The Call of Faith

Use these Series Materials to go deeper into this message on your own, or with your small group.

8:40 Service | 10:00 Service | 11:20 Service | Sermon Audio

Good morning Chapel family. This morning we start a brand new series on the life of Abraham. We’re calling the series “Journey of Faith,” because Abraham’s story is a story of movement. He never stays in one place for too long. And the reason for that movement is his relationship with God.

Abraham is one of those Old Testament characters who gets mentioned a lot in the New Testament. In Hebrews 11:8, it says: By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. I want us to remember this concept, because it will affect everything we’re about to see over the next eight weeks. Let me summarize it like this: By faith Abraham…obeyed and went. Would you say that with me? By faith Abraham obeyed and went.

So he encountered God, and he believed God—there was faith—there was trust—and that’s why he went. By faith Abraham obeyed and went.

Over these next eight weeks, if your heart is open, you will encounter God in some new ways. And you will realize that he’s calling you to take a step. To begin a journey. God is going to make it clear that it’s time to stop living the way you’ve been living—maybe in a big way, maybe in a smaller way. He’s going to call you to confront a situation in your life, or confront a person in your life, or confront a habit in yourself. He’s going to call you to take a step of service or generosity. Or something else. And when you hear that call, you will be strongly tempted to dismiss it or explain it away. To stay right where you are, safely in your comfort zone. And the question will be: do you believe God? Do you trust him? Because if you do, you’ll go. You’ll take that first step on the journey—with a million questions, and all kinds of fears—but you’ll go—not because you trust yourself, but because you trust him.

I mentioned last week that God is calling The Chapel on a journey. Over the next year, we’ll be mapping out our next ten years as a church. So there’s a journey ahead, not just for us as individuals, but for us as a church. And I’m trusting that God will use our study of Abraham to enlarge our faith and move us forward exactly where he wants us to go.

Genesis 12, verses 1-20. This is God’s Word for us today…

1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
  and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
  and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
  and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
  will be blessed through you.”

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

17 But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. This is the Word of the Lord.

This passage shows us that when God’s call is heard, people of faith respond in a certain way:
First, People of Faith Hold Things Loosely. Think about what God is asking Abram to do. He says, “I want you to leave your country—the place you’re familiar with—where you know the language and the customs and the roads and the food.” Let me ask you a question: how many of you have ever lived at least 100 miles from the place you were born? Just raise your hands. At some point in your life, you lived more than 100 miles from where you were born. Lots of us! In Abram’s day, that was unheard of. You just didn’t do that. Most people were born and lived and died in the same place.

Not only that, but God says, “I want you to leave your people and your father’s household.” The people you know; the people who know you. Again, back in that day, you just didn’t do that! You stayed loyal to your tribe, and your clan, and the idea of leaving them was unheard of! So God is asking Abram to hold loosely to the place and the people that he’s comfortable with. Not to cling to those things.

And here’s the kicker: God doesn’t even tell him where he’s going.

Years ago, in honor of my birthday, Norma Jean’s boss (who was also a friend of ours) gave me a unique present. He told us to meet him at 4:00 in the afternoon at a certain parking lot. When we got there, he handed us three envelopes, numbered one through three. He said, “Open the first envelope and follow the directions.” And he drove away. We opened the first one, and there were directions to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Weehawken. And we said, “I really hope there’s money in the next envelope, because that place is not cheap.” So we drove there, we gave our name to the hostess; they had a reservation for us, and dinner was paid for. Not a bad gift, right? But it got better…

Because in that first envelope, it also said, “While you’re having dessert, open the second envelope.” Norma Jean said, let’s just open them all right now! (And now you know my wife’s personality—she doesn’t like the rules!) And I said, “No—we have to follow the directions!” (And now you know my personality). So it was my birthday, so we did it my way. We waited until desert and we opened the second one, and it said, “Get on the ferry to Manhattan and open the third envelope while you’re crossing the river.” So we got on the ferry, and Norma Jean said, “Well, open the third envelope!” I said, “Let’s just enjoy the ride for a while.” No—we actually opened it right away. And it said, “Go to this Broadway theater, and go the ticket counter, and you’ll find two tickets to Beauty and the Beast.” It was probably the most creative birthday gift I’ve ever received. Don’t you wish you had a boss like that?

