Tawa Baptist

Abram & Lot separate

Scripture: Genesis 13

 

Title: Abram & Lot separate

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Abram’s choice
  • Lot’s choice
  • God’s choice
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

Please turn with me to Genesis chapter 13, page 16 near the front of your pew Bibles

–         Today we continue our series on the life of Abram

–         Last week we heard how our journey of faith is often a cycle of two steps forward, one step back, two steps forward, one step back and so on

–         In Genesis chapter 12 Abram took a step backwards in going to Egypt

–         He got scared and instead of trusting God he relied on his own cunning, deceiving Pharaoh and putting Sarai’s life at risk to save himself

–         But God was with Abram and set him and Sarai free from Egypt

–         This week Abram returns to the Promised Land and takes a step forward

–         From Genesis 13, verse 1 we read…

 

Abram went north out of Egypt to the southern part of Canaan with his wife and everything he owned, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram was a very rich man, with sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as silver and gold. 3 Then he left there and moved from place to place, going toward Bethel. He reached the place between Bethel and Ai where he had camped before 4 and had built an altar. There he worshiped the Lord.

5 Lot also had sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as his own family and servants. 6 And so there was not enough pasture land for the two of them to stay together, because they had too many animals. 7 So quarrels broke out between the men who took care of Abram’s animals and those who took care of Lot’s animals. (At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were still living in the land.)

8 Then Abram said to Lot, “We are relatives, and your men and my men shouldn’t be quarrelling. 9 So let’s separate. Choose any part of the land you want. You go one way, and I’ll go the other.”

10 Lot looked around and saw that the whole Jordan Valley, all the way to Zoar, had plenty of water, like the Garden of the Lord or like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself and moved away toward the east. That is how the two men parted. 12 Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled among the cities in the valley and camped near Sodom, 13 whose people were wicked and sinned against the Lord.

14 After Lot had left, the Lord said to Abram, “From where you are, look carefully in all directions. 15 I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours forever. 16 I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth! 17 Now, go and look over the whole land, because I am going to give it all to you.” 18 So Abram moved his camp and settled near the sacred trees of Mamre at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

This morning’s message is structured around three choices…

–         Abram’s choice, Lot’s choice and God’s choice

–         First let’s consider Abram’s choice

 

Abram’s choice:

Who can tell me who this is? [Wait]. Yes, that’s right – it’ Selwyn Toogood

–         And what show is he compering here? [Wait]. Yes – “It’s in the Bag”

 

It’s in the bag was a game show where contestants had to make a choice: either the money or the bag

–         Choosing the money was choosing certainty because you knew exactly how much you were going to get

–         Whereas choosing the bag was uncertain because you never knew what was in the bag – you might get a trip to Fiji or a paper clip

 

The choice was pretty easy at the beginning – “$5, the money or the bag?”

–         Most people chose the bag at that stage

–         But as the money offered got higher the choice became harder

–         By the time Selwyn was saying “$500, the money or the bag?”, the contestant was thinking pretty hard about their choice

–         (You have to remember that in the 1970’s $500 was a more considerable sum than it is today)

–         The interesting thing was that most of the time the audience were telling the contestant to take the bag, even though the prize was unseen

–         Choosing the bag was an act of faith in that one was choosing what they could not see, rather than settling for what they could see

–         To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see [1]

 

Last week we heard how Abram was tested by famine and didn’t respond so well

–         Nevertheless God blessed Abram and he left Egypt a rich man

–         This week we hear how Abram deals with the test of prosperity

–         You might not think that prosperity is much of a test but actually it can be a more subtle and dangerous temptation than poverty

 

Abram’s nephew Lot had gone to Egypt with his uncle and had also become wealthy through his association with Abram

–         When Abram & Lot return to Canaan they have so much livestock there isn’t enough grazing land to sustain their flocks

–         Consequently, Abram & Lot’s herdsmen started having arguments over pasture – they were afraid of missing out on grass

–         What will Abram do to solve the problem this time?

–         Will he repeat the mistakes he made in Egypt or will he learn from them?

–         Well, in Genesis 13, it appears Abram has learned from his mistakes

–         In an act of practical faith and love, Abram says to his nephew Lot…

 

“We are relatives, and your men and my men shouldn’t be quarrelling. So let’s separate. Choose any part of the land you want. You go one way and I’ll go the other.”

 

Sometimes separation is a bad thing, it’s destructive

–         And other times it is a good thing, it’s creative

–         Good separation is about creating healthy boundaries that bring order and function to relationships – like when God separated light & darkness, land & sea and so on to bring order to the cosmos in Genesis 1

 

Abram had the wisdom to see that separating and establishing clear boundaries was the most sensible option available to them

–         If he and Lot didn’t separate it was just a matter of time before tensions escalated and someone got hurt

–         The catch was deciding how to divide up the land (or where the boundaries would lie) so the separation was amicable and there were no further disputes in the future

–         Abram’s solution was to empower Lot by inviting him to choose first – that way Lot could never turn around later and cry ‘unfair’

 

There is no deception or self-interest on Abram’s part, as there had been in Egypt

–         Abram was Lot’s uncle and therefore his social superior

–         Abram was also richer and more powerful than Lot

–         So on all counts he could have simply told Lot to take a hike and chosen the best land for himself – but he doesn’t

–         Abram follows the golden rule of loving your neighbour as yourself and treating others the way you want to be treated (this was before the golden rule had been articulated)

–         Abram puts peace before personal gain

–         He does not seize the best land for himself, he submits the choice to Lot

–         He does not grab, he gives. He does not take, he waits

 

If this was a game of “It’s in the bag”, then Abram chose the bag (the unseen)

–         He didn’t know what Lot would choose

 

There was some risk involved with what Abram did here

–         Before going down to Egypt God had promised the land of Canaan to Abram

–         What if Lot had chosen to go toward Canaan?

–         What would become of God’s promise then?

 

But Abram doesn’t worry about that – he simply trusts God to work it out

–         God has made the promise and so God is able to find a way to fulfil that promise

–         This shows that Abram is trusting God and not relying on himself

–         Not forcing his way but letting God open the way for him

 

As John Walton notes…

–         “Abram gave up a chance for the land, eventually to gain the land” [2]

–         Just like David gave up a chance for the crown (by sparing Saul’s life), eventually to gain the crown

–         Just as Christ (when tempted by Satan) gave up a chance for the kingdoms of this world, eventually to gain God’s kingdom, something far greater

 

This is often how it is with God – he promises us something but he doesn’t give it to us straight away – he makes us wait

–         And while we are waiting we may see opportunities for a short cut to God’s promise

–         But God’s promise is not an entitlement (it is not ours by right)

–         The land, the crown, the kingdom (heaven) – they are all gifts

–         They can’t be earned or demanded or taken by force

–         They can only be received by faith

–         The fulfilment of God’s promise comes to us as a gift, not by graft

 

Eric Liddell was a man of Christian faith

–         He was also a great runner

–         His athletic ability led him to the pinnacle of his sport when he qualified to represent Scotland in the 1924 Paris Olympics

–         He was scheduled to run the 100 metre race but when he found that the heats were on a Sunday he refused to participate, feeling that it would dishonour the Lord’s day

–         Eric Liddell was criticised for this – he came under much pressure from some pretty influential people, including the then Prince of Wales

–         But Eric did not budge

–         Through a series of events he ended up running in the 400 metre race, which he not only won, but also set a world record in [3]

 

Now in using this illustration I’m not saying you shouldn’t play sports on Sundays – that’s a conscience issue between you and God

–         The point is: Eric Liddell didn’t short cut his values or beliefs

–         Yes, he wanted to win – but not at any cost, not like that

–         Eric Liddell trusted God and gave up the opportunity for a gold medal in the 100 metres, eventually to receive a gold medal in the 400

–         Sort of like Abram trusted God and gave up the opportunity for the best of the land, only to receive the land in promise to his descendants

 

Okay, so that was Abram’s choice – he went with the bag (the unseen)

–         What about Lot, what did he choose?

