02/12/12
The Mission of God
If you’re just joining us, we’re in a yearlong series called Garden to City, and we’re traveling through the narrative of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation.
From time to time...we’re going to take a breather, and I’ll just remind us of some of the ways that we can make this series personally meaningful.
Resources: One of the most helpful practices that I believe you can put into motion is to consider reading through the Bible with us over the course of the year. That may sound like a lot...but in twenty to thirty minutes a day, you can cover the Bible in a year (that’s one less sitcom). So...Beth and I are reading through the Bible together (she’s a plan kind of gal...I’m a cover to cover guy). We’re reading with our kids...memorizing Scripture.
So, if you’re just starting...or if you want to start now, don’t worry about being behind...just dive in where we’re at now. Find all of our resources at gardentocity.com.
We spent the first four weeks of the year in Genesis 1-11. So we’re through eleven chapters out of 1,189. Which means we only have 1,180 chapters to go in forty-six weeks. We’re making great time!
We began the year exploring the beauty of God’s creation in Genesis one and two, and the devastating consequences of Adam and Eve’s rebellious uprising in chapter three (our story). In between Genesis 3-11, the world grows very dark. And what you see is a spiraling down of the human race. The human scene is becoming more and more rebellious, relationally fractured, murderous, corrupt and violent than ever. Things are very bleak. And if you stop reading here...you might become very discouraged.
And yet...within these pages, you can’t help but notice that God is remarkably present. He hasn’t abandoned this world in all of its mess (we talked about last week at length), but rather we find Him dealing with the mess in very surprising ways. Ultimately, we will see God enter into the mess of our world in the Person of Jesus Christ...and Jesus will embrace the mess of our lives...literally, he’ll become the mess, in order to restore the beauty and wonder and peace and love and goodness that has been lost in each of us because of our sin. That’s where we’re going...I gave the ending away.
Author, Christopher Wright puts it this way...
“The whole Bible could be portrayed as a very long answer to a very simple question: What can God do about the sin and rebellion of the human race? Genesis 12 through to Revelation 22 is God’s answer to the question posed by the bleak narratives of Genesis 3-11.” (Wright, The Mission of God)
So we come to Genesis 12, and we find God doing something new and wonderful.
In C.S. Lewis’, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” Lewis writes that Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy discover that the ice is beginning to melt in Narnia, and the power of the white witch that has held Narnia in captivity, is starting to lose its grip. There are even rumors that Aslan has been sighted.
Genesis 12 is exactly this. The ice is melting. God speaks. Spring is coming. And with spring comes life...and hope.
12:1 – Abram
“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land I will show you.” (12:1)
Now, it’s helpful to understand exactly who Abram is, for a couple of reasons. First, three major world faiths - a majority of the world’s population - look to Abraham as their father of faith. So, in many ways, you won’t understand world civilization without understanding his story. But even more important than this, is that Abraham’s story will be told and retold as a story of great faith...
In many ways, the New Testament says that Abraham is a pattern to show us how God acts not only throughout history, but also in our personal stories. So, what I want to look at this morning, through the life of Abraham in Genesis 12, is how God moves...how he speaks...how he calls us today.
God’s Call is Deeply Personal...It is Radical...It is Missional
In Genesis 12, God comes to a man named Abram and calls him out of his native country, away from his extended family, to go to a new land. And God promises to do something great in and through Abraham on behalf of the rest of the world.
Consider what we know about Abraham...
His father was a man named, Terah, from Ur of the Chaldeans, a place known for its worship of the moon. In Joshua 24, we learn that Abraham’s family worshiped other gods. They were polytheists. Not, worshipers of the One true God.
Second. Abraham was married to Sarah, who was unable to become pregnant. This is a very important detail (fertility was a sign of blessing – longevity, respect, and influence), and yet it is through Abraham and Sarah that God promises to start something new.
Not only has Abraham’s family lost God spiritually. They’re about to end physically.
“The barrenness of Sarah is an effective metaphor for hopelessness. This text tells us there is no foreseeable future. There is no human power to invent a future. The human race and history has just hit a dead end. It’s over. And then, God speaks, and there is hope again.”
Walter Bruggemann
Abraham is in no way qualified for God’s call on his life, and yet God’s call comes anyway.