And I have to say: the fact that we didn’t know where we were going was exciting! We enjoyed the anticipation and the mystery. It was fun! For one night.

But can you imagine if your whole life were like that? Can you imagine God coming to Abram and saying, “I want you to leave everything you know and go to this land.” “What land, Lord?” “Ah-ah-ah—that’s in envelope number two. You don’t get to open that one yet! I’ll let you know when you can open that one! The first envelope says, “Pack up, and start going.”

And then, can you imagine Abram breaking this news to his wife?! “Um…Sarai? We need to pack our bags. We’re leaving our country, and our family, and everything we’ve ever known.” “Why?” “Because God said so.” “Well, where did he say we’re going?” “Ahh—He didn’t say.” What would any of us say to God if we got those kinds of instructions?

And yet, amazingly, Abram and Sarai pack up and go. So right from the start, you find out something about their faith: they are holding tightly to God, which means they hold loosely to everything else.

I wonder: is there something that you’re holding onto so tightly that you can’t be responsive to God when He calls you to do something?

Maybe it’s your reputation. “I can’t do that, because people would think I’m weird. I want people to like me.”

Maybe it’s a relationship—you’re dating someone, and it’s not a good situation, but you’re clinging to that relationship, and it’s holding you back from following God freely.

Maybe it’s your comfort or your security or your money or your plans.

So God says, “Go!” And you say, “I can’t. I’m holding onto my schedule. I can’t give to that need, because I’m holding onto my finances. I can’t take that risk, because I’m holding onto my security.”
People of faith hold things loosely. They refuse to get attached to anything that might interfere with following God. Where do you need to loosen your grip, so you can be free to move forward with God? People of faith hold things loosely.

Second, People of Faith Take God’s Goodness Seriously. Right after God commands Abram to God, he makes this promise—verses 2 and 3:

2 “I will make you into a great nation,
  and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
  and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
  and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
  will be blessed through you.”

This is the beginning of God calling out a people for himself. And to really see what’s happening here, there’s a word you have to understand. Did you notice a word that’s repeated a lot in those verses? What word is it? “Bless.” Four times! I will bless you; you will be a blessing; I will bless those who bless you; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. There is a lot of blessing going on! Wha does that mean?

Well, the root Hebrew word is barak—to bless. And it means to spiritually or physically enrich someone. When God blesses someone, he does good for them. So it’s a word that means divine favor, resulting in things like health; prosperity; protection; fruitfulness; well-being. So the God who calls Abram to go is a God who’s prepared to unleash blessing. Which tells us something so important about the heart of God: Our God is a God who loves to bless. He loves to show his goodness to people. Psalm 34:8—Taste and see that the Lord is good.

The Lord is good! Do you believe that? Because if you don’t believe that—if you have some doubts about the goodness of God—when God calls you to take a step, you’re not going anywhere. Because deep down, you wonder, “Does God really have my good in mind? Will taking this step maybe make my life worse?” And if there’s any doubt like that, you’ll stay right where you are. You will never follow a God that you don’t believe is good.

People of faith have been captivated by the goodness of God.

Now—let’s unpack this a little more. God says to Abram: “Not only am I going to form you into a nation, and bless you—do good to you…but also”—look at the end of verse 2—“you will be a blessing to others!” And then look at the end of verse 3: all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Sometimes we struggle with the idea of Israel being God’s chosen people. We say, “That’s not fair! Why would he choose them, and not others?” But can’t you see that God’s blessing was never intended to stop with Abram! God’s blessing was never intended to stop with Israel! He says, all peoples on earth will be blessed through you!

How is that? How is it that all people on earth would be blessed through Abram and his descendants? Because many, many generations after this—after Abram’s descendants had become as numerous as the stars in the sky—one of Abram’s descendants was Jesus of Nazareth, who would give up his life for the sins of the world.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul reflects back on this promise. Listen to this—Galatians 3:8-9… 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. My friends, this is talking about you! If you rely on faith—in other words, if you’ve recognized that you can’t make yourself acceptable to God by keeping the rules—so you’re not relying on yourself; instead you’re relying on Jesus—then you are blessed. The goodness of God has flowed from Genesis 12, through Abram, through Israel, to you. Are you feeling that blessing? Are you seeing how this ancient Scripture connects with you?
Now hear me on this: Don’t let it stop with you! Don’t let it stop with you! God wants his blessing to flow through you to other people. And usually, when God calls us to go, He’s calling us to go and be a blessing to others! Years ago, when Mike Bethune was on our staff, he would close almost every prayer with these words, “Lord, show us someone today that we can be a blessing to.” Show us someone today that we can be a blessing to. Maybe we should all pray that.