–         Well, it seems he went with the money – that is, with what he could see

 

Lot’s choice:

In verse 10 we read…

–         Lot looked round and saw that the whole Jordan Valley, all the way to Zoar, had plenty of water, like the Garden of the Lord or like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself and moved away towards the east.

 

The Jordan Valley, chosen by Lot, appears to be on the south eastern edge of the Promised Land, or perhaps just beyond it – so Lot did not choose Canaan

–         Now you will remember that Lot’s father died and Abram took Lot under his wing, protecting and providing for him

–         As we’ve already noted, Abram was Lot’s superior so one might half expect Lot to defer to his kindly uncle

–         We might think Lot would say, ‘Thanks uncle, that’s a generous offer but I’ll let you choose first’ – yet he doesn’t do this.

–         Instead Lot chooses the best land for himself

–         The Jordan Valley was well watered by streams and brooks and springs from the base of the Jordanian rift – so if it didn’t rain there was still a water supply to grow pasture and refresh flocks

–         By contrast, the land left to Abram, where Bethel & Hebron are located, depend upon the Lord to send rain [4] – so without rain there is famine

–         Living in Canaan required more faith in God than living in Jordan

 

The text doesn’t explicitly criticise Lot for his choice – after all, by choosing to move away from Canaan, Lot left the Promised Land available for Abram

–         At the same time the text does indicate in subtle ways that Lot’s choice wasn’t good from a spiritual point of view

–         Verse 11 tells us Lot moved East which raises a red flag for us the reader

–         So far in Genesis, to move east is to move away from God

–         For example, in Genesis 4 when Cain killed Abel, we read that Cain went away from the Lord’s presence to the east of Eden

–         So Lot’s moving east associates him with Cain

–         Another clue that Lot has chosen poorly is found in verses 12 & 13 of Genesis 13 where we are told Lot settled near the city of Sodom, whose people were wicked and sinned against the Lord

–         Wide is the path and broad the way that leads to destruction

–         But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life [5]

–         Lot chose the wide path and not the narrow road

 

Abram chose by faith (not seeing) whereas Lot chose by sight – by what looked good to his eyes – but appearances can be deceiving

–         It’s like Bob Dylan said, “What looks large from a distance up close ain’t never that big”

 

God’s choice:

If this was a game of “It’s in the bag” then Abram has chosen the bag, Lot has chosen the money and God has chosen Abram

–         In verses 14-17 the Lord spoke to Abram re-affirming his promise…

 

14 …“From where you are, look carefully in all directions. 15 I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours forever. 16 I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth! 17 Now, go and look over the whole land, because I am going to give it all to you.”

 

The technical word when God chooses someone is ‘election’

–         Not election in the sense of a democratic process

–         But election in the sense of divine appointment, divine choice

 

God’s choice of Abram came first, even though we are talking about it last

–         It was God’s choice (his promise to bless Abram) that gave Abram the faith to leave his home to come to a land he had not seen

–         It was God’s choice (his election of Abram) that gave Abram the faith to allow Lot first pick of the land

–         God’s choice of Abram enabled Abram’s faith in the first place

–         If Abram hadn’t known beforehand that God was going to provide for him he may have been less generous with Lot

 

We are often driven by a belief in scarcity – we are afraid of missing out

–         Both Abram & Lot’s herdsmen were afraid of missing out on grass for their flocks

–         When we are kids and there is a lolly scramble we rush to grab as many sweets as we can

–         Or when we are driving and someone cuts us off or steals our park we might get angry with them

–         One of the reasons that house prices are so high is our fear of missing out

–         Fear that we won’t be chosen just keeps driving the price up

–         I could go on but you get the point, our fear of missing out affects our behaviour in negative ways

–         It makes us less compassionate and more competitive

 

But when we know that God has chosen us for something good we have faith it will work out – that God will provide enough for everyone

–         We may have to wait – we may not get what we want straight away but our underlying belief becomes one of abundance, not scarcity and the peace which comes from faith is our guide

–         Easier said than done – I know

 

God’s instruction to walk through the land is significant

–         In the Ancient Near East kings asserted their right to rule their territory by symbolically tracing out its boundaries

–         The instruction for Abram to walk through the land therefore symbolises Abram’s legal acquisition of it [6]

–         The implication here is that land belongs to the Lord Almighty and it is his to allocate as he sees fit

 

As in chapter 12, when God appeared to Abram at Shechem, so here in chapter 13 Abram’s response to the Lord’s promise is worship

–         After surveying the land Abram settles at Hebron, where he builds an altar to the Lord

 

Conclusion:

This morning we’ve heard about three choices

–         Abram’s choice to trust God with what he could not see

–         Lot’s choice to take the easy money and run

–         And God’s choice which makes faith possible in the first place

 

Abram’s behaviour in Genesis 13 reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 5,

–         Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth

 

We often think of meekness as weakness or timidity when the opposite is true

–         The meek are not weak – they are often very powerful and courageous

–         But their power is not reckless or self-serving – it is controlled and compassionate

–         The meek are capable of showing great restraint and putting others first

–         By God’s grace Abram is meek in his dealing with Lot and Abram inherits the land

 

Reflection / discussion questions:

 

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

 

2.)    Imagine you are a contestant in the show “It’s in the bag”. At what point do you choose the money over the bag, or do you always choose the bag?

–         Why do you think Abram chose the bag (the unseen)?

 

3.)    How does Abram handle the conflict created by his and Lot’s prosperity?

–         When is separation a good thing?

–         How did Abram ensure an amicable separation with Lot?

 

4.)    How does the text indicate that Lot’s choice was not good?

 

5.)    God chose (elected) Abram.

–         How did God’s choice (election) of Abram enable Abram’s faith?

 

6.)    How might a belief in scarcity (that there isn’t enough to go around) affect our behaviour?

–         How might a belief in abundance (that God has provided enough for everyone) affect our behaviour?

 

7.)    How does the beatitude ‘The meek shall inherit the earth’ relate to Abram?

–         What other beatitudes might relate to Abram?

