2024-09-01 - San Jose CRC - Sermon Only - Gil Suh

Genesis 12:1-9

Abram

Part of the Unsung Heroes series

Transcript

 Today's scripture is Genesis 12, one through nine or page nine in the pew Bibles the call of Abram. The Lord had said to Abram, go from your country. Your people and your father's household to the land I will show you. 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.

I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. So Abram went as the Lord had told him and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan.

And they arrived there. Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Mora at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 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. From there, he went on towards the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent.

With Bethel in the west and I on the east, there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev. This is the word of the Lord.

Okay, this slide shows different words for blessing in different languages that I know of from our members. We are a relatively small congregation, but we have many languages. And these are the words that maybe some of you recognize, right? The concept of blessing is cross-cultural. Desire for blessing is universal in every culture, every tribe, and every people.

So what does the blessing in general look like? Basically, security, settling, success, right? And at those, the blessing is important, especially for the immigrants and migrants. When you move to new place, think about it. Settle, secure, successful. All the more important. Thank you. So when we say, oh, he or she is blessed, what we usually mean in general, there's the external success with good health and wealth, and good maybe family and relationship.

We naturally desire and seek such blessing, either through hard work or even luck. knowing that sometimes even though work hard doesn't happen, we have to be lucky.

Unfortunately though, seeking it, seeking this blessing through hard work or fortune often brings about anxiety, discontentment, and restlessness instead of peace and joy. But then what is blessing? in the scripture. What does it mean to be blessed according to God's word? That's what we want us to think about today.

In the previous chapter of Genesis, up till this is chapter 12, we see what happened to the mankind. First, there's a disobedience and rebellion against God from our first mother and father, Adam and Eve. Then as a result, there's a punishment. The cast out, but then there is a divine grace and that pattern repeat itself.

So it seems to be there's no hope for sinful humanity unless something new happens. So today's story comes as that new beginning, but it's actually rather surprise because it is God's surprising strategy to save.

It is surprising because it begins with one man, small beginning, but of course the outcome is huge. It involves now God's call of this man named Abram from his country Ur and Haran to the land of Canaan.

But, just like us, Abraham is just another man. He must have wrestled with that call of God. Think about it. He must have heard different voices within and without. So he had to sort out this God's call from other calls. I'm sure he heard, from within or people around him, telling him, What?

Are you moving that far away, and you are now settled here? You have your family, and you have these cattle and even slaves that you accumulate, and you're gonna just pack and go?

We, too, hear the call of the world, and we do, and we doubt all the time. Sometimes, we hear, "You are not good enough," as you are and what you have. So you can't be happy unless you have more . So our life goals sometimes should be looking out for ourselves, working hard to grab blessings, and making sure we feel better about ourselves.

So, sometimes, that's the underlying motivation for us to grab the blessings that we can get. Of course, for many people, faith in God should be helpful in that pursuit, but it's optional. We need it when we need it, but not all the time. If we can do it ourselves, yeah. You know what?

Most of us easily listen to that call and live our lives in pursuit of it. Behind our decisions and actions, there is this controlling motive. I wish this and I wish that for myself and maybe for my family. But unfortunately, according to God's Word, this will lead to an unhappy and unfulfilling life in the end.

Not because all that wish, all that we wish for are bad or unnecessary, but because They become the idols in place of God. Apart from God's will for our life. Our creator, our Redeemer's good and perfect will for our life. Somehow we set that aside and pursue our own. It was an easy call for Abraham to listen and follow God's call.

Especially at his age, 75, he was leaving the familiar and comfortable life. Abraham was likely comfortable where he was with everything he owned, but somehow, by God's grace and power, he heard God's call and was called to live. Is that a wish-driven life? I wish this, I wish that, just leave that behind and follow God's mission-driven life, what God wanted him to do.

And this call includes, at the center, God's promise of blessing, which is, okay, the blessing that we all want. So then, to receive that promise of blessing, we need to hear God's voice telling us a different call from the world's calling. God's call is this. You are loved, chosen, and accepted as you are. You are beautiful and lovely in my sight.

So we can celebrate who we are as we are and be thankful for who God made us to be. We don't have to be so anxious to prove we are worth something. God says, "You are blessed by me, and I want you to be a blessing to others for me. " You are in this world for a purpose, more than just to survive and grab those blessings on your own.

You are already blessed, and I will bless you more as you follow my call. You are to be my agent of blessing. You know why? Because I love all people, although sinful and wayward, God says. I want to bless them as I bless you. So be my agent of blessing wherever you are. I want people to see my light and life through you and be drawn to me because of you.

To that call, Abraham responds. And that response requires faith, obedience, and sacrifice. Faith, because he had to believe in God and his purpose. Without that faith, he would not follow his call. And he had to obey. He had to act, not just yeah, I agree, I believe, and I'm not doing anything. No, he had actually to pack and leave and sacrifice. He had to pay the price involved in that process and the sense of comfort and security.

Abraham responded to God's call, so he set out for the land of Canaan. And we are told, as he passed along that land, what did he do? He built an altar and called on the name of the Lord, and the Canaanites and pagans are watching.

In the land of pagans, Abraham worshiped the Lord and proclaimed his presence. Even that itself is already a prophecy. the fulfillment of his call to be agent of God's blessing to others. Why? Because he's making known true God and worship him in the midst of those who do not know him.

Brothers and sisters, sometimes, what we do on a given Sunday, I gather here and worship the Lord for decades, right? And Mavis and Moon, Mavis and Randy Moon, you've been here for decades in this place, right? And many of you too, new and old. Sometimes you feel what are we doing just for ourselves?

Abraham and his family might have felt it too, because nobody seems to care in the land of Canaan. But as he lived his life in that new place, being obedient to God's call, he built an altar. On Sunday to, we build an altar here in a sense, prepare a lot of things to make the worship happen and call on the name of the Lord.

That is a fulfillment of God's call and blessing that you and I also can take part of it. Sometimes we may, just go through the motion and what are we doing this? Let's remember what we do is part of that Abrahamic blessing and calling. And his promise of his blessing for Abraham and his offspring was obviously fulfilled through Jesus Christ.

That's what God was calling, that through you and your offspring, all nations and people will be blessed. So anyone who believe in Christ, including you and me, we are truly blessed. not according to the world, the standard, truly blessed according to God's standard, regardless of our background and our status in the world.

It's a different kind of blessing. Of course, that blessing in Christ is a privilege and a responsibility. That is, we are chosen and blessed for a purpose: to be a blessing to all people. So, what does it mean to be a blessing today, to discern God's call? Let's just think about what happened to Abraham and apply it to us to discern God's call among many calls, many voices, but God's call, God's voice to discern that, that's a part of the blessing and to obey that call. By faith, obedience, and sacrifice. And to worship and proclaim true God in our life.

And to be God's love to people near and far. That's what it means to be blessed. It's quite different from what the world says about blessing. The world says that blessings are health and wealth and what you have. And those who have health and wealth, all kinds of stuff. That's why they have to have peace and joy.

But what we hear from them and what we experience is peace and joy don't come as a result of, health and wealth. But true peace and joy come as a result of being blessed, truly blessed by God, when we hear His call and obey Him and to serve Him and to love others.

Personally, my wife and I decided to go to another country because we have to be blessed near and far. Some of us are teachers, engineers, housewives, and even retirees. Wherever we are, we are to be blessed because we are blessed. But some people far away have no access to this good news.

That's why we church, hey, we're going to be blessing here, and you're going to be blessing over there. We'll send you there because God's will is for you to be blessed and a blessing to all peoples and all nations. Yes, so Joyce and I, with faith and obedience. And we heard some sacrifice, followed, and went too far away.

So well, I've been telling you a little bit of our story here and there. We'll continue to share some of our stories. So, that call is still in effect today. A lot of people and churches don't care about missions anymore. But we do. So that's why even our small congregation supports two missionaries, one in Mexico and one in Nepal.

We want to do more. And I'm sure the FAC, too, that you send your own even. So, let's continue because it is a part of being blessed and being a blessing. But for all of us, the first step toward a life of blessing is to leave things behind. Leave our wish-driven lifestyle for blessings on our own.

We start with God's command, right? Go. Leave your country. Some of us maybe left the country, but here, most spiritually, leave our kind of wish-driven lifestyle behind and go to the unknown. Because God said, If you're willing to leave, I will show you. Of course, we sometimes bargain with God.

No, show me first, then I will measure, and then I'll go. God says, If you hear my call, do it. Take that first step, whatever that is; then I will show you. Humanly speaking, it's impossible because it's against our grain, against our, but somehow when we do that in a small way, very small way, the small steps, ah, you have that sense of, yeah, this is right.

This is the path to peace and joy that everyone needs. Hebrews 11a says this: By faith, right? Because it takes faith. By faith, Abraham obeyed and went when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, even though he did not know where he was going. So, brothers and sisters, we are chosen ones in Christ.

We don't know why God chose Abraham of all people there. So many people, but come on, God chose Abraham. Why? Why didn't he choose somebody from inside? The canon. Canon, the land of cannon. Why somebody from far away? We don't know. We don't know why God chose you and me, not our neighbors A and B; we don't know.

But what we do know is why he chose us to be blessed. Remember, our faith, what you believe, and what we do here just don't come automatically. It comes because God chose us as his own, and we respond by faith. It is a privilege, a blessing, and it comes with a responsibility to be a blessing to others.

So, a life of blessing to others. What does that mean? Actually, from now on, in the next few weeks, we're going to study the Book of James. The Book of James is about how to live day-to-day, everyday life in society as the blessed and to be a blessing to others. So, this is somewhat of an introduction as well.

But I thought this would be an appropriate message for all of us as we start this fall, and even those who are going to a new place. So this is going to be the word for you to say that you are blessed and that you will be a blessing in the new place. In Christ, we are blessed. Let's live our daily lives to be a blessing.

Lord be with us. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your abundant blessing and call to bless others. Help us resist the world's call to seek blessings for ourselves alone and embrace your call to live a mission-driven life. Give us the courage and faith to follow in Abraham's footsteps, trusting in your promises and sharing your love with everyone around us.

We fix our eyes upon Jesus. Who is the author and perfecter of our faith? Every day, every moment, even when we forget, Lord, you are there; continue to remind us and draw us closer to you. May our lives reflect your grace and bring glory to your name as we serve in Christ's name. Amen