June 11, 2023
Swimming was something I learned late. I was 9 years old when I finally passed beginners. It didn’t help that I had a brother who liked to dunk my head under the water, although I was afraid to put my head under water. It took me awhile to learn to swim, but I saw other kids doing it. When I finally learned, I loved swimming. There are some parents who teach their kids how to swim by throwing them in the water. But most often, it’s something we learn by following the lead of others who know how to swim.
In our walk with God, we often measure ourselves against others. Am I keeping up with other people? Do I pray as good as others? Maybe other people seem to have the perfect family or more money. And you might wonder, did God bless them more because He thinks they’re better? We wonder if we are doing this God thing right. We sometimes measure our walk with God by comparing. But God is not concerned with how you’re doing compared with others. He is interested in something else.
We see that when we look at Abraham. Have you heard of Abraham? Abraham wasn’t perfect, he sinned. You’ve probably heard about him, not because he is better than us. He’s famous because he responded to God’s promise and stepped out in faith. He followed God’s call.
God created people; we are important to Him and He loves us. In the book of Genesis, God is busy doing great things for people! He creates the universe and the Garden of Eden. And what happens? People sin! Adam and Eve break the only rule and eat the forbidden fruit. They have two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel. Then Cain asks God, not for forgiveness. He says to God, people are mad at me. Will you keep them from killing me? God says, ok.
Then people build the tower of Babel. In Genesis 11:4 they say, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” People wanted life to be better. Their dream was to make a name for themselves. They come up with their own plan, to build a giant tower.
God had different plans. Life isn’t just about greatness for me and making a name for me. Other people matter too!
God wasn’t having much luck with humans. They sinned! They preferred to go their own way.
That’s when we get to Genesis 12. Humanity is a mess, so God decides to relate to humans in a different way. He chooses a relationship with one individual. Abraham.
God chooses Abraham. God decides to make promises and give a gift to Abraham. Through Abraham God would bring all people back into relationship with Him. God starts by calling Abraham.
God says in Genesis 12:2, “I will bless you and make your name great (or make you a great nation)” God also remembered that in the past people built the tower of Babel because they wanted a great name. People want that. But God has a condition: He will only make Abraham great, or make him a great nation, with one condition. Verse continues: “I will make your name great so that you may be a blessing.”
God is saying, I’ll help you be that great nation, have that great name, that’s my gift to you! But it’s not just for you. You are to be a blessing to others, God says, I’m going to bless those who bless you. I’m going to curse those who curse you. And in you, Abraham, ALL the families of earth shall be blessed!
God is starting a relationship with Abraham, promising him, a great name. And God also has a purpose for Abraham that his life makes the world better!
There is no contract. Abraham doesn’t sign on the bottom line that he won’t kill his brother like Cain did. God is offering Abraham a relationship with Him.
God says to Abraham, go from your country, your people, and your father’s land to the place I will show you. This is a huge thing God calls Abraham to do. But Abraham says, Ok! At 75 years old, he picks up and goes to parts unknown.
What God offers, is to be Abraham’s God, and be his mentor. To lead him. And Abraham decides to follow.
This will happen again in Genesis. God will make this promise to Abraham’s son, Isaac. God will make this promise to Isaac’s son, Jacob. He helps Abraham and his descendants. God will overcome obstacles to these promises. The Lord has started a relationship, not with perfect people, but with willing people. God isn’t concerned with how far along you are in your spiritual journey. He just wants you to follow Him.
When Jesus called his 12 disciples, he didn’t ask for their resume. He didn’t check their references. He didn’t interview them or give them a test to see if they knew the Scriptures. He didn’t ask them to pray. Jesus just said, “Follow me.” And they dropped everything: their family and livelihood to follow Jesus. Jesus wasn’t looking for spiritual greatness. He was looking for people who were willing to follow him.
Jesus didn’t ask the people you’d expect to follow. He didn’t pick those who had trained to be religious leaders. In our gospel today, Jesus picked Matthew, a guy who was a tax collector, to be his disciple. Tax collectors were known sinners: they collected more taxes than were owed. They kept that extra money for themselves. The Pharisees asked, why is Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors? Jesus wasn’t concerned with how far along those 12 men were in their spiritual journey. He just wanted 12 who would follow.
God wasn’t looking for a saint when he called Abraham. Honestly, that’s unrealistic to try to find someone holier than others, because we all sin! We don’t even know if Abraham believed in God when he was called. God was looking for someone willing to follow. Abraham followed!
That means, we don’t need to be concerned about how we’re doing spiritually compared to others. Since they followed, God made the 12 disciples and Abraham into people of faith who blessed the world. God knew if they followed, they would eventually learn and grow.
My challenge for you this week is to pray, “Lord where you lead, I will follow.”
In Genesis, God discovered that we humans are kind of self-centered. With Abraham, God decided to do something different. God made a promise to Abraham: you will have a great name, be a great nation, in order that the world will be blessed! God told Abraham to go to the land I will show you. Abraham did. He followed God. Sometimes Abraham got it right. Sometimes he got it wrong. But he followed. He was connected to God. And God made him the father of Judaism, and Christians as well. About 16 million people in the world are Jewish. A third of the world’s population is Christian. We are children of Abraham, when we say to God, “I will follow.” Amen.
Maureen Duffy-Guy's blog 