Feb 27, 2023 3 min read Lent

So, Be A Blessing!

Abram is not blessed for his own sake. Blessing does not come to a single family alone. Abram is called to be a blessing to all the families of the earth.

Photo by Josh Applegate / Unsplash

The Second Sunday of Lent: Genesis 12:1-4a

This brief snippet from Genesis concerns Abram's call. God's voice dominates the reading:

"Go
from your land, your relatives, your father's house
to the land which I will cause you to see.
I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you; I will make great your name.
So, be a blessing!
I will bless the ones who bless you,
and the ones who curse you I will curse.
And all the families of the earth will be blessed by you."

The speech has four parts: 1) Go!; 2) from here to there; 3) in order that I might do something to you; 4) with the result that others are affected by this action.

First, the command comes to Abram to go forth. He is the only recipient of this particular Hebrew imperative in the Hebrew Bible; he will hear it again with regard to the command to take Isaac to Moriah and sacrifice him. (Bill Arnold, Genesis, 130.) On one level, the directive concerns a physical, geographical move – Abram is to leave Haran for Canaan. On another level, the directive involves a transformation from an individual, his wife, and his nephew into a great nation. We do not know much about Abram at this point in Genesis. Yet, the divine command comes. This command is immediately obeyed by Abram in verse 4: "And Abram went just as The Living God commanded him." God says "go" and Abram "went." Same verb—the first an imperative calling forth action, the second a past tense demonstrating his willingness to journey.

Second, Abram is called to leave three settings: his land, his relatives, and his father's house. Each of these settings is an important identity marker for Abram (or any ancient Southwest Asian) with theological import. To leave land in a society that requires it for survival is risky. To leave the clan of relatives in a society that values family traditions and connections is to walk away from protection and societal acceptance. To leave the father's house, in Hebrew the bet av, in a society centered on this most basic societal unit is to leave support and livelihood. Abram leaves these settings to journey to an unspecified land. We perhaps read into the command that Abram will journey of course to Canaan. But God's call is not as clear. It is a place that God will reveal. Abram leaves familiarity, comfort, and stability to travel to an unknown land of questionable quality.

Third, God promises to bless and create a nation out of Abram. These two are tied together. Blessing is typically articulated in Genesis and the Old Testament as connected to children and land.

Finally, God's concern extends beyond Abram. Abram is not blessed with nationhood and reputation for his own sake. Blessing does not come to a single family alone. Abram is called to be a blessing to all the families of the earth.

So, be a blessing!

This is the original vision of God. This is the original divine call. You are blessed to be a blessing.

"Sarah" by Palestinian artist Rica Jovinan

The God of Abraham Praise

Lenten Invitation: “There is so much we do not know.”

I feel like sometimes our churches are turned into explanation factories, pumping out advice and information. Goodness knows as an educator, I value explanation. But sometimes we need our ministers to hold up before us the mystery that is God and the mystery that is our life in God and let us breathe in that mystery. Might the church whisper to its saints during this time of Lent: “There is so much we do not know.”