This Sunday, June 11 is the Second Sunday after Pentecost
Verse of the Season/Month:
Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God.
He made us, and we are his—
his people, the sheep of his pasture.
This week’s sermon is Calling Singers
This week’s readings are:
Things You Didn’t Learn in Sunday School About … Abram
We are getting ready for Vacation Bible School here at
Gloria Dei.
Thinking
back to when I was a child in VBS
Sang Father Abraham Had Many Sons …
We can read all about Abraham in Genesis 11-25
He will be
part of all the A Weekly Word episodes in June.
When we first meet him, he has a different name – Abram.
Ironic!
(Tragic?)
We read in
Gen 11:30 he and his wife have no children.
Abram means
“Great Father.”
Abraham
means “Father of Many.”
Neither seems to apply!
For us, Abram’s story begins in earnest at Genesis 12 when God calls him:
The Lord said to Abram:
Go from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you into a great nation,
I will bless you,
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,
and all the peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.[1]
Abram’s father had already started a journey to Canaan –
which is the land God says he will show Abram.
Ur of the
Chaldeans – Modern day Iraq, S.E. of Babylon on the Euphrates near Basra.
Direct
route goes the Syrian Desert so people traveled around to the north – following
the Euphrates River.
They ended
up in Haran – in southwest Turkey.
Both Ur and Haran were places of idol worship – a moon goddess named Nanna and later know as Sin – so part of what Abram is called from in idolatry – to leave his gods.
This is a major step of faith asked of Abram.
He is 75
years old
Following costs: his home, family, support system, safety, and perhaps his previous faith.
The Lord (YHWH) promises:
To make him
into a great nation – despite the fact that he has no children!
To bless
him.
To make
your name great – literally, “I will grow your name.”
You will be
a blessing
Have you ever met someone like that?
He goes on:
I will
bless those who bless you
The one
cursing you or treating you with disdain I will curse. (two words that mean
similar ideas).
All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
God’s blessing flows through Abram to those around him.
But not
just to those who where physically and temporally around him.
All people of the earth – all the clans, the kingdoms, the families – will be blessed through Abram – the great childless father.
So … how does that happen?
Fast
forward – He and his wife Sarai will have a child in their old age (25 years
later!)
One of
their children’s children – generations away will be Jesus. When we read Jesus’
genealogy in Matthew 1 he begins, “The book of the geneaology of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
Jesus is God’s blessing through Abram to the whole world because he is the one who atoned for the sins of the whole world and won everlasting life for all who believe in Him.
Abram received that promise the same way you and I receive
Jesus’ blessings and forgiveness – by faith.
Abram saw
the land God showed him – but he never possessed it.
He received
all of the promises by faith.
That faith
led him to leave home and follow where God led him.
That’s how
we live now. We follow where God leads seeking to obey Him with our lives, as
we trust His promises of forgiveness and a new life – and we believe that He is
leading us to a new home in the glory of the new creation.
Abram
walked by faith … and so do we.
[1]
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used
by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered
trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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