 

[1] Hebrews 11:1

[2] John Walton, NIVAC ‘Genesis’, page 435.

[3] Eric Liddell’s story is used in reference to Abram in John Walton’s NIVAC commentary on Genesis, page 435.

[4] Bruce Waltke, Genesis, page 221.

[5] Matthew 7:13-14

[6] Bruce Waltke, Genesis, pages 222-223.

Tawa Baptist

Abram in Egypt

Scripture: Genesis 12:10-20

 

Title: Abram in Egypt

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Famine
  • Fear
  • Freedom
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

When a toddler is learning to walk, they fall over a little bit

–         No one criticises the toddler because she is just learning and needs encouragement

 

Likewise, when a child is learning to ride a bike, they fall off sometimes but no one punishes the child for this – a scraped knee is punishment enough

–         Instead we give the child confidence to pick themselves up and carry on

 

Or when a young person is learning to drive

–         They might stall a few times as they get used to the clutch but the instructor is patient with them because they are still getting the hang of it

 

Learning to trust God is a bit like learning to walk or ride a bike or drive a car

–         We make mistakes – we fall, we scrape our knees and we stall

–         But God isn’t there with a big stick ready to hit us if we get it wrong

–         He understands and gives us the grace we need to carry on learning

 

This morning we continue our series on the life of Abram

–         Last week we heard how God called Abram to leave his country, his people and his father’s house

–         Abram responded by obeying God’s call in stages

–         First he left his country and then, some years later, he left his father’s household

 

When Abram finally did make it to Canaan (the Promised Land) the Lord appeared to him and said, “To your offspring I will give this land”

–         Following this wonderful spiritual experience there is a famine in the land and Abram migrates to Egypt to avoid starvation

–         While in Egypt his faith falters – Abram’s fear & anxiety gets the better of him and he trips up

–         But the Lord isn’t waiting with a big stick to punish Abram

–         Rather God is patient and gracious as Abram learns to walk by faith

 

We pick up Abram & Sarai’s story from Genesis chapter 12, verse 10…

 

10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

17 But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate this reading for us

 

Today’s Scripture passage conveniently divides into 3 parts…

–         Famine, fear and freedom

–         Famine in the land, fear in Abram’s heart and freedom by the Lord’s hand. First let us consider famine in the land…

 

Famine:

I remember when I was about 13 or 14 going to an Anglican youth group camp

–         To teach us what the journey of faith is like they had us all line up one behind the other and then told us to take two steps forward and one step back, two steps forward, one step back and so on

–         It was frustrating in a way but it was also effective in teaching the point

–         This is often how it is in our journey of faith

–         Things are going along fine, we feel close to God, and then we go through a famine experience

–         We might sustain some kind of loss – perhaps the death of a loved one or the loss of a job or the breakdown of a marriage

–         Or maybe we experience some kind of disappointment – either with another person or with God

–         Or our prayer life becomes stale and dry

–         Or we might suffer a famine of meaning, where we struggle to find purpose in life – somehow the things we once valued no longer seem so important

–         Whatever form or shape the famine comes in, it feels like we are taking a step backwards and it tests our faith

 

After making two steps forward (leaving his country and his father’s house to enter the Promised Land), Abram now takes one step back as he faces a literal famine in the form of a severe food shortage

–         God had promised to give the land of Canaan to Abram’s offspring and then, sometime after he gets there, Abram discovers the land is not a reliable food source

–         It’s sort of like being given a car with no petrol in the tank

–         Or a cell phone with no battery

–         Or a pair of shoes with a hole in them

–         The famine calls God’s faithfulness into question

 

On the wall here is a diagram of what to do if you are caught in a rip tide at the beach

–         A rip is a current of water on a surf beach which is moving out to sea

–         You can identify a rip by the relative calmness of the water – ironically the rip is where the water is flat (that is, where the waves aren’t)

–         If you are caught in a rip and feel yourself being taken out to sea you basically have three options:

–         Wave out to a life guard to come to your rescue

–         Or, try swimming against the current

–         Or, go with the current and swim sideways till you come out of the rip

–         Once you are out of the rip you can swim back to shore

 

Swimming against the current is probably the worst thing you can do – it will simply make you exhausted and you’ll get nowhere for your efforts

–         Waving for help and swimming to the side are better options

 

A famine is sort of like a rip tide – it’s one of those circumstances you don’t have control over

–         Abram was caught in a severe famine and he had three options:

–         He could call out to God for help

–         Or, he could try and swim against the famine by staying in the land

–         Or, he could let the current of the famine carry him to Egypt, where the food was, and then swim out the side later

 

As far as we know Abram did not call on the Lord for help or ask his advice

–         Instead he thought he would take care of it himself

–         Maybe he didn’t realise that the fulfilment of God’s promise depended more on God than it did on him

–         In any case Abram doesn’t try to swim against the famine (he doesn’t stay in the land) but rather he lets the current carry him to Egypt with a view to returning to Canaan once the famine has finished

 

Interestingly God is silent – he doesn’t say anything to try and stop Abram

–         The Lord let’s Abram make his choices and then works with the choices Abram gives him

 

Fear:

Okay, so that’s the first point, famine in the land

–         Now let’s consider our second point: Abram’s fear

 

About 6 months ago we bought a new car – a 2008 Nissan Tiida

–         The car we traded in was a 1995 Mitsubishi Lancer, so the Tiida is about 13 years newer than the Lancer

–         Consequently the Tiida has a lot more technology built into it

–         One of the things with the Tiida is that talks to you

–         There is literally a voice which says ‘konichiwa’ when you turn it on

–         Not only that but the car is covered in sensors so whenever you get a bit close to something it beeps at you to warn you to stop

–         Or, if you leave your lights on, it beeps at you when you open the door to remind you to turn your lights off

–         It even has a little display estimating how many more km’s before you run out of petrol

–         The point is the new car has all this warning technology built in to it

–         You can turn the volume down though and drive old school if you want

 

Fear is a bit like warning technology built into our brain and nervous system

–         A little bit of fear can be a good thing – it warns us when danger is imminent so we can take corrective action to protect ourselves

–         Sometimes though the volume of our fear is turned up too high so that the warnings our fear gives us is all we can hear and we end up over-reacting

–         Other times our fear malfunctions – it starts beeping when it’s not supposed to, warning us of imminent danger when none exists, so that we end up anxious over nothing

 

A little bit of fear is a healthy thing but when fear has too much influence in our lives it distorts our thinking

–         It makes us forget the bigger picture and deceives us so that we feel like we have no other options than the one presented by our fear

–         Too much fear is like a cruel tyrant living in our head – it bullies us and makes us do things we don’t want to do

 

Turning the volume of fear down, in our brains, is more difficult than turning it down in a car. Verses 11-13 describe how fear affected Abram

 

11 As Abram was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

 

The first thing to say here is that Abram’s fear was not unfounded – his fear did have some basis in reality

–         Pharaoh was a dictator with a reputation for taking whatever he wanted and disposing of whoever got in his way

