A Journey of Faith
Genesis 12:1-9
Listen here.
Imagine packing everything up and heading out to a
destination you do not know purely on the promise that God will bless you.
Last summer, my family and I traveled to Florida; to Key
Largo, the Everglades, Universal Studios, and Disney. We saved up for a year
for this trip – and just to be clear when I say, “we” saved up – that was
Chris. And we had a plan for each day that we were on the road: which National
Parks we’d visit, where we’d stay, all the way to where we’d go to church on
Sunday. There was no point in the trip that we didn’t have a good idea where
we’d be.
Abram on the other hand…, “Go from your country and your kindred
and your father’s house to the land I will show you.” No itinerary. No
estimated time of arrival. Only, “Go,” and “I will show you,” and a series of
promises:
- I will make you a great nation.
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I will bless you.
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I will make your name great.
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You will be a blessing.
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I will bless those who bless you.
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I will curse those who dishonor you.
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In you all the families of the earth shall be
blessed.
And v. 4 says, “So Abram went.” He went to a land he did not
know and was told that his offspring – not he, but his offspring – would
receive it from God. And Abram journeyed through this land – he journeyed to
get there and journeyed while he lived there.
Abram’s faith is remarkable – to go without knowing where,
to journey in the land that would belong to his heirs, to literally walk with
God. But did you notice that our reading from Romans basically says that
Abram’s journey really isn’t the point in this account. In fact, these accounts
are more about what God was doing – what God promised Abram, and, by extension,
what God promised us and did for us.
You see, we too are on a journey. And to paraphrase 2 Cor.
5:7 – we journey by faith – not by sight, because our journey is really about
what God is doing in us, for us, and through us. And our journey is rooted in Gods
promise, too; particularly God’s promise to bless all the families of the earth
in Abram.
God kept that specific promise in Jesus’ death and
resurrection. It is, perhaps, strange to think of such a thing as a blessing,
but in Jesus’ death, Abram’s descendant blessed all the families of the earth
by bearing the whole load of humanity’s sin in his body. And being nailed to
the cross he canceled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal
demands … nailing it to the cross. That is an amazing blessing. As we heard
today, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are
covered.”
We are so blessed to know that God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world. He sent his only begotten son so that whoever
believes in him will not perish but have eternal life, and to save the world
through Him.
Brothers and sisters, Abram was blessed in order that the
whole world would be blessed through him – through his multiple-great-grandson
Jesus. Even then God was working at our salvation, establishing the family that
would be Jesus’ family when He was born.
You, too, are blessed to be a blessing; perhaps not to the
whole world, but to your children and grandchildren, to your co-workers and
neighbors, to your fellow students, and to those people God puts in your life.
And what blessing do you have that you might give them?
Jesus. Jesus through you and in you to share the hope of forgiveness, life, and
salvation. And that happens as we journey through this life.
Matthew 28:19 is often translated, “Go and make disciples …
baptizing … and teaching….” It is perhaps better translated, “As you are going,
make disciples….” As you journey through this life be Jesus’ witnesses to bless
others as he has blessed you – especially, especially, especially with His
forgiveness.
In 1991 Tom Cochrane recorded the song, “Life is a Highway.”
In 2006, Rascal Flatts re-recorded it for the Disney movie, Cars. The song has an interesting line
as it imagines life like a journey down the highway. The song says, “Come ride
with me to the distant shore. We won’t hesitate, To break down the garden gate,
There’s not much time left today.”
Life is a journey to somewhere – and with God showing us, we
know the Way to the distant shore. The Way is Jesus – faith in the one who bore
our sins and died our death. And while the song is correct that there’s not
much time left today, there will be no need to “break down the garden gate” –
not that we could! – because Jesus has prepared a place for us and for our
children in the greater promised land and we will be welcomed when we get
there.
For now, though, we are on a Journey of Faith and we trust
God to lead us … in this life and through this life to bring us home. And
through us, he will lead yet others there too – as they come to believe in
Jesus through our witness. Amen.
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