And can I speak honestly here? There is nagging voice in many of our hearts that goes like this. ‘God will never be able to do anything in my life because I’m not fit for him. I’m not gifted. I don’t have the resources. I have nothing to offer him?
Or, how about this... God would never choose me and walk with me and do anything significant through my life because I’ve squandered my past...wasted too many years...have too much baggage.
But, what we find wonderful in Abraham’s story that we will see repeated over an over throughout the Scriptures, is this...
God doesn’t call the qualified...he qualifies the called.
The truth is that you can be over qualified in terms of what this world deems important (beauty and status and talent and wealth and power). But if God’s call hasn’t penetrated your heart, you’ll remain in a deep spiritual death sleep.
Illus: Children. My prayer for our four children is this... ‘God, give them a heart to know you and love you more than anything else.’ You ask, ‘Why?’ You’re a pastor. My kids don’t really even know that...they just know I have an office here, and they know where the snacks are (kidding). I pray this for them because unless my children hear and respond to God’s call deep within their hearts, they might grow up to be moral...nice...good kids...maybe even religious in practice...they’ll be nice little idolaters.)
Wherever...whoever you are today, God’s call on your life is an act of his mercy. And I mean this whether you are a Christian, or whether you came at the invite of your friend. This morning, may be unsure of what you think about Jesus...and are no doubt unsure about a church in the basement of a mill with garage doors and folks who let you have coffee in the service. That’s borderline sketchy.
And God is creating in you a desire for him...if your heart is being melted by his voice, that’s grace.
God pursued Abraham before Abraham even knew his name. Abraham did nothing to merit the call of God. He wasn’t particularly good. He was old. His wife was barren. His parents worshiped the moon. Be encouraged!
That’s the nature of God’s call.
It doesn’t come because you’re qualified. You’re qualified because it’s come.
(T) Well...what does this mean? To be called by God?
God’s Call is Radical (It has life-altering implications)
Genesis 12:1 –
“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land I will show you.” (12:1)
Notice how personally radical God’s call is for Abraham.
God literally says to Abraham, Leave... ‘Get out.’ And go to the land that I will show you. Notice what is missing in God’s command. A road map. A travel guide. God doesn’t provide Abraham with latitude or longitude, or any specific direction as to where he’s going. It’s simply... ‘Get out...and start walking.’
God’s call is radical because He asks Abraham for a surrender of the will.
God’s Call is always volitionally radical...
Many of us will say, ‘You know, I’m interested in being a Christian...but does that mean that I have to break up with my boyfriend or girlfriend? I’m interested in following Jesus, but do I need to change my materialistic lifestyle? Do I have to give this up...or that. We want to say to Jesus, ‘I’ll follow you if you show me exactly where we’re going...if the reward is worth the risk. I’ll be happy to go with you if it makes sense...or if it doesn’t cost me too much.
Terms – We love things to happen on our terms. We buy our houses on terms...a car with terms in mind. We marry with terms (we call them expectations, and those are shattered and we have to figure out how to love him or her in spite of that...). We’re very leery about vague terms, aren’t we?
God calls Abraham on his own terms.
He says to Abraham... ‘Get out and go...’ Abraham says, ‘Where?’ ‘I’ll show you later, just go.’
Later, God says... ‘I’ll give you a son...’ Abraham replies, ‘How?’ ‘Just trust.’
And then, God says to Abraham... ‘Go to the top of the mountain and put your son to death.’ ‘Why?’ ‘I’ll show you later, just climb.’
This is Christianity.
Whenever the call of God comes to you in a personal way, it will shake up your life in a radical way. By this I mean, that at some point you will experience a collision of the will. If your walk with God is primarily comfortable, then it’s possible that you’re relating to a cultural version of God...not the God of the Bible.
Think with me (Noah – boat; Moses – burning bush; Jonah – reach a city; Nehemiah – build a city; Isaiah – speak but no one will listen; disciples – leave everything to follow; Paul – cost your life).
To walk in a relationship with God is not to assess whether God’s agenda fit into mine. His agenda is a whole new agenda. And there will be times that he will take you through very uncomfortable moments and seasons of your life in order to accomplish what He wants to in your soul.
