Going Outward

Gen 12:1-4: Real pivotal point in scripture. God is creating a new initiative for connecting in a relationship with the people that He calls His own. This doesn’t mean that this is the first time that God communicates with His people, that is obvious because God was in a relationship and communicated with His people since Gen. 1, but things change in this chapter. God comes to Abram and says I want you to leave everything that you know, because I’ve got something different for you. This something that God had in store for Abram was a blessing. It was something that he had never seen or experienced before. This blessing was so gigantic that it would change his life so much that Abram would have to change his name.

God’s Blessing is:

Instrumental: God’s blessing for Abram does not end with just Abram. It was not just a single blessing for one person. Abram received the blessing so that he could become a blessing. It was received to be distributed. Abram is a new means to an end. The good life that Abram was promised and did receive wasn’t just so that he could chill and enjoy it, and live life playa style. Abraham has become a medium of God’s blessing.

So the same suit fits us. We are not just chosen, or predestined, elected or called, just to be called. God says that you predestined to be holy, you are called to be a Son of God, you are chosen for His glory. These things exist as windows of opportunity for us to be something outside of ourselves for someone else. It is not just about me.

Universal: God’s blessing is in response to the sin separation in the world. God’s blessing is no respecter of ethnicity, color, political affiliation. God’s blessing doesn’t pay attention to policy, or timeline, or economy, or even morality. It’s for everyone, everywhere. God invited Abram to live out this blessing and to become a light in a dimly lit world. Abram says yes. But as generations pass, more and more people forget that the plan was to be lights and they disconnect from the mission.

We go OUTWARD because this is what God is like. God doesn’t just exist for Himself, and God doesn’t live just for Himself. He wants His love to be on display to everyone. We go OUTWARD because the heart of God goes OUTWARD. This is what He is calling His church to. So what can we learn as a church about this.

A good life is not about talking about all the things that you would not do just because you have been called by God. I used to think that living such a good life meant explaining to people what I don’t do now. “I don’t do this”, and “never do that”, and “you can’t do this until”, and “you may have done that, but you need to feel sorry for it”; are all things that we have heard or said about the “good life” we have in God. But a good life goes beyond the type of books you don’t read, or movies you won’t watch, or that type of people that you would never hang out with. A good life is more about what we choose to do. How do I choose to spend my time? Where do I choose to give my money? Who do I choose to associate with and why? Who do I invest in? What am I passionate about? How has God shown me love, so that I can show that to other people? When you live life in such a way as this, you become compelling and not repelling. What is it for you? How can you find and promote the divine in the daily?

Jesus calls his church to be a compelling force for good in the world. God uses people as agents of change, to relieve suffering and fight injustice; living out the transforming message of the resurrected Jesus. We believe that the church is at its best when it serves, sacrifices, and loves caring about the things God cares about. We were created to live for something larger than ourselves.

CHURCH!