Most people do not realize it, but God put in calls to other people before finally putting in a call to Abram.
First God called Eber and said, “Eber, leave your country and your neighbors and your family and go to a land I will show to you, and I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great and you will be a blessing; all who bless you will be blessed and all who curse you will be cursed and through you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
And Eber said, “Who are you?”
And God said, “God.”
And Eber said, “The god of what?”
And God said, “The God of everything.”
And Eber said, “Don’t be ridiculous, there is no god of everything. There is a god of the sun and a god of the moon, a god of the night and a god of the day, a god of the mountains and a god of the valleys, a god of the forests and a god of the deserts. If you ask me, you are a little late. Everything already has a god, and there is no god of everything. Maybe if you look hard, you can find something that doesn’t already have a god. As a matter of fact, I think there is no god of frogs at the moment. Why don’t you go check that out and then we can talk, because there just is no god of everything.”
But Eber and God never talked again.
The next person God called was Peleg. God said, “Peleg, leave your country and your neighbors and your family and go to a land I will show to you, and I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great and you will be a blessing; all who bless you will be blessed and all who curse you will be cursed and through you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
And Peleg said, “Who are you?”
And God said, “God.”
And Peleg said, “Where are you?”
And God said, “I am everywhere.”
And Peleg said, “If you are everywhere where do they put your statue so that people can bow down to you?”
And God said, “I am invisible and no one may make a statue of me.”
Peleg rolled on the ground with laughter. “Now let me get this straight! You are the invisible god of everything with no statue, and you want me to leave my home and follow you to a place you will show me? Do you think I am crazy? Now look, why don’t you go to a good idol maker and have a nice sculpture made of your image, and then we can find a nice place to put it down where people can bow to it, and then we can talk.”
But God and Peleg never talked again.
Then God went to Serug and said, “Serug, leave your country and your neighbors and your family and go to a land I will show to you, and I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great and you will be a blessing; all who bless you will be blessed and all who curse you will be cursed and through you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
And Serug said, “Who are you?”
And God said, “God.”
And Serug said, “What will you give me?”
And God said, “I just told you.”
And Serug said, “You don’t understand. I am not interested in moving anywhere or doing anything just so that my great-great-great-grandchildren will be a great na-tion. I want to know what is in this deal for me right now. Maybe if you showered me with some of those blessings up front I might be convinced. How about giving me all the money in the world and the kingship of all the lands? What do you say?”
But God said nothing. Then Serug said, “All right, let’s be reasonable. I will go wherever you want for most of the money in the world and the kingship of the five largest countries. How about that?” But God said nothing.
That was the last Serug ever heard from God.
By that time, God was not sure about finding the right man. But God went to Abram and said, “Abram, leave your country and your neighbors and your family and go to a land I will show to you, and I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great and you will be a blessing; all who bless you will be blessed and all who curse you will be cursed and through you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
And Abram said, “I will go, but there is just one thing I want.” God asked what that one thing was, and Abram answered, “I want to take my family with me.”
God asked him, “That’s it? You just want your family to come with you? Don’t you want to see me?”
And Abram said, “No.”
And God asked, “Don’t you want to bow down to a statue of me?”
And Abram said, “No.”
And God asked, “Abram, don’t you want anything for yourself?”
And Abram said, “No.”
Right then God decided not to ask any more questions, and God let Abram gather his family and pack their things for the journey to the place that God would show to them. Right then God knew that the right man was going to the right place at the right time for the right reasons. God also knew that such things hardly ever happen.
~ Marc Gellman, DOES GOD HAVE A BIG TOE?: Stories About Stories in the Bible
And because every good road trip needs traveling music there are likely beautiful songs from the time and tradition that Abram and those traveling with him would have played and sang, but I think, if he had known it, he might have sang this song from the great theologian and poet: Dolly Parton.
Well, I can’t tell you where I’m goin’, I’m not sure of where I’ve been
But I know I must keep travelin’ ’til my road comes to an end
I’m out here on my journey, tryin’ to make the most of it
I’m a puzzle, I must figure out where all my pieces fit
Like a poor wayfarin’ stranger that they speak about in song
I’m just a weary pilgrim tryin’ to find what feels like home
Where that is, no one can tell me, am I doomed to ever roam?
I’m just travelin’, travelin’, travelin’, I’m just travelin’ on
The first mention of Abram is in the chapter the before. It starts with his father Terah, and Abram’s 2 brothers, youngest, Haran, the father of Lot who dies young, long beforeTerah. Terah decides to take all his people to Canaan. But they don’t make it, they settle in Haran, it is there that Terah will die, and from there that God calls Abram to go.
Did you notice? The name of Abram’s brother and the place where they settled was the same and they couldn’t leave? Did they run across this town that already shared the name? Did they name the place after Abram’s brother? Is it all a metaphor? They were people who were going somewhere, and then got stuck in their grief, their loss, their ideas of what should have been. They settled in: built foundations and walls and fences. They got stopped in their grief, the past, in what had been, in what should be if it all went the way it was supposed to. And maybe they didn’t know what to do next, or the next step was too difficult or scary to take, or they hoped that someone if they stayed put they could recapture some of what had been.
Questions I have many, answers but a few
We’re here to learn the spirit burns, to know the greater truth
We’ve all been crucified and they nailed Jesus to the tree
And when I’m born again, you’re gonna see a change in me
God calls Abram to go.