–         So Abram was being sensible in heeding the warning his fear gave him

–         Unfortunately the volume of Abram’s fear was turned up too high and that prevented him from thinking clearly

–         With fear calling the shots in Abram’s mind it seemed that deceiving Pharaoh was his best option, perhaps his only option

–         Apparently it didn’t occur to Abram to enquire of the Lord

–         Just as he had left Canaan without asking God for help or advice he now also excludes God in dealing with Pharaoh

–         It’s like Abram thinks the fulfilment of the promise depends on him rather than God

–         Fear has temporarily disabled Abram’s faith in God’s promises

 

A couple of other minor technical points that this passage raises…

–         We know from other parts of Scripture that Sarai was 10 years younger than Abram and that Abram was 75 when he left Harran to go to Canaan

–         This means Sarai must have been at least 65 when she entered Egypt

–         If the genealogies in Genesis are to be accepted at face value then it appears that people 4000 years ago lived longer than we do today

–         In other words they might have aged more slowly – so their 65 may have been more like our 35 [1] (which would make sense in light of Abram’s concern about Pharaoh wanting Sarai because of her beauty)

 

The other minor point to be aware of is that Sarai was Abram’s half sister

–         We know from Genesis 20:12 that Sarai & Abram had the same father but different mothers

–         So by today’s standards their marriage would be considered incestuous,

–         But in that time and culture marrying your half-sister was acceptable – in fact it may have even given more status to the marriage [2]

 

We shouldn’t get hung up though on Sarai’s age and relationship to Abram, they are minor curiosities in the context

–         The main point is that on this occasion Abram acted out of fear, not faith

–         Fear can be a ruthless dictator – not unlike Pharaoh

–         It can distort our thinking and cause us to do things we wouldn’t ordinarily do

–         Fear turned Abram into a con man and it made him use his wife, Sarai, as a shield to protect and enrich himself

 

Now on the one hand we don’t want to condemn Abram for his actions, he was in a difficult situation

–         But on the other hand we can’t condone what he did either

–         We human beings are a mixture – capable of both fearful deceit and faithful courage

–         Abram is not perfect at this point – he is still learning to walk by faith and part of learning to walk by faith is learning to manage our fear

 

Fear and anxiety plays a big part in our lives these days – more than it did 20 or 30 years ago

–         I don’t think shame or guilt over our fearful responses is helpful

–         Learning to manage our fear, learning to walk by faith, is like learning to ride a bike or drive a car

–         There is no shame in falling over or in stalling – it’s part of the learning process

–         God is not standing over us with the big stick waiting to wallop us the moment we make a mistake

–         He is standing alongside us, encouraging us, helping us to find our feet

–         If you suffer from anxiety or fear then take heart by Abram’s example

–         Abram was overcome by fear at times too and yet God used him to bless many

 

As I said before, Abram’s fears were not unfounded

–         Pharaoh did in fact hear of Sarai’s beauty and took her into his harem, treating Abram well for her sake

–         Sarai and Abram didn’t get a choice in the matter – Pharaoh was a dictator. What Pharaoh wants, Pharaoh gets

–         The text doesn’t say whether Pharaoh actually slept with Sarai or not

–         We the reader are left hoping he didn’t, for Sarai’s sake at least

 

This is a picture of men behaving badly

–         Not only did Abram act out of fear to save himself

–         Pharaoh acted out of his lust to have Sarai

–         And so God intervened to set Sarai & Abram free

 

Freedom:

Jesus said, “The truth will set you free”

–         In the context Jesus was talking about holding to the truth of his teaching

–         The principle is, when we believe what is true our minds are set free

–         But when we believe what is false our minds are bound in fear

–         It appears Abram believed that God couldn’t help him with the famine or with Pharaoh and that false belief created a fear which led him to deceive Pharaoh and that deceit resulted in Sarai becoming a captive in Pharaoh’s harem

–         Consequently God intervened to set her free, not by force but by revealing the truth

 

Verse 17 tells us the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh because he had taken Abram’s wife

–         We might look at this situation and think – that doesn’t seem fair, Abram tells a porky (a big fat lie) and Pharaoh gets punished for it

–         Well, I don’t think the Lord is punishing Pharaoh, so much as trying to communicate with him

–         The message was, ‘Pharaoh, your attitude to women is sick and your whole regime is diseased. Your behaviour Pharaoh is as repulsive to me as this illness is to you’

 

I’m not sure whether Pharaoh interpreted his sickness in this way but he certainly realised something was wrong and after investigating what it might be he learned the truth, that Sarai was actually married to Abram

–         We are not told exactly how he learned this but that doesn’t matter

–         The main point is that Sarai was set free when Pharaoh learned the truth

 

When Pharaoh learns the truth he confronts Abram, saying, ‘What have you done to me?’

–         Apparently Pharaoh wants to blame Abram for his predicament

–         Now while it’s true that Abram did deceive Pharaoh, the Egyptian king is missing the point

–         Abram didn’t do this to Pharaoh – Pharaoh brought this on himself

–         It’s not okay for the king to take women against their will to use as objects for his own pleasure

–         Pharaoh has been abusing his power for quite some time it seems

–         He clearly has a Harvey Weinstein reputation, otherwise Abram wouldn’t have felt he needed to deceive Pharaoh in the first place

 

God is love – he doesn’t just love Abram & Sarai, he loves Pharaoh and the Egyptians (and Harvey Weinstein) too, even if he hates their behaviour

–         I believe the sickness God sent on Pharaoh’s household was a message of truth intended to set Pharaoh free from his own sin

–         Unfortunately the Egyptian king didn’t want to face the truth about himself – otherwise he would have said, ‘What have I done?’ rather than ‘What have you done?’

–         He repented in part (by returning Sarai to Abram) but it appears he didn’t go far enough – what about all the other women he had used?

 

The dictator is reaping what he has sown – now it’s Pharaoh’s turn to be afraid and he manages his fear by sending Abram and Sarai away

 

In many ways, God’s deliverance of Abram & Sarai from Egypt foreshadows Israel’s exodus experience

–         Just as Abram & Sarai were forced to migrate to Egypt due to a famine, so too Abram’s grandson, Jacob, moved his family to Egypt because of famine

–         Just as Sarai was oppressed by the Pharaoh of her day, so too the people of Israel were oppressed by the Egyptians some centuries later

–         And just as God intervened with diseases so Pharaoh would set Abram & Sarai free, so too the Lord sent plagues on Egypt so another Pharaoh would let the nation of Israel go free

 

Conclusion:

There are parallels here between Abram and Jesus too

–         After the joy of Jesus’ birth, Joseph and Mary are forced to flee Israel to find refuge in Egypt because Herod is out to kill the new born Messiah

–         Unlike Abram though, Joseph makes the journey to Egypt, not out of fear but in faith, because an angel of the Lord instructed him in a dream

 

Another connection between Abram & Jesus…

–         After his baptism in the River Jordan, God said to Jesus – ‘This is my beloved Son with whom I’m pleased’

–         And then, straight after that wonderful (two steps forward) spiritual experience, the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness (one step back) to be tested by Satan

–         And what’s the first temptation?

