Abram

Every now and then I'll have a conversation with somebody who's perhaps either just starting out in Christian faith

or who perhaps wouldn't even describe themselves as a Christian but nevertheless starting to take a look at the Bible.

And they will say something along these sort of lines.

They will say, you know, I've just started to read the Bible and I wasn't quite sure where to start.

So I started right at the very beginning at Genesis.

And, well, I've been trying to do this every day and I've lasted for about three days.

And they will then go on to say how actually to find it a really, really puzzling thing.

And it's such an enormous book and yet just a few pages in,

they're not quite sure how it is that we get from what they have read to all the things that we say about Jesus

and how Jesus is so important, how he transforms our lives.

What I would like to say to anybody, the Bible is obviously not just one book, it's a whole library of books.

But reading that library of books can be a little bit like a crossword.

Sometimes if you do a crossword, at first it can take a really long time for it to kind of fall into place.

And in these early stages there can be one, two particular things thinking,

well, how on earth am I ever going to get that?

It just doesn't make any sense.

But then you get one word and then you get another one.

And only as you kind of begin to get a few more of those words, it all begins to fall into place.

And it's not until you actually have the whole thing before you, and that may take some time,

that you see how it all connects together.

When we read the story of the Bible, and by the way, I would never ever recommend starting at the beginning

and going right the way through like that.

But when we find that story, which takes place over many, many, many centuries,

when we come to that story, what we find when we stand back and we look at the whole,

is everything points to Jesus.

It might not always be obvious.

It might mean that we've got to really dig deep to kind of see how it fits in.

But it all ultimately points to Jesus.

See, our God is a rescuer.

He sees we're in mess.

And the whole message of Scripture is about God's rescue plan.

Ultimately, in all its fullness, that rescue plan we see in the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus.

But before we get there, we have this really long narrative,

which paves the way and points towards, directly or indirectly.

And as we look at the different journeys in Scripture,

we see how they just serve as examples of how Scripture points us

to God's ultimate rescue plan that is Jesus Christ.

So let's ask the question then,

what does Abraham's story say to us?

How does his journey, particularly this moment as he steps out in faith

and follows the call of God into a place unknown to him,

how does that point us towards that message that is the very centre of Scripture,

the message of Jesus Christ as God's rescue plan?

Well, the first thing we can say is this,

is that the story is all about stepping out into something new.

Stepping out into something that is new.

When we come to know Jesus, it is stepping into the new.

It is being born again.

It's like the lights come on.

But it begins by stepping out into something new.

And we need to be aware that that's something that actually is part of our,

should be part of our everyday Christian experience,

that we should see our lives as that stepping out into something new each day

that God knows about that we don't.

See, that coming and coming to know Jesus and coming closer to Jesus

is all about that sense of being spiritually woken up.

Theologian Tom Wright says that, you know,

that phrase being born again

can be understood as an experience of waking up.

It might be that we come to faith in Jesus very quickly,

very suddenly, very rapidly.

We can put a time and a date on it.

That was when and where I became a Christian.

That was when I started to follow Jesus.

Bang! The lights came on.

I was in the darkness and now I'm in the light.

Sometimes waking up is like that.

You know, the alarm goes off.

One moment you're asleep, then you're awake.

On the other hand, says Tom Wright,

there are those experiences when we wake up

and it's a much more gradual experience.

You know, the alarm goes

and you kind of sort of wake,

but you're not quite sure.

And then you drift off again.

And then you drift back into being awake

and then back asleep and then back awake.

And eventually, you've just about come

into the land of the living.

And it might take a really, really long time

to the extent where it's difficult to say

exactly when it was that you were asleep

and when it was that you were awake

and when you made that point of transition.

Tom Wright says that when we're talking

about being spiritually awake,

it doesn't matter whether we're talking about

an experience of coming to faith in Jesus

that is sudden or gradual

or a mix of the two.

The point is that there is such a thing

as being spiritually asleep.

Dead.

And there is such a thing

as being spiritually awake

when the lights are on.

And there's all the difference between the two.

When we come to this story

of Abraham stepping out into the new,

we need to remember that that is the life

that Jesus calls us to.

And not just at the point

when we come to faith in him for the first time,

but every day God has plans for you

that you won't know about when you wake up.

But he does.

And he calls you to step into that new.

He says to Abraham,

I will make you a great nation and bless you.

I'll make you famous.

You'll be a blessing.

I'll bless those who bless you.

And those who curse you, I'll curse.

And all the families of the earth

will be blessed through you.

It points us forward

to God's ultimate saving plan

by which every day

he will invite us into something new.

And that's exciting.