Israel -
“When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through the Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, ‘If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt. So God led them in a roundabaout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea...” (Exodus 13:17-18)
In the same way that God took Israel through the wilderness to purge their dependence on a foreign nation and shape their affections for Him...God is much more interested in shaping your heart and affections for Him than he is in making your life easy.
“It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8)
This is faith. God...I’m throwing myself on your mercy and goodness. I believe you have a plan and a purpose for my life and I’m all in. I’m willing to follow no matter how long it takes.
Unless you come to a place where you say, ‘Whatever I discern as your will, I will do from here on in, you have not personally responded to the call of God.
C.S. Lewis –
The almost impossibly hard thing is to hand over your whole self to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead. For what we are trying to do is remain what we call “ourselves” – our personal happiness centered on money or pleasure or ambition – and hoping, despite this, to behave honestly, and chastely and humbly. And that is exactly what Christ warned us you cannot do. If I am a grass field – all the cutting will keep the grass field less but won’t produce wheat.
If I want wheat…I must be plowed up and re-sown.
C.S. Lewis
The call of God is deeply personal...and personally radical. Let’s take this a step further and ask... “What does this look like?”
The call of God is Missional
“I will bless you and make you famous and you will be a blessing to others...All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” (12:2-3)
Do you catch that? God calls Abraham out and promises to bless him in order that He might be a blessing.
God always blesses in order that we might be a blessing.
Blessing – Provisional (meet your needs); Relational (go with you; walk with you...).
God’s blessing is never an end to itself? His blessing is meant to go out.
What does this mean?
In Genesis 12, what we discover about God is that he is deeply missional. He calls Abraham and sends him out on mission.
Mission comes from the Latin word Missio – It means ‘to be sent.’
To be sent means to get out of your security zone...your comfort zone. Be willing to get away from what is familiar. To stop making your decisions based upon comfort, what’s best for my safety, influence, status, or career path...
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have been sent...you are on mission...you are commissioned (Matthew 28), because you belong to God who is, by nature, Missional.
Profound implications – for how we use our time, our wealth, our opportunities, our platforms...
Christians are infectiously warm and gracious – so that we’re always drawing people together rather than dividing. We define ourselves by what we’re for...not for who we’re against.
Christians are profoundly others centered – I know that many of you are opening your lives right now to foster children, or children from third world countries...many of you...because you take seriously the call of Jesus to care for the poor and the orphan.
Christians serve their neighbors. They see their relationships not for what they can get out of them, but for what they might contribute.
Christians are radically generous – Because the Spirit of God lives inside our hearts, Christians also give their money and time away in eye-popping amounts to the poor, the hungry, the orphan, and to seeing the gospel penetrate the hearts of those far from God.
When you see God as he really is, it destroys your consumer mentality (what’s in it for me) and turn you into a man/woman on mission.
I’ll tell you why boredom within Christianity is endemic today...and why my generation is leaving the church in droves. It’s primarily because we’ve sold out to a less-than form of allegiance to Jesus. It’s not because we’ve made Jesus’ call on our lives too big, but because we’ve made Him so small.
Until you have something in your heart that is bigger than your own career advancement, your love life, your aches and pains, your dreams...until you serve something bigger than your own interests, you’ll lack true joy.
“God never pulls you in without sending you out.”
“God never blesses without calling you to bless.”
How is this possible? How can I respond?
Gospel & Implications
When it comes to applying this message...we have a problem. Each of us this morning are equally unqualified for a relationship with God.
Galatians 3:11-14
Galatians – Don’t live to qualify yourself...
Romans – Saved by faith...for obedience...
Romans 4:20-24
Have you wrapped your arms around Jesus in faith – his death and resurrection for you in order to defeat sin and death in your life?
Have you bowed your knee to Him?
***I must confess...this is a journey...a quest...of constant bowing. Repentance/Confession...a constant re-centering. Doesn’t mean perfection...but it means direction...your heart centered on the will and voice of God.
It is no mistake...no accident...no coincidence that you’re here at Harbor now...for such a time as this. God has called us...and he’ll do great things through us if we’re willing to get out.
Let me ask you this question... “Do you want more of God in your life?” Attempt great things for him...and he’ll bless you...he’ll give you huge portions of himself. Many of us have never felt his reality, because we’re not willing to get out.”
If we’ll go...get out...
Genesis 12:4a – So Abram departed... (He obeyed)
Let’s do the same.