–         Famine, hunger. ‘If you are God’s Son, turn these stones into bread’

–         Forget God and rely on yourself

–         Unlike Abram, Jesus passed the test

 

Where you are at in your journey of faith at the moment?

–         Is this is a two steps forward or a one step back stage for you?

–         Are you walking confidently in faith or ducking & diving under that cruel dictator we call ‘Fear’?

–         Either way, the Lord Jesus is faithful to his promises

–         He does not promise us an easy ride – we all face a famine of sorts at some point

–         What Jesus does promise is to never leave us or forsake us

–         And when our journey on this earth has finished he promises heaven

–         Those two things, his presence and heaven

 

Reflection / discussion questions:

 

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

 

2.)    Can you identify with your journey of faith being two steps forward, one step back?

–         If yes, what have the forward and backwards steps looked like for you?

–         If no, how would you describe your journey of faith?

 

3.)    What is your best option if you get caught in a rip at the beach?

–         If being caught in a famine is like being caught in a rip, what option did Abram go with?

 

4.)    How did Abram’s fear of Pharaoh affect him – what did his fear make him do?

–         How does fear affect you?

–         When is fear a good thing?

–         How might we know when fear is having too much influence in our life?

 

5.)    How does God set Abram & Sarai free?

 

6.)    How does Abram & Sarai’s sojourn in Egypt foreshadow Israel’s exodus experience?

 

7.)    Reflect on /discuss the parallels Genesis 12:10-20 raises between Abram & Jesus

 

8.)    What does Jesus promise us?

–         What does he not promise?

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/22-oct-2017-abram-in-egypt

 

 

[1] Derek Kidner, Genesis, pages 116-117

[2] Ibid

Tawa Baptist

God calls Abram

Scripture: Genesis 11:27-12:9

 

Title: God calls Abram

 

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • God’s creative call
  • Abram’s faith journey
  • Conclusion

 

Introduction:

X-men first class,

The Hobbit,

Monsters University,

Rise of the Planet of the Apes,

Batman begins,

Revenge of the Sith

The God Father, Part 2…

 

These are all examples of origin stories or prequels

–         An origin story or a prequel gives the back story on a character

–         It tells us how their story began – how they gained their powers and became a hero or a villain

–         We love origin stories

 

This morning we begin a new sermon series on the life of Abram in the book of Genesis

–         Genesis is essentially a collection of origin stories

–         The account of Abram is basically the origin story for the nation of Israel and the prequel for the Christian church – Abram is our father in the faith

 

From Genesis chapter 11, verse 27, we read Abram’s origin story…

 

27 This is the account of Terah’s family line. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. 30 Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there.

32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.

2 “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. 3 I will bless those who bless you,     and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth     will be blessed through you.”

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.6 Abram travelled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 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. 8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus help us to understand our spiritual roots

 

There’s a lot happening in this origins story – broadly speaking though it’s about God’s creative call and Abram’s faith journey

–         First let’s consider God’s creative call for this is where Abram’s story begins

 

God’s creative call:

Separation – it’s one of the key factors in any creative process

–         In Genesis 1, when God created the cosmos, he did so by separating light from darkness, land from sea and earth from sky

–         Cells reproduce by separating or dividing themselves

–         During the birthing process a child is separated from its mother’s womb

–         Then later in life the young person goes through the process of establishing their own identity by separating from their parents and eventually leaving home

–         We could go on but you get the point, separation is an essential, albeit sometimes painful, part of the creative process

 

While he was still living, in the city of Ur, the Lord God had said to Abram,

–         “Leave your country, your people and father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”

 

The Hebrew word which is translated as leave here means to determinedly dissociate one self, or literally to ‘leave by yourself’ [1]

–         God’s creative call to Abram is basically a call to separate himself from his homeland, his culture and his family’s way of life

 

This was a big call – a difficult thing

–         God was asking Abram to let go of his security, to say goodbye to everything he was familiar with and step out into the unknown

–         God didn’t tell Abram where the land was he was going to – just that he needed to leave and he would show Abram when he got there

 

It’s easy enough to understand why God required Abram to separate himself from his home land

–         For a ship to make a journey across the ocean it must leave the dock

–         For an aeroplane to fly to another country it must leave the runway

 

But why did God require Abram to leave his people and his father’s house – basically his close kin and his way of life or his culture?

 

Well, it was God’s plan to create a new nation (a redemptive community) through Abram which would be different from the other nations

–         A nation of priests who would show the rest of the world God’s ways

 

Abram’s father, Terah, was a pagan – an idol worshipper (we know this from Joshua 24, verse 2)

–         Terah most likely worshipped the moon god Sin

 

For an alcoholic to recover they must separate themselves from the booze (they must stay away from the pub and other drinkers in other words)

–         Likewise, for someone in an abusive relationship to survive they must separate themselves from the one abusing them

–         For God to create a new & redemptive community through Abram he needed to get Abram out of his old, destructive religion and that meant getting him out of his close knit pagan family

–         Basically Abram couldn’t become the father of a nation of Godly priests if he continued doing things the way his family had always done them

To give you an idea of just how close knit Abram’s family were here’s their family tree

–         Terah had at least three sons that we know of: Abram, Nahor & Haran

–         I’ve got a line through Haran’s name because he died, but not before fathering two daughters, Milkah & Iskar and a son called Lot

–         Nahor married his niece Milkah

 

By today’s standards we would say that Abram’s family were too close

–         But to be fair Abram lived about 4,000 years ago (give or take a century or two) at a time before marrying close family was outlawed or even frowned upon

–         The point is, in Abram’s case, a bit of separation from family and pagan culture was actually a good thing – a creative thing

–         You can’t make a Pavlova without first separating the egg whites from the yokes

 

Although God seems to ask a lot of Abram, the Lord does so with a series of really big promises…

 

2 “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. 3 I will bless those who bless you,     and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth     will be blessed through you.”

 

We’ve been told that Abram’s wife, Sarai, was barren – she couldn’t have kids

–         So the Lord’s first promise is to give Abram so many descendants that he will become the father of a great nation

–         Again we hear echoes of the creation account in Genesis 1 where Yahweh tells the creatures he has made to be fruitful and multiply

 

God then promises to bless Abram

–         God’s blessing brings power for life, enhancement of life and the increase of life [2]  (God’s blessing makes life abundant – worth living)

–         God is promising Abram everything he could want – prosperity, fertility and victory.