Abram leaves nearly everyone he has ever known, every place he has ever been, his father, a sure and stable future for little more than a vague promise from a God he’s only just met. With great courage and faith he wanders through the desert chasing a dream of sand and stars. And it’s not a one time act of trust. It becomes his new way of living. For the rest of his life, Abraham is pitching tents and pulling up stakes, digging wells and building altars, negotiating with neighbors and invoking the name of the LORD. He became the father of all wandering Arameans who leave everything behind to live for something greater than themselves. For the rest of his life, he’s a stranger wherever he goes and when his life reaches its end, he owns only a garden with a tomb.
But the call wasn’t just to go and trusting in this God he just met, The call of God to Abram was to go and be a blessing, to leave the world and all the creatures in it better than he found them. To exude blessing wherever he would go. And God promises to take care of the rest. All the things that people strive for: the name for themselves, the power, the position, the wealth and property, all things that we fight our neighbors and nations for–God promises to take care of that. Abram’s responsibility was go where God leads you and be a blessing.
God made me for a reason and nothin’ is in vain
Redemption comes in many shapes with many kinds of pain
Oh, sweet Jesus, if you’re listenin’, keep me ever close to you
As I’m stumblin’, tumblin’, wanderin’, as I’m travelin’ through
Dolly lived as a pilgrim, as if the world wasn’t true home and she was just travelin’ thru it. She rose from extreme poverty to be one of the most successful country music artists of her generation. But she didn’t hoard her wealth. As much as she was known for her music, her movies, and her theme parks— she was also known for her philanthropy. As I’ve been talking to people these past few weeks, that’s the thing people have wanted to talk about. The stories of what she did with what was given to her. How she used her blessings to bless others.
How she formed the Imagination Library in 1995, to combat illiteracy in her own back yard by providing free books to children. Now it is a global charity that has provided free books to more than 3 million children.
How she donated 1 million dollars to the Vanderbilt University Medical center to fund the research that resulted in Moderna’s COVID 19 vaccine. She later publicly rolled up her sleeve and received the vaccine to show her community that it was safe.
How, when Whitney Houston made I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU a multi-diamond hit, she reinvested the lion’s share of the royalties into a historically black neighborhood in Nashville.
How she started something called the Buddy Program in Sevier County schools. Each middle school student was challenged to pick a buddy. If they and their buddy both graduated high school, each would receive $500. The drop out rate decreased from 35% to 6%.
And on and on, for groups of people and one on one.
And it goes on: How she paid 100% of the tuition and books for any Dollywood employee seeking higher education. How she donated $1000 to every family affected by the wildfires in Gatlinburg. How she donated millions of dollars to children’s hospitals and cancer wards around the country. Not to mention the countless stories of individuals whose lives were changed by her kindness and generosity. She was a silent producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She cared for the LGBT+ folks who loved her near and far.
She lived a call, Abram’s call: to, meet the world, be a blessing.
Oh, sometimes the road is rugged and it’s hard to travel on
But holdin’ to each other, we don’t have to walk alone
When everything is broken, we can mend it if we try
We can make a world of difference, if we want to, we can fly
Ours is the same call: Go and be a blessing.
It’s cliche to say that we’re on a journey but we say cliche’s because they are often true. I want to believe that if I get it all sorted out, I know how to plan my next step, build foundations, walls, fences. But the world doesn’t work that way, we don’t always know where our next footfall will land, or what’s around the next bend. we are always journeying into the unknown like Abram–a loss, illness, new neighbor, unexpected news–we can’t control the journey. we get sad or comfortable or stuck and we decide to stay put, we make it safe, we decide to stay. But life, the journey, the road, continues. Sometimes we move on from the place and sometimes the place moves on from us, but the journey will continue. The call is the same: Go and be a blessing.
Go into the unknown and bless those you find there.
Go uncomfortably and be a blessing
Go into the world God made and loves, and overflow in blessing.
And it might mean going somewhere unexpected. Some literal place you’ve never been before. Or experiencing something you’ve never imagined before. Or leaving behind the expectations of what your life could have been, or used to be. And it might mean how we have always done things isn’t how it can be if we’re moving forward.
Each of us on this journey of life can make a world of difference. Most of us aren’t country music stars with millions of dollars to spend but I’m willing to bet we have more than a widow’s mite in our pocket. like Abraham, and like Dolly, we have been blessed so that we can be a blessing to others. But we have to be willing to pull up stakes and go where God calls us. We have to be willing to build altars and dig wells to leave behind. We have to trust that where we’ve come from does not define us so much as where we’re going. There is no more genuine faith than a generous heart. The willingness to give of our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness tells the world we truly believe what we say we do. That our hope is more real to us than sand and stars.
And as we go, maybe we’ll pray with Abraham Dolly
Goodbye little children, goodnight you handsome men
Farewell to all you ladies and to all who knew me when
And I hope I see you down the road, you meant more than I knew
As I was travelin’, travelin’, travelin’, travelin’, travelin’ through
I’m just travelin’, travelin’, travelin’, travelin’, i’m just travelin’
Drifting like a floating boat and roaming like the wind
O give me some direction lord let me lean on you
As I’m travelin’, travelin’, travelin’, travelin’ through
The idea of this sermon and portions were lifted from: Danny Nettleton
https://sermontelling.substack.com/