Pastor's Pondering for March 12
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March 13, 2023The LORD said to Abram: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you." I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you." Abram went as the LORD directed him. ( Genesis 12:1-4a)
If these words seem familiar it is because this was the first reading for the second Sunday of Lent. Although I preached about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I could not get these words out of my mind. What is so fascinating about this reading is that it describes a seminal event in salvation history. God speaks to Abram and makes a huge request. Abram is to leave everything that is familiar, everything that is comfortable, everything that is safe, and go where God sends him.
This command does come with the promise that Abram, who will become Abraham, will become a great nation. That he and his will find favor with God and that they will be blessed. God reaches out to Abram and establishes a covenant with him. Through his willingness to follow the will and way of God, Abram becomes the father of a great nation, a holy people, a chosen people. Abram’s willingness to humble himself to the will of God is surely the reason that Christians, Jews, and Muslims all claim Abraham as the father of their faith.
What stuck in my head was the last line of the passage, “Abram went as the LORD directed him.” To leave everything that is familiar, comfortable, and safe to go who knows where is a big ask. It is the same thing when Jesus calls the apostles, they leave everything and immediately follow him. Certainly, the Lord is asking that these people trust him, He is asking that these people stretch themselves beyond what they thought they were able to do, he is asking these people to leave their comfort zone.
While these are indeed scary requests, we need to consider who is making the request. The one who is asking that these men step out of their comfort zone has a history of willing and working for the good of his loved ones. The one who is asking these men to leave the safety of the familiar has a record of taking care of those he makes his own. The one who recognizes abilities in these men that they cannot see themselves fulfills every promise that he makes to those who say yes to what he is asking of them.
Each one of us needs to keep in mind that God continues to call us to leave behind what is safe, what is familiar, and what is comfortable. God is calling each one of us to fulfill a vocation that begins with accepting the call to holiness. As we pursue this goal, we are to heed the teaching of Jesus. A teaching that reminds us that mercy is more powerful than revenge, that patience is more effective than anger, that generosity is more lifegiving than selfishness. Along with the pursuit of holiness, we share in the prophetic mission of Jesus. We are to proclaim in word and deed that the kingdom of God is at hand, that as beloved children of God each of us is endowed with dignity beyond measure, and finally that following Jesus means that even though we will need to go through Good Friday, we are Easter people.
What will make this otherworldly way of life possible is the same trust that Abram and the apostles placed in the one who was calling them. Abram trusting that God would make him a great nation leaves behind his ancestral land and goes where God sends him. The apostles follow Jesus and despite their humanity, their frailty, their fear, eventually they end up giving their all doing what Jesus sends them to do.
Whether we are living our vocation in marriage, as a priest, religious or single person, God is calling us to leave behind our comfort zone, to let go of what is familiar, to be not afraid, to trust that when we say yes to his call, he will be with us every step of the way. Of course, living this way will make us look foolish to the world, living this way will make us stand out as odd and different in our community, living this way may even cost us friends and family. But we should not let this scare us, we should not shy away from being a fool for God, we should not fear being stretched beyond our comfort zone. Instead, like Abram and the apostles we should simply go where we are sent knowing we are not alone. God is with us, and we follow in the footsteps of those who were thought to be fools whom we now call saints.
