Abram’s obedience

Leave

Posted on by Betsy

The first week of July marks the departures and arrivals of itinerate pastors in The United Methodist Church. Many of our clergy sisters and brothers have left their familiar pulpit for a new one this week. This is how our system of pastoral appointments works, and while it is what clergy signed on for, it is extremely disruptive, disheartening, terrifying, and strangely wonderful all in the same moment. A minister friend of mine was packing her U-Haul this week and she wore a t-shirt that read, “War is hell, but moving is a close second.” We hear you, sister! We pray for all those uprooted pastor-families and the churches who will receive them.

Today’s passage is a reminder to those folks and to us as well that sometimes you have to leave in order to do God’s will. Abram became the “father of all nations” but only after he obeyed God and left everything that was comfortable to pursue an unknown destiny. It took a lot of faith, hope, and trust for him to uproot his entire household and leave his land. Eventually, he even left the name given to him at his birth and became Abraham. His name is still revered among Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

Genesis 12 (Common English Bible)

The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your land, your family, and your father’s household for the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation and will bless you. I will make your name respected, and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
    those who curse you I will curse;
        all the families of the earth
            will be blessed because of you.”

When Abram obediently left Haran for the land of Canaan, he set into motion a missionary seed that would bless “all the families of the earth.” Jesus was born of that same family lineage, and you and I can count ourselves as part of the many descendants of Abraham.

Galatians 3 (Common English Bible)

8 But when it saw ahead of time that God would make the Gentiles righteous on the basis of faith, scripture preached the gospel in advance to Abraham: All the Gentiles will be blessed in you. 9 Therefore, those who believe are blessed together with Abraham who believed.

Do you remember the VBS song about Father Abraham?

“Father Abraham had many sons. Many sons had Father Abraham! I am one of them, and so are you. So let’s all praise the Lord!”

The challenge for us today is to consider what God is asking us to leave in order to follow our destiny. The many children of Abraham are promised a life of freedom in Christ. What do you need to leave in order to be free? Is an addiction blunting your joy? Are you so angry you can’t feel God’s hope? What bad habit or behavior is preventing you from entering God’s promised future?

Whatever it is, just leave it all behind. And then let’s all praise the Lord.

You Will be a Blessing by Mary Anne Mong

The Trust Clause

Posted on by Betsy

We sat in a waiting room at the Mount Nittany hospital, waiting for the doctor to let us know that our daughter’s fibroid removal was complete and she was in Recovery. It was a relatively simple procedure, made a little more complicated due to the fact that the fibroid was just a tad too big to be removed laparoscopically, and so surgery was necessary. I had taken a week off of work to stay with her while she recovered from the incision, and planned to return home when she returned back to classes. Her Dad planned to return a few days after the surgery to go home to our other teenage daughter.

Then the words “cancerous tumor” came out of the doctor’s mouth, followed by “months of chemo” and “she’ll have to drop out of college indefinitely.” As my mind swirled with this unexpected horror, I suddenly heard a voice in my ear saying, “It’s OK, Bets. I’ve got this. You and Sarah are going to go on a journey that will teach you many things about me.” The peace that passes all understanding came over me, and I felt equipped for what came next.

God had offered us a trust clause in that moment. An unbreakable contract, a promise that was iron-clad, and a guarantee that our daughter would not only survive, but thrive. We grew closer to each other as a family and to God in those months of cancer treatment, and we learned how to TRUST, even when the things that were right in front of us (extreme nausea, hair loss, weight loss, isolation, additional surgeries) suggested otherwise.

Today Sarah has beautiful long hair, an amazing husband, two degrees, and three kids. God blessed us in abundance.

Romans 4 (The Message)

16 This is why the fulfillment of God’s promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way, and then simply embracing him and what he does. God’s promise arrives as pure gift. That’s the only way everyone can be sure to get in on it, those who keep the religious traditions andthose who have never heard of them. For Abraham is father of us all. He is not our racial father—that’s reading the story backward. He is our faith father.

Not everyone gets to hear God speak words of reassurance in the moment of crisis. This is why developing a life of faith-based trust is so important.

In our scripture today, Paul is reminiscing about Abraham’s call to leave the unknown and settle his family in a land far away. In faith, Abraham agreed. With no evidence that it would turn out all right, he simply was obedient to the strange and disconcerting instruction. God spoke, and Abraham trusted. In doing so, he became the father of all nations, and was blessed to be a blessing.

Where is God calling you to trust him in the absence of any real evidence that doing so will work out well for you? Where is acting on faith rather than by guarantees the response he is looking for?

God’s promise comes as a gift. One promise we can all stand on is his promise to prosper us and not harm us, as he offers us a future with HOPE. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Whatever you are facing today, remember this: when we step out in faith, we never step out alone. Thanks be to God.

Survivor! by Sarah Haas Callahan

War is Hell, but Moving is a Close Second

Posted on by Betsy

A long time ago, I volunteered to help a new music director move into her new home. She was moving to take a job at my church, and a large group of us gathered at her house to help with the unloading of many boxes. One of my friends, an Army wife, showed up in a t-shirt that read “War is Hell, but Moving is a Close Second.” It still makes me laugh!

I spent the first eight years of my marriage moving around the country at the Navy’s behest. During the first two years, we moved four times. I never bothered to memorize my zip code…I just kept it handy in my purse, crossing each one off and adding the new one.

One of the many sacrifices our military service families makes is the willingness to move when and where needed. This probably goes under-appreciated by most people. But if you have ever served, you know the stress, anxiety, fatigue, and uncertainty of moving into a new community with all of your worldly goods, your kids, the dog, and memories of your last duty station and the friends you left behind. It can be heart-exhausting.

Genesis 12 (Contemporary English Version)

The Lord said to Abram:

Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless anyone who blesses you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you.

4-5 Abram was seventy-five years old when the Lord told him to leave the city of Haran.

I am always amazed at Abram’s obedience. He left everything behind to follow God’s command. He staked everything he had on God’s promise that all would be well if he complied, and even believed that God would bless him as he said he would. And God did. We are the evidence of that.

This example of obedience is a great teaching for us today. Did you notice that he was 75 years old when he left the safety and security of his hometown to go where he was sent? What a wonderful reminder that God calls us at any time of life to follow him, and the wise ones respond with acceptance and joy mingled in with the trepidation.

What is God calling you to do? Where is he asking for obedience today? Are you hearing him telling you to leave something behind so that you can experience a new joy?

The cost of obedience is often high, but the cost of disobedience is even higher. God always has a plan for your life, and that plan is guaranteed to prosper you and not harm you. It is a plan to give you a future with HOPE. Is God calling? GO.

A VERY Close Second by Nancy Bealer