 

“I will make your name great”

–         This means more than simply being famous

–         In the Ancient Near East a person’s name revealed their inner character so to have a great name meant to have a great character

–         God is promising to improve Abram’s character from the inside out – theologians might call this sanctification

 

God’s promise to make Abram a better person is instructive

–         We tend to have an idealised picture of Abram, because he is one of the heroes of the faith

–         We often think of him as a paragon of virtue from the beginning and while he did some good things at times there were other occasions when his behaviour was pretty average from a moral/ethical point of view

–         There were other people, who lived around the same time as Abram, who were more righteous or deserving of God’s favour than Abram

–         People like the high priest Melchizedek and Job – yet the Lord didn’t call them or make a great nation out of them as he did with Abram

 

It appears God chose Abram out of pure grace

–         As the apostle Paul says, God’s grace is made perfect in our weakness

–         And Abram had weakness in spades – he had heaps of it

–         From a pagan idol worshipping family, with a wife who couldn’t have children – Abram clearly wasn’t the best option available to God

 

The other thing to mention about God’s promises to Abram here is that they are not all about Abram

–         God plans to bless all people’s on earth through Abram

–         So Abram is blessed to be a blessing – he is to become a channel or a means of blessing for others

 

Also, God’s promise of blessing is inter-generational

–         The Lord’s blessing doesn’t end with Abram – it is passed on from one generation to the next

–         In fact, Abram won’t get to realise all of God’s blessings and promises in his own life time

 

In a way we are like Abram – Abram’s story is our origins story

–         Through our faith in Christ we inherit the promise of God’s kingdom

–         We might not get to realise God’s kingdom in our life time but we pass on the promise to the next generation

–         Likewise, through the work of the Holy Spirit, the Lord is making our names great – not in the modern sense of being famous but in the ancient sense of making our inner character better, sanctifying us

–         And like Abram we are not blessed just for our own sake but for the sake of others – we are blessed to be a blessing to the world God loves

–         That’s the mission statement for our church really – to glorify God and be a blessing to his world

 

Okay – so that’s God’s creative call to Abram – it’s a call that separates him out from his people and his family

–         It’s a call to bless Abram and others through him

–         And it’s a call made out of pure grace, not because of anything Abram has done nor because of any potential in Abram

 

How then does Abram respond?

–         Well, it would be fair to say Abram’s response is a gradual journey of faith

 

Abram’s faith journey:

You are no doubt aware of the fable of the hare and the tortoise

–         How the tortoise won in the end, despite being slower than the hare

–         The hare, who had far more natural ability than the tortoise, was over confident and took the race for granted

–         The tortoise on the other hand knew the odds were against him but never gave up believing he could get there in the end

–         Slow and steady wins the race

 

Abram was the tortoise – he wasn’t all that fast out of the blocks and he had a few set-backs along the way but he never gave up his belief in God’s promises

–         He kept plodding on in faith and hope that God would get him and his descendants over the line in time

 

In Genesis 12 it sounds to us like God spoke to Abram while he was in Harran and then Abram left for Canaan immediately

 

But in his speech to the Jewish leaders (in Acts 7) Steven says…

–         The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’

–         So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father [Terah], God sent Abraham to this land where you are now living…

On the wall here is a map of what most people today imagine Abram’s journey looked like 4000 years ago

 

–         Although the exact location of Ur is disputed the archaeological evidence available to us suggests it is in modern day southern Iraq

–         The red line traces Abram’s journey from Ur in the south west, following the Euphrates river to Harran

–         Harran is thought to be close to the present day border between Syria and Turkey

 

God’s instruction to Abram was leave your country, your people and your father’s household

–         It appears Abram didn’t do this all at once – he did it in stages

–         First he left his country – but not his father’s household

–         He took his father’s household (or some of it at least) with him part of the way to the Promised Land – as far as Harran

–         Steven tells us it wasn’t until after Terah had died that Abram completed the journey from Harran to Canaan

 

That’s often how it is with us as well

–         Faith is a journey – our trust & obedience of God grows in stages

–         I say trust & obedience because the two go hand in hand – trust & obedience are the two main factors of faith in God

–         The degree to which we obey God reveals the degree to which we actually trust Him

–         Abram obeyed some of what God asked him to do straight away but not all of it

–         He trusted God enough at first to leave his country but it took him a bit more time to trust God enough to leave his extended family

 

To become a Christian is to start a journey of learning to trust & obey Jesus

–         It’s a journey of learning to make Jesus Christ ‘Lord’ of our whole life

–         To call Jesus ‘Lord’ is to say, “Jesus – you are the boss of my life. What you say is what I will do”

 

While the end goal is to give all of our life to Jesus – what we often do in reality is give Jesus parts of our life, in stages

–         If we are honest with ourselves we say, “Okay Jesus, you’re in charge of this part of my life and I’m in charge of the rest”

–         “You can have Sunday mornings and 10 minutes each day, while I do my devotions, but the rest of the time I don’t want to be interrupted.”

–         Or we say, “You can change these parts of my life Jesus – you can take away my grief, my pain, my anger, my sickness and my guilt but I don’t want you to change my bad habits or my bad attitudes. There are some sins I still quite enjoy and want to hold on to”

–         Or we say, “Jesus, I know you said ‘Pick up your cross and follow me’ but that would ruin my reputation and I’m not quite ready to sacrifice my reputation just yet.”

–         Or we say, “Jesus, I know you said, ‘Love God, love your neighbour and love your enemies’, and I can do some of that. I can love those people who make me feel good, but the rest of humanity I can’t stand.”

 

What I’m trying to say here is that most of us don’t give our whole life to Jesus all at once – we tend to give it to him in stages or bits and pieces

–         Christian faith is a journey – we don’t start at the destination

–         We don’t start with 100% trust & obedience in Christ, we might only start with 2% or ½ a percent – that’s okay, God can work with ½ a percent, nothing is impossible for him

 

One of the areas of my life that I have yet to surrender to Jesus is sleep

–         I love sleep – I get a bit grumpy without it

–         I work hard during the day and so I expect as my reward to be able to rest well at night and most nights I do sleep well

–         But there are times when I don’t

–         Sometimes that’s my own fault because I’ve eaten too much desert before going to bed

–         Other times though it feels like God is keeping me up to spend some time with Him, to pray, and when that happens I’m usually not very happy

 

You see, sleep is a part of my life that I’m still learning to trust Jesus with

–         If I don’t sleep well I get anxious that I’m not going to perform well the next day – which indicates that I’m trusting more in my own ability than I am in the grace of God

–         For Jesus, prayer was more valuable than sleep – as we see in the Garden of Gethsemane for example

–         But for me, at this stage in my journey of faith, sleep is usually more important than prayer – I’m not proud of it, I’m just being honest

–         I know (in my head) that the night belongs to God as much as the day, so I am without excuse

–         If Jesus wants to keep me up in the middle of the night to say something to me or to have me pray for someone then he can, because he is Lord, and no part of my life should be off limits to him

 

Now let me be clear – sleep is good, we need our sleep

–         And it is good and right and necessary for us to have boundaries in our relationships with other people

–         But in our relationship with Jesus the aim is to have no boundaries – to put up no walls or obstacles

–         The goal is to let him be in charge of every area of our lives – to trust him with our work, our sleep, our family, our finances, our future, our reputation, everything

 

There’s a café in Porirua called ‘Kaizen’ (they do a fantastic Rueben sandwich)

–         Kaizen is a Japanese word which simply means improvement

–         Faith is a journey of improvement where we learn to trust God more and more each day, where we give more of the territory of our heart to Jesus

