SETTING THE CONTEXT

Today’s reading is a pivotal text in the book of Genesis. It links the traditions of God’s providential care for the world (for example the creation story) and God’s call forming Israel as a chosen nation. This pivot point begins in despair. Abram (later renamed Abraham) is in the direct line from Adam and Eve. His wife Sarai is barren and she is now elderly so their hope of children to continue their family line appears to be gone. This family appears to have played out its future, but this emptiness becomes the arena of God’s life-giving action.^[i] This action begins with a call, a commission and change that continue in a history still unfolding today. Oh, the places they’ll go!

Read Genesis 12:1-9

THE SERMON

Today is a day that we celebrate some great milestones in the lives of some of our people. The end of high school and college means great transition for many in our midst. The thing is that this is only one of many times of transition that we go through over the course of our lives. Some of us are facing other times of transition because of a serious illness, a recent loss of a loved one, a move, retirement, or other job change. Oh, the places we go.

Dr. Seuss wrote a wonderful book entitled just that, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” It may look like a children’s book, but it is a story for all ages. All of us will take the journey he describes over the course of our lives. He begins with “Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away! You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where you go. … Oh, the places you’ll go!”^[ii]

Abram was at one of those decision points. Would he listen to God’s command and leave where he had finally settled down? (Abram’s father moved the family about 600 miles northwest from their home in Ur in what is now Iraq to Haran.) The Lord is now calling Abram at the ripe age of 75 to move again and again and again. God’s summoning word would give this family a future that they did not expect. The promise is in the 5 “I will” statements that God makes. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great. I will bless those who bless you. I will curse those who curse you.^[iii] Will Abram trust in that promise and steer himself and his family in God’s direction? What if Abram had said “no, I won’t go”? I would guess that God would find someone else to bear the chosen nation of Israel. God has given us the free will to decide where we will go. We must choose to cooperate with God, to participate in God’s plans and purposes and to trust in God’s promise. God’s promise is offered but it requires of us a decision and repentance or change.^[iv] Many generations later we will see the Promise and its fulfillment lived out in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Abram said yes to God’s call trusting in the promise and he became the prototype for all disciples who forsake everything and follow.^[v] Many generations later Jesus plainly identified that call to commitment, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their lives for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25, Mark 8:34-35, Luke 9: 23-24) Christianity at its birth was called “the Way.” It continues to be the way we choose to live our lives and in whom we choose to place our trust. When we say yes to God’s summoning word and choose to go at God’s direction, oh, the places you’ll go!

Dr. Seuss tells us “You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights. You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights. You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest. Except when you don’t. Because, sometimes, you won’t. I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.” Dr. Seuss goes on to describe being in a slump, going to places where we don’t know where to turn, where we are confused, then going to a useless place called The Waiting Place. Haven’t most of us experienced being in each of those places? Have you ever been in a slump where nothing seems to be easy or going right? Have you ever had important decisions before you but you are just not sure which way to go? Or the Waiting Place- sometimes the waiting place is not a bad thing. It is the place we go when we have no control over the outcome. When our son was rebelling against us and turned his back on us we went to that waiting place where all we could do was pray for him and us and occasionally volley little messages of love over to him to let him know we still cared. Sometimes though the Waiting Place can be a terrible place where we settle for empty living. Maybe we hate our jobs, our marriages are unhappy, or we’re carrying a heavy load of guilt or pain, but we wait, not doing anything to make things better. We don’t do that hard work and maybe go through some even harder times that will lead us to greater well being and happier relationships in the long run. Oh, the places we go!

The good news is that God walks with us through all of those places. Abram and Sarai discovered that as God spoke to them at each new location. They discovered it as God fulfilled God’s promises through the gift of a child, Isaac. As their story unfolds we see that Abram and Sarai had their own ups and downs, they were far from perfect people. They made mistakes. Sometimes they were mean and petty, but God did not abandon them in their weakness, no, God persisted in working through their weakness and calling them to change. In the Christian life, we call this sanctifying grace, God’s Holy Spirit walking with us through the ups and downs of life to guide us, strengthen us and sometimes call us to change along the journey. The promise of God, I will bless you is not dependent upon our worthiness. It is dependent upon our faithfulness, our willingness to entrust ourselves to God. Jesus showed us how to do that in his life, death, and resurrection. In all the places, you’ll go, God is with you!

The pursuit of God’s promise to be a great nation, a great people who are blessed to be a blessing is not a one generation thing. As Walter Brueggemann says, “Such a pursuit of promise can never be one-generational. Each generation trusts that if the promise is not now fulfilled, it will be given to a next generation.”  At the recent youth services, I cried through each service because in their leadership I saw that the community of faith, the church that I have dedicated my life to is in good hands in the future. When I am gone the church will go on with our youth’s faithful, capable leadership. The promise passes from one generation to the next. Oh, the places we will go and go and go!

Dr. Seuss goes on “You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.) KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS! So… be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So … get on your way!”

Abram’s promise concluded with a commissioning and so does ours. We are blessed to be a blessing. Oh, the places you’ll go! In all those places, may you take the risk to follow God’s promise. Your mountain is waiting so get on your way receiving and giving God’s blessing OK. Amen.

Sermon delived by Rev. Nancy Cushman on June 8, 2008.