Genesis 12:1-4a, 7a
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 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. 3 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."
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him … 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land."
Intro
After I'd read this week's passages from Genesis and Romans, the one-word prompt "reach" for the Five Minute Friday free write I often participate in felt perfect for Abram/Abraham's journey to the land God would show him when he got there and for our Lenten journeys.
• Five Minute Friday :: Reach
This closely relates but it's a different take on part of today's text.
Another Called and Sent Story
Our Sunday readings have featured the call, (response), and sent stories of Isaiah [Isaiah 6:1-8] and Jeremiah [Jeremiah 1: 4-10]; we've heard Jesus calling, teaching, accompanying, and sending his first disciples; finally, Jesus calls, instructs, sends, and accompanies us on ministries in his name. The Apostle Paul explains in today's passage from Romans 4:3 the God of grace yearns for our trust. The gospel writer John says Jesus wants us to abide in him, because Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. [Matthew 1:23]
Not too far into the book of Genesis or beginnings, God's commission and promises to Abram and Sarai (later renamed Abraham [Genesis 17:5] and Sarah [Genesis 17:15]) is a watershed text in all three Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
Along with the land scripture views as both holy and inalienable, descendants more numerous than the grains of sand or the stars in the sky [Genesis 13:14-17; 15:5] is a familiar aspect of God's promise to Abraham and Abraham's claim to trusting God, yet God sends Abraham for a purpose—to bless all he encounters.
You already know it's about the journey and I'm far from the only person who owns and enjoys wearing a shirt with that reminder. For sure it's a daily exploration and expedition into greater connections with God, creation, and self, to become holier and more whole. That's because God's purpose is reaching out, connecting, and blessing.
Abraham. Trust. Us.
As I mentioned last week for Lent 1,
In addition to being a time of catechesis leading to baptism on Easter, Lent is a season for those of us already baptized to consciously live bathed in grace as we confess and repent of sins and shortcomings, sometimes reconcile with those we've wronged or who have wronged us, and then move into the world to live as good news for all creation.
In my Five Minute Friday I wondered, How far does your life reach? How far does my life reach? Many individuals and most churches are deep into discerning their next move in the ongoing world of Covid. We'll all take some minor mis-steps, maybe a few major mistakes, but…
As we go through Lent with Easter hope, Matthew brings us assurances from the risen Christ:
• But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. Matthew 26:32
• Go quickly and tell his disciples, "He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him." Matthew 28:7
• Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them … and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20
My Five Minute Friday last words were:
"Reach out!
Go from your home, your comfort, and your kindred, to the place and the people God will show you (when you get there…) because in you they will be blessed."
Sent into the world to live as good news of hope and resurrection for all creation!
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