–         If our faith in Jesus is like a tree, then it takes time for the tree to grow and develop the fruit of loving our enemies

–         It takes time to trust Jesus with our reputation

–         It takes time to value prayer over sleep

 

Abram’s faith & obedience grew in stages

–         It wasn’t there perfectly all at once, from the beginning

–         Fortunately the Lord is patient & understanding with Abram and with us

–         He waits for Abram and gives him time just as he gives us time

–         Of course, we never know when the time is going to run out

 

As I mentioned before, when Abram set out he didn’t know that Canaan was the destination

–         God didn’t tell Abram where he was supposed to be going

–         He simply said, leave and I’ll tell you when you get there

–         Abram only knew he had arrived when God appeared to him at Shechem

–         Shechem is pretty much in the centre of the Promised Land

 

When Abram finally arrived in Canaan he found it was already occupied – so he couldn’t take possession of the land straight away, he had to wait

–         In fact he couldn’t take possession of it during his lifetime – it would be Abram’s descendants who would enjoy the land

–         Now this could have been a bit of a disappointment to Abram

–         He had left his country and travelled all this way only to be told, ‘you can look but you can’t take hold’

–         Abram’s response is not disappointment though – his response is worship

–         He builds an altar in that place

–         Building an altar is sort of like planting a flag – it’s a way of saying this land belongs to the Lord

–         Building an altar is also an act of faith – it’s a very practical way of Abram saying, “I believe you Lord”

–         The altar would stand as a reminder to Abram of God’s promise

 

Conclusion:

The song that Matt chose to conclude our service this morning is Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son

–         The songs we sing in church are sort like mini altars

–         They provide a focal point for worshipping God

–         They are like a flag we plant in the ground by which we proclaim our faith in the Lord and they remind us of God’s promises to us in Christ

 

This particular song, Thine be the glory, reminds us of Jesus’ resurrection and also of God’s promise of resurrection for all those who have heard God’s call to leave their old way of life behind and embark on a journey of faith with Jesus

–         Let’s stand and sing…

 

Reflection / discussion questions:

 

1.)    What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon?

 

2.)    What is your origins story?

–         In what ways can you identify with Abram’s back story?

 

3.)    What new creation is God bringing about in calling Abram?

–         Why does Abram need to leave (separate from) his country, his people and his father’s house?

 

4.)    What does the Lord promise to do for Abram?

 

5.)    Why did God choose (or elect) Abram?

 

6.)    Abram obeyed / trusted God in stages and that’s often how it is with us as well

–         Are there parts of your life that are off limits to Jesus? (That is: parts you still want to be in control of)

 

7.)    What was significant about Abram building an altar at Shechem?

–         In what sense are the songs we sing in church a bit like mini altars?

–         You might want to take some time to worship God in song, perhaps by singing along to a Christian worship CD (either as a group or on your own at home)

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/15-oct-2017-god-calls-abram

 

 

[1] Bruce Waltke, Genesis, page 205.

[2] Horst quoted in Waltke’s Genesis, page 205

Tawa Baptist

Barnabas & Mark

Scripture: Acts 15:36-40

 

Title: Barnabas & Mark

 

The term ‘big hearted’ describes someone who is:

–         Compassionate, generous, open, kind, gracious, encouraging & noble

–         Someone who is big hearted looks beyond the flaws in others to see their  potential – they accept people and make room for them

 

Please turn with me to Acts chapter 15, verse 36 – page 171 toward the back of your pew Bibles

–         This morning we continue our series on intergenerational relationships

–         An intergenerational relationship is one between people of different ages or generations

–         Next week Brian Gillies will conclude our sermon series by looking at the relationship between Jonathon’s son, Mephibosheth, and David

–         This morning’s focus though is Barnabas & Mark, two missionaries in the New Testament

–         Barnabas was Mark’s older ‘big hearted’ cousin

–         Although the young Mark made a false start, Barnabas gave him the grace and the courage to make a fresh start

 

From Acts 15, verse 36 we read…

 

36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in every town where we preached the word of the Lord, and let us find out how they are getting along.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them, 38 but Paul did not think it was right to take him, because he had not stayed with them to the end of their mission, but had turned back and left them in Pamphylia. 39 There was a sharp argument, and they separated: Barnabas took Mark and sailed off for Cyprus, 40 while Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the care of the Lord’s grace.

 

May the Spirit of Jesus give us understanding

 

Although the focus of today’s message is primarily the relationship between Barnabas and Mark we can’t we really talk about them without also mentioning the relationship between Barnabas & Paul and Peter & Mark

–         Intergenerational relationships don’t just happen in pairs – they often hold together within a network or a community

 

Barnabas and Paul had been friends and co-workers for a number of years

–         When Paul first became a Christian all the other believers were scared of him and wouldn’t accept him

–         You can’t blame them though; previously Paul (who was then known as Saul) had been persecuting Christians

–         So it was a bit suspicious having him turn up on their door step wanting to be friends – maybe it was a trick

 

Barnabas (who was full of the Holy Spirit and faith[1]) was big hearted enough to forgive the past

–         He trusted the Holy Spirit’s work in Paul’s life – that Paul’s conversion would stick and he acted as Paul’s advocate in that situation

–         Barnabas took Paul to the apostles and vouched that his conversion was genuine

–         Consequently Paul found acceptance among the other Christian believers

 

About eight years later, after Paul had returned to his home town of Tarsus and been all but forgotten, it was Barnabas who remembered Paul and went to Tarsus to enlist his help in teaching the new Gentile converts in Antioch

–         I’m not sure if there was any age difference between Barnabas and Paul but Barnabas had certainly been a Christian longer than Paul

–         Barnabas saw potential in Paul and sought to develop that potential

–         If it had not been for Barnabas, Paul may not have had such an influence in spreading the gospel

 

After a year or so of ministering together in Antioch, Paul & Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to deliver a monetary offering for the believers there

–         While in Jerusalem they met Barnabas’ cousin , John Mark

–         The church in Jerusalem met in Mark’s mother’s house – so Mark would have had a strong Christian network

–         Many of the original disciples, people like Peter, James & John, would have gathered in his home for worship services

 

Barnabas & Paul took John Mark back to Antioch with them [2]

–         Then, sometime later, when the Holy Spirit sent Barnabas and Paul out on their first missionary journey together they decided to take John Mark with them as their helper [3]

–         But for reasons unknown to us Mark didn’t complete the journey – he gave up part way through

–         Sometimes when we are young we bite off more than we can chew or we simply mess up and make a false start

–         Those of us who are older need to be careful not to place so much hope or expectation on our young people that we are devastated when they slip or fail

–         Our young people are still learning and growing as we are all learning & growing

–         On the one hand young people need to be allowed to take some risks but we shouldn’t be surprised by a few false starts along the way

–         Those of us who are older need to remember our own mistakes and the grace we’ve been shown

–         We need to be big hearted enough to give a second or third chance

 

After Barnabas & Paul finished their first missionary journey they returned home

–         Sometime later they decided to make a second trip to visit and encourage the churches they had planted the first time

–         Big hearted Barnabas wanted to give his cousin, John Mark, a second chance – after all, being given another chance is the gospel of Jesus, the gospel of grace – but Paul was adamant that Mark should stay behind

 

If we give Paul the benefit of the doubt he was probably thinking of both Mark’s well-being and the success of the mission

–         What if Mark turned back a second time – that wouldn’t be good for him or the mission

 

It appears that in Paul’s mind at least Mark came with too much risk

–         Barnabas, on the other hand, had a different perspective

–         He was willing to trust God with the risk

 

Barnabas’ real name was actually Joseph

–         Joseph got the nickname ‘Barnabas’ because he encouraged people

–         That’s what Barnabas means, ‘son of encouragement’ [4]

–         Encouragement is more than just saying nice things to people

–         To encourage someone literally means to put courage into them – to give them confidence

–         Barnabas gave people confidence with his presence, his trust and his words of truth

 

I imagine that Mark felt like a complete failure after his false start

–         Barnabas could see that Mark had ability – what he lacked was confidence

–         Mark needed someone like Barnabas to give him the courage to get back on the horse and try again

 

Remember it was Barnabas who believed in Paul when no one else did

–         It was Barnabas who opened the door for Paul to be included in the fellowship of the early church

–         It must have seemed, to Barnabas, like a double standard that Paul would reject Mark, given Paul’s own chequered history

 

The Bible is a very honest book – it tells the story warts and all

–         Luke, the writer of Acts, does not hide the fact that Barnabas & Paul had a ‘sharp argument’ over this

–         Here we have two Godly men, full of the Holy Spirit, good men who love Jesus and are totally committed to serving him, whatever the cost, and yet they have this heated argument over whether or not to take Mark

 

That neither Barnabas nor Paul were prepared to back down shows us that this issue touched on a deep conviction for them both

–         Perhaps for Paul the deep conviction was that people needed to hear the good news about Jesus – nothing should get in the way of their mission and Mark’s lack of reliability threatened the mission

–         Perhaps for Barnabas it was a matter of integrity – ensuring they practiced the gospel they preached

–         How can we go on a missions’ trip preaching a gospel of grace if we ourselves are not willing to be big hearted enough to forgive Mark?

 

Barnabas was being consistent in advocating to give John Mark a second chance, just as he had advocated for giving Paul a chance years earlier

–         Despite Barnabas’ advocacy Paul didn’t see it the same way and the two of them decided to part company for a while:

–         Barnabas & Mark went to Cyprus while Paul & Silas went to Cilicia

 

This bust up may seem less than ideal to us but God used the separation for good

–         Paul went on to mentor the young Timothy and after working with Barnabas in Cyprus, John Mark went on to become Peter’s assistant

–         God, in his grace, was big hearted enough to use Paul & Barnabas’ disagreement to multiply the workers

 

I said before that intergenerational relationships don’t just happen in pairs – they often hold together in a network or a community

–         A healthy inter-generational church provides the network of relationships necessary to sustain and grow faith

–         Mark had more than one mentor

–         As well as Barnabas and Paul, Mark also had Peter

 

In many ways Peter was a good match for Mark

–         The apostle Peter, who denied Jesus three times, was well acquainted with false starts – his failure served to deepen his experience of grace

–         As Jesus said, the more you’ve been forgiven, the more you love

 

Mark assisted Peter as he preached the good news about Jesus

–         In one of his letters Peter refers to Mark as a son [5]

–         Clearly Peter appreciated Mark and loved him

–         Tradition tells us that John Mark wrote the gospel of Mark based on Peter’s preaching

 

Mark may have made a false start but by God’s grace, mediated through Barnabas and Peter, he found the courage to make a fresh start

 

But Mark’s story doesn’t end with Peter

–         The gospel of Jesus is a gospel of forgiveness & reconciliation

–         We don’t know exactly how it happened but it did happen

–         Mark & Paul were reconciled to one another (as were Barnabas & Paul)

 

Some years later, in his letter to the Colossians, Paul writes…

–         Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions to welcome Mark if he comes your way.) Joshua, also called Justus, sends greetings too. These three are the only Jewish converts who work with me for the Kingdom of God, and they have been a great help to me. [6]

 

But wait, there’s more…

–         Towards the end of his life, Paul writes to his protégé Timothy saying,

–         Get Mark and bring him with you, because he can help me in the work. [7]

 

Paul, who previously rejected Mark because he didn’t think he was up to it, now accepts Mark and acknowledges that Mark is a great help to him

–         By implication Paul was admitting that his old friend Barnabas was right

–         That’s the grace of God – that’s the power of the gospel

 

So what do we take from this – what is the application for our lives?

–         Well, two things…

 

Firstly, if we make a false start or we mess up in some way or turn back as Mark did, then that doesn’t mean the end for us

–         The good news is that through Jesus we get a second chance

–         And not just a second chance, but a third and a fourth and so on

–         When Peter asked Jesus, ‘How many times should I forgive’ the Lord replied, ’70 x seven’ – or as often as the person repents in other words

–         So that’s the first thing, with Jesus a false start makes room for grace

 

The second point of application is that we (like Barnabas) need to be big hearted enough to give courage & confidence to others who are struggling in the faith

–         The early church in Jerusalem struggled to believe that Paul had really changed but Barnabas gave them confidence to trust the Holy Spirit’s work of conversion in Paul’s life

–         Some years later Paul himself struggled to believe that Mark could make it as a missionary but Barnabas stood up for Mark, giving the young man confidence to trust in God’s grace and make fresh start

 

Eventually Paul came round too

–         Paul learned that God’s grace is made perfect in our weakness

–         He also learned that believers in Christ are connected, like a network or a body

–         We need each other: the eye cannot say to the hand I don’t need you

–         [Nor can Paul say to Mark I don’t need you]

–         On the contrary, we cannot do without the parts of the body that seem to be weaker; and those parts that we think aren’t worth very much are the ones which we treat with greater care. [8]

 

So the question is: who can you be a Barnabas for?

–         Who is your Mark?

–         Who can you encourage?

–         Who can you give confidence to?

–         Who needs greater care?

 

Questions

1.)    What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon?

2.)    What does the term ‘big hearted’ mean to you?

–         Can you think of someone who is big hearted?

3.)    How did Barnabas help Paul (and the church) when Paul was a new convert?

4.)    What does it mean to encourage someone?

–         How did Barnabas encourage people?

5.)    How did God use Paul & Barnabas’ separation for good?

6.)    How did Paul’s attitude toward Mark change over time?

7.)    Who can you be a Barnabas for?

–         Who is your Mark?

–         Who can you encourage?

 

https://soundcloud.com/tawabaptist/1-oct-17-barnabas-mark

[1] Acts 11:24

[2] Acts 12:25

[3] Acts 13:1-5

[4] Acts 4:36

[5] 1st Peter 5:12-13

[6] Colossian 4:10

[7] 2 Timothy 4:11

[8] 1 Corinthians 12:21-22