The second thing,

and it's kind of the other side of the same coin,

that as Abraham was called

to step out in faith,

and as you and I are called to step out in faith,

we're called to leave the past behind.

You see, the past can have such a grip on us

that it can detract us

from all the amazing things

that God has ahead of us,

ultimately in eternity,

but even now for the rest of our time here on earth.

You see, for Abraham,

he had to leave behind

everything that he was familiar with.

The Lord said to Abraham,

go from your country,

your people,

and your father's household

to the land I will show you.

You know, for Abraham,

he must have been thinking,

well, what am I going to,

I've been here all my life,

I'm going to,

I'm expected to leave this behind.

You know, leaving behind

that which is familiar,

that which is safe,

that which we know about

is such a hard thing.

And indeed,

as we look back on the past,

we find it a difficult thing

to let go of.

Things that we've,

mistakes that we've made,

things that we've got wrong.

The past, if we're not careful,

can control us.

And the invitation to follow Jesus

is an invitation to let go

as we step into the future.

It's been some years ago,

some years since I last went 10-pin bowling.

One thing I could,

two things I can remember.

One is I'm absolutely rubbish at it.

But two is every time I do it,

same thing happens.

I pick up this massive,

great big,

what feels like a really massive,

big heavy bowl.

Go like this

and try to pretend

that I know what I'm doing.

And then to just

throw the thing down,

which is probably where I go wrong,

but throw the thing down.

And as it makes its way

in the direction of these pins,

I start to do this.

Nine times out of ten,

it goes into the little bit on the side.

I don't know what you call it.

It says how much I know about it.

But, you know,

and it doesn't strike anything.

But that doesn't stop me

from twisting and turning,

as though somehow

that's going to influence

the direction of the thing

that's heading towards the pins.

There's something about that,

I think,

which resonates about

the way in which we react

to our past.

That, you know,

you've let go of that bowl.

There's nothing you can do about it.

And yet,

we still contort

and contract

and move and twist and turn

as though we can somehow

influence that which has happened.

We can't.

You know,

when you let go of that bowl,

you've got to let go.

And when God calls us

into a future

which we don't know about,

and this was totally

Abraham's experience,

he calls us to let go

of that past

and to trust him

for that future.

You know,

that's perhaps easier said

than done.

But it's the reality

of what we're called to do

each and every day

of our lives.

And, you know,

I think perhaps

it becomes even more

of a challenge

the longer

we've been following Jesus.

You see,

this sense of entering the new,

it doesn't,

it never stops.

And the danger can be

that the longer

that we've been following Jesus,

that the older we get,

the more we can feel

that somehow

we've exhausted

all there is

to know about it.

We've been to church

so many times,

we've heard so many sermons,

we've read so many

Christian books,

you know,

we've sung,

we've sung so many

Christian songs

over the years

that we've been there,

we've got the spiritual postcard

and there's nothing more

left to be encountered.

You know,

nothing could be further

from the truth.

You see,

notice that in this story,

Abram was how old

when he stepped out

in faith?

75 years old.

And things were only

just beginning

for him then.

However young

or old

we may be

or feel,

there's always

more ahead.

And the danger

can be

that the longer

we've been carrying

around that message

of the Christian gospel,

we can become

so familiarised

with it

that we forget

just how life-transforming

it is.

I'll tell you a story.

One of the meetings

that I really,

really love going to

every year

is the Methodist

District Synod.

I love it.

Several hours

of sitting in a church,

listening to all kinds

of talks and presentations

about church politics.

It's wonderful.

One of the synods

we have each year

is a bit different

and the focus

is more on ministry.

And part of

that annual event

is actually

when ministers

that are coming up

to retiring

will stand up

and will share

some of their stories

of their experiences

of ministry

as they come up

to retire.

And to be really serious

for one moment,

that is one part

of the synod

that actually

I find absolutely fascinating.

And there was one story

a couple of years ago

shared by a minister

who was just coming up

to retire

and they had spent

some of their ministry,

I can't remember

which exact country it was,

but it was an eastern

African state

where the language

was Swahili.

and they couldn't speak

a word of it

when they first arrived.

And so they said

that they had to have

an interpreter with them.

And they'd been in ministry

for some time,

they'd been preaching

for years,

but they were leading

this service

that was in Swahili.

So they would preach

in English

and the translator

would translate

into Swahili.

And they said

that as this happened,

that they couldn't

quite understand

the behaviour

of the translator.

This minister said

that they were preaching

this sermon,

they would pause

for a line

and allow for the

translation to happen.

And the further,

the deeper they got

into this message,

the longer

and more elaborate

the translation

seemed to be.

