Lent 2                                                  Gen. 12:1-9                                                 2/20/05

                                                              “Journey”

At some point before I went to seminary I became fascinated with the story of Abraham.  I was particularly taken with this journey he begins as recorded in today’s first lesson.  As I worked my way through Abraham’s long and challenging life I was struck with how Abraham’s journey was a metaphor – a symbolic parallel for all believer’s lives, particularly mine.  I had heard God’s call to leave my home and begin a journey.  I had no idea where God would lead me or what would happen along the way.  As I look back, I see that that is probably for the best.  There have been parts of the journey that have been inspiring and beautiful that I might have liked to know were just ahead.  But, there have also been long scary or painful stretches of the journey, and it is probably better that  I didn’t have to worry about them in advance.  

Each of us is on our own journey.  We may travel at times as a group and we certainly meet and touch others for good or ill along the way, but each person’s journey is his/her own and includes unique experiences. 

 In any case, whatever happens on our journey, we have the promise that God will be with us, just as He was with Abraham.  

As the story of Abram’s journey continues beyond even the extended lesson I had read today, Abram is allowed to stop for a while periodically. He travels from Canaan to Egypt to Bethel to Hebron to the Negev region to Beersheba and finally back to Hebron.

In the midst of this journey God gives Abram a promise – that he will be the father of many nations and his heirs will possess the lands he’s traveling through.  This promise of sons is important to a man of that time because sons were his eternal life.  With the renewal of the promise God also changes the travelers’ names from Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah signifying that they have a special, God given destiny.  When God makes or renews His promise Abraham also has his trust renewed and he builds an altar to worship God in that place.

During these travels, he sometimes acts with nobility and courage as when he generously divides his wealth with his nephew Lot, or when he saves Lot who had settled in the Sodom/Gommorah area from the destruction that God wrecked upon those wicked cities.

At other times, Abram shows his human weakness as when twice he passes his wife Sarai off as his sister because a king wants her and Abram fears the king will kill him to get her.  He also at times fails to trust God’s promise as he and Sarai become aged and he takes her slave to produce children for him.

And thus we see the journey of Abraham and Sarah – a journey that begins when Abram is 75 years old and Sarai was about 65. (She must have been some woman to attract two different kings at such an advanced age)  This is a journey that will end near where it began but will encompass many joys and sorrows, fearful times and times of triumph, great faith and true humanity.  Through it all, we see a man St. Paul will hold up as a model for all Christians, but still a man who falters and sins, who fails to trust God just as often as his faith carries him through. 

Our lives follow the path of Abraham, not geographically but humanly.   

God calls each of us on a journey to places unknown and for reasons we may not even understand.  He doesn’t wait usually till we are seventy-five, of course, but the call is just as remarkable and our destiny just as special.  We start our individual journeys without a clue as to where we are going.  Oh, we may dream, even plan, our lives out.  We may decide we will study to be a doctor or teacher.  We may be determined that we will stay on the family homestead all our lives or travel the seven seas.  We may invest for the future and plan an easy life in the years ahead.  But, in the long run, we never know when God is going to call us out to follow a new path, live life differently, even risk it all. 

When we are able to follow the model of faithful Abraham we are able to hear God’s promises and see Him blessing us.  And hopefully, when we are able to hear and see God working in our lives, we too build altars to thank him.  Our altars though are not made of stone like those Abraham built, but their effect may be just as lasting.  Our altars are the good that we do for others.  Our altars get built when we are able to look outside ourselves to the needs of others.  An altar may be built on baby clothing shared with a friend on his property or snow shoveled from the sidewalk of  someone who can’t.  An altar may appear in the form of a meal delivered to the person next door who is just home from the hospital or a check sent to Lutheran World Relief to help a neighbor far away.  It may be as solid as an arm around the shoulder of a grieving friend or as airy as a joke told to raise the spirit of someone weighed down with worry.  It may be words of support and affirmation, or a card that says, “I care.”  Whatever the form, an altar involves an action that dedicates us anew to God in response to what He has first done for us.

Wherever we go on our journey and no matter what happens along the way, we go as the people we are, just as Abraham did.  We will have moments of great faith, but also times when our human weaknesses cause us or others great pain.  We will perform acts of courage, but will also commit shameful sins.

We may, in fact, resemble different characters in Abraham’s journey at different times.  While most of the time we are Abraham faithfully following God’s direction.  We may also be Sarah – misused and victimized at one point and an abuser at another.  We may be like Lot who takes what is given him and settles in with little awareness of the dangers or temptations all around, thus having to be saved by Abraham.  We may sometimes be the king or the people of Sodom Gommorah, intent on just having our own way and not caring who gets hurt in the getting.  We may even be the altar built by Abraham to show his thanks or a tree at Mamre that gives shade to another weary traveler. 

 Wherever we go, whatever we do and whoever we may be at any given point in our journeys though, nothing will negate the promise of God’s grace available to us at all times.  And in the end, if we listen to God’s direction, our journey will end right back where it began as well.  Then we will find that just as we began our journey in God, we will complete it there as well.  In fact, when the end comes we will learn that we were being held in God all along the way.  May each of us now continue our journeys filled with God’s grace and love.  

As a reminder that God is with us in our journey, blessing us and renewing His promise to us, and also as a reminder to us to build altars please choose a stone from the baskets that are being passed around.