Why would you leave your comfort zone and take a step of faith? Because God is good! So follow Him and allow His goodness and his blessing to flow through you.

Here’s the third thing: People of Faith Move Forward Imperfectly. If you’re tempted to think that Abram was a perfect man of faith, you don’t have to read far into this story to find out otherwise. There’s a famine in the land, so Abram and his people head south, into Egypt. Because of the Nile River, Egypt was a more reliable place to find food and water. As they enter Egypt, Abram realizes that, because of his wife’s beauty, she’s going to draw the attention of Egyptian men. And if he introduces Sarai as his wife, he’s afraid they’ll kill him and take his wife. So he says to Sarai, “Tell everybody you’re my sister.” So sure enough, Pharaoh’s officials tell their boss about this new, beautiful woman in town; they take Sarai into the palace to join Pharaoh’s harem; and in order to win the favor of her supposed brother, they give Abram all kinds of gifts. All of a sudden, Pharaoh and his household break out with awful diseases, and somehow they connect the dots that this is God’s judgment for taking a man’s wife. So Pharaoh gives Sarai back to Abram, and he says, “You shouldn’t have lied to me. Now get out of here.”

It’s a strange incident. And the Bible doesn’t give any assessment of whether it was morally okay for Abram to do that or not. But here’s what I know: when you have a strong faith in God’s power, and God’s ability to keep his promises, you don’t have to lie. You don’t have to take ethical shortcuts to help God out. So by doing what he did, Abram—who is celebrated in the Bible for his faith!—was showing that he did not have perfect faith.

Isn’t that a relief? In order to follow God, you do not have to have perfect faith. And isn’t it awesome to know that God keeps his promises to us even when our faith isn’t perfect?

Maybe you’re thinking, “Well, okay—if you don’t need perfect faith, how much faith do you need?” You know what the answer is? Just enough. You need to have just enough faith to take the next step. Jesus said if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. I think about Peter, stepping out of the boat and walking on water. After he walked a few steps, he took his eyes off Jesus and started to sink. So his faith was very imperfect, but the dude walked on water!

Peter’s faith was imperfect; Abram’s faith was imperfect; and your faith is imperfect. So when you see yourself faltering—when your imperfect faith is revealed like Abram’s was when he lied about his wife—don’t overreact to that. Repent of it, ask God for forgiveness, and keep moving forward. You don’t need perfect faith! You need just enough to take the next step.

One more thing: People of Faith Worship God Regularly. Did you notice, two times in this passage, it says Abram “built an altar to the Lord”? And the second time he builds an altar, it says he called on the name of the Lord. In its purest sense, an altar is a place of worship. It’s a place where you stop what you’re doing, and you worship and pray and focus on God. And here’s the point: if you want to be a person who’s going somewhere spiritually…If you want to be a person who’s not stuck in your comfort zone…You have to be a person who draws strength from worship. Those times when you stop what you’re doing, and you worship and pray and focus on God.

Every Sunday, we try to set the stage for those moments right here in church. There is such power in music, and in lyrics that lift our eyes to God. Those are altar-building moments. But it can’t be just Sundays. We need to keep our eyes open all through the week for God’s glory and goodness to break through. Last week I gathered with a grieving family who had lost their daughter, way too young. And I stood with hundreds of people, holding up lit candles, thanking God for the light of her life, and the confidence of seeing her again. It was an altar-building moment. A few days later, a friend sent me a picture of the sonogram of his first grandson, just twelve weeks along in his mother’s womb. It was an altar-building moment. It’s all those moments when we’re struck by the goodness and faithfulness of God—in the hard times and the happy times—and we pause to worship him. Those are important moments.

Somebody has said, “He who kneels before God can stand before any man.” And as Abram knelt before those altars, he was reminded how big his God was. He was reminded that nothing could stand in God’s way. And it’s the same for us: when we kneel before God, and worship him, we can get up and stand before any obstacle. There’s power at those altars.

People of faith hold things loosely, they take God’s goodness seriously, they move forward imperfectly, and they worship God regularly.

Where is he calling you to take your next step?