And as it happened,

this translator

didn't just stand there

and translate,

but started to get

quite excited

and quite emotional.

And they couldn't

understand how they

would feed them

one sentence in English

and it would be followed

by several sentences

in Swahili

as this translator

jumped up

and down

and started crying

and laughing

and engaging

and expressing

all sorts

of emotional responses.

They got about

halfway through this

and they thought

something's going on here

that I don't know about.

So they took

the translator

to one side

and they said,

is everything all right?

Yeah.

It's your message.

It's amazing.

And this minister

was thinking to themselves,

is it?

And they shared

that story

to say that

ever since that experience,

they have never,

ever, ever

gone into preaching

with this sense of,

well, it's just

the same old message again.

And yet there's

the danger

that it can be.

The assumption

that we inadvertently

take

that actually

this story

has just been told

so many times.

We've heard it all before.

And that's not just

the case

if you're a preacher.

It's true for any one of us.

If you've been following Jesus

and you've heard these stories

over and over again,

we can lose sight

of the power,

the transforming power

of Jesus Christ.

And that's something

that we need

to stay close to,

to hold dear to.

I remember years ago

I was taking a wedding

and we had

the reading

from Corinthians,

Paul's passage on love.

And afterwards,

somebody came up to me

and said,

what were those words?

And I remember

being taken aback

and said,

so what are you talking about?

Those words

in the service.

I was thinking,

what would we do

that was so out of the ordinary?

No,

they opened up

the order of service

and they pointed

exactly what they were referring to.

And they were referring

to the Bible reading

from 1 Corinthians 13.

They'd never heard it before.

As the conversation went on,

it turned out

that actually

they hadn't heard

much of the Bible

at all before.

we can become

so accustomed

to the story

of Jesus,

to the saving power

of the Gospel,

to the transforming power

of the whole message,

that we lose sight

of just how

amazing it is.

Abraham,

at 75 years old,

as he has this

wake-up call from God,

step out

because I'm about to do

something amazing

in your life,

reminds us

that we must never

become weary

of this message

because it is a message

that is irrelevant

every single day

you woke up

as it was the first day

that you heard it

and responded to it.

You see,

we're called

to be expectant.

We're called

to be

in that position

of poise

to receive

the Gospel

every day

as though

it were the first time

we've ever heard it.

That can be

a frightening thing

when that involves

stepping out

into the unknown.

But it's what

we're called to do

in some way

or another

to embrace

the unknown.

For Abraham,

at 70 years old,

he was called

to leave behind

everything that he

was familiar with

and go off

to a land

trusting

that even though

he couldn't see it,

God could.

And that may mean

a different thing

for each and every

one of us

but it is something

that is for each

and every one of us.

That every day,

even though we don't know

what lies ahead,

God does

and he invites

us to be poised.

So we come to pray.

I want to share

with you

one last image.

Could we have a picture

on the screen

of this

particular animal?

Does anyone know

what animal that is?

It's called

an impala.

It's an impala.

It can

it's an African impala.

It can jump

over 10 feet high

and over a distance

over 30 feet.

Extraordinary.

And yet,

if you put it

in enclosed conditions

in a zoo

behind a wall

that's only

three feet high,

it won't move.

It refuses to budge.

And the reason

why this animal

that is capable

of jumping

such large distances

will actually

refuse to move

if you surround it

with such a small wall

is this.

Even though

it can jump,

it won't

if it can't

see

where its feet

will land.

All of that potential,

all of that power,

and yet

when it can't see

where it's going,

remains unleashed.

God has plans

for each

and every

single one of us,

no matter how old

or young we are.

Every day

of our lives,

danger can be

we wince away

because we don't

know where it's going.

Abraham didn't

know where it was going.

But God said

to him,

as he says

to you and me,

come,

trust me,

I've got

great things

in store.

Let's pray together.

Lord,

thank you

for this story

of Abraham

and how

through him

you point us

to Jesus

and show us

that you are

the God

who rescues,

the God

who calls us

to step out

into something

new,

to step out

into the unknown,

to leave

the past

behind

and to embrace

what to us

may be an unknown

future,

but to you,

you know it all.

Lord,

forgive us

how

we retreat

from trusting

in you.

Forgive us

for when we are

reluctant

to step out,

to leave the past

behind

and to embrace

that unknown

future.

Lord,

whatever

unknown future

we may be

facing now,

help us

to trust

in you

with that.

Help us

to hand

that over

to you

and to have

the courage,

whatever it

means for each

of us,

to take that

step forward,

knowing that

all is in

your hands

now and in

the time

to come.

In Jesus'

name we pray.

Amen.