Blessed To Be A Blessing
Sermon
WRESTLINGS, WONDERS AND WANDERERS!
Sermons For Pentecost (First Third)
Abram was a remarkable man. Forget the fact that he was still able at age 99 to father children! The first remarkable thing about Abram was that he was willing to believe God and so set out on a journey to an unknown land, without the security of country and kindred but only the promise that God would take care of him. How many of you at age 75 or even 35 would make that kind of journey, that kind of commitment?
At first it seems like a rosy future: a great nation, a new land, blessings promised to those whom Abram blesses, and curses on ones whom Abram curses. What could Abram have to lose? Several things come to my mind: a sense of stability, worldly comfort (such as it was in those days), family ties. Gone now were Abram's retirement plans -- no 42 parties, no bridge games, no 18 holes of golf three days a week, no playing the stock market with retirement funds, no evening walks in suburbia with Sarai.
Of course, they would get to travel, but that would be without the luxury of American Express and Visa and without the convenience of returning home when they had had enough. Just imagine God going before our adult Sunday school classes and asking for volunteers for this journey! How many couples would be ready to go? Not many, I suppose.
But Abram, despite his age, despite his physical condition, despite the riskiness of pursuing God's promises… Abram said "Yes" to God and left for the land of Canaan with only a handful of possessions, a few family members and a bagful of promises from God.
But I wonder if Abram really caught the larger vision. I'm relatively certain that he saw clearly the promise of many blessings: the gift of a great nation, of a new land and of many descendants. But did Abram really grasp the larger picture, the one that most of us really don't see and that even fewer pursue? Did you hear this "master plan" in God's word to Abram? Did you grasp the "purpose" of the Hebrew nation? Did you discover the "overview" of the Old Testament, indeed a key theme of the whole Bible?
This theme is quite obvious. Let me simply read again the verses that contain it. Surely you can pick it out!
I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3 NRSV).
What is God's overall plan? To make the Hebrews great? To reward the Hebrews for their goodness? To separate out the chosen people in order to honor them, serve them, please them? To play favorites with his children? No!
The purpose behind the blessing of the Hebrews is to bless the world. The role of the Hebrews is not to be favorite sons and daughters but to ensure that all of God's children become truly blessed. To put it simply, Israel was blessed in order to be a blessing. Their primary task in life was not to act as if they were No. 1 but to ensure that even the least of all peoples would feel the showers of God's blessings.
Abram's mission was more than to father an heir or to claim a territory. His mission was to set into motion God's plan of creation, the blessing of every last creature who lives and moves and has being! Now, that is a task worthy of leaving retirement plans behind! That is a task worth the risk! That is a purpose worthy of ultimate commitment!
So it is that the people called Hebrews were given a commission. It was and still is more than survival of a family. It is to be the survival and flourishing of all families. The Jew must concern himself with more than the gift of the land; he also must be concerned with how he may fulfill the call to bless all people -- and that means even Palestinians.
But the religious ones called Jews and the citizens called Israelis have no less a biblical commission than we who are Christians and U.S. citizens. The charge that was given to the Hebrews -- to bless all people -- was taken up by Jesus, for he came to be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for the glory of your people Israel (Luke 2:32)." And that charge was passed on to us, his church: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19 NRSV)."
We, no less than the Hebrews, no less than the Jews, are entrusted with blessing our world and its peoples. We are asked to minister to the needy and the vulnerable, not simply to the worthy and the influential.
As a country we are glad to claim God's blessings. We do not totally ignore the many privileges we enjoy. That is not our primary problem. We have no trouble seeing that God has blessed America. Our problem is that we are confused as to why God has blessed us. Many of us think it is because we are great. Many think it is because we have been good. Some even think God has nothing to do with the advantages we enjoy, that they are only the results of our hard work or ingenuity or shrewdness.
Is it possible that whatever blessings God has showered on the United States are not for the sake of our indulgence or a reward for our great behavior but are for a singular purpose, a purpose much the same as that of Abram and his people -- that we are blessed in order to be a blessing?
Can we now, as a country, move from the role of liberator to that of humanitarian? Can we continue to help the people of Kuwait, so badly brutalized by an oppressive army? And are there not victims also in Iraq, those who were forced into war by terrorism? Can we not have compassion for all of God's people?
I believe that to whatever extent the United States has been blessed, to that extent we are asked to be a blessing. We are not asked by God simply to count our blessings but to share them.
Do you feel resistance inside you when I say, "share?" Would you rather hear the promises of our text to us, the promises of blessings and greatness, and forget the promises made to all of creation?
But our text does not end with a blessing for the Hebrews or his chosen people. It does not stop with a national blessing but reaches its rightful conclusion only with an international blessing.
Today we desperately need a "new world order." By that I do not mean a political structure to maintain peace, as important as that is. What we need is a new world order based on Genesis 12:2-3 where every nation and every religious group sees its mission beyond blessing itself. The new world order will understand that God is not on the side of one nation but of all nations. God does not love some of his people and despise the rest. He has called all of his creation good and chooses to bless it and all its creatures.
Would you be surprised if I told you that Genesis 12 is not just the story of Abram, not just the story of Israelites, not just the story of the Bible, not just an intent of Jesus' ministry, not just a purpose of the church? Would you be shocked if I insisted that Genesis 12 is our story, that it is not simply Abram's purpose but our purpose?
Have we not been blessed in order to be a blessing? If not, then why have we been blessed? Is it because we have been so good? Do you really believe that? Some of our friends may have some doubts about that!
And if we do accept Abram's call, what would that mean? Could we be asked to take some risks, make some sacrifices? Perhaps. Even at age 75? Possibly.
Would more be required of us than simply keeping a running total of our blessings? Yes, more would be required. We would be asked to share, to give.
Would we be expected even with limited talents and resources, to be a blessing? Yes, we would and, yes, we could.
Would we be expected to spend less time and energy blessing ourselves and more time and energy blessing others? Precisely.
"But I want to be blessed." So do others. "But I like my comforts." Can we hear those words, "You are blessed in order to be a blessing?"
"But I am barren. I have no life in me." God promises new life. God empowers us to be blessings. God promises to go with us.
Many centuries ago an old man received a call. Surprisingly, he left his home and ventured out to a new frontier with only the promise of future blessings. He began with a tired, broken-down body, a barren wife, a few possessions. He did not have even a compass to guide him.
But his nation was blessed, and from that nation came a Savior; and from that Savior, a church; and from that church, people committed to continuing Abram's call.
It is a call not to status and favor, not to privilege and honor. It is not a call to amass blessings for ourselves but to be a part of a kingdom where God's master plan unfolds… the blessing of all his children.
I have no doubt that we gathered here today are blessed people. I only pray that we will learn to be people who bless others.
That was God's call to Abram.
It is now yours and mine!
At first it seems like a rosy future: a great nation, a new land, blessings promised to those whom Abram blesses, and curses on ones whom Abram curses. What could Abram have to lose? Several things come to my mind: a sense of stability, worldly comfort (such as it was in those days), family ties. Gone now were Abram's retirement plans -- no 42 parties, no bridge games, no 18 holes of golf three days a week, no playing the stock market with retirement funds, no evening walks in suburbia with Sarai.
Of course, they would get to travel, but that would be without the luxury of American Express and Visa and without the convenience of returning home when they had had enough. Just imagine God going before our adult Sunday school classes and asking for volunteers for this journey! How many couples would be ready to go? Not many, I suppose.
But Abram, despite his age, despite his physical condition, despite the riskiness of pursuing God's promises… Abram said "Yes" to God and left for the land of Canaan with only a handful of possessions, a few family members and a bagful of promises from God.
But I wonder if Abram really caught the larger vision. I'm relatively certain that he saw clearly the promise of many blessings: the gift of a great nation, of a new land and of many descendants. But did Abram really grasp the larger picture, the one that most of us really don't see and that even fewer pursue? Did you hear this "master plan" in God's word to Abram? Did you grasp the "purpose" of the Hebrew nation? Did you discover the "overview" of the Old Testament, indeed a key theme of the whole Bible?
This theme is quite obvious. Let me simply read again the verses that contain it. Surely you can pick it out!
I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3 NRSV).
What is God's overall plan? To make the Hebrews great? To reward the Hebrews for their goodness? To separate out the chosen people in order to honor them, serve them, please them? To play favorites with his children? No!
The purpose behind the blessing of the Hebrews is to bless the world. The role of the Hebrews is not to be favorite sons and daughters but to ensure that all of God's children become truly blessed. To put it simply, Israel was blessed in order to be a blessing. Their primary task in life was not to act as if they were No. 1 but to ensure that even the least of all peoples would feel the showers of God's blessings.
Abram's mission was more than to father an heir or to claim a territory. His mission was to set into motion God's plan of creation, the blessing of every last creature who lives and moves and has being! Now, that is a task worthy of leaving retirement plans behind! That is a task worth the risk! That is a purpose worthy of ultimate commitment!
So it is that the people called Hebrews were given a commission. It was and still is more than survival of a family. It is to be the survival and flourishing of all families. The Jew must concern himself with more than the gift of the land; he also must be concerned with how he may fulfill the call to bless all people -- and that means even Palestinians.
But the religious ones called Jews and the citizens called Israelis have no less a biblical commission than we who are Christians and U.S. citizens. The charge that was given to the Hebrews -- to bless all people -- was taken up by Jesus, for he came to be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for the glory of your people Israel (Luke 2:32)." And that charge was passed on to us, his church: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19 NRSV)."
We, no less than the Hebrews, no less than the Jews, are entrusted with blessing our world and its peoples. We are asked to minister to the needy and the vulnerable, not simply to the worthy and the influential.
As a country we are glad to claim God's blessings. We do not totally ignore the many privileges we enjoy. That is not our primary problem. We have no trouble seeing that God has blessed America. Our problem is that we are confused as to why God has blessed us. Many of us think it is because we are great. Many think it is because we have been good. Some even think God has nothing to do with the advantages we enjoy, that they are only the results of our hard work or ingenuity or shrewdness.
Is it possible that whatever blessings God has showered on the United States are not for the sake of our indulgence or a reward for our great behavior but are for a singular purpose, a purpose much the same as that of Abram and his people -- that we are blessed in order to be a blessing?
Can we now, as a country, move from the role of liberator to that of humanitarian? Can we continue to help the people of Kuwait, so badly brutalized by an oppressive army? And are there not victims also in Iraq, those who were forced into war by terrorism? Can we not have compassion for all of God's people?
I believe that to whatever extent the United States has been blessed, to that extent we are asked to be a blessing. We are not asked by God simply to count our blessings but to share them.
Do you feel resistance inside you when I say, "share?" Would you rather hear the promises of our text to us, the promises of blessings and greatness, and forget the promises made to all of creation?
But our text does not end with a blessing for the Hebrews or his chosen people. It does not stop with a national blessing but reaches its rightful conclusion only with an international blessing.
Today we desperately need a "new world order." By that I do not mean a political structure to maintain peace, as important as that is. What we need is a new world order based on Genesis 12:2-3 where every nation and every religious group sees its mission beyond blessing itself. The new world order will understand that God is not on the side of one nation but of all nations. God does not love some of his people and despise the rest. He has called all of his creation good and chooses to bless it and all its creatures.
Would you be surprised if I told you that Genesis 12 is not just the story of Abram, not just the story of Israelites, not just the story of the Bible, not just an intent of Jesus' ministry, not just a purpose of the church? Would you be shocked if I insisted that Genesis 12 is our story, that it is not simply Abram's purpose but our purpose?
Have we not been blessed in order to be a blessing? If not, then why have we been blessed? Is it because we have been so good? Do you really believe that? Some of our friends may have some doubts about that!
And if we do accept Abram's call, what would that mean? Could we be asked to take some risks, make some sacrifices? Perhaps. Even at age 75? Possibly.
Would more be required of us than simply keeping a running total of our blessings? Yes, more would be required. We would be asked to share, to give.
Would we be expected even with limited talents and resources, to be a blessing? Yes, we would and, yes, we could.
Would we be expected to spend less time and energy blessing ourselves and more time and energy blessing others? Precisely.
"But I want to be blessed." So do others. "But I like my comforts." Can we hear those words, "You are blessed in order to be a blessing?"
"But I am barren. I have no life in me." God promises new life. God empowers us to be blessings. God promises to go with us.
Many centuries ago an old man received a call. Surprisingly, he left his home and ventured out to a new frontier with only the promise of future blessings. He began with a tired, broken-down body, a barren wife, a few possessions. He did not have even a compass to guide him.
But his nation was blessed, and from that nation came a Savior; and from that Savior, a church; and from that church, people committed to continuing Abram's call.
It is a call not to status and favor, not to privilege and honor. It is not a call to amass blessings for ourselves but to be a part of a kingdom where God's master plan unfolds… the blessing of all his children.
I have no doubt that we gathered here today are blessed people. I only pray that we will learn to be people who bless others.
That was God's call to Abram.
It is now yours and mine!
