direct descent, then as people grafted in by God. A people who God created early in history with the purpose to be a blessing to the nations of the world (Gen 12:3, 18:18, 22:18).
If we thought leaving everything we know would be hard, what about being part of a people who are to bless the world? That seems even more impossible! Yet, someone once told me that,? God is less interested in you ability, than your availability?. This is true about Abraham?s story. Abraham follows God, but makes his fair share of mistakes along the way. He questions God?s promises and intentions. More than once Abraham puts God?s plans to make him a great nation in jeopardy by his own actions! Yet Abraham sticks with God and despite his doubts and mistakes. God for his part makes good on what he has promised, despite Abraham?s failings. As the narrative continues it becomes clear that the story is not so much about Abraham?s faithfulness as God?s providence. The same is true today.
Through the course of history Abraham?s descendants become the nation of Israel. They too fail to trust God?s intentions and rebel against God?s plans. Yet despite their failings God continues to make good on his promises, just maybe not the way Israel would have liked. Israel eventually becomes the people and culture to which Jesus is born. Jesus himself in his death and resurrection becomes the fulfilment of those promises long ago, becoming the blessing to all nations that God has always desired his people to be. God?s plan and promises to bless the world remain true, even when his people don?t always get it.
Lent is a season to remember those promises made so long ago. It is a season to remember God?s providence throughout the history of his people and how those promises reach their fulfilment in Holy Week and Easter. It is a time to remember that in Christ we too join in fulfilling that promise to bless others. It is a time to remember that it is God who blesses us